Chapter 77: The Battle He Cannot Win

The city below stretched endlessly, its neon glow flickering in the dark, its pulse steady, alive, moving in a rhythm Kian had long since mastered. He had shaped this city, bent it to his will, carved his name into the very foundation of its power. Everything that mattered, everything that was worth controlling, was his. And yet, standing here, staring out at the empire he had built, he felt the weight of it pressing down on him in a way it never had before. Because for the first time in years, he wasn't looking at the city like a battlefield. He wasn't mapping out his next move, wasn't calculating the next war, wasn't hunting for the next enemy. He was just… standing. Watching. Waiting. And it wasn't the city that held his attention. It was the presence behind him. Adrian.