Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 22: Son’s wail(1)

The Tower of Heaven.An ancient, towering enigma said to grant any wish, unveil any secret, and provide anyone who enters its floors a path to Godhood; it stands as a beacon of both hope and despair.For untold centuries, its immense power has drawn countless seekers, yet none have ever emerged from its depths.This Tower is engraved in the world’s myths as the meeting place of mortals and Gods, a realm where anything was possible. It is a monument to mystery and the pursuit of glory.However, for one man, it represents the last chance for redemption and the key to unraveling his tumultuous past.The Heavenly Emperor, a great ruler from an era long forgotten. was betrayed by those he trusted and died with a heart full of regret and a thirst for vengeance.Only, the end of his life was not the end of his story. Reborn into a new world, he finds himself drawn to the Tower of Heaven, driven by the desire to understand his reincarnation and to reclaim his lost honor.The path ahead is filled with unforeseen twists and hidden depths. Unbeknownst to him, his destiny is interwoven with forces and secrets far beyond his wildest dreams.The advent of the former Heavenly Emperor begins here.And with each step he takes, the Heavens themselves quake in anticipation.

Bought it right away.

Lucy Gray was a tech genius—until a stranger smiled, pulled the trigger, and ended his life.But death wasn’t the end. It was a recruitment.Dragged before a pantheon of ancient gods, Lucy learns his soul has been drafted into the Holy War—an eternal bloodbath in which Gods fight across shattered realms. Out of thousands, he was soul #4,000, chosen by Seraphine, the Goddess of Rebirth and Suffering.Now reborn in a dying world of Ogres, Giants, Beastkin, Dragonkin, and Elves, Lucy is a human among legends—a species exiled and nearly forgotten, for reasons that make him hated.Armed with nothing but defiance, sarcasm, and a bizarre ability to steal and master the powers of others, Lucy has one job: survive the impossible.The gods wanted a pawn.They got the wrong dead man.

When an S-class elite assassin-raised captain of a special ops suicide squad comes home from a high-stakes Africa mission, he finds himself offered something that could potentially set him up for life- a curious assignment that he could use to finally exit his days of war and slaughter.