From Death Row To Power

The weak cry of a newborn echoed through the operating room.

So small.

So fragile.

But to Kael Vortex, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

It went straight through his heart.

His son was born.

Kael tried to rise from the metal chair, but the two guards immediately forced him back down.

Metal batons slammed against his shoulders.

"Sit down!"

"I just want to see my wife!" Kael shouted.

His eyes were bloodshot. His breathing was ragged.

Blood was already running down his shoulders, but he barely felt the pain.

Through the glass separating him from the operating room, he could see Luna lying weakly on the hospital bed.

Her face was pale.

Far too pale.

And something felt wrong.

"Kael..."

Luna's voice came faintly from inside.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I believe... in you. Please... protect our baby."

Kael's heart clenched.

Because even after the entire world had accused him of cheating on her and murdering another woman...

Luna still believed in him.

But just as Kael opened his mouth to answer-

The baby stopped crying.

Silence.

The operating room suddenly went deathly quiet.

The doctor's expression changed.

The nurses exchanged uneasy glances.

And for the first time...

Kael felt afraid.

"...Why did the baby stop crying?"

No one answered.

"WHY DID THE BABY STOP?!"

Finally, the doctor spoke in a flat, emotionless voice.

"I'm sorry."

"Your baby didn't make it."

Kael's world collapsed.

"What...?"

His entire body went rigid.

His eyes slowly widened.

Then he began thrashing like a wounded animal.

"No...!"

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

CRASH!

The metal chair scraped violently across the floor.

The two guards beside him nearly lost their footing.

"I want to see my son!"

"LET ME GO!"

Instead, one of the guards drove the metal bar harder against his shoulder, forcing him down with even greater strength.

And through the glass-

Kael watched Luna scream hysterically before suddenly collapsing.

Then...

His wife stopped moving.

Stopped breathing.

"LUUUUNA!"

His scream shook the corridor.

But no one cared.

Because all of this...

had been planned.

---

Earlier, in the hospital corridor-

Ryder Vortex stood straightening the sleeves of his expensive suit.

Beside him, Elena Whitmore wore a faint smile.

"It's finally over," Elena murmured with relief.

Ryder chuckled.

"Kael really is an idiot."

He glanced toward the operating room.

"He always believed that little family of his was the most important thing in the world."

"Elena..."

Ryder slowly moved closer.

"Starting today..."

"There is no more Kael."

Elena smiled with satisfaction.

"Good."

"Because I don't like sharing. Especially not with some nobody from the streets."

Ryder smirked.

"Relax."

"Soon, the entire Vortex family fortune will be mine. The heir will be gone, and I'll control everything."

"His mother was a fool, too. She left the entire family fortune to her only son."

"A man that stupid didn't deserve any of it."

Ryder's eyes burned as he thought about the fortune his father had built.

His father's first wife had left everything to her son, Kael.

The entire Vortex inheritance.

Fortunately, Ryder had acted before Kael could secure his position.

And now, removing him had been easier than expected.

Better yet...

Ryder would finally have the woman who had loved Kael for years.

The woman he had secretly wanted for himself all along.

Elena Whitmore.

Elena slowly ran a hand across Ryder's chest.

"And what about her?"

"Who?" Ryder frowned.

Elena clicked her tongue impatiently.

"Luna."

She hated even saying the woman's name.

Luna was the reason Kael had never looked at Elena.

Even though Elena had loved him desperately, Kael had chosen Luna-a woman whose origins were a complete mystery.

And that was why Elena had agreed to work with Ryder without hesitation.

If Kael wouldn't choose her...

Then no other woman would ever have him.

Death was the only answer for the woman who had stolen Kael away from her.

Ryder gave a quiet laugh.

"That woman? She's still useful."

"What do you mean?"

Elena's brow furrowed.

Ryder said nothing.

But his expression turned cold.

"As long as that woman is alive..."

"Kael will continue to suffer."

Exactly.

And Elena had no intention of wasting the opportunity.

Torturing Luna was something she had dreamed about for years.

---

That night-

Rain poured relentlessly from the sky.

A tiny baby, wrapped in a thin blanket, was placed inside an old car.

The child's cries grew weaker in the cold.

A heavily tattooed man in the passenger seat glanced toward the back.

"How much is this kid worth?"

"Decent money," the other man replied, cigarette hanging from his lips.

"If we can find a buyer."

"And if we can't?"

The man snorted.

"Dump the kid."

Meanwhile-

inside the prisoner transport van heading toward the military prison-

Kael sat in silence, his hands shackled behind him.

Fresh blood still ran from his shoulders.

But the pain he felt wasn't there.

It was inside his chest.

His head hung low.

His face was hidden beneath a veil of shadow.

Rain hammered against the reinforced window beside him.

But the pain and cold meant nothing compared to the devastation inside his heart.

His wife was dead.

His son was dead.

His name was ruined.

And his own family had thrown him away like garbage.

One of the guards laughed mockingly.

"So much for being the heir to a powerful family."

"Look at you now."

The other guard sneered.

"A murderer is still a murderer."

Silence.

Several seconds passed.

Then-

Kael slowly raised his head.

And for the first time-

something terrifying appeared in his eyes.

Not grief.

Not despair.

Something far darker.

Something born from losing everything.

Something that would slowly turn him into a monster.

That night-

KAEL VORTEX DIED.

And the world...

was quietly creating the most terrifying War God in history.

...