“Aline, can you hear me?... Can you hear me?... Shhh Answer, Aline, if you can hear... Shhhhh No answer. Rebecca, I'm counting on you. Louise, find Aline and bring her to Daira.”

Aline lay inert on the ground, her body almost completely frozen. The only point of warmth came from her hands, where the gauntlets slowly dissipated the accumulated energy, emanating a heat that fought against the ice that formed around her.

She heard everything through the communicator, but the voices sounded distant, distorted, as if they were being whispered through a dense fog. Her mind wavered between consciousness and emptiness.

GrrGrrrrGrrrr...

The Aligodon's guttural sound echoed across the frozen landscape, blending into the oppressive silence. Her panting breath betrayed her fatigue, but that did not mean weakness.

He had burned some of his energy to release the attack, but level 4 beasts were no ordinary creatures. His body would begin to recover in minutes, regenerating the damage and restoring his strength as if nothing had happened.

The knife at his throat? Swallowed.

The blade stuck in his back? Reduced to dust.

He remained there, intact, sniffing the air, his eyes scanning the environment in search of the prey that dared to challenge his existence. It was not difficult to find it.

The residual heat from the gauntlets melted the snow around Aline's body, creating a small area of contrast in the vast white desert.

Clack Clack

The teeth clashed loudly, referencing an early taste of the meal. He knew the hunt was over.

Unhurriedly, he began to walk towards her.

Aline was defenseless, in fact, she had no idea of her own state and was barely conscious…

"HEEEEYYYY!"

Fortunately, just as the Aligodon began to move towards Aline, something caught its attention.

Louise's voice cut through the freezing air like a cry of defiance. She emerged from the edge of the devastated forest and shot off at full speed, her figure cutting through the snow as she ran with her longsword unsheathed, the steel glinting in the cold light.

Her speed was nowhere near comparable to Aline's, but that hardly mattered. She aimed directly at the beast's snout, seeking to pierce an eye or at least force it to retreat.

The Aligodon, with its eyes fixed on its previous prey, suddenly turned at the cry, its reptilian eyes fixated on the new threat. An intruder. An annoying prey that dared to get in its way. Its predatory instinct made it stop and prepare for a new attack.

It then turned its massive body and, with a guttural roar, advanced with surprising speed, muscles rippling beneath its scaly skin.

Louise managed to attract its attention, but had to brake abruptly when the beast's jaws opened and lunged at her in a swift, deadly strike. She halted her advance and leapt to the side, her feet sliding on the ice of the frozen forest as the Aligodon's bite grazed her, the air cut by the impact of its teeth.

However, what the Aligodon did not notice was a shadow that moved silently through its blind spot. On the other side, through the edge of its field of vision, Rebecca was already approaching silently, using the creature's blind spot to her advantage.

With a powerful leap and relatively high for a robust Parahuman like her, Rebecca launched herself at the Aligodon. Her muscles tensed with the force of the movement, and she used the impact of her body to plant her enormous shield with devastating force against the joint of the beast's left hind leg.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The sound of the impact was dull, but the pain was immediate for the creature.

Grrrrrhhhh!

Even a rock cracks with a strong blow in the right place. And fortunately, there are some places that are much more fragile than others.

The roar of pain reverberated across the snowy plain. The force of the blow slightly dislocated the beast's joint, which contorted violently, whipping the air with its massive body. The surrounding snow was thrown in all directions, creating a momentary white storm.

Desperate to free itself from the attacker on its back, the Aligodon began to struggle frantically, shaking from side to side, like a force of nature out of control.

Rebecca landed with a hard impact, her boot sinking into the frozen ground as she pushed herself away from the Aligodon. Her hands were a little numb from the recoil of the blow with the shield, but there was no time for rest.

She stepped back and began circling the beast, her gaze sweeping the chaotic, snow-white field, searching for Louise. As soon as she found her, her voice boomed in an urgent command:

“Go! I’ll hold him off!”

Without waiting for a response, Rebecca lunged forward again, muscles tensed, shield raised like a battering ram. A precise leap, and then—

CRACK!

The impact resounded like a muffled thunder as the shield met the Aligodon's reinforced skull. But the creature did not retreat. It merely turned its face slowly, as if irritated by a fly that dared to challenge it.

However, this blow was enough to shake the creature out of its previous lethargic state. The beast forgot the pain and, with a hungry look, directed all its fury at Rebecca.

"That's it, now it's me and you, baby..."

As if it had understood, the Aligodon advanced on her, and she spun on her heels and threw herself to the side, escaping a voracious bite that made the air whistle beside her, its jaws closing millimeters from her leg.

Rebecca did not have time to recover before the creature's brutal claws reached her.

She was by far the slowest of the three... But she was not defenseless. To protect herself, she planted her shield in the ground and knelt down. Clink Thud

The blow hit the shield hard, forcing Rebecca to her limit to resist the impact. Fortunately, she managed to do so, she withstood the attack, surprising even the Aligodon, who stood still, not understanding what had happened…

But that didn't last. Because soon the Aligodon resumed its attack and launched a bite at Rebecca, who was forced to abandon her post and run away.

With the opening created by Rebecca, Louise rushed towards Aline, sliding on her knees on the snow next to her companion's inert body. Her heart hammered in her chest as her eyes quickly analyzed the scene.

"Damn... He was right..."

Her whisper escaped between clenched teeth. With light fingers, she pressed two fingers against Aline's neck, feeling the weak but present pulse. Relief and urgency mixed in her chest.

She grabbed Aline's shoulder and turned her face, revealing her pale expression and her eyelashes covered in fine particles of ice. But her eyes were half-open. She was conscious.

"That cocktail really works wonders... Haha..."

The short laugh came out more like a sigh. Without wasting any more time, Louise straightened her posture, slipped an arm under Aline's legs and lifted her in a single movement, throwing her over her shoulders.

The beast behind them roared, the sound vibrating in the air like muffled thunder. Rebecca was still keeping him busy—but for how long?

"Come on, passengers, board the Louise Express! Immediate departure to 'anywhere away from this shit'!"

Louise planted her feet, kicked off, and sprinted toward Gregory and company’s location, her rapid breath condensing in the biting cold. Her boots kicked up the snow as she ran, each step a challenge against the extra weight and the adrenaline pounding through her veins. Time was running out, and Rebecca needed help.

___________________________

At the top of the imposing wall, Gregory was immersed in a technology island, surrounded by a series of monitors whose screens pulsed with real-time images of Rebecca’s fight with the Aligodon, every angle captured with precision.

The room around him was completely silent, but the tension was palpable, hanging in the air as his fingers slid quickly across the keyboard, analyzing data with an almost obsessive concentration. His gaze, fixed, never wavering for a second.

“Any reaction there, Miles?” Gregory's voice cut through the silence, his tone grave and measured, while his eyes never left the screen, absorbing every detail of the combat.

The answer came, calm and serious, over the radio. "Nothing... The cubs are still huddled at the edge of the lake, with no sign of movement from the main target. Everything is proceeding as planned."

Gregory did not seem satisfied and frowned with a bit of doubt and uneasiness, but he maintained his composure. He took a deep breath, almost as if absorbing the tension that was building. "Very well... The third phase of the plan begins in 5 minutes. Prepare to act. Any changes, any movement, notify me immediately. I do not want any surprises."

"Understood." Nathan’s voice was firm, but there was a slight tension present, as if he also felt the weight of expectation that came with the order.

Gregory stood up with a quick movement, the slight tension in his shoulders reflecting the urgency that enveloped him. His footsteps echoed in a calculated manner as he turned to face the three Hounds on Standby.

They were prepared, but Gregory knew that for everything to go well, nothing could get out of hand. The tension in the air increased with each passing second.