Kain's face hardened at her proposal. A flash of humiliated anger crossed his eyes. He stood up abruptly, his tall frame casting a large shadow over the fire.
"No," he said coldly. He turned his back on her and walked to the darkest, coldest corner of the cave, sitting down with his arms crossed. He was rejecting her, both the deal and her.
Angel wasn't discouraged. She knew years of discrimination couldn't be erased in one night. She quietly wrapped up the leftover bear meat and saved it.
For the next three days, the blizzard raged on. Every morning before dawn, Kain would go out to hunt. He always brought back enough food, but every time he returned, he had new wounds. He stubbornly refused Angel's offers to treat him with Fox-Fire, choosing instead to lick his wounds alone in the corner.
Angel watched him silently. The system kept warning her that Kain's energy was draining rapidly due to overexertion and the cold.
On the evening of the fourth day, Kain was late. Hours passed. Then, they heard staggering footsteps at the entrance. Kain collapsed face-first onto the cave floor.
Angel gasped and ran over. A massive, gaping wound pierced through his abdomen. Blood was already pooling on the stone.
She struggled to drag him closer to the fire. The system immediately flashed a critical red alert: [Target vitality below 10%. Imminent death. ]
Angel pressed both hands over the fatal wound, pumping every ounce of Fox-Fire she had into his body to stop the bleeding. Sweat poured down her face.
As she cleaned the wound, her fingers brushed against a strange, hard lump near his spine.
Even in his deep coma, Kain let out a muffled groan of agony, his body convulsing violently.
Angel immediately commanded the system to scan the area. A detailed holographic image of his skeleton and genetic structure appeared.
[Report: Old toxin fragment embedded near spinal nerve. This fragment is suppressing the expression of the Jörmungandr Geneline. ]
Angel's breath hitched. Kain wasn't a natural defect. He had been sabotaged as a child. Someone had deliberately planted this thing to ruin him.
[Treatment Plan: Host must establish a deep Consort-Pact with the target. The energy resonance from the pact is required to extract the toxin. ]
Angel looked at Kain's pale, dying face. They were out of time. If she didn't act now, he would be dead before morning.
She took a deep breath and bit the tip of her tongue. Using her own blood, she drew an ancient pact rune on her palm.
She straddled Kain's body, pressing the bloody palm firmly against his cold heart. She closed her eyes and commanded the system to initiate the Consort-Pact.
A massive surge of energy exploded from within her. The temperature in the cave skyrocketed. Behind Angel, the faint, majestic silhouette of a giant nine-tailed fox flickered into existence.
Kain's heart gave a violent thump. His subconscious felt the powerful pull of her soul, and his body instinctively began to respond.
Two distinct energies-one hot, one cold-intertwined in the air, merging into a blinding red light that shot into both of their foreheads.
Angel felt a cold, unbreakable chain settle deep in her soul. The pact was formed.
Using the resonance of the pact, she guided her Fox-Fire into a fine needle, piercing directly into Kain's spine and wrapping around the toxin fragment.
The intense pain made Kain's eyes fly open. His vertical pupils were filled with berserk killing intent. His hand shot up and grabbed Angel by the throat.
Angel choked, fighting against the suffocating grip. She grabbed his shoulders with both hands, screaming in his mind, "Stay awake! Don't fight it!"
Through the pact, Kain felt her panic and her desperate desire to save him. The madness in his eyes slowly faded, and his grip loosened.
With a final, agonized roar from Kain, Angel yanked her hand back. A black, foul-smelling toxin fragment was pulled from his body. Dark blood spurted from the wound.
