The Ruthless Major General

The God Of War; Aedric Varyn

Velmara International Airport buzzed with a strange tension.

It wasn’t the usual hum of travelers, nor the steady rhythm of aircraft landing and departing. Instead, the tarmac was lined with military vehicles, and dozens of uniformed soldiers stood in strict formation. They were waiting for the arrival of a single man.

It wasn’t often that an entire regiment was mobilized just to receive one person. Even less common was the presence of so many high-ranking officials. Generals, colonels, and even Mayor Lior Vascari himself stood among them. Their eyes were fixed on the private hangar where a military aircraft was set to land any moment now.

Among the assembled soldiers was Sergeant Kellan Maro. He shifted uncomfortably. He stared at the others before he finally muttered, "Alright, someone tell me—what’s the occasion? Why are we all standing out here like this? And why are so many of our brass in one place?"

A fellow soldier beside him, Lieutenant Oris Dane, chuckled. "You seriously don’t know?"

Kellan frowned. "If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, would I?"

Oris smirked as he folded his arms. "It’s General Aedric Varyn." He’s finally returning to Veyrosia after years away."

Kellan blinked. "Wait… you mean the Aedric Varyn? The one who—wait, is that why the mayor is here? Still hard to believe a guy like him is a four-star general." He shook his head, as if he was trying to process the thought. "I mean, what is he, forty? Fifty?"

Oris gave him a sideways look before chuckling. "He’s not even thirty yet."

They both went silent for a moment. Kellan furrowed his brows in disbelief. "You’re kidding."

"Not even a little," Oris replied. His voice took on a more serious tone. "They say he rose through the ranks faster than anyone in history. Tactical genius. Relentless on the battlefield. Some even call him ruthless. Every promotion he got wasn’t given—it was earned in blood. People called him the Ghost of Veyrosia."

Kellan exhaled, shaking his head again. "And now he’s back." A small grin formed on his lips. "Well… I suppose we should count ourselves lucky."

Oris arched a brow. "Lucky?"

"Yeah," Kellan nodded. "We get to meet a legend today."

Just then, the distant roar of an incoming aircraft filled the air, and all eyes turned toward the sky.

One by one, the passengers disembarked from the military aircraft. Soldiers dressed in dark fatigues stepped down the ramp, their boots hitting the tarmac with crisp precision. Even the flight crew followed, each of them saluting as they moved away from the plane.

But Aedric Varyn was nowhere to be seen.

There was silence among the waiting officers and soldiers. At first, they expected him to appear last, like making a dramatic entrance—but as the minutes passed and no sign of him emerged, murmurs started ripping through the ranks.

"Is this the wrong flight? "Did we somehow miss him?" someone questioned.

The welcoming team—including Mayor Lior Vascari and the high-ranking generals—exchanged uneasy glances, but no one dared to step forward or leave their position.

Elsewhere, not far from Velmara International Airport,

A man stood on the rooftop of a building overlooking the airport. He was looking at the waiting soldiers.

Behind him. There was a burly man dressed in black. The man had just finished a phone call. He lowered the device from his ear. His posture was rigid, his expression looked serious. He hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"It was Myra Vex," he said, his voice laced with respect and caution. "She’s the one who leaked the flight details."

The man in front of him—Kael Veyne—remained silent, his face was unreadable.

The burly man swallowed. "What are your orders?"

"Should we inform the media?" he asked.

Kael exhaled slowly. He shook his head. "No need. Let them be. If they’re willing to wait, let them wait."

Dain nodded without argument. He pulled open the door of their jeep. Kael climbed in, and the vehicle pulled away from the airport. He cast one last glance in the rearview mirror.

It seemed that Myra Vex was still the only woman in the world who could make Varyn back down.

Thirty minutes later, they entered the city of Veyrosia.

As the jeep rolled into Veyrosia, Kael found himself staring at a city he could barely recognize.

It had been ten years since Kael had last set foot in Veyrosia, and in that time, the city had transformed beyond recognition.

Once a struggling capital, it now shimmered with modernity. Glass skyscrapers lined the streets. The city's wide boulevards buzzed with electric cars, sleek and silent as they wove through well-maintained roads. Holographic billboards projected political speeches, military recruitment ads, and technological advancements. The skyline, once dull and stagnant, is now pulsed with life and ambition.

But Kael didn't feel happy about these changes.

The progress, the prosperity. He knew what it had cost.

A few years ago, Veyrosia’s borders had been invaded, and the country had nearly been lost. The war had forced them to deploy every able soldier, pushing them into a merciless battle for survival. Kael had fought in the trenches, led ruthless counteroffensives, and watched thousands of men fall in the desperate struggle to reclaim their home.

When the war finally ended, he had thought, just for a moment, that he might finally be able to rest.

Then the message of the death of his friend Elias Drevan came.

Kael’s grip on his knee tightened. Elias Drevan was his best friend.

Elias had been more than a comrade. He had been a brother-in-arms, someone who had fought beside Kael through countless battles. A year ago, during one of the bloodiest confrontations of the war, Ronan had taken several bullets for him. Kael had watched, powerless, as his friend’s body was torn apart on the battlefield.

Ronan survived, but at a cost. His injuries left him permanently disabled.

One Night Before Elias Drevan’s Return to His Hometown

Kael Veyne sat across from Elias Drevan, both nursing their half-empty glasses of alcohol. They were still in the middle of war, but tonight, for the first time in a long while, there was laughter.

Elias, with a warm grin, pulled a worn-out photo from his breast pocket and slid it across the table.

Kael picked it up.

In the photograph was a beautiful woman leaning against Elias. Her bright smile was full of life. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders.

Elias chuckled as he watched Kael examine the photo.

"She’s stunning," Kael muttered.

Elias grinned wider, taking the picture back and holding it as if it were his most precious treasure. "Damn right she is." He exhaled. "When I return home, I’m going to marry her."

Kael raised a brow. "Is that so?"

"No matter what, you must attend my wedding, Kael." Elias' voice was serious, despite the alcohol softening his tone. "Even if I have to drag you there myself, I won’t take no for an answer."

Kael smirked. "We’ll see."

Elias leaned back, staring at the ceiling for a moment before lowering his eyes back to the photo. His smile turned softer.

"This woman… she’s the love of my life," he admitted. "For her, I’d give up everything."

There was a pause, Elias took another sip of his drink and exhaled, his expression shifted. "Kael… there's something I never told you."

Kael remained quiet.

Elias sighed. "The main reason I joined the army… wasn’t just for honor or duty. It was to earn my grandmother’s respect."

Kael's brows furrowed slightly, but he let Elias continue.

"When I was young," Elias began, his fingers tracing the rim of his glass, "my grandmother despised me." He let out a chuckle. "I was timid. Weak. Always inferior to my older brother. No matter what I did, I was never enough in her eyes."

Kael remained silent, he kept on listening.

Elias took a deep breath. "To prove I wasn’t a coward, I secretly enlisted in the army. My family didn’t know until it was too late. I trained harder than anyone, fought in battle after battle, earned medal after medal. I thought… if I could just show her that I was strong, that I was a man worthy of respect, maybe she’d finally look at me differently."

He laughed bitterly. "And you know what happened, Kael?"

Kael didn’t answer.

Elias clenched his fist. "I finally stood before her and laid my military honors at her feet. I thought—just for a second—that maybe, just maybe, she’d be proud of me."

He swallowed. His voice turned cold.

"But instead… she slapped me."

Kael’s fingers tightened around his glass. " She said, what is the point of all this? No matter what I do I will never be great in her eyes like my older brother, Dorian Drevan.

Elias chuckled. " Dorian Draven was my older brother, we share the same father, but our mothers… that’s a different story."

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "For years, I thought my grandmother despised me because I was weak. Because I was a coward." He exhaled. "But I understand now—that wasn’t the reason."

He looked at Kael, his voice was calm.

"It was because of my blood."

Kael didn’t interrupt. He simply watched as Elias finally spoke the words that had been buried inside him for years.

"My mother," Elias continued, "came from nothing. A low background. A woman who, in my grandmother’s eyes, had no right to stand beside the Drevan name. In her world, someone like me could never be anything but a mistake."

There was a long silence before Elias suddenly called Kael’s name.

"Kael," he said quietly. "Do you think some people are just… born as a mistake?"

Kael met his eyes, his expression was unreadable.

Elias exhaled. He shook his head. "I don’t blame them, you know, my grandmother. Dorian. Even though she despised me, even though my brother never once looked at me with kindness…" He hesitated, then smiled faintly. "I still don’t hate them."

Elias chuckled softly. "Because at the end of the day… they’re still the closest people I have in this world."

That night, neither of them knew that this would be their last conversation.

Days later, Kael received Elias' wedding invitation.

there was a message scrawled on the back in Elias’ familiar handwriting.

"No matter what, Kael—you MUST come to my wedding."

Kael was ready to go. He was going to attend that wedding.

However… just one day later…

The news arrived.

Elias Drevan was dead.

Elias felt something was wrong.

Kael wasted no time. He immediately sent word to his men, to find out every piece of information they could find.

Then, after some hours, he received a report about Elias Drevan. Elias Drevan hadn’t just died.

He had been brutalized.

His body was found in an abandoned alley. His eyes had been gouged out. The cause of death was unknown.

No bullet wounds. No blade marks. No sign of struggle. Nothing that could explain why Elias Drevan was dead.