Meanwhile, on a vast snowy hill, Hermyra and Seraphine were standing there.
Hermyra looked around. "This place… it's flat, there's nowhere to hide or anything. Are you sure about this?"
Seraphine nodded. "You already know my sniper's been destroyed, right? To make it fair, let's fight at close range."
Hermyra bit her lip. She knew the snow sniper had been taken care of by Nic, but from what she knew, the predator faction was very hard to change. They were most likely brainwashed from the start—even if there was a chance to break free, it was difficult.
"I still can't trust you to fight fairly," Hermyra said.
Seraphine tilted her head. "What do you think I'll do?"
Hermyra stared at her sharply. "You must have something… right! Drugs! That weird thing the predator faction always eats that makes them lose control!"
"In fact, I'm the only one in the predator faction who never took that capsule. I've never even touched it," Seraphine said.
Hermyra was clearly shocked and didn't believe it.
"Well, if you don't believe me, that's fine. But one thing's for sure—I really hate the idea of being controlled by anything other than myself."
Hearing that, Hermyra smiled. "Oh yeah? But it looks like you were controlled by Nic to change."
Seraphine fell silent. "Hm… yeah, I guess that's true. He's really different… and terrifying. You're lucky he's on your side."
Hermyra let out a breath. "Alright, that's enough… I'll trust you. Let's fight at close range."
Seraphine nodded, and both of them stepped back a few steps to prepare.
The cold air on the snowy hill grew even more tense. The two women stood facing each other, their breaths forming white mist that quickly faded. Without any signal, Seraphine moved first.
Her steps were light and fast, like a trained sniper repositioning. She closed the distance quickly, her body sliding forward as she threw a straight jab toward Hermyra's face. Hermyra, already ready, raised her left arm and blocked the punch firmly. The clash of their arms echoed loudly in the silent snowfield.
Seraphine didn't give any pause. She spun her body quickly, her elbow shooting sharply toward Hermyra's ribs. Buk! The elbow landed perfectly. Hermyra hissed in pain as her ribs were struck hard. A sharp pain spread to her back, cutting her breath for a moment.
"Not bad," Hermyra muttered while enduring the pain.
She immediately countered with a strong low kick toward Seraphine's calf. Seraphine jumped back just in time, but the tip of Hermyra's shoe still grazed her leg. Hermyra didn't stop. She pushed forward, unleashing a barrage of punches—straight, hook, uppercut. Seraphine dodged and blocked with efficient, military-like movements. Every move was precise, minimal, and deadly.
Moments later, Seraphine found an opening. She grabbed Hermyra's wrist, twisted it hard while pulling her forward. In one swift motion, she slammed her right elbow down onto Hermyra's back. Krak! Hermyra's body lurched forward, nearly falling. A deep pain spread through her spine.
Hermyra gritted her teeth, using the momentum of her fall to twist her body and drive her elbow upward into Seraphine's stomach. Seraphine staggered back a few steps, her hand immediately clutching her abdomen. Her breath was cut off for a moment.
They both stepped back briefly, watching each other as their breathing grew heavier. The snow beneath their feet was already a mess.
"You're really not holding back," Hermyra said while rubbing her aching ribs.
Seraphine gave a faint smile. "You're tougher than I thought, Ermine."
Seraphine attacked again. This time, she used a more aggressive combination—high kick followed by a side punch. Hermyra blocked the kick with both hands, but Seraphine's side punch landed clean on her cheek. Her head snapped to the side, and she tasted blood at the corner of her lips.
Angered, Hermyra struck back with full force. She grabbed Seraphine's shoulder, pulled her down, and drove her knee upward. Her knee slammed hard into Seraphine's stomach. Seraphine coughed, her body curling. Hermyra didn't give her a chance—she shoved Seraphine until she fell onto the snow.
But Seraphine quickly rolled away. Just as Hermyra tried to pin her down, Seraphine swept Hermyra's leg with her own. Hermyra lost balance and fell. Seraphine immediately climbed on top of her, pressing her knee hard into Hermyra's chest, crushing her ribs like they were about to crack.
"Hhh—!" Hermyra struggled to breathe. The pressure on her chest and ribs made her vision blur.
With the last of her strength, Hermyra thrust her head forward and slammed her forehead into Seraphine's. Buk! Seraphine staggered back. Hermyra instantly took advantage of it, pushing Seraphine aside and getting up quickly. She immediately stomped on Seraphine's ankle that was still on the ground, pressing it hard into the cold snow.
Seraphine grimaced but quickly pulled her leg back and stood up again. Both of them were back on their feet, their bodies now covered in snow and bruises.
The fight continued at an even faster pace. Seraphine used her speed and precision as a sniper to launch sudden, hard-to-read attacks. Hermyra relied on her strength and durability as part of the Defense faction to absorb attacks and return heavy blows.
At one point, Seraphine managed to lock Hermyra's arm from behind and forced it upward until it was almost broken. Hermyra screamed in pain, but she managed to reverse the position by throwing her body backward, slamming Seraphine into the snow again.
They rolled across the white snow, both trying to dominate. Their breathing had turned ragged, sweat mixing with the melting snow on their skin. Now and then, loud impacts, pained hisses, and restrained groans could be heard as ribs were pressed or feet were stomped.
After nearly ten minutes of nonstop fighting, they stepped back again, standing with unsteady bodies. Hermyra held her left ribs, which hurt badly, while Seraphine wiped her bruised forehead and the ankle that had been stepped on earlier.
They looked at each other, their eyes now filled with a newly formed respect.
"Still want to continue?" Hermyra asked with a faint smile despite her heavy breathing.
Seraphine wiped the blood at the corner of her lips. "Of course… until one of us can't stand anymore."
But just as they were about to continue, a crow appeared and screamed at them.
"KRAKKKKHH KRAKKKKHH!!" the crow cried.
Hermyra and Seraphine were startled and looked at it.
"A crow? Isn't that Nic?" Seraphine said.
Hermyra nodded. "That's right… are we being told to stop?"
Then something appeared from afar. Its silhouette became clearer as it approached—it was Nic.
"Huh… Nic? Why are you here?" Hermyra said.
"I'm done with my business," Nic said casually.
Seraphine frowned. "Your business…? What was it?"
Nic smiled and said they didn't need to know. "What matters is, stop fighting and come with me."
In the end, they stopped and followed Nic, not knowing where he was taking them.
Nic looked at Noctis, his crow, who finally perched on his shoulder like usual after wandering around for so long.
Nic activated God of Animal to talk to Noctis. "Haha, sorry. The moment you came back, I immediately told you to stop them."
"KRAKKKKHH, it's no problem, Master Nic."
"So, what did you find?" Nic asked.
Noctis explained that while flying around the high-class area, everything looked normal. There were mostly tourists, the cities looked peaceful, nothing suspicious.
But with his sharp eyes, Noctis wouldn't miss even the smallest detail. He found someone suspicious and marked them—and sure enough, that person kept disappearing suddenly.
"Looks like it's clear… they're hiding everything not above, but underground. I'm sure there's a huge space down there—it's the nest of those bastards," Nic thought.
Seraphine, who heard that, nodded.
"That's right. Their main base is underground. It's even like a second Northern region—what's above is just the surface," Seraphine explained.
"Alright, got it. Now Noctis, what did you see on your way back?" Nic asked again.
"KRAKKKKHH, I passed over the sea, Master Nic, and I saw two orca whales chasing someone."
"Orca whales? Seriously, actual orcas?" Nic said.
Seraphine answered, "Looks like those are the orcas owned by that predator, Cold Orca. That crazy guy really keeps real orcas…"
Hermyra grew worried. "Wait… who are they chasing??"
"Relax, you just have to trust them," Nic said.
Then they headed toward the place Nic was aiming for—the highest snowy mountain.
To be continued...