Elysia started to piece the information together, realization snapping into place like a gear finally engaged.What do we know about the Mist Wolf so far? She ran through it quickly, reassessing every detail as her feet moved, fast thoughts keeping pace with her steps. It's a high-level monster, almost on the same scale as a devil, she thought.
It's classed as a monster only because its intelligence is lower than a devil's, which can reason like a human. Still, the level of consciousness and understanding this creature has shown so far is nothing to scoff at. It knows it can't climb the wall, so why keep using subordinates to attack? Or is it trying to distract from something while it sits back and does whatever it can from a distance?
Elysia paced between two points, back and forth, trying to map the pattern. Varick and Jaxon watched her with puzzled faces, not knowing the calculus inside her head. It can control victims through its voice and eyes.We're protected from the voice thanks to Liora, she reminded herself, and that protection is still holding, meaning it didn't gain perfect control over Liora's mind; the same looks true for Rylan.
She paused, thought hard. We only broke free of the mental hex because it can't hold all five of us at once… or because something else is at play. None of us ever looked directly into its eyes; instead, it achieved the same thing by using its minions. That could explain why its influence is partial. If the hold is partial, then maybe we can break it.
She resumed her pacing, a metronome of strategy, the wolves below pounding the invisible barrier in a chorus of teeth and sparks.And what should I do to break its influence? Should I kill him? she wondered as another wolf lunged at the spot where she'd been walking and smashed against the unseen wall.I should go for the kill, but I still don't know what will happen to Liora and Rylan if I do. Will they be harmed? Is this a gamble I can afford?
Her eyes flicked to the tied forms of Liora and Rylan, hollow gazes, tears tracing steady paths down their cheeks.No. I can't do that, she told herself, the words hard as stone. I can't risk breaking whatever fragile thread remains of their minds. I have to break the influence first, then go for the kill.
She stopped, planted her boots, and fixed her gaze in the direction of the Alpha while the smaller wolves continued their furious, blind assault. The decision hung in the air like a held breath, urgent, inevitable.
"Sergeant Varick, Jaxon," Elysia said firmly, gripping her gun as if bracing for what came next.
"Yes, Captain," they replied in unison, standing ready, their eyes fixed on her as she seemed to prepare for something bold.
"Remember what I told you," she said, her tone sharp, commanding. "No matter what happens, do not look into the eyes of the Alpha male."
She dropped to the ground, lying flat against the cold earth, sliding open the chamber of her rifle and reloading it with a fresh set of bullets, each one coated in a strange, faintly glowing purple liquid.
"Yes, Captain, you did tell us that," Varick replied, a hint of disgust twisting his lips. "And after seeing what getting under that thing's influence does, I'm not too keen on the idea of looking into its eyes ever again."
Elysia's voice came low, steady, yet laced with tension. "Well, Sergeant Varick… I think we're about to do exactly that." She adjusted the scope, the metallic click echoing softly.
"What are you saying, Captain?" Jaxon asked, confusion flooding his face. "Why would we offer ourselves to that monstrosity on a silver platter?"
Varick stayed silent, but his usual laid-back expression had vanished, replaced by grim seriousness and determination.
Elysia's eyes narrowed, glinting beneath the fading light as she surveyed the battlefield. "Did either of you notice that the Alpha is doing nothing? Just sitting there, calm… as if this chaos is nothing more than a passing breeze to him?"
Varick's brows drew together. "Why? Is there a problem with it sitting still?"
"It's not normal," Elysia murmured, her voice laced with quiet tension. Her gaze flickered between the frenzied shapes of the attacking wolves, searching through the haze of dust and blood until her eyes found it, the Alpha. It sat distant and unmoved, its colossal frame still as stone, eyes closed in eerie serenity, like a statue sculpted from the silence of death itself.
"These creatures… they're not natural," she whispered, her words nearly drowned beneath the storm of howls and gunfire. "No one truly knows from where they came, nor what called them into our world. But everyone within the Big Three Houses, the soldiers, even the old generals of the Army, they all cling to one belief. One truth, or what they think is truth."
Her tone dropped lower, her words carrying a haunting rhythm. "They say these monsters are the punishment of the Earth itself, born from the womb of her wrath. That they came because of our sins. That Mother Nature, in her cold fury, has decided to cleanse her own body of the parasites who have done nothing but gnaw at her flesh. This… is her way of wiping the slate clean."
She steadied her rifle once more, looking through the scope, careful, deliberate, ensuring she never met the gaze of the lesser beasts that prowled below. Her finger trembled slightly over the trigger. "There you are…" she breathed. "Wait… what."
This time, her crosshairs aligned not with its feet, but directly upon the Alpha's skull. The creature sat there, motionless, its eyes shut, its breath as slow and measured as a dying god's final sigh. And in that moment, Elysia knew, her suspicion had been right all along.
"Just as I thought…" she exhaled, a whisper carried by the wind.
Before the silence could deepen, Varick's voice crackled through the comm. "Captain, what did you mean by that? By Mother Nature's cruel way?" His tone bore confusion and a hint of unease.
Elysia exhaled again, her breath steady, her eye never leaving the scope. "I mean that everyone within the walls, soldiers, scholars, the Big Three Houses, anyone who's dared to step beyond the boundary, all know the same thing. These creatures didn't simply appear from the void. They descended with purpose: to purge humanity. To strip the world clean of us, the parasites who carry the stench of our own sins."
Varick's hand tightened on the rifle. Jaxon's eyes widened. Elysia didn't pause, she needed them to understand
Her voice hardened, yet there was a strange reverence in it. "To put it simply, the creatures of the unknown can't stand still after laying eyes on us humans. Their purpose isn't driven by hunger or instinct; it's woven into their very blood. They exist to erase us. To unmake what we are."
She paused, her tone softening with quiet solemnity. "And whether that belief holds truth or not… who am I to say? But one thing remains absolute: their hunger for our extinction is real. And no matter their rank, no matter their shape, every last one of them wants us gone. Dead."
Varick's eyes widened slightly. "So when you said it's not normal for the big one to sit back."
"Yes," Elysia interrupted sharply. "That's exactly what I meant. And it knows it can't cross this barrier, yet it keeps sending its minions. Why attack something it knows it can't breach, unless it's doing something else entirely?"
She looked up from the scope, turning her gaze toward Varick and Jaxon. "It's not idle. It's concentrating. Controlling Liora and Rylan's minds takes effort, and somehow, you, I, and Jaxon broke free of its mental hex. That means if we can break its concentration, we can sever the connection."
Jaxon blinked, taken aback. "How did you even come up with that?"
Elysia steadied her breath. "Because mind control isn't something you can do while you are fighting. You need to concentrate on one's mind to influence it. If we disrupt that focus, the link collapses."
Varick's lips curved into a grim smile, realization dawning. "That could work…"
But before he could finish, three wolves lunged forward, crashing into the invisible barrier before them with bone-rattling force. The ground shook. Varick's eyes hardened."But Captain, how the hell are we supposed to break its concentration when all its minions are on top of us?"
Elysia looked at him with cold, unwavering resolve. "Leave that part to me," she said, tightening her grip on the rifle. "You two just need to buy me a few seconds."
Her tone carried no hesitation, only the quiet certainty of someone about to gamble everything.
"And how do we do that?" Jaxon asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Very simple," Elysia replied, her tone sharp but calm. "Prepare your guns, and when I give the signal, look directly into the eyes of the wolves I tell you to."
"What?" Jaxon blinked, disbelief painted across his face. "I still don't understand, Captain. Why are you telling us to look into their eyes? Why would we do that?" His voice rose in frustration, as if unable to grasp the insanity of her command.
"Sure, Captain. Just give the signal," Varick said without hesitation, reloading his gun swiftly. The metallic click of the chamber echoed amid the chaos. He didn't ask why; he simply trusted her.
"What, are you not even going to ask why we're doing this?" Jaxon muttered, exasperated.
"No time to explain, Jaxon. Look at our teammates. If the captain says she can handle that monster, we have no choice but to comply."Varick's voice was low and steady, his face set in a hard, determined line that somehow read the plan before she spoke it. Jaxon opened his mouth once more, hesitation written across him, but Varick cut him off.
"No ifs, ands, or buts. We don't have time. Do what the captain asks."
The firmness in Varick's tone snapped something into place. Jaxon's eyes dropped to Rylan and Liora, bound and still weeping, and the sight steeled him. He pushed the doubt down, loaded a fresh magazine, and readied his weapon, prepared now to follow the order.
Varick's brief nod said everything. Elysia felt the relief spark in her chest—Varick, thank you, she thought, but the moment passed. She refocused, the cold edge of duty returning. There was no room for mistakes. She settled back behind her scope, scanning each lunging wolf with surgical calm.
She steadied her breathing and returned her eye to the sniper scope, watching the battlefield unfold. The wolves moved strategically, weaving in and out of the smoke and dust, forming a barrier of flesh and fur to shield their leader.
"All of them… attacking just to hide him," she whispered. "He's using them as a living wall."
She waited. Every muscle in her body was taut, her finger hovering near the trigger.
"Not yet… wait for it."
Three wolves lunged toward Jaxon's position, claws raking across the invisible barrier. The impact shook the ground. Jaxon clenched his teeth and unloaded an entire magazine into their snarling faces, each bullet tearing through flesh, but the wounds sealed instantly, consumed by the swirling mist that wrapped their bodies.
"Not now… wait for it," Elysia murmured again, her heartbeat syncing with the rhythm of the battlefield.
Then four wolves turned their fury on Varick's position. The Sergeant didn't hesitate; he raised his rifle and fired relentlessly, every shot hitting its mark. Blood sprayed, bones cracked… but again, the mist coiled around them, healing their flesh like the nightmare refused to die.
"Wait for it," she repeated under her breath, her eye never leaving the scope.
The last two wolves pounced toward her position. Their claws tore at the ground beneath them as she lay prone, her sniper rifle perfectly aligned with the Alpha far in the distance.
"Now, Varick! Jaxon!" she shouted.
Both men obeyed instantly. As the wolves descended on them, Varick and Jaxon locked eyes with the beasts, defying every instinct screaming at them not to.
The world tilted.
Varick's vision warped, spinning into a nightmare swirl of voices and memories. "Not again…" he muttered through gritted teeth. "Not this shitty experience again."
At that exact moment, Elysia pulled the trigger.
"Got you, you son of—"
The shot cracked like thunder, cutting her voice. A jet-black bullet streaked across the battlefield, its body shimmering with the same violet liquid that oozed like venom along its sides. It tore through the air, passing between the two wolves as they focused on Varick and Jaxon, splitting their attention for the briefest second.
That second was enough.
The bullet struck its target, the one sitting calmly atop its head. The bullets shattered bone after bone, tearing through flesh and burrowing deep into the skull of the Alpha Wolf.For a brief, breathless moment, the entire world fell silent, frozen in that single instant of impact. Then, the stillness broke. A deafening howl tore through the air, raw, agonized, and furious as the Alpha screamed its pain into the night.
Seeing the reaction from the Alpha Wolf, Elysia quickly checked on her teammates. Varick and Jaxon both seemed to be normal again; the mental hex had broken at the same moment.
"Liora and Rylan," she whispered, her gaze flicking toward them, afraid she might have failed to save them despite that shot.
But when she looked, her chest lightened. Both of them were back; their eyes were open. Still, pain lingered in their faces, raw and unwilling to leave.
Elysia grabbed Liora, still tied, and hugged her tightly."Oh God, Liora, you're back." She tried to hug Liora with all of her strength."Thank you for coming back to us. I thought we lost you."
For a moment, Liora's eyes were vacant, still lost in the snow. Then, they focused on Elysia's face, and the dam broke.
Seeing the captain holding her, Liora couldn't contain herself; her shoulders trembled, and she broke into tears on Elysia's shoulder.
"Captain, where were you? Why did it take you so long to rescue me?" she hiccuped between sobs, the plea full of ache. "I looked everywhere for you." Elysia felt each jag of pain and understood how deep it ran.
Varick and Jaxon were untying Rylan, who sat quietly and calmly now."Oh man, we thought we lost you there," Varick said, loosening the ropes around his hands.
"Seriously, dude, don't ever do that to us, you hear me?" Jaxon snapped, half-scolding, half-relieved.
Rylan didn't answer. He sat there as if words had been stolen from his throat. No one pushed him; everyone needed time to stitch themselves back together. They all knew that wounds of the mind were not mended by orders.
Liora wept like a child, clinging to Elysia and asking why the captain hadn't saved her sooner.
Rylan rose and turned toward the place where the wolves had been. The animals were nowhere visible now; grey mist lingered, folding over the ground like a low cloud.He faced Elysia and mouthed something, not through the earpiece but with his lips. The vacuum in their ears muffled his voice, but Elysia could read him clearly: he was bowing, his thanks offered from the heart.
Elysia caught his shoulder, steadied him, and spoke into the earpiece so he could feel the words even if he couldn't hear them."I told you I don't like anyone bowing to another human. It's my job to protect my teammates. It's no big deal."
Rylan said nothing, but he was back. Presence returned to him.
The mist thinned and fell away, revealing the big crimson wolf once more, this time without its pack. Rylan glared at it, fury burning in his eyes, though he kept his gaze carefully averted from its stare. Liora was being steadied by Varick and Jaxon at his side.
Elysia rose and fixed her eyes on the Alpha. He was no longer sitting idly; a burning fury had taken root in his gaze. She tightened her jaw."What is this creature made of? I shot it with deadly poison, and it still healed," she said, disbelief sharp in her voice as she watched the beast recover.
The Alpha turned its face to the sky and howled—a howl that sank deeper and colder than before. The dread it brought now was worse; the chill that wrapped the air felt cruel and vast.
Yet they were all alive, saved in part by Liora's vacuum shielding their hearing. The protection had kept them from falling deeper into the illusion.
"Aaaah, Captain, I believe you need to look at it. It is pretty horrible down there," Jaxon said, horror in his voice as he peered over the wall.
They all followed his gaze and froze at what lay below. The sight explained a grim truth.
"So that's what it's been doing all this time. And I thought we were the only victims," Elysia said, eyes burning as she absorbed the scene.
Her brown eyes flashed red with anger; she no longer feared meeting the wolf's stare. She stepped forward, voice low and steady, words like indictment and steel.
"You have gone too far. I know humans are being judged for their sins, but there should be absolute justice for that. A justice that can tell good people from bad and only punish the guilty.
And you are not that justice.
You have also killed innocent lives that had nothing to do with the sins of their predecessors. So I will make that justice for you myself."
She lifted her chin, voice ringing out with authority. "I, Elysia Noxveil, as of this time, hereby sentence you to death for your sins against humanity."
Her teammates watched her with confused expressions, because this was the first time any of them had seen real anger in her. And all of them knew what she was so angry about because all of them had seen what she just saw. The moment hung heavy and cinematic: a captain declaring judgment, the wall between life and death trembling beneath the roar of a wounded beast.