Angel woke up shivering. The sky outside the cave was already dark, and the wind was howling, blowing snow in through the entrance. The temperature inside was dropping fast.

She turned her head immediately to look at Kain. His breathing was so shallow it was almost non-existent. A thin layer of frost had formed on his pale skin.

She quickly pulled up the system panel. [Skill Unlocked: Basic Fox-Fire (Tier 1). Generates heat.]

She didn't waste a second. She scrambled over to Kain and pressed her hands flat against his icy chest. She closed her eyes, focusing all her willpower on that tiny spark of warmth inside her.

A faint red glow flickered in her palms. The heat struggled to penetrate Kain's frozen skin, fighting to wake his dormant cells. The energy drain was immense. Sweat broke out on Angel's nose, and black spots danced before her eyes. Her body was on the verge of collapse.

Just as she felt she couldn't hold on any longer, Kain's eyelashes twitched. His icy vertical pupils snapped open, glowing with a feral, cold light.

Before Angel could react, his hand shot up and wrapped around her throat. With terrifying strength, he flipped her over, pinning her to the ground. The air was cut off instantly.

Angel clawed at his hand, her legs kicking weakly. "I'm... saving... you..." she gasped out.

The system screamed in her mind: [Warning! Consort hostility level spiking!]

Kain stared down at her face, his cold eyes flickering with a moment of confusion as he recognized her—the other reject. He let go of her neck and scrambled back to the corner of the cave, watching her with wary, icy eyes. A low hissing sound rumbled in his throat.

Angel coughed violently, rubbing her bruised neck. She glared at him, her voice raspy. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be a popsicle right now."

As if on cue, Kain's stomach let out a loud, rumbling growl. The extreme hunger made his already pale face look even more ghastly.

[System Prompt: Consort requires high-calorie food to resist hibernation instinct. Failure to feed will result in genetic depletion.]

Angel looked him dead in the eye. "I'll make you a deal," she said, her voice steady despite her weakness. "You go out there and hunt. Bring back food. And I'll provide the warmth you need to survive."

Kain stared at her thin body, his jaw clenching. He remembered the warmth she had poured into him earlier, but years of being treated as a monster had forged an iron wall of distrust around his heart. "I don't need anyone's charity," he sneered, his pride refusing to let him rely on another exile. He turned away, preparing to leave on his own.

Angel narrowed her eyes. She raised her hand and unleashed the Fox-Fire she had just recovered. A bright, crackling ball of red flame danced in her palm, instantly illuminating the dark cave with its warm, inviting glow. "It's not charity. It's survival," she stated flatly.

Kain froze. He stared at the flame, feeling the pure heat radiating from it. His cold pupils constricted into thin slits. He stood there, shivering, his body craving that warmth more than anything.

He weighed his options for a long second. Then, without a word, he turned and dashed out into the blizzard, disappearing into the whiteout.

Angel slumped against the wall, extinguishing the fire. The cold rushed back in immediately. She forced herself to her feet and searched the cave. In a corner buried under old snow, she discovered a crude bone knife, perhaps left by some past exile. She clutched it close and huddled against the wall, praying to whatever god was listening that the cold-blooded beast wouldn't die out there.

Two hours passed. The storm only grew worse. Angel had almost given up hope, convinced he had abandoned her.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps crunched in the snow outside. Kain staggered into the cave, covered in blood. He was dragging the massive carcass of a snow bear behind him.

He dropped the bear in front of Angel and then collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath. Deep, bone-deep gashes covered his body, bleeding profusely.

Angel was shocked by his terrifying combat power. She rushed over, placing her hands on him to channel the Fox-Fire, warming him up while she quickly grabbed the bone knife and sliced off the most tender cuts of bear meat.

Kain greedily absorbed the heat from her Fox-Fire, watching her skillfully roast the meat over the flame. A complex emotion flickered in his icy eyes.

The smell of roasted meat filled the cave. They devoured the food ravenously, their strength finally returning.

After the meal, Angel looked at Kain, who was staring blankly into the fire. She watched the way his muscles remained tense, the subtle tremors beneath his pale skin that told her the cold was still fighting him from the inside. She knew he was hiding something much deeper than just a low viability index. She decided to play her trump card.

"I can feel it, you know," she said calmly. "There is a terrifying power suppressed inside you. It's tearing you apart, keeping you trapped as a 'Cold-Blood'."

Kain's head snapped toward her, his gaze oppressive. "Don't joke about things you don't understand," he warned, his voice low and dangerous.

Angel didn't back down. "I'm not joking. I can help you break those chains," she said, her eyes locked on his. "But I can't do it from a distance. The only way to reach that deep into your genetic structure is through a Consort-Pact. Swear to be my exclusive hunter. Bond with me. My genes will act as the catalyst yours desperately need. I'll give you the power you were meant to have."

The system in her mind went crazy, flashing alerts: [Legacy DNA highly compatible! Deep bond required to unlock Tier 2 permissions! Complete the bond now!]

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.

The moment the toxin left his body, Kain let out a long, painful howl. His muscles bulged grotesquely, and his bones cracked with a sickening sound.

A terrifying wave of icy energy erupted from him. The fire was instantly snuffed out, and thick ice spread across the cave walls.

Angel was thrown backward by the shockwave, hitting the wall hard. She coughed up a mouthful of blood.

[Red Alert! Consort's Jörmungandr Geneline is undergoing destructive awakening! Immediate guidance required! ]

Kain's eyes were completely glazed over with an icy blue light. He was a mindless beast, thrashing around the cave, tearing at his own scales in agony.

Ignoring the pain in her own organs, Angel scrambled up. She used the soul link of the pact, shouting his name in her mind with everything she had.

Hearing her voice, the berserk Kain whipped his head around. He locked onto her and charged, pinning her to the ground with his heavy, freezing body.

His sharp fangs hovered over her vulnerable neck. The cold weight pressed the air from her lungs.

Angel didn't struggle. Instead, she reached up and cupped his cold, twisted face in her hands. She poured every last drop of her Fox-Fire energy into him, holding nothing back.

The warm Fox-Fire flowed into him like a gentle stream, soothing the violent, freezing energy inside him, guiding it to form a new, stable cycle.

Feeling her absolute gentleness and acceptance, the madness in Kain's eyes faded, replaced by a deep, possessive hunger.

He leaned down, his fangs retracting. His cold lips crashed down onto hers, kissing her with a fierce, plundering intensity.

Angel wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. On the icy ground of the cave, they held each other tight, completing the core obligation of the Consort-Pact.

As they bonded, the system panel went wild. [Rare Gene Sample collected! Gene bank recombining! ]

A massive surge of life energy fed back into Angel's body. She felt a tearing, burning sensation in her lower back. The worn, tattered fabric of her clothes ripped open with a sharp sound as a second, fluffy fox tail burst forth from her body, carrying the intense heat of newly formed tissue. The sudden, unfamiliar weight at her lower back made her sway slightly, her balance momentarily thrown off by the physical manifestation of her growing power.

At the same time, Kain's wounds healed at a visible rate. The black scales on his skin began to shimmer with a noble silver light.

[System Broadcast: Consort Kain's Jörmungandr Geneline has awakened by 10%. Combat power has broken through to Tier 2 Warrior. ]

The storm inside the cave settled. The ice began to melt. Kain held the exhausted Angel tightly in his arms, his eyes clear and filled with a paranoid possessiveness.

He lowered his head and bit down hard on the side of her neck. He left a permanent mate mark, a symbol of his absolute claim over her.

Angel stroked his silver-black hair tiredly. "You're not a reject anymore," she whispered with a faint smile.

Kain didn't speak. He just held her tighter, his actions speaking louder than words.

The next morning, Angel woke up feeling warm. She found herself wrapped up in Kain's massive, half-beast snake tail. The moment she stirred, Kain's eyes snapped open. He checked the mark on her neck, sighing in relief when he saw it was intact.

Angel checked her system panel. She had unlocked the Tier 1 Bio-Regenesis skill, and her physical fitness had qualitatively improved.

Kain stood up. His posture was straight, no longer hunched. He radiated the suffocating aura of a powerful warrior.

He walked to the cave entrance and crushed a massive boulder with his bare hands. He looked at his own hands, feeling the surging power within, his eyes flashing with a cold desire for revenge.

Angel walked over and handed him a piece of roasted bear meat. "This is just the beginning," she said calmly. "We'll take back everything."

Kain took the meat. He looked at her deeply, his voice hoarse. "My life belongs to you now."

Suddenly, the system radar let out a soft beep. [Warning: Unknown hostile target approaching rapidly. ]

Kain's ears twitched. He heard the faint crunch of footsteps in the snow. He immediately pushed Angel behind him, his icy eyes locking onto the world outside.