At the top of the highest mountain, the atmosphere was extremely tense.
"This doesn't make any sense… how is this possible!?" said Snow Falcon, still unable to believe what he was seeing.
White Bear looked at Felicia and bit his lip. "Are we hallucinating because we're too exhausted?"
Then from behind, Snow Sniper and Hermyra appeared, who had been hiding safely at the edge of the mountain.
"You're not hallucinating, this is reality… and like I said, things can turn around at any moment," said Snow Sniper.
The Predator faction immediately turned around. White Wolf clicked his tongue. "I knew it… with that change of yours, you really did betray us!?"
Snow Sniper sighed, "You could say that, but from my side, I never really saw us as having the same goal or being a united team… so if I leave suddenly, that's my right, because I was never an essential part of your group."
"DAMN YOU, SNOW SNIPER!! YOU SHOULD'VE JUST DIED!" Cold Orca snapped, disgusted and furious. She immediately tried to attack… but the wound on her stomach made her feel intense pain when she moved, causing her to miss and fall instead.
Snow Sniper just stood there beside Cold Orca, who was on the ground holding her stomach in pain.
"My name is no longer Snow Sniper. I have officially left the Predator faction, and my name is now Seraphine," she said proudly.
Not only the Predator faction, but even the Defense faction was confused.
Then Hermyra went to the Defense faction and explained.
"You could say… she's our ally now," said Hermyra.
Fang chuckled, "Seems like he really is different." Clearly, he was referring to Nic.
"Damn it… so all of this was just your trick and scheme to trap us?" said White Wolf, annoyed.
Veyra stepped toward White Wolf without any fear.
Fang, seeing that, understood Veyra's intention.
"Because we use our brains, not just rely on strength," said Veyra right in front of White Wolf.
Snow Falcon got angry seeing his leader treated like that and immediately tried to attack Veyra, but this time Veyra didn't let herself get scratched even once and successfully dodged Snow Falcon's attack.
"COME ON, REMATCH DAMN IT! WHETHER YOU HOLD BACK OR GO ALL OUT, IN THE END I'M STILL THE ONE WHO WINS!" shouted Snow Falcon.
But Snow Falcon was stopped by White Wolf. "You're not her opponent." White Wolf's eyes were so sharp and cold that Snow Falcon shivered.
White Wolf's mood seemed really bad.
White Wolf stepped closer to Veyra. "I'll tell you this… even cornered like this, I'll stick to my goal and the path I chose… I'm not unstable like you and Fang."
Fang laughed. "Yeah, just like Veyra said, you act without thinking and are way too confident in your strength… even though in this situation it's obvious you're going to lose."
"We're all in perfect condition right now, if you attack us it's basically suicide," added Bunny.
"Why should I care? I'll fight you all to the end, even if this body gets destroyed," said White Wolf as he took out the last capsule bottle for all of them to use.
The Predator faction approached White Wolf, forcing themselves to take it to regain strength.
But Veyra quickly threw a needle at White Wolf's hand, making him startled and drop the capsule bottle, then Veyra grabbed it and threw it off the mountain.
"Unfortunately… we're not allowed to let you destroy yourselves," said Veyra.
"Huh…?" White Wolf was confused.
"AHH DAMN IT, WHATEVER! JUST ATTACK!!" shouted Snow Leopard.
But as she moved forward, she was easily stopped by Fannar. "Yo, come on sis Leora… calm down first, honestly I don't want to hurt you again."
"Let go! I'm not your sister!" Snow Leopard struggled.
And they all started fighting, but the result was very obvious. The Defense faction, already buffed by Nic, clearly dominated, especially since the Predator faction was very weak and without capsules.
They all lay flat, staring blankly at the sky. White Wolf, already extremely weak, saw all his comrades defeated, but he became even more confused when he saw Snowy Owl standing near Seraphine.
"Don't tell me you betrayed me too… hey Sowa… I trusted you more than anyone… and this is how you repay me?" White Wolf said weakly.
Snowy Owl lowered her head, also confused. "Sorry… but can't we just not pretend to side with them to fight back?"
White Wolf stayed silent, not knowing what to say anymore, his breathing heavy.
All the Predator faction members passed out, leaving only White Wolf still trying to stay conscious, even though he himself didn't know why he was still awake.
Then Galea came up. The Defense faction felt slightly scared even though they knew Galea wasn't an enemy, but for them, Galea was still a terrifying figure in the lower caste, even if logically she was their protector.
White Wolf, still conscious, saw Galea completely fine and started laughing. Instead of passing out, he became more aware and kept laughing.
"HAHAHA FUCK!! THIS IS SO DAMN FUNNY! I FOUGHT WITH EVERYTHING I HAD AND IT ALL FEELS LIKE AN ILLUSION!? DAMN IT!!!!" He started going crazy and hitting his own head.
Fang and Veyra felt a bit bad seeing that, and Fang tried to approach him to calm him down.
White Wolf immediately brushed him off while laughing, "HAHA WHAT ARE YOU DOING? JUST LAUGH AT ME INSTEAD!"
Galea, seeing that, covered her mouth with her fan. "Oh dear… his mental state is beyond saving… your plan is too cruel for someone's mind."
Nic appeared right when Galea said that.
Nic, in King Raven mode, without saying anything immediately activated God of Psychology, lowering White Wolf's severely damaged mental stats back to normal.
White Wolf froze and stared at King Raven. "The Raven… wait, I've seen you in the news, WHO ARE YOU REALLY!?"
Nic removed his mask. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nic… from a new faction."
Everyone was confused, including the Defense faction.
"Wait, a new faction? Weren't you part of the Defense faction with us, Nic?" Fang asked.
Fannar was also shocked. "YOOO A NEW FACTION!? DAMN SO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN FACTION? THEN WHAT ARE WE, BROTHER!?"
Aivar stayed calm as usual. "Hmm, we should hear the explanation first."
Bunny and Felicia couldn't believe it and both shouted at the same time, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?"
Veyra and Fino stayed silent.
White Wolf was confused. "A new faction… that means you should have your own members, right? And what's your plan… attacking all of us here for some kind of game!?"
Everyone started overthinking for a moment and thought Nic was part of the high caste, but that assumption was broken by Galea's laughter.
Fino also laughed. "One thing's for sure, Nic isn't from here, because I met him for the first time on a big ship from the Eastern region, Seraphine was there too."
Seraphine confirmed it, meaning Nic was not part of the high caste.
"THEN WHAT!? WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN!? WHO ARE YOU!? WHAT IS YOUR FACTION'S GOAL!? ANSWER ME, DON'T JUST STAY SILENT!!" shouted White Wolf.
Nic sighed. "My faction's goal is to eliminate the caste system and make everyone equal, then fix all the discarded places into livable areas and unite them with Northern."
Nic stood up. "The name of the faction is Unity, and the members are… all of you here."
Everyone was completely shocked.
"Wait, what!? Since when are we in the same faction? With predators!?" Bunny protested.
White Wolf was also confused. "Since when did I become your member? What a weird guy."
Fang approached Nic. "Wait Nic, what do you mean? You didn't say this was part of the plan."
Nic activated God of Charisma.
"You all heard my goal earlier, right? This isn't for me. I could've pretended not to care about all of you because this isn't my problem, but every human has empathy, and that's me. I'm doing this because I can… I've been observing all of you, and it's clear you all have connections. Is it really that hard to unite just because of different perspectives and methods?" explained Nic.
Veyra sighed. "It's complicated… we used to be close, but we can't anymore."
Nic said that was nonsense. "The point is, your goals are the same, right? Just follow me, and I'll lead you to the fastest and safest path."
White Wolf stood up. "Don't tell me Seraphine and Sowa were influenced by you?"
Nic told him to ask them directly.
When White Wolf turned, Seraphine simply said, "I was just given a little enlightenment."
Meanwhile, Sowa smiled slightly. "It's a bit strange… but it doesn't feel wrong to follow him."
White Wolf became even more overwhelmed by everything happening.
While they were discussing Nic's faction, Nic directly healed all the Predator faction members back to normal.
White Wolf realized it. "You healed my comrades?"
Nic nodded, and they all stood up in perfect condition.
Then Cold Orca, now conscious, looked at Nic and shouted, "AGH!! THAT'S YOU!! THE ONE I HUNTED BEFORE BUT DISAPPEARED!"
"Huh, so this is the person you hunted back then but disappeared because of Snow Sniper?" asked White Bear.
Cold Orca nodded and was about to attack, but White Wolf stopped her. "Idiot, he's the one who healed you and the others, calm down."
"Huh? Seriously? Ah, sorry savior~" Cold Orca immediately changed her tone.
Nic also told her that both of her orcas were fine.
"…!?" Cold Orca froze.
Nic nodded, saying he wasn't lying.
For some reason, Cold Orca immediately believed him and jumped to hug Nic, shocking everyone. The savage Cold Orca acting like that.
And she was crying. She said those two orcas had been with her for 10 years.
White Wolf just found that out, he thought the orcas were given by the high caste.
"No… my two orcas were saved by my parents, we raised them until they became tame… they're the only ones who stayed with me," she said.
White Bear tilted his head. "Feels like looking at a different person."
Nic clapped once. "Alright, that's enough, back to the main point. I'm creating the Unity faction, and all of you will be part of it. Why? Because as the name suggests, this faction unites two different entities… predator and prey. But those labels don't fit you anymore, since your positions are actually the same, just moving in different directions."
White Wolf raised his hand. "Hah… I'm tired of all this. I'll just join."
Since the Predator faction was very loyal to White Wolf, they all joined immediately without caring that the Defense faction was also there.
Fang crossed his arms. "They don't seem to mind at all."
Then Galea, who had been listening, spoke. "Why would they? Lower your ego for a brighter future. You'll keep falling if you refuse to take the path already built."
Galea also said she was part of Unity and would help attack the high caste later.
Snow Falcon was amazed. "Damn… even Lady Golden Eagle joined the faction? A solitary apex predator?"
Fannar suddenly shouted, "YOOOO!! WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO? JUST THINK OF THIS AS A REUNION! WE HAVE TO GET ALONG NOW SINCE WE'RE IN THE SAME POSITION! I'M JOINING! YOU GUYS TOO!!"
Everyone smiled and joined.
Leora, or Snow Leopard, smiled seeing Fannar, the foster brother she once rejected now seemed like he would become her little brother again.
And just like that, they officially became one big faction: UNITY FACTION.
They all stood side by side at the edge of the highest mountain, then jumped down together shouting,
"LET'S GO!!!"
Meanwhile, only Nic and Galea remained at the top.
"So, you're sure you want me to use all my power?" Nic asked, glancing at Galea.
"As promised… I want to see the great power of someone as unique as you… or should I call you… an Anomaly?" Galea smiled.
Nic smiled. "Yeah… this is the second time I've been called an anomaly. I won't deny it, maybe my existence really is like one… whether it's good or bad, I'll keep being something like that."
After that, Nic immediately activated all his Fusion Combat skills, and the highest mountain instantly became the center of a terrifying aura.
To be continued...