King's Awakening

A middle-aged, bare-chested man with a stocky frame, one hand cradling a cigarette while the other swings a razor-sharp cleaver, deftly splits a pig open, and with a shake, the foul-smelling organs spill out all at once.

A complete pig carcass appears before him.

Soon, the middle-aged man moves on to the next pig without pause.

With each pig being methodically carved, the man’s face remains expressionless.

No sign of fatigue, no sign of joy, it seems as if he has become numb to everything.

He’s known as the Butcher, a member of the Deathz organization, and his work at the slaughterhouse is his public-facing identity.

For him, there’s no difference between killing a pig and killing a person. Sometimes, after killing a person, he would dispose of the body in the same way he does with dead pigs.

Buzzzz…

As the Butcher finishes his work for the day, his phone, tucked in his pocket, suddenly relays a message.

He has two phones, one for his personal life and another for communication with the Deathz organization.

It is currently the one for the organization that vibrates.

Sensing the vibration of his phone, the Butcher grows solemn, hurriedly retrieving his phone.

[Exposed, evacuate!]

The message is brief, but its implications are dire.

Upon seeing the message, the Butcher’s face tightens, instinctively gripping the cleaver beside him, quickly scanning the surroundings.

All around, aside from the hanging dead pigs, there is nothing out of the ordinary, everything is calm.

Seeing this, the tense grip of the Butcher on his cleaver loosens as he prepares to evacuate.

No matter whether his location has been exposed, he must leave immediately. Better safe than sorry.

But just as the Butcher is about to put away his cleaver, an overpowering sense of danger suddenly strikes him.

The Butcher’s expression tightens, he pulls out his cleaver reflexively, spinning around to look behind him, “Who’s there!?”

Having always been the hunter, he now unexpectedly finds himself the hunted prey.

This feeling fuels the Butcher’s rage.

Looking angrily ahead, a figure nearly two meters tall slowly approaches with heavy steps.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

…

With each step this figure takes, the whole slaughterhouse seems to tremble, with even the hanging dead pigs swaying.

The Butcher’s face promptly grows grave as he beholds this figure.

He understands that the figure before him is unquestionably a dangerous adversary.

“Earth War God?”

Upon discerning the opponent’s white battle uniform, the Butcher murmurs with a furrowed brow.

With a calm yet weighty aura, only the War King Black Turtle and the Earth War God exist within the White War Department.

The Butcher knows he would not feel this magnitude of pressure from Black Turtle’s power, only the Earth War God could exert such force.

This ties into every person’s primary orientation. Like him, others in the Deathz organization specialise in assassination, but the Butcher’s method is direct confrontation, unlike others who use poison, drugs, and a variety of other means.

The Earth War God is similar. Although he is one of the Four Great War Gods, his strength lies in explosive, crushing power that shatters every ploy with pure brute force!

With this thought, the Butcher feels a chill race down his spine.

He’s well aware that he’s no match for the Earth War God. However, as a top-notch assassin, he will not yield easily.

He grips his cleaver tightly, and directly picking up a pig carcass, hurls it towards the Earth War God.

With a thud, the Earth War God effortlessly catches the pig, then counter-throws it at the Butcher.

The Butcher, planning to flee, sees the danger and quickly swings his knife, slicing the flying pig in half with a swoosh.

But by this time, the Earth War God has already reached him.

Hiss!

The Butcher gasps, striking again, aiming his cleaver at the Earth War God at an abrupt angle.

This strike, filled with power, could split open even a steel plate.

However, to the Earth War God, it is as if he hasn’t seen it at all. He directly reaches out, gripping the Butcher’s entire body, hoisting him up with ease.

Despite the Butcher’s considerable weight, in the hands of the Earth War God, he feels as light as a chick.

Crushed under the absolute strength, the Butcher has no time to resist, and is fiercely slammed down, breathless.

The legendary heavy hitter of the Deathz organization, Butcher, merely ends up as a sandbag to the Earth War God, pounded to death.

…

The scene shifts to a bar lit by colourful neon lights in Capital City.

As the Butcher is eliminated by the Earth War God, the leader of the Four Great War Gods, God of Heaven War, too, begins his mission.

His target is a top-level assassin hidden inside this bar, codenamed ‘Shadow’.

According to available data, ‘Shadow’ is powerful enough to rank in the top ten within the Deathz organization, and is among the oldest members, having been part of Deathz since its inception.

At the same time, precisely for this reason, ‘Shadow’s ability to blend in is also among the best in the Deathz organization.

The targets assigned to the Four Great War Gods, ‘Shadow’ is arguably the most concealed.

The only record is that he’s hidden in this bar, but his disguised identity and whether there are other members of the Deathz organization nearby is not on record.

We can say this is the most challenging and dangerous target.

The God of Heaven War arrives at the bar without being in a hurry, nonchalantly coming to the bar counter and ordering a whiskey.

But within a short while, the waiter serves a prepared cocktail instead.

“This cocktail is called ‘Like a Shadow’, prepared personally by our bartender Jack for you. Please enjoy,” says the waiter with a smile.

Like a Shadow?

God of Heaven War glances at the black and white cocktail, a faint smile blooming on his face: “The phrase ‘Like a Shadow’ implies that a shadow always sticks to you, never parting. But there are too many lights here; there is more than one shadow.

I wonder what shadow this refers to, or perhaps, you are ‘Shadow’?”

The God of Heaven War narrows his eyes, his sharp gaze piercing the waiter before him like a dagger.