The very atmosphere froze for a second as both father and son gazed at each other. In truth, Leo had long awakened since the doctor tried to draw blood from him; he was just too terrified to alert both Nox and the doctor, which was one of the reasons he didn't use his internal sight.
He was trying to play it safe by waiting for a chance to use the doctor as a hostage to facilitate his escape. Just as he was busy silently preparing himself, he felt a subtle shift in the atmosphere, and a chill ran down his spine.
He knew a much more powerful expert had arrived, banishing any route of escape left for him. This caused a shift of emotions in Leo, as his fear transited into despair, and his despair transited into anger.
Was he going to let it happen again? Was he going to let someone just take him and do God knows what with him one more time?, The answer was a resounding "No!" Finally, Leo had bypassed his fear, and he had finally regained his courage. Steeling himself, he opened his eyes and stared at the Sovereign who stood before him.
But, unfortunately, as Leo opened his eyes, his sight clashed with the Sovereign. Actually, Leo thought he knew fear, but despite all his clashes with various predators, he had never come across one like the Sovereign of Storms. Looking at him, Leo instinctively knew that even a slight thought would be able to send him back to his slumber; this time, he was pretty sure there would be no waking up.
…...
Looking at the boy's eyes, Clifford immediately knew that this was his seed. That aside, he could feel it – his birthmark was resonating with this child. Staring at him, his guilt as a failed father came rushing back. Was this fate? God knows how long he and Sarah had searched for this boy, only to turn up with nothing. In fact, they had long given up hope on the possibility that he was alive.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he had to leave now. He had to inform Sarah first. He turned away from Leo, facing Nox, and instructed, "Take care of him and accommodate him. I will be back." He vanished, leaving his command echoing in the air, and leaving a relieved Leo and two dumbfounded subordinates.
As he moved towards Sarah's location, Clifford's memories from the past came rushing back. In truth, all that happened wasn't all his fault. It all began in the year 2069, when he had just smuggled himself into the UK as an immigrant. Life was quite hard for him; he took a lot of loans from different business tycoons, leaving him in a huge pit of debt. On knowing that he couldn't pay back, he escaped from Scotland, running all the way to England. Here, he started afresh.
After months of struggling, he finally got a job as a bartender. It was here that he met Sarah one wonderful night. Immediately, they got along, and just like that, months went by, and they became a couple. A year passed, and on the day of their anniversary, he closed his shift early. He went to the nearest jewelry store nearby and selected a diamond ring, as he was already planning on taking the next step – he wanted to propose that night, finally sealing the deal with her.
But, unfortunately for him, fate had something else in store. The store owner, where he went to buy the ring, was an info broker for one of his creditors. He had barely gotten outside the store when he was ambushed and taken back to Scotland. He tried everything in his power to escape, but it was all to no avail. On getting to Scotland, it turned out that his debts had multiplied, courtesy of the interest.
The tycoon poisoned him and used him as an assassin. Every day, after each job, he would be given a temporary antidote. Little by little, he worked off his debt. Finally, after working for nineteen years, he finally managed to pay off his debt, earning the antidote he needed. He went back to England, in search of Sarah, only to meet her in a coma. He conducted an investigation on what put her in that state, and the revelation was shocking.
It turned out that he had left her with a child; she had searched for him, only to be continuously disappointed. But she refused to believe that he ran away, so she patiently waited for his arrival. However, she was disappointed, and finally, her due date came. She gave birth, but because of her heart illness, she couldn't last long after the delivery, as she slipped into a coma. The doctors, unable to get information on her relatives or the baby's father, transferred the child into an orphanage.
When he got this information, he quickly made his way to the orphanage, only to find out that seventeen children had been abducted three years ago, and his son was in the list of the abducted.
This information broke him, and as though adding salt to his injury, he was diagnosed with cancer, courtesy of the poison he was fed.
All these events weighed on him, and he was about to go commit suicide when he was approached by Kamar Singh, who asked him to volunteer for the Human Genome Project. Having nothing to lose, he accepted, and at least this way, he could achieve something with his death. But fortunately or unfortunately, he survived the augmentations, making him one of humanity's first made gods.
Now, in a position of power, he provided a facility that kept his lover alive till the end of the war. After the war, he hired the best scientists, and they successfully converted her into a made god. Awakening from the coma and receiving the information on all that had happened, Sarah almost went mad with grief. She hated him since that day.
…....
He finally arrived at the heart of the cyber city, Elyria where an awe-inspiring Cyber Tower rose, a colossal structure that pierced the sky, defying the limits of architecture and technology. Bathed in an electric blue glow, the tower's surface shimmered with millions of tiny LEDs, creating a mesmerizing dance of light and shadow that reflected the city's vibrant energy.
The tower's exterior was a masterpiece of futuristic design, with sleek, angular lines and a facade that seamlessly blended glass and metal. Vertical gardens climbed the tower's sides, adding a touch of green to the metallic landscape and symbolizing the city's commitment to sustainability.
Inside, the tower was a hive of activity. State-of-the-art control rooms, brimming with advanced holographic displays and AI-driven interfaces, allowed government officials to monitor and regulate every aspect of the city in real-time. The air hummed with the gentle buzz of technology, as autonomous drones glided silently through the corridors, delivering documents and performing maintenance tasks.
At the summit, the observation deck offered a breathtaking panoramic view of the cyber city below, a sprawling metropolis of neon lights and bustling streets. Here, leaders gathered to make decisions that shaped the future, their discussions guided by the insights gleaned from the tower's vast network of sensors and data streams.
This building was owned by the government, and back then, after leaving him, Sarah had joined the government, hoping to find out what had happened to her son. He stood at mid-air at the very peak of the tower, as he had flown there, and then he subtly released a bit of his presence, which weighed on the atmosphere, distorting it a little.
Barely a second passed, and as though in response to his aura, a very menacing presence subtly appeared. It was as though the surroundings were infected with a hint of red. And then she came into light.
Her eyes, those mesmerizing crimson orbs, hinted at a deep, underlying madness. They burned with an insatiable thirst for battle, a fervent desire to engage in the chaos and fury that only the heat of conflict could provide. There was an intensity in her gaze, an almost palpable hunger for power and dominance that both intrigued and unnerved those who met her eyes.
This sovereign lady, with her stunning beauty and silver hair that subtly reflected a sheen of red, was a force to be reckoned with. Her appearance was a striking blend of elegance and danger, a living contradiction that drew people in even as it warned them to keep their distance.
Her every movement, deliberate and graceful, carried an aura of latent power, as if she could unleash a tempest at a moment's notice. She was not merely a figurehead but a warrior queen, whose madness and love for battle were the driving forces behind her reign.
The battle goddess, Sarah Bennyham, stood in her full glory, her presence commanding attention and inspiring awe.