WAR GOD : Rise After Betrayal

Chapter 3

“Stop talking so much, Ares. Leave now!”

Rachel’s hard shove made Ares lose his balance. With his body already battered, he had no chance to steady himself. His back slammed heavily against the terrace floor.

“Ares!” Rachel cried out reflexively, but she quickly covered her own mouth.

Ares’s body did not move. His face was pale, his eyes closed, his breathing barely audible.

Rachel stared at him for a few seconds. Her heart pounded. She stepped closer, then stepped back again.

“Don’t… don’t die here,” she murmured in panic. She turned toward Max. “He… he’s still alive, right?”

Max frowned, then snorted. “He’s probably just unconscious.”

Rachel swallowed. “Tell him to wake up so he can leave quickly. I don’t want any trouble.”

But Ares remained motionless. The next second, the world around Ares changed.

He saw the sky begin to tremble.

But it was not the city’s night sky. It was a vast sky split apart by dark crimson light. Ares stood on an endless battlefield. The ground was filled with cracks and blood. Thousands of figures knelt, their bodies wounded, wings broken, weapons scattered everywhere.

In his hand was a massive sword drenched in blood.

“Advance the troops!” a voice shouted—one that felt… like his own.

The Ninth Heaven shook violently. From afar, gigantic creatures shrouded in darkness rose, carrying an aura of destruction.

“Areskael Valdyr!” the voice thundered. “Today, the human world will be annihilated!”

“Not as long as I am still standing,” Ares replied without hesitation.

He led the army of gods. The clash of power shook heaven and earth. Light and darkness collided.

He won.

But as he stood amid the ruins, the sword slipped from his hand.

A cold stab pierced his back.

“What—” Ares staggered.

He turned and saw the face of an ally he had trusted all this time.

“I’m sorry,” the voice said coldly. “You are too strong.”

His body slowly shattered. The core of his power cracked. With the last of his consciousness, he sealed his own divine core.

“If I disappear… the human world will be destroyed as well.”

Everything collapsed.

“Ares!”

The voice tore through the darkness.

Ares coughed violently. His eyes snapped open. His breathing was ragged.

Rachel let out a small scream and stumbled back. “He… he’s still alive!”

Ares held his head. The images from before still felt real. His heart pounded wildly.

“What… what happened?” he murmured weakly.

Rachel looked at him with a conflicted expression. “You fainted. Don’t die here. Leave right now.”

Ares slowly pushed himself up, his body trembling. “Just now, I…”

“Enough!” Rachel cut in sharply. “I don’t want to hear anything. Leave!”

She glanced at Max, then back at Ares. “If you die here, I’ll be the one blamed.”

Ares looked at Rachel for a few seconds. That face felt distant. He gave a small shake of his head.

“Maybe… just hallucinations,” he muttered to himself. “The effect of hitting my head.”

He stood up with difficulty.

“Go,” Rachel repeated, colder.

Ares nodded faintly. “Alright.”

Without another word, he walked away from the house. Every step felt heavy, but he forced himself to keep going.

Several minutes later, Ares staggered along the sidewalk of the main road. The city lights felt blinding. His head still throbbed.

“Strange…” he murmured. “Those images were too real.”

He shook his head, trying to ignore them.

Suddenly—

A loud crashing sound came from ahead.

“Bang!”

A black car sped out of control and slammed into the sidewalk. The windshield shattered. Smoke billowed from the hood.

“There’s been an accident!” someone shouted.

Ares stopped instinctively. He stared at the car with a furrowed brow.

Just before the collision, for some reason, he saw another image in his head.

Another car.

Coming from behind.

Crashing into it on purpose.

Ares closed his eyes, gasping. “What is this again…?”

He shook his head hard. “Focus.”

The crowd’s shouts grew louder.

“There’s someone inside!”

Ares ran toward the scene despite his aching body. He saw a woman slumped behind the steering wheel. Her face was pale. Blood flowed from her forehead.

“Miss! Can you hear me?” Ares knocked on the window.

There was no response.

“Has anyone called an ambulance?” Ares shouted to the crowd.

“Yes!” someone answered.

Ares looked at the cracked window. He took a breath, then struck the corner of the glass with his elbow.

“Crash!”

The glass shattered. Ares ignored the small cuts on his arm and reached inside to unlock the door.

“Miss, I’m sorry,” he said softly as he supported the woman’s body. “I need to get you out.”

The woman was unconscious. Her body was light, but she was still breathing.

Ares carried her out and carefully laid her on the sidewalk.

Someone shouted, “Be careful! Her blood—”

Ares pressed a handkerchief from his pocket against the wound on the woman’s forehead.

His hands moved automatically, as if he were used to it.

Several people looked at him in surprise.

“Are you a doctor?” a man asked.

Ares simply shook his head.

He looked at the woman’s face. Beautiful, even in her unconscious state. Her features were firm yet calm.

The sound of an ambulance siren began to approach from afar.

Ares let out a slow breath.

Inside his chest, something pulsed faintly. A small crack. But Ares did not realize it yet.

“The ambulance is here!”

The emergency vehicle’s doors opened. Several paramedics quickly lifted the injured woman onto a stretcher. Ares stood to the side, about to step back, but one of the medics turned to him.

“You’re the one who helped her?” the man asked quickly.

Ares nodded. “Yes.”

“Alright. Come with us. We need a statement.”

Without thinking much, Ares climbed into the ambulance. The doors closed. The siren wailed, tearing through the night.

On the stretcher, the woman lay pale. After checking her identification, the medics briefly mentioned her name.

“Elara Seraphina.”

The name sounded unfamiliar to Ares. He did not know who this woman was. He did not know that many parties were targeting her life. He only saw someone who had nearly lost her life.

The ambulance sped forward.

Ares sat beside the stretcher. Without realizing it, his hand reached for Elara’s hand, gripping it tightly. He felt a warmth that was real.

“Strange…” he murmured softly.

As his fingers touched the woman’s skin, the images returned.

The collapsing sky.

War banners fluttering.

Blood dripping from the tip of a sword.

Figures kneeling, calling his name.

Ares swallowed. His head felt heavy.

He saw another flash—himself standing before a gate of light, sealing something within his own chest. Chains of light closed around the core of that power, slowly, painfully.

“Not… now…” Ares murmured unconsciously.

A medic turned to him. “Sir? Are you alright?”

Ares jolted. “Ah—yes. I’m fine.”

But his grip on Elara’s hand tightened instead.

The images did not fade. They appeared more frequently, as if drawn out by this woman’s presence.

Ares suddenly widened his eyes. His breathing grew rapid.

“What’s happening to me?” he whispered.

He looked at his own hand, then at Elara’s unconscious face. Outside the ambulance, the siren continued to wail.

“Why are those images appearing again and feeling so real?”