The War God Is Back

Chapter 1

"It’s been ten years…I’m finally back.”

The voice of the young man echoed softly through the quiet air as he stood alone in front of a graveyard. Rain had just stopped falling, leaving the ground wet and cold under his polished shoes. A single grave stood before him, silent and forgotten by time, yet still strong enough to hold a name that refused to fade.

Elara Quinn.

The name was carved deep into the stone, as if the earth itself had tried to keep her memory alive.

The young man wore a black suit that fit his tall frame perfectly. In his clenched fist, he held a bouquet of roses, darkened by rain, their petals trembling slightly in the wind.

This was Justin Ben.

For a long moment, he only stared at the grave. His eyes carried pain that had been buried for years, pain that had never truly left him. Then slowly, he knelt down and placed the flowers at the base of the tombstone.

“Mother,” he said in a low voice, his jaw tightening as he spoke, “I’m sorry it took me this long.”

His fingers brushed lightly against the cold stone, as if he could still feel her warmth through it.

“I promise you… I will avenge your death. And I will find Christy. No matter where she is.”

The wind passed quietly through the cemetery, but there was no answer.

Ten years ago, the Ben family had been nothing more than a simple, happy family.

Justin was just a boy then, only fifteen, still trying to understand the world. His little sister, Christy, was only ten, full of life and innocent laughter. Their father had already left them long before, disappearing without explanation, leaving Elara Quinn to raise them alone.

But Elara was not an ordinary woman.

She was strong, intelligent, and fearless. Alongside her closest friend, Anita, she had built a real estate company from nothing. Step by step, they turned it into one of the strongest businesses in Boron City.

Success brought them power, but it also brought envy. And slowly, that envy turned into betrayal.

The day everything collapsed started like any other day.

The car moved smoothly along the quiet road as Elara sat in the back seat with her children. Justin sat by the window, watching the trees pass by, while Christy hugged her small backpack tightly.

Then suddenly, the car jerked violently.

The tires screeched against the road before the vehicle came to a sharp stop.

“What’s going on?” Elara asked sharply, her hand gripping the seat.

The driver’s face went pale as he stared ahead through the windshield.

“Ma’am…” he said in a shaky voice, “it looks like we’ve been ambushed.”

“What?” Elara’s voice rose immediately.

Before anyone could react, shadows began to move outside the car. One by one, rough-looking men stepped out from the dark edges of the road. Their faces were hidden under low lights, but their weapons were not. Metal glinted under the fading sun as they surrounded the vehicle.

Christy’s small hands shook as she clutched her seatbelt tightly.

“Mom, I’m scared,” she cried, her voice breaking.

Justin felt his own fear rise in his chest, sharp and heavy, but he forced it down. He looked at his mother, hoping she would do something, anything, to make it stop.

Elara turned around slowly. Her eyes were sharp, but when they met her children’s faces, they softened for just a moment. Without a word, she opened her bag and pulled out a small, cold dagger.

She placed it gently into Justin’s hand.

“Justin,” she said quietly, her voice firm but calm, “stay in the car with your sister. If anything goes wrong… you take this and protect yourselves.”

Justin’s eyes widened. “Mom… where are you going?”

But Elara only gave him a small smile, the kind a mother gives when she is trying not to show fear.

“Just stay strong,” she said softly.

Then she opened the door and stepped out into the night.

The cold air wrapped around her immediately, but she did not flinch. She stood between her children and the armed men, her back straight, her expression calm. Around twenty men surrounded her, all dressed in dark suits, their weapons resting openly in their hands.

Behind her stood four security guards, alert and ready, but even they knew the truth. They were outnumbered, and there was no easy way out.

Still, Elara raised her hands slowly into the air.

“Please,” she said clearly, her voice steady even in danger, “tell me what you want. Don’t hurt us. My children are in that car.”

The men did not answer.

Not a single one of them moved or spoke. It was as if her words did not exist.

Then, from behind the line of black vehicles, one door opened slowly.

A woman stepped out.

She wore a long white coat that stood out sharply against the darkness, as if she had brought a piece of daylight into a place meant only for fear. Her heels clicked softly on the wet asphalt, each step calm and unhurried. The headlights of the cars behind her lit up her face, and in that moment, Elara felt her whole body go still.

It was like the ground beneath her had suddenly disappeared.

“…A-Anita?” Elara whispered, her voice breaking slightly. “Why… what is this?”

The woman stopped walking.

Anita Black smiled faintly, but there was nothing warm in it. No joy. No memory. Only something cold and distant, like a decision already made long ago.

“Don’t be dull, Elara,” she said casually, as if they were talking about something simple. “I want Ben Corporation. All of it.”

Elara shook her head slowly, unable to believe what she was hearing. “You’re joking,” she said, her voice rising with emotion. “We built that company together. We were friends.”

Anita’s smile faded into something sharper.

“Friends?” she repeated, almost amused. “Friends don’t get praised while the other is treated like a shadow. Friends don’t let one name shine while the other is forgotten.”

“That’s not true,” Elara said quickly, stepping forward. Her voice shook now, not from fear of death, but from fear of what her best friend had become. “We worked together. Everything we achieved was because of both of us. If you need money, power, anything… there are other ways.”

For a brief moment, something flickered in Anita’s eyes. Something buried deep. But it was gone just as quickly.

She raised her hand.

Before Elara could react, two men moved at once.

They pulled Justin and Christy out of the car.

“Mom!” Christy screamed, her small voice breaking as tears streamed down her face. A gun was pressed close to her, and her tiny body shook uncontrollably. “Mom, help me!”

“Christy!” Elara shouted, taking a step forward, but one of the armed men blocked her instantly.

Inside the car, Justin struggled wildly, his fists hitting the men who held him. His voice cracked as he shouted.

“Let her go! Don’t touch my sister!”

But he was only fifteen, and they were trained men. They held him firmly, ignoring his resistance as if he was nothing more than noise.

Elara’s breath caught in her throat.

Her eyes moved quickly between her two children, her mind breaking under the weight of helplessness. The dagger she had given Justin, the strength she had always carried, none of it mattered now.

Anita walked closer, stopping just a few steps away from her.

“Sign the papers,” she said calmly, bending slightly to drop a thick folder at Elara’s feet. “Or your children die right here.”

The silence that followed was heavy, crushing, almost unbearable.

Elara’s hands trembled as she looked down at the folder. Her whole body felt weak, like every part of her had been drained at once. Slowly, she knelt and picked up the pen that had been thrown beside it.

Tears blurred her vision as she tried to see the lines on the paper.

Each stroke of her signature felt like something inside her was breaking.

Her hand shook so badly that the letters came out uneven, messy, like they no longer belonged to her.

“There…” she whispered finally, her voice empty. “You have everything. Let them go.”

Anita took the papers without a word. She flipped through them once, then twice, as if checking something important. When she was satisfied, she closed the folder.

Then she smiled again.

“Good.”

Elara looked up immediately, hope flashing in her eyes.

But it lasted only a second.

Anita turned her head slightly toward the men behind her.

“Kill them,” she said calmly.