The night was alive with chaos. Rain slicked streets reflected neon lights like shattered glass. Ethan Cross stood atop the balcony of his newly acquired skyscraper in Seoul, the city sprawling endlessly beneath him. His aura radiated like a storm; even from this height, the criminals and corporate snakes scuttling below felt it. Fear. Respect. Death.
Tonight, Carter will learn what it means to cross me.
Inside Cross Holdings' penthouse, Hana Seo was pacing, her expression a mix of worry and awe. Ethan's calm, unnerving presence filled the room like a living shadow.
"Ethan… this isn't just business anymore," Hana said softly, almost pleading. "They won't stop. Michael Carter… he's going to retaliate."
Ethan's eyes, sharp and icy, scanned the horizon. "Let him try. Every move he makes, I've already foreseen. Every ally he trusts will crumble under my hand."
A sinister grin curved his lips. "Money is no longer enough. Influence, power, fear… I will take everything they hold dear. And I will leave them nothing but ashes."
Just then, a message buzzed on his encrypted phone. Carter had dared to send a warning:
"You think you've won? Tomorrow, your empire dies in flames."
Ethan's laughter was quiet but lethal. "Tomorrow? No… tomorrow is mine. Tonight, the game begins."
He turned to the shadowy figures waiting in the room—loyal enforcers, silent assassins, each trained to perfection. "Move."
By midnight, Carter's luxury high-rise was under siege. Not with guns alone, but with a carefully orchestrated network of financial sabotage, mercenary precision, and psychological terror. Stock data, personal secrets, hidden scandals—all weaponized.
Explosions shattered the night. Smoke curled around the streets like venom. Carter's men fell, some screaming, others frozen in sheer terror at Ethan's presence. His aura struck them before bullets or blades ever did—a paralyzing, suffocating weight of inevitability.
Carter himself cowered in his office, drenched in blood, humiliated. Ethan entered without knocking. Calm, poised, dripping rainwater from his suit.
"You," Ethan said softly, his voice a blade. "You took everything from me. Tonight, I take everything from you."
Carter trembled. "E-Ethan… please—"
The words choked off in a scream as Ethan's enforcers dragged him out, showing him the full might of someone who had mastered wealth, fear, and blood alike.
When it was over, Ethan stepped back onto the balcony. The city lay before him, chaos tempered by his control. Hana approached silently.
"They'll never challenge you again," she whispered, awe-struck.
Ethan's gaze pierced the storm. "No… not yet. This is only the beginning. Wealth buys power, power buys fear, and fear… fear ensures loyalty. And soon, every man, woman, and empire that dares oppose me will kneel—or die."
As lightning split the sky, Ethan's aura flared, visible even to those who had no business seeing it. It was the aura of a predator who had been reborn, sharpened by betrayal and blood, unstoppable, merciless, and terrifyingly brilliant.
And somewhere deep in the shadows, the world began to whisper his name: The Crimson Monarch.