The Baron gritted his teeth, his mind relentlessly replaying the horrifying scene in the hall of headless corpses standing at attention with rifles.
A chill ran uncontrollably down his spine.
"Where on earth did Pierce get such monsters..."
He slammed a fist against the seat. "When I get out of here alive, I swear this isn't over!"
The off-road vehicle bounced and raced wildly along the snow-covered mountain road.
Through the windshield, past the frantically swinging wipers, the Baron finally made out the faint figures of several men stationed at the distant checkpoint and the outline of a heavy tank.
No matter how severe the weather, HYDRA still maintained a considerable stationed force on the outer perimeter.
Seeing these armored units armed with real weapons and ammunition, his frantically beating heart finally settled back into his chest a little.
But just then, the Baron's keen ears caught a faint, unusual sound.
Carried on the howling wind and snow outside the window, a faint, melodious flute sound drifted into the vehicle compartment from ahead.
Baron Strucker was stunned. He instinctively leaned forward, his brows knitting into a deep frown, wondering if the immense fright he had just experienced was now causing auditory hallucinations.
In this desolate wilderness, in such a blizzard-ravaged, hellish weather, where could flute music possibly come from?
He couldn't bother with that now. The tires churned up a cloud of snow in front of the checkpoint as the off-road vehicle screeched to a halt.
Strucker shoved the car door open, strode through the biting wind towards the garrison Commander, and barked an order without preamble: "Abandon the outer perimeter positions! All armored units turn around immediately, form a circular defensive formation around my vehicle! Full-speed breakout, execute now!"
"My Lord, the Base..."
"Execute the order! Anyone who disobeys will be shot on the spot!" Strucker roared, drawing his sidearm.
The garrison officers and soldiers exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes full of shock.
Was My Lord abandoning the Base, making a full retreat from his own stronghold?
What on earth had happened?
This was the trouble with blizzards—not only was visibility low, but communication signals were also utterly abysmal.
Forget Alexander Pierce across the ocean; even HYDRA's outer perimeter troops at the castle had no idea what was happening inside the Base.
However, military orders were absolute. Even with doubts in their hearts, they quickly sprang into action.
Tanks and armored vehicles roared to life, belching black smoke, forming a protective circle around the Baron's vehicle and beginning to clear a path forward.
And it was precisely at that moment that the eerie flute sound drifted over again, and... it was actually closer!
This time, it was heard more clearly.
The sound was ethereal and melodious, yet carried a sinister quality that unsettled the mind.
Several HYDRA vanguard soldiers at the front, rifles at the ready, vaguely saw three blurry figures ahead amidst the swirling wind and snow.
In the middle walked a petite girl with blonde hair...?
She had her eyes closed, playing a flute in her hands.
Blow My ()
On either side of the girl stood two other figures, one stout and one thin, their outlines flickering in and out of view within the raging blizzard.
For some reason, as the flute music reached their ears, a wave of intense panic suddenly welled up in the hearts of the vanguard soldiers.
This fear came inexplicably, their hearts feeling as if gripped by a cold, giant hand, making even breathing incredibly difficult.
A strange, primal, biological panic swept through their entire bodies.
Before they could steady their rifles, accompanied by the heavy, muffled sound of crushed ice and snow, a burly man burst forth from the blizzard.
The man had a wild, spiky mane of golden hair, stood over two meters tall, with muscles bulging like rocks all over his body. He was clad in thick, spiked armor and dragged an exaggeratedly large, vicious-looking double-bladed battle axe behind him with both hands.
This was one of the Three Beasts, Daidas!
Daidas
He strode forward, raising his Teigu [Two-Handed Great Axe: Belvarq], and like a bloodthirsty Beast, charged straight through their firing lines.
"Fire! Fire!"
The lead soldier screamed hoarsely, but he suddenly discovered in despair that his ten fingers were trembling as if electrocuted. No matter how hard his brain commanded them, he simply couldn't pull the trigger those few mere millimeters.
"Damn it, what's going on!"
The lead soldier desperately pressed his trembling right hand down with his left, trying to force the shot, but it was already too late.
A cold glint flashed.
Daidas swung his great axe with a maniacal laugh, delivering a savage horizontal slash.
Several HYDRA vanguard soldiers were cleaved in half at the waist without even a chance to scream.
Warm blood sprayed out in a fan shape, appearing stark and shocking against the snow, some even splattering directly onto the windshield of the armored vehicle behind them.
"Hahahaha! My experience points!" Daidas roared excitedly, his great axe whirling in an impenetrable blur.
The soldiers in the front rank were cut down like harvested wheat.
Why were the soldiers so terrified their hands shook?
This was naturally thanks to the flute Teigu wielded by Nyau, called [Military Music Dream: Scream]. Although this weapon was often known for boosting the morale of allies on the battlefield, it could actually manipulate dozens of different emotions through music.
Panic was naturally included.
"Enemy attack!!"
The soldiers further back finally reacted, their shrill cries tearing through the wind and snow.
Baron Strucker, who had just ducked back into the off-road vehicle, turned pale.
There were enemies ambushed in this blizzard too?!
Who was it now? Could it be that monster Makima had already caught up?
Hiding inside the vehicle compartment, his eyes darted around, searching for an opportunity to escape alone.
Outside the vehicle, Daidas was having a grand time hacking away, the surrounding snow stained a dark red.
The few soldiers who barely managed to overcome their panic opened fire. Several blue Chitauri energy beams shot past his body, either being roughly deflected by the flat of his axe or dodged narrowly thanks to his Beast-like intuition.
Occasionally, stray energy shots hit his flesh, but he could withstand the blows with his formidable physique, not simply vaporizing like ordinary people would.
He just grimaced momentarily from the searing pain, which made him glare angrily at the soldiers and swing his axe down with even greater force.
Thwack—!
The soldier's body was split cleanly in two from the middle!
Seeing the infantry being slaughtered one-sidedly, three modified energy-cannon tanks rumbled forward.
Their dark, gaping barrels aimed in unison at Daidas, who was wreaking havoc among the soldiers.
Daidas paused for a moment.
What were these iron contraptions glowing blue? Some kind of special Teigu?
Before Daidas could figure it out, and before those three tanks could fire...
High in the sky, the gale-force winds suddenly ceased.
The howling wind vanished abruptly, plunging the entire battlefield into an eerie, deafening silence.
Several HYDRA soldiers covering the tanks froze, looking around blankly with their rifles, trying to find the source of this anomaly.
Immediately after, a terrifyingly enormous shadow spread silently across the snow-covered ground.
Enveloping them and the tanks completely.
The surrounding light dimmed abruptly, a hair-raising sense of oppression bearing down from above.
Several soldiers sensed something instinctively, raising their faces in unison.
Through their scratched, snow-flecked goggles, their field of vision no longer held clouds or swirling snow. Reflected in their terrified pupils was an entire hailstone, its size comparable to a small hill, tearing through the clouds and crashing down from the sky like a falling meteor.
Giant Hailstone Descends from the Sky
We're done for...
This was the final thought in the minds of these HYDRA soldiers.
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