Chapter 7: Zordah Shaken

Words : 1862 Updated : Oct 30th, 2025

Over Jenton, thunderheads pressed low as lightning split the sky and thunder rolled. Savage thunder shook the world; an oppressive awe settled in over the city. Within about a mile, Bruce's roar echoed again and again. The gutsy look toward the Tendos Entertainment Center while plenty of people straight-up wet themselves. Panic rippled through the city, a nameless dread rising in every chest. On a rooftop a mile or so away, a brawny man heard that bellow and went pale. He was Aryn's top War God, Drakonis, Sergio Hadler, who had raced to Jenton at top speed. He wondered if he was still a step too late. Sergio knew all too well how terrifying Godbane Hall was. If Godbane Hall gathered in Jenton, they'd carve straight through not just this small city, but the whole of Zordah. "Let's go! Move! Move!" "Full speed ahead!" He barked the orders back over his shoulder, then shot toward the Tendos Entertainment Center like an arrow loosed. In the darkness behind him, a large force in custom combat suits ghosted through the night. These were his elite, the Drakonis Guards. He'd thought that with a hundred of them, he'd have the situation under control. Now, he realized that was wishful thinking. Wound tight with anxiety, Sergio blurred from shadow to shadow and reached the lobby of the Tendos Entertainment Center. Corpses lay strewn across the floor; his heart plummeted. He was too late. The carnage had already played out. Who the hell had the balls to mess with the lord of Godbane Hall? He followed that terrifying presence up to the second floor. As he stepped onto the landing, a fearsome figure came into view. Sergio stiffened, lifted his hands in a martial artist's salute, and said, "Lord Yale." He didn't greet Bruce as an Aryn War God; he greeted him with a martial artist's salute, hoping to keep things from escalating. The man at the far end of the corridor was indeed Bruce. Bruce sensed the presence of Sergio. "Drakonis, Sergio Hadler? You intend to stop me?" Bruce's eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse, laced with lethal intent. Sergio's scalp prickled; the man sounded ready to eat someone alive. He wasn't afraid to cross hands with Bruce, but if they fought, Jenton would be rubble by morning. "Lord Yale, you're always steady. What could make you lose your composure like this?" "If it were your daughter who'd been taken, missing, her life or death unknown, would you stay calm?" That stopped him cold; Sergio's face fell. The daughter of the lord of Godbane Hall, the little princess of Godbane Hall. Who would dare lay hands on her? Forget the lord himself; the Four Heavenly Kings alone could throw Aryn into absolute chaos. "So that's what this is. I didn't know." He drew a breath. "Lord Yale, I need you to cool it. I'll put people on it right now. You'll have answers." Sergio shook with fury, but he had to steady Bruce, or they'd spark an unnecessary war. "Boss, we got something. After he left the center, that black-robed man was spotted at an intersection to the northwest." "Search that way. We'll find the little princess." Grayson sprinted out of the surveillance room. He'd just sent the Tendos Entertainment Center's data to Godbane Hall's intelligence unit. The intel team had breached Jenton's surveillance firewall, fanned out from the center, and found a thread to pull. "Let's go!" Bruce growled and strode off. Godbane Hall's intelligence unit was hunting the black-robed man at full tilt; the moment anything new surfaced, they'd alert Bruce. Grayson fell in behind him and vanished into the night. Meanwhile, Sergio's roar rolled out of the Tendos Entertainment Center, "Where's the mayor of Jenton? Drunk? Slap him a few times and drag him here." "Pass my orders! Jenton Defense Corps and Jenton Security Bureau; all units out! Lock the entire city down now." "Rail station, bus station, airport, highways, every route in and out gets checkpoints." "Without my say-so, not even a fly leaves Jenton." "Citywide curfew. Nobody goes out." "Cyber unit, find that little girl now. Any lead, alert ground teams at once." "Request the Shadow Legion's Jenton detachment to step in. Find the child and guarantee her safety." "Have the Jenton War Department reinforce from outside the city and set checkpoints along the routes." "I don't care how many petty schemers infest this city or how big their backers are. If anyone slows me down, I'll shoot him myself." He was seeing red. They had to find that little girl before Godbane Hall's main force arrived. Otherwise, not just Jenton, but the very sky over Aryn would run red. Sergio knew something even Brett didn't. He knew Bruce's true background. Once, during a covert operation in support of Fang, he'd seen the captain of the Fang First Battalion, the man codenamed Asura. He'd heard plenty of tales about Asura, but the wildest was this: Asura had gone alone and wiped out a secret Jaston military base near Aryn's border. Surrounded by armies, he'd cut down three of Jaston's War Gods plus a top powerhouse. A year earlier, the Hydra Clan, Jaston's biggest underground organization, had stirred up trouble in Denos. Denos was Sergio's sector. He'd heard they sent three top-tier and one so-called divine fighters, so he rushed there himself. By the time he arrived, the fight was all but over. He saw that man again. Only now, the man had become the fearsome lord of Godbane Hall. Everything about Fang was top secret. The fact that Bruce of Godbane Hall had come out of Fang was a secret Sergio kept to himself; he'd told no one. He knew how terrifying Bruce was in a rage. Nobody who makes it into Fang was normal. Even so, in Sergio's heart, Bruce remained a comrade-in-arms. A man who'd given so much to Aryn didn't deserve for Aryn to let him down. Whoever had touched his daughter, Sergio wouldn't stand for it. So, within the bounds of his authority, he mobilized every force he could muster to find Jane, both to steady Bruce and because he genuinely wanted the child safe. As Sergio's orders went out, Jenton shook. In the dark, armored vehicles roared into the streets and locked down every major artery. No matter how important you were, without clearance, you didn't move; the city fell under martial law. Rail stations, bus depots, the airport, the highways, all came under the control of squads of hard-eyed soldiers with live ammo. They throttled the internet and cut all external comms. Dread rose in countless hearts; the storm was brewing. All of Zordah trembled. Ready units from every branch of the Jenton War Department rolled out at once, converging on Jenton from all directions. Authorities ran hard checks on anyone suspicious across Zordah, and the entertainment industry shut down. A heavy hush fell over the region. Many had the same thought. The storm was about to break.

Chapter 7: Zordah Shaken

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