The Poisoned God of War: Return of the Asura

The dirt on Grandmother's grave had not even fully dried. Yet, a thick brown envelope had already slammed hard against Arthur's chest. White papers scattered across the wet grass. On the very front page, bold capital letters were printed clearly. DIVORCE LAWSUIT. Arthur looked down at the scattered papers, then slowly raised his face. Before him, Elena, the woman he had called wife for three years, stood with a straight back and folded arms. Her beautiful face was ice cold, filled with undisguised arrogance. Beside Elena stood Victor, the young master of the Sterling Family. Victor's hand rested casually around Elena's waist. A mocking smile was carved clearly on the face of the man wearing a designer suit worth hundreds of millions. "Sign that now, Arthur," Elena hissed sharply. "Grandmother is gone. I have no more reason to tolerate your presence." Arthur clenched his fists tightly. He leaned his weight on the wooden cane in his right hand. "Why?" Arthur's hoarse voice broke the silence of the cemetery. "Why do you ask?" Victor laughed loudly as though he had just seen a clown. He kicked one of the divorce papers toward Arthur's worn boots. "Look at yourself, you bum! You're just a burden. Elena is now the CEO of a large and rising company. Do you think a crippled man like you deserves to stand by her side?" Arthur ignored Victor entirely. His eyes were fixed only on Elena, searching for traces of the woman he had once known. "For three years of this marriage, I was the one who cared for your Grandmother day and night while you were busy chasing your ambitions," Arthur said calmly. There was no pleading in his tone, only a demand for an answer. "I was also the one who quietly cleaned up the mess when your company nearly went bankrupt six months ago." "Why now, on the very day Grandmother died, do you commit this betrayal?" A brief silence fell over the cemetery. Then, laughter erupted from Elena's large family standing behind them. "Hahaha! Listen to what this bum is saying!" Her mother-in-law, Martha, spat on the ground in disgust. "You helped my daughter's company? Don't daydream!" Elena pointed at Arthur's face. The tip of her finger trembled with anger and disgust. "You? Helping my company? With what? Your barista salary that isn't even enough to buy one wheel of my car?!" Elena snapped. "All those billion-dollar contracts I got through my own hard work! You're just a disabled parasite who has to drag his feet just to sweep the floors of my house!" Elena scoffed in disgust. "Not to mention your face that—" Hearing those words, Arthur fell silent. He realized one thing, the woman before him had never seen him as a human being. Suddenly, Arthur's left hand rose to his face. He gripped the dull medical bandage that had always covered his left eye for three years, then pulled it off roughly. The bandage came loose and fell to the ground. Screams of horror immediately rang out from the crowd of Elena's family. Martha even stepped back several paces while covering her mouth. Arthur's left eye was open, but its pupil was completely blind, clouded in grey-white. Even more horrifying, from the eyelid spreading to the temple and half his neck, jet black veins protruded. Those veins looked like the roots of a poisonous tree rotting beneath his skin. They were the remnants of a deadly poison that had attacked him three years ago. A poison that had nearly taken his life before Elena's Grandmother saved him three years ago. Seeing that face, Elena's face turned pale. Not out of pity, but out of overwhelming disgust. "Cover that disgusting face!" Elena shrieked, turning her face away as though she had just seen a pile of trash. "You make me sick! I had to endure three years of disgust living under the same roof as a monster like you!" Victor covered his nose with a silk handkerchief, as though the air around Arthur were also poisonous. "Sign the letter quickly, Monster. Or I will have my guards break your other leg," Victor threatened coldly. He pulled out several hundred-thousand bills from his wallet and threw them at Arthur's face. The money fell into the muddy ground. "That's taxi fare for you. Take it, and never show up to ruin our view again." Arthur stared at the bills on the ground, then stared at the faces full of mockery and disgust surrounding him. He recalled three years of sacrifice. He had endured the unbearable pain of this poison, concealed his identity, accepted all the humiliation, to fulfill a promise to the late Grandmother Elena. Now, that debt of gratitude had been paid in full. Suddenly, the disappointment in Arthur's chest evaporated without a trace. The emotion in his eyes vanished. In its place, a gaze as cold as ice emerged from his still-normal right eye. That gaze was so absolute and lethal, it made the temperature around the cemetery seem to drop several degrees. Victor unconsciously swallowed his saliva. His hair stood on end when stared at by that crippled man with the terrifying eye. Without uttering another word in his own defense, Arthur bent down. He picked up the pen lying on the grass, smoothed the divorce paper on the surface of an empty gravestone nearby, and signed it with a firm stroke. Arthur tossed the paper toward Elena. "From this moment, my debt to your family is paid," Arthur's voice sounded flat and echoing, like the strike of a judge's gavel. "Remember this day, Elena. Someday, you will be the one kneeling at my feet and begging to come back." "Keep dreaming, you crazy monster!" Elena screamed in rage, feeling humiliated. "I will soon become the Lady of the Sterling Family! While you will rot and die on the streets from that cursed disease of yours!" Arthur did not respond. He turned around, stepping away along the cemetery path. The sound of his wooden cane tapping rang rhythmically. Tuk. Tuk. Tuk. His steps were unsteady, the black veins on his face looked terrifying, yet his back was perfectly straight like a giant sword. A dominant aura radiated from his every step. Elena's family laughed at him from a distance. They did not know that their guardian angel had just cast them into hell. *** Outside the cemetery gates, the road appeared quiet. There was only a pitch-black Mercedes-Benz G-Class with bulletproof glass parked silently in the shadow of a large oak tree. The moment Arthur walked through the gates, the black Mercedes began starting its engine almost without a sound. Slowly, that iron beast crept forward, following Arthur's footsteps at a constant distance. Up ahead, Arthur who was walking slowly suddenly stopped. He did not glance back at all. A cold wind blew against his scarred face. But, out of sight of the people at the cemetery, Arthur's left hand slowly rose to the side of his body. Two of his fingers crossed. A signal. Don't move yet. The man inside the Mercedes instantly held his breath and pressed the brake hard. The car stopped completely. The man bowed his head deeply toward the steering wheel, paying respect to the back of the crippled man before him. The god had returned, and his revenge had only just begun.