Chapter 76: The War That Never Ends

The city outside stretched endlessly, a kingdom built on power, control, and the bodies of men who had once thought they could stand at the top, but Kian Vale had erased them all, had carved his way through every enemy with ruthless precision until there was no one left to challenge him. And yet, as he stood in his penthouse, whiskey in hand, staring out at the empire that was now his alone, he felt it again—the hunger, the quiet, gnawing need for something more, something that war had always given him, something that power alone could never satisfy. He had thought that once he had it all, once Mercer was nothing but a forgotten name, once Foster had crumbled, once Nathan Hale had disappeared, once Lucian Voss had learned what it meant to go against him, he would finally feel full. But he wasn't. He had eliminated every threat, secured every inch of his control, and yet, it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. Because war was the only thing that had ever made him feel alive.