Selene stood among her troops, surveying the aftermath with a frown still trying to figure things out. The entire operation had concluded with almost no effort on their part—a fact that didn’t sit well with her.“Commander,” her assistant chimed in, practically bouncing with excitement, “you know what this means, don’t you? What if a A war god must have intervened! Someone powerful and deeply in love with you has cleared the path for us!”Selene rolled her eyes, waving a dismissive hand, but her cheeks burned faintly. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said sharply, though her heart fluttered at the thought. A mysterious warrior, so skilled and powerful, secretly enamored with her? The idea was impossible… and yet, strangely satisfying.“Still,” she added, regaining her composure, “I want a full report. Sweep the scene, gather intel, and determine exactly what happened here. No excuses.”Her assistant saluted eagerly, but Selene’s thoughts wandered. For a brief moment, she considered Kael—but

The aftermath of the Victor Nelson operation left Selene restless. The debriefing room was silent save for the soft buzz of the projector replaying static-laden footage. Selene sat at the head of the table, her sharp eyes fixed on the frozen screen.“No struggle. No prolonged gunfire. No visible entry or exit,” she murmured, her fingers tapping against the cold metal of the table. “And the cameras just… stopped working.” she rolled her eyes an tutted as she mused.Her assistant, seated beside her, shifted nervously. “It’s like… like a ghost went in and wiped them all out,” he ventured, his voice low.“A ghost doesn’t leave a room full of dead bodies,” Selene shot back, but the sharpness in her voice faltered.The assistant leaned forward, his face lighting up with the fervor of a conspiracy theorist. “Or a war god just like I had told you,” he whispered excitedly. “You heard what the troops said—no one saw anything. Someone powerful and unseen did

Morning sunlight streamed through the towering glass buildings of Cresmont, illuminating the imposing headquarters of Northland Enterprises. The company, once an unstoppable force in the business world, now stood on the brink of collapse—a decaying empire barely held together by its young and unyielding president, Pamela Northland.And today, Kael had come to collect a debt.He adjusted the cuffs of his simple black shirt as he approached the grand entrance, his footsteps unhurried.The moment he reached the door, two uniformed security guards stepped in his way.“Lost, are we?” One of them smirked, his gaze dripping with condescension as he eyed Kael’s attire—clean but utterly unremarkable. No designer labels, no tailored suit, nothing to indicate wealth or status.His partner scoffed. “This isn’t a place for beggars. Try the back alley if you’re looking for food scraps.”Kael tilted his head, his expression unreadable. He could have ended this in a dozen different ways, but instead,