From Rejected Defect To Supreme Queen

The rough hands of the guards slammed Angel onto the freezing stone slabs of the central square. Her knees hit the rock hard, the sharp pain shooting up her thighs, but the physical agony was nothing compared to the deafening roar of laughter that erupted from the crowd surrounding her.

"Look at the pathetic defect!"

"Can't even maintain a stable hybrid form. What a waste of air."

Angel gritted her teeth, her fingers curling against the icy stone. Snowflakes drifted down, landing on her thin, tattered clothes and melting instantly against her shivering skin.

A pair of pristine leather boots stopped right in front of her face. Angel looked up, her vision blurring from the cold, and saw Jasmine Roman standing there, looking down at her with eyes full of undisguised malice and triumph.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you, sister?" Jasmine's voice was loud enough for everyone to hear, dripping with fake sorrow. "Sneaking into the Chief's tent, trying to seduce him... I covered for you so many times, but you just had to embarrass our family."

The crowd's laughter turned to angry boos. The male warriors glared at Angel with disgust.

Angel tried to push herself up, to defend herself, to scream that it was all a lie, but her throat was too dry. The extreme hunger and cold made her voiceless. She could only gasp for air like a dying fish.

"Enough of this farce." A familiar voice cut through the noise.

Al Stein stepped out from the crowd. He walked over to Angel, his face twisted with a contempt she had never seen before. He pulled a white bone ring from his pocket-the symbol of their mate bond.

"You're a genetic reject," Al spat. "A zero on the Viability Index. You can't give me children. You're useless."

He threw the bone ring hard at Angel's face. The sharp edge cut across her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. The ring bounced off her skin and rolled away into the snow.

The crowd exploded into righteous fury. "Exile her!"

"Throw the defect into the wasteland!"

High Oracle stepped onto the high platform, his face devoid of any emotion. He struck his staff against the stone, the sharp sound silencing the mob.

"Angel Haynes," his voice boomed. "For the crime of seduction and being a genetic dead-end, you are hereby stripped of your clan citizenship. You are exiled to the wasteland. Forever."

A ripple of movement went through the crowd. Two burly guards dragged a man forward and threw him onto the ground next to Angel like a piece of garbage.

It was Kain Avila. The notorious "Cold-Blood" of the clan. His eyes were tightly shut, his skin pale as death, already slipping into a near-death state of hibernation.

Jasmine covered her mouth, feigning pity. "Oh, the poor thing. Since they're both useless, why not let them keep each other warm in the wasteland?"

The crowd burst into laughter again.

A guard grabbed Angel's wrist, his grip bruising. He pulled out a rough dagger and sliced open her fingertip. Before she could react, he forced her bleeding finger down onto Kain's pale forehead, letting the blood drip onto his skin.

A simple, forced bond. A wave of dizziness washed over Angel, the weak link forming in her mind, dragging her already exhausted spirit down into a deeper abyss.

"Get them out!" the High Oracle commanded.

The guards didn't even let her stand. They grabbed Angel and the unconscious Kain by their collars and dragged them across the square. The rough stones tore at Angel's clothes and skin, but no one cared. They were just taking out the trash.

The heavy steel gates of the Embermane Clan groaned open. The guards tossed them out into the snow like discarded corpses. The gates slammed shut behind them with a final, echoing boom, cutting off all the firelight and warmth.

The freezing wind hit Angel instantly, biting through her thin clothes like a knife. She shivered violently, her teeth chattering so hard she thought they would crack.

She crawled through the snow toward Kain. He was so cold. Colder than the ice around them. She pressed her hands against his chest, trying to find a heartbeat, trying to steal even a fraction of warmth, but there was nothing. He was a block of ice.

The extreme cold and hunger blurred her vision. Her heartbeat slowed down, each thump a painful effort. The shadow of death wrapped around her like a heavy blanket.

Just as her eyes were about to close, a sharp, electronic buzzing sound exploded in the depths of her mind, piercing through the fog of her consciousness.

[Beep. The Genetic Evolution Codex has successfully activated. ]

A cold, mechanical female voice echoed in her head.

[Scanning host... Host vital signs critical. Forcing initiation of preliminary system repair. ]

A wave of warmth, sudden and intense, rushed from her heart to her limbs. Angel gasped, her eyes snapping open. She looked down at her hands in shock-her frozen, numb fingers were moving again, tingling with life.

A semi-transparent holographic panel popped up before her eyes.

[Host Status: Dormant Kitsune Prime. Genetic Viability: Zero (Suppressed). ]

Angel stared at the data, her breath catching in her throat. She wasn't a defect. She was a Kitsune Prime, a legendary being?

The despair that had been crushing her chest evaporated, replaced by a fierce, burning will to live.

[Warning! Warning! ] The system flashed red. [Consort Kain Avila's vital signs are dropping rapidly. Imminent death. ]

[Scanning Consort... Match found: Jörmungandr Geneline. Compatibility: 91%. ]

[Initiating Mandatory Novice Task: Save Kain Avila. Failure will result in termination of repair program due to insufficient energy. ]

Angel didn't hesitate. She couldn't let him die. She wouldn't let herself die.

She bit her lip hard, using the pain to force her body to move. She grabbed Kain's heavy arm and pulled with all her might. Her nails broke against the frozen rocks, blood smearing the stone, but she didn't stop.

The wind howled, the snow threatening to bury them, but Angel dragged the massive man toward a dark opening in the hillside she had spotted earlier-an abandoned cave.

It felt like an eternity, her muscles screaming, her lungs burning, but she finally hauled Kain into the deepest part of the cave, out of the wind. She collapsed onto the cold floor, gasping for breath, her body trembling uncontrollably.

But as she looked at Kain's unconscious face, her eyes hardened. The fear was gone. The despair was gone.

"I will survive," she whispered, her voice hoarse but firm. "And I will make every single one of them pay."

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.