THE RISE OF THE FORGOTTEN
Doctor Kellan's fingers hovered nervously above the power switch, torn between fear and duty. But then Damien's voice ripped through the air like thunder, raw and commanding.
"Don't stop!" he roared, veins bulging beneath his skin as streams of hot tears poured from his eyes. "I want it all—I want everything back!"
The memory boot surged to 100%. And in that instant, Damien's body convulsed—then snapped. The reinforced restraints cracked beneath the sheer force of his regained strength. Sparks burst from every socket as the room plunged into darkness, only to light up seconds later.
Jade Blake stood frozen, a smile tugging at her lips—one of awe, one of reverence. He's back, she thought. The man she had once followed into battle. The Sovereign Commander of the Azure Syndicate.
"Lord Damien, are you alright?" she asked cautiously, voice trembling with emotion.
He didn't answer. Still panting, he collapsed to his knees, bracing himself with his palms on the cold floor. Jade rushed toward him, but he raised a trembling hand. Stop.
"I remember..." he murmured, a storm building in his eyes. "I remember who I am."
Suddenly, he rose.
"I am Damien Blackwood. Sovereign Commander of the Azure Syndicate. Warlord of this nation!"
The force in his voice made the walls seem to vibrate, the air heavy with raw, uncontainable power. Even Jade and Kellan—both highly ranked cultivators—had to shield their ears, their auras disrupted by the sheer intensity of his resurgence. A mortal would've dropped dead on the spot.
Jade's eyes welled up as she whispered to herself, "He's truly returned."
After his awakening, Damien was moved to a restricted recovery suite. There, Doctor Kellan stood alongside four of the globe's most formidable healers—masters of science and ancient art—preparing to undo the destruction wrought upon the warlord's body.
Moments before the procedure began, Jade entered.
"My Lord," she said with a bow.
Damien returned the gesture with a nod, eyes distant but aware.
Jade's voice grew colder, her rage barely contained. "Give the order, and I'll drag the Langford into the abyss myself. Let me hurl their souls into eternal torment."
Her fury scorched the air. To her, his suffering was her failure. Damien had given her everything—wisdom, purpose, strength—and yet she hadn't been there when he was reduced to nothing. To have laid a single finger on the Sovereign Commander was death-worthy. To beat him, disgrace him, break him? Unforgivable.
She had already planned the slaughter in her mind. But Damien's voice cut through her vengeance.
"No," he said flatly. "The Langford belong to me. I'll deal with them myself. Death would be mercy. I intend to deliver pain."
His hand clenched into a brutal fist, his knuckles whitening, his bones creaking under the weight of his fury. He welcomed the ache—it grounded him in his thirst for revenge.
Jade hesitated, then nodded. "As you wish."
Her voice dropped again, quieter, heavier. "There's more... news."
Damien's heart skipped. He didn't need her to say it. He already knew.
"My mother…"
Jade's silence was enough. Her tear-filled eyes shattered the last thread of his restraint.
The rage that consumed him was no longer just fire—it was a tempest. It surged through his body like a tidal wave, twisting grief into fury. The walls of the room seemed to draw back, as if even the world feared what he had become.
"I'll burn them all," he said, voice low, seething. "Every last one of them."
"How long until I'm battle-ready, Doctor Kellan?" Damien asked.
Kellan straightened. "Difficult to say, Sovereign Commander. Your spinal nerves are nearly obliterated. But with your accelerated healing, combined with our synthesis of ancient remedies and modern biotechnology—we estimate eight months."
Damien nodded, eyes sharp. "Then waste no time. Begin."
He lost consciousness shortly after, but his mind remained restless—churning with vengeance.
They had laughed at him. Mocked him. Dragged him through the dirt and tossed him away like garbage. Oakbridge had torn him apart limb by limb, all while his mother lay helpless, ignored, abandoned by a system he once served.
But now the shadows whispered a new truth:
Damien Blackwood was no longer lost.
He was reborn.
Doctor Kellan—renowned across the Azure Syndicate—coordinated with legendary healers from four continents. Together, they formed a treatment powerful enough to rebuild nerves that had once been considered beyond repair. And it was working.
Each week, his strength returned.
Each day, his hatred grew.
Gone was the Damien Ashwood the world mocked. Gone was the disposable son-in-law of the Langford clan.
What remained… was the Sovereign Commander.
And he had a city to level.
Those who laughed while he bled, who raised hands against him and spit on his name, would scream before he was done.
Oakbridge would not survive him.
Soon, he would rise.
And when he did...
HE WOULD RAZE THE CITY TO ASHES.
His vengeance had only just begun.