The Almighty God of War Returns

Hanging by a thread

“Claire,” Elijah muttered as he walked back to where Thomas stood with the little girl.

Thomas didn't hesitate to hand her over with Elijah instinctively cradling like she was his child.

He didn't know why but he felt like she was his kin, like his blood flowed through her veins.

Even as he was a God of Slaughter and a King of War, in this moment, he found himself unable to breathe properly.

Holding her tightly, almost like he was scared that she'd fall from his embrace, he muttered. “I didn't come on time. Forgive me.”

After what felt like a long while, Claire woke up.

“Sir.” She called out as she reached out and wiped away Elijah's tears. “Are you my dad?... But mommy said that my dad is dead, that he died on the battlefield protecting the country.”

Elijah's lips quivered as he didn't know how to respond.

As it was, he had so many questions so he thought it best to wait until he returned home and had a conversation with Alice.

Only then would he be able to resolve the knots in his chest?

Just as he was about to say something, a thunderous roar interrupted his train of thought.

“How daring!”

Elijah’s expression shifted as he turned to look in the direction of the person who had decided to be a bit too daring, ruining the moment.

It seemed those from the audience who had run away didn't like the fact that they were spared and, instead, dared to come back with help to deal with Elijah, pointing fingers in his direction.

Over a dozen security guards who worked at the Blood Cage quickly surrounded the arena while carrying cold weapons.

Elijah maintained a sense of calm, even going ahead to assure Claire that everything was okay as she had begun to panic.

Thomas on the other hand, didn't even bother hiding his killing intent, standing next to his brother while glaring at the fools that didn't know what was good for them.

The head of the security guards snarled at Elijah. “Do you even know where you are?... How dare you cause trouble in the Blood Cage?... Do you think you can just come in here and do as you please?... Insolence!... You'd best get down on your knees and beg for mercy, else, you can forget about…”

The man wasn't able to complete his threat as he screamed out in pain.

Elijah didn't even need to move as Thomas sprinted into the group of security guards, sending them all flying in a few moves.

The men didn't even get a chance to fight back as Thomas struck them down, leaving them bleeding profusely and suffering from broken bones on the ground.

Chaos instantly erupted in the arena as Thomas continued his reign of terror while Elijah ignored the chaos around him, even shielding Claire's eyes so she wouldn't see something she shouldn't while walking toward the shattered main gate of the cage.

It didn't take long before Thomas joined him outside the arena, having dealt with the troublesome elements within.

Just then, Elijah got a notification causing his expression to shift.

[Code Red!]

[Mission Generated]

[Mission: A life at stake]

[Reward: 1000 Spirit Points]

Before he could figure out why the system had sent a code Red, he got a call from the driver that he charged to protect Alice.

“Boss, there's trouble.”

“What is it?”

“I tried my best but I couldn't protect Miss Alice.”

“Speak clearly, what happened?”

The driver quickly explained everything causing Elijah's expression to shift.

On the way back to his home, Alice and the driver were attacked by gunmen and if not for the driver's quick thinking, they would have died.

Unfortunately, a stray bullet had struck Alice and now she was in a critical state.

The driver had managed to take her to the hospital where Alice was familiar with a doctor who was also one of the few friends she had but now, the hospital was refusing to allow the doctor to treat Alice.

As it was, Alice's life was hanging by a thread and the driver couldn't do anything about it as he was currently being hounded by strange men.

Gritting his teeth, Elijah bellowed. “Mr. Leroy!... You have gone too far!... If this feud between us isn't settled by blood, then call me a bastard!”

Saying those words, Elijah handed Claire over to Thomas, charging him to protect her with his life before hurrying over to the hospital to save Alice.

***

Meanwhile, at CarlCare hospital located in the middle-class area of Crystal Falls, a group of black-suited guards burst into a hospital room, forcefully dragging out the doctor that was attending to Alice, hoping to pull her out of the condition she was in, which was close to death.

The doctor, whose name was Madison, was a close friend of Alice, and even though the hospital had threatened her not to attend to Alice, else she'd lose her job, she couldn't just sit back and watch Alice die when she'd done nothing wrong.

Unfortunately, it seemed the powers that wished to see Alice suffer had come to stop her by force.

Madison's distress was evident as she desperately exclaimed. “Who are you?... Why are you stopping me from saving a life?... That woman's life is hanging by a thread!”

Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor outside the emergency room.

It didn't take long for the owner of the footsteps to arrive, revealing himself to be Mr. Aiden Leroy, the same man that Alice had rejected earlier in the day.