Chapter 48
The Last War
The night after Victor makes his vow, the Blackwood mansion does not sleep.
Every corridor remains illuminated, every entrance is guarded, and every man inside knows that whatever happens next cannot be undone.
The meeting room stays occupied until the early hours of the morning as Victor, Lucius, Kai, Kael, Teajun, and Alex study the map spread across the table.
Three locations are marked in red—the port, the warehouse district, and the casino.
Alessio is not hiding anymore. He is moving everything he has left into the city, and he is doing it openly, daring them to cross the threshold.
Kai sits behind three screens, tracking vehicles, phone signals, and movement patterns across New York while Alex studies the financial routes that connect the three locations.
Kael checks his weapons without saying a word, the slide of his firearm clicking cleanly in the quiet room.
Teajun stands near the window, watching the darkness outside, his silhouette rigid against the glass.
Victor remains at the centre of the room, directing everything with cold, clinical precision. "He wants us to chase him," Alex says, leaning over the table.
Victor shakes his head, his eyes fixed on the ink markers. "No. He wants us to believe we're chasing him."
Lucius looks at the map, his jaw tight. "Then what is he doing?"
Victor places his finger over the port. "He's drawing us here."
Kai suddenly looks up from his screen, the blue light reflecting sharply in his eyes. "He's already moving."
Everyone turns towards him in absolute silence. "How many?" Victor asks.
Kai's fingers move faster across the keyboard. "More than two hundred men across three locations. Vehicles are leaving the southern district now."
Lucius's eyes harden into ice. "Then we're done waiting."
Victor looks around the room, ensuring his gaze locks onto every man present. "Everyone moves together. Nobody breaks formation unless I order it. We protect the team first."
Lucius picks up his weapon from the desk, his expression lethal. "And Alessio?"
Victor meets his eyes. "You'll get him."
The first explosion comes before they even reach the port.
It lights up the night sky behind the buildings in a violent flash of orange, followed almost immediately by another deafening blast.
Black vehicles race through the streets as Victor leads the convoy towards the waterfront, the engines roaring against the quiet city.
By the time they arrive, the port is already burning.
Containers are scattered across the loading yard, several vehicles are overturned, and Alessio's men are firing from almost every direction, the muzzle flashes cutting through the thick smoke.
Victor steps out first and immediately raises his weapon, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Positions!"
Lucius moves towards the centre without hesitation.
Teajun takes the front line, his movements fluid and aggressive.
Kael moves to the right, finding cover behind a concrete barrier.
Kai and Alex take the left, advancing through the shadows.
Victor remains slightly behind them, watching the entire battlefield unfold rather than focusing on a single target, his mind calculating every variable.
"Kai, eastern containers!" he orders over the commas.
Kai ducks as a spray of bullets tears through the vehicle behind him, shattering the glass.
"Already there!" He runs towards the rusted steel, pulls his weapon, and fires at two men approaching from between the containers.
One falls instantly. The second disappears behind a truck.
Kai follows him, but the man suddenly jumps out from the dark and attacks at close range.
Kai blocks the incoming punch, drives his elbow hard into the man's jaw, and then fires at another attacker coming from behind.
"You know," Kai mutters, reloading his magazine behind a shipping container, "I really preferred the hacking part."
Through his earpiece, Kael answers, "Then stop stealing my job."
Kael is already fighting three men near a container, his breathing ragged but controlled.
He catches one by the wrist, twists his arm cleanly behind his back, and slams him against the steel wall before turning towards the next attacker.
A knife flashes in the dim light. Kael catches the man's hand before the blade reaches his throat, drives his knee brutally into his stomach, and throws him onto the ground. "You were saying?"
Kai replies flatly, "Nothing."
The port becomes a deadly maze of gunfire and bodies.
Teajun pushes directly through the front line, never stopping long enough for the enemy to surround him, his medical precision translating into lethal efficiency.
He fires, moves, reloads, and fires again, using the heavy containers as temporary cover before advancing towards the next position.
Alex stays beside him, surprisingly comfortable in the middle of the violence despite spending most of his life dealing with legal documents, financial structures, and courtrooms rather than battlefields.
A man charges towards him with a knife. Alex sidesteps the rush, catches his arm, and drives him against a vehicle before stripping the weapon from his grip.
Another attacker raises a gun from the side.
Teajun shoots him dead before Alex even turns his head.
Alex looks at him, catching his breath. "I had that."
Teajun reloads his sidearm without breaking stride. "You were busy."
"I was handling it."
"You were getting stabbed."
Alex glances at the knife in his hand. "Technicality." Teajun almost smiles before another burst of heavy gunfire forces them apart into separate cover.
Victor watches them from across the battlefield, his eyes scanning the layout. "Teajun, three men behind you." Teajun turns instantly and fires. "Got them."
"Kael, move two metres right." Kael follows the order without question just as a burst of bullets tears through the exact place where he was standing a second ago. "Nice call." Victor doesn't answer; his eyes are already elsewhere.
He sees a black SUV cutting through the port, kicking up dirt as it moves directly towards Lucius. "Lucius, move!"
Lucius turns just as the vehicle crashes through a metal barrier. He dives aside as the SUV tears past him, the tyres screeching. Its rear doors open, and four armed men jump out onto the asphalt. Lucius doesn't retreat. He charges them.
The first man fires. Lucius moves sideways and the bullet miss by inches, clipping his coat.
He closes the distance before the man can fire again, grabs his wrist, and drives his fist straight into his face.
The weapon drops. Another man attacks from behind, but Lucius turns, catches the punch, and slams him brutally against the side of the vehicle.
The third comes at him with a knife. Lucius steps backwards, catches the man's arm, and twists until the blade falls before striking him hard enough to send him crashing to the ground.
The fourth man raises his gun, aiming directly at Lucius’s chest. A shot cracks through the air. The man drops instantly, a pool of blood spreading beneath him. Lucius looks over his shoulder.
Victor lowers his smoking weapon from the upper platform. "You're welcome."
Lucius gives him a brief, grim nod before looking towards the far end of the port. Something is wrong. Alessio's men are not fighting to win; they are fighting to slow them down, sacrificing bodies just to hold the line. "Victor."
Victor follows his gaze, his eyes narrowing. "I see it."
Kai's voice comes through the communication system, sharp and urgent. "Guys, we have movement leaving the port."
Victor's expression hardens. "How many?"
"Twenty vehicles."
Alex looks towards him from his cover. "They're retreating."
Victor shakes his head, his voice cold. "They're relocating."
Kai checks the tracking signals on his device, his face changing. "Warehouse district."
Lucius immediately starts moving towards the cars. "Then we follow."
Victor catches his arm, his grip firm. "Together." Lucius looks at him for a second, then nods, falling back into formation.
The second battlefield is waiting for them.
The warehouse district is darker, narrower, and far more dangerous than the open spaces of the port.
Huge industrial buildings rise like giants on both sides of the road, their broken windows reflecting the orange glow of fires burning somewhere inside the concrete structures.
Alessio's men have prepared the area carefully, setting the trap.
The moment the Blackwood vehicles enter the narrow alley, the heavy iron gates slams shut behind them with a loud crash. Gunfire erupts from the rooftops, rain-like bullets pouring down. Victor shouts, "DOWN!"
Everyone drops, dragging themselves against the asphalt as bullets rip across the vehicles, tearing through the metal frames. Kai rolls behind a concrete barrier while Alex drags himself behind the same cover, his breath ragged. Teajun fires blindly towards the rooftop. "They're everywhere!"
Kael answers from the opposite side, his voice a growl. "Then stop counting!" He rushes forward before anyone can stop him, moving like a shadow against the walls.
Two men come running down from a metal staircase.
Kael meets them halfway up. The first punch catches him across the cheek, drawing blood, but he barely reacts to the pain.
He grabs the man's jacket, drives his forehead hard into his face, and throws him down the stairs.
The second man attacks with a pipe. Kael blocks the swing and slams him into the rusted railing.
"Bad idea," he mutters, before sending him over the side to the concrete below.
Below, Kai is firing towards the upper windows while simultaneously working on his tablet, his thumbs flying over the screen. Alex looks at him in complete disbelief. "You're doing both?"
Kai doesn't look away from the glowing screen. "I told you. I multitask."
"What are you hacking?"
"The building."
A second later, the warehouse lights suddenly switch off with a heavy click. Complete darkness swallows the district, plunging the battlefield into a shadow play. Kai smiles in the dark. "Now they can't see us."