MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

"Smoker, we have a problem."

Smoker kept his gaze on the factory as he felt the great spike of Prana coming from the demolished building and simultaneously heard the howl full of rage and agony that almost ruptured his eardrums.

Watching as even the raging fire, which seemed to be able to engulf the building whole, was immediately put down as a sheen of ice spread from the factory and even plummeted the surrounding temperature, Smoker couldn't help but curse in his mind.

"An Alpha..."

The expression of the others also changed drastically when their fear was confirmed. The fact that they still didn't show any signs of panic was proof of their experience and level-headedness. But this did not change their current harrowing situation.

"What do we do?"

"Retreat immediately. This howl was most likely a signal used for calling some members of her pack. Be that as it may, we have no chances against an Alpha, to begin with. This is a lost cause."

If the whole team had been present from the start, they could have given it a try. It would've been a long shot but at least they could've tried to contain the monster and could've retreated safely if things went south. But, since they had already lost half of their members, there was no other way for them other than to flee as if their life depended on it, which, unironically speaking, did.

"That fucking bastard never told us the target was an Alpha."

Tracker cursed their client for withholding this crucial piece of information. Most shapeshifters were rather low-ranked in the hierarchy of the Supernatural.

They had many weaknesses and outside of their physical abilities, they had nothing particularly special about them. Of course, this was relatively speaking on the scale of supernatural creatures. A Beta of a pack could still massacre groups of unprepared hunters with no problem whatsoever. Still, the limitations were clear to them from the start.

Alphas, on the other hand, were a completely different breed altogether.

'Something is wrong here.'

Smoker was no newbie hunter. There was no way he would have attacked the Princess of the Great Wolf tribe without doing extensive research beforehand. A pack could only have one Alpha Male and one female. Never more than that.

The current Alphas of the Great Wolf tribe were well-known and still alive and well.

It should be impossible for Natasha to be an Alpha. He was certain of it.

'Fuck. I don't have time to think about other shit in this situation.'

"Change of formation. This is a survival mission now guys. We will suppress her with firepower while we retreat."

Holding back to capture her now would be a foolish endeavor. But they couldn't just give their backs to the raving monster while fleeing either. Doing so would only result in a complete massacre of their whole team.

Smoker felt his hair stand on end and immediately shouted.

"Mage!"

Not even a moment later, seven translucent shields appeared in front of all of them only to crack one after another due to a terrible impact.

It was only after the last remaining shield showed signs of cracking that the attack finally stopped. The shields were able to restrain the devastating strike successfully.

Smoker realized that his instinct had once again saved him and his team as he watched the long trail of ice and frost in front of them-- the aftermath of the devastating attack.

The temperature around them had already lowered so greatly that they felt that they were walking on a land of ice and snow and if they had not used the shield right now, they would have most likely died already.

Smoker cursed before asking in a heavy voice. "How much left?"

"About half."

"Oh!?"

Mage was a skilled sorcerer who had once been part of the academy. Even though he had only lasted one year there, his skill was the real deal. He had managed to sign a contract with a low-level spirit and specialized in protection and healing-type spells and skills. He could also cast debuff-type spells but he didn't specialize in that as much as he did on the other two.

However, no matter how much skilled Mage was, him being able to stop the attack was astonishing, to say the least.

The team tensed visibly as a giant wolf broke out through the front door of the factory. She was a majestic beast with silvery white fur. Showing the pride of a superior being who could control the elements. But there was something lacking in the presumed Alpha wolf.

Smoker frowned as he looked at this scene. He had once seen a video of an alpha taking its true form and they were approximately two or three times bigger than the wolf in front of them. Furthermore, the fact that Mage managed to withstand an attack, albeit by using half of his energy in one go was weird in itself.

'Is she holding back because we are not far from the city?'

It was a possibility. But his instincts were telling him that it wasn't the case in this situation. There was another significant reason, one that could tilt the battle in their favor. So, he decided to bet on his instincts.

[Prana Cannon]

A simple name for a simple skill that condensed Prana inside a special bullet composed of silver shrapnels and launched the bullet at the opponent with the power to decimate an entire building.

He could fire pure Prana alone, but using those bullets was both expensive and very useful.

'Fire.'

The bullets launched out of his cybernetic hand with the explosive strength of a bomb that could decimate an entire building in one blow. But the explosive bullet was swiftly stopped by the formation of an ice wall that halted the bullet in its tracks. However, everyone could see that it had been difficult for the monster to halt the strength of the bullet like that.

Now, Smoker was definitely convinced of his hypothesis. This was an Alpha that had trouble reaching its full strength, otherwise, it wouldn't have any problem stopping his attack. Things were definitely looking good for them...

He grinned maliciously as his cybernetic arm changed forms to turn into a sharp and long blade laced with silver while he filled the weapon to the brim with his Prana.

He could already feel the protection that Mage had placed on him. This would be more than enough for him to fight the Pseudo-Alpha wolf. He just had to avoid being hit by her.

He rushed at the wolf with Tracker on his back. The two of them were the main damage dealers of their little group.

Diary kneeled on the ground and took out her sniper rifle. She alongside the deceased Falcon always took care of suppressing the enemy with their cover fire. Her job also entailed the protection of Mage as he continuously cast boosts on the team.

[Shield]

[Accelrated Healing]

[Swift]

But his contribution didn't stop there. Even as the damage dealers engaged in a frontal clash against the silver-furred wolf, he started casting debuff spells like [Lag] [Blear] and so on that decreased movement speed and hindered the wolf's vision among other things.

Each of his spells was pretty weak, all things considered, as he had to use his Prana wisely but when added together, they allowed them to hold on against the ravaging onslaught of the crazed wolf.

Their mercenary group, Edge, was renowned because of their seamless teamwork and skill diversity. As long as they did not face someone with absolute power that could wipe them off the face of the earth with a single thought, they could keep them occupied.

If the full team had been present, they would have been even more confident about their chances against the Pseudo-Alpha wolf but the reality was different and they could do nothing about it.

Holding the rifle in her hand, Diary would sometimes take a shot at the wolf's weak points in order to disrupt her whenever she was about to bite one of her teammates.

Sweat covered her brows but was immediately wiped away by Mage's careful ministrations. She could not afford to be distracted for a single second. She was still counting the time remaining for them to safely finish the mission and the more they fought, the clearer the fact became that...while the silver wolf was weaker than an average Alpha should be, it still wasn't something they could take on with just their current members.

The wolf let out a howl of frustration and pain as her thigh was wounded by a well-placed slash of Smoker's silver-infused sword. Silver slowed down the already slow healing speed of the werewolves, hindering their dominance on the battlefield.

'Is she protecting the factory?'

Diary realized that fact after analyzing her behavior and was also able to understand the reason behind her decision. The wolf was protecting the dead body of her comrade.

'I guess even monsters can feel emotions.'

Diary commented in her mind. Most hunters had no good feelings against supernatural monsters. The vast majority of supernatural crimes were committed by either Demon Worshipers or Earthly Supernatural creatures.

Like many hunters. She had lost people she loved to those monsters and she hated how the LAPPD was spreading more and more talk about conciliation and peace.

'They should just all fucking die.'

She growled menacingly as she spoke to her teammate in an icy tone, "Mage, tell Smoker and Tracker that they should target the factory."

They were losing this battle of attrition. So she needed a tactic to turn this situation in their favor. She did not consider this tactic to be cheap. There was no such thing as cheap tactics when hunting monsters.

"Roger."

Mage did not ask why and immediately sent the message to the frontliners. When she was sure that Smoker had received the message, she aimed at Natasha's eyes to distract her once again, and using the diversion, Tracker immediately entered the factory.

Awooo--!

A cry of outrage spilled out of Natasha's jaws as the ground immediately froze with a hard layer of icy barrage. Nearly trapping Smoker who jumped ahead of time to save himself. Sadly, when he landed, he had a hard time adjusting his position due to slippery ice impeding his movements.

This was enough for the silver wolf as she smacked Smoker hard against the ground using her claws.

Gah--!

Smoker let out a harsh sigh of pain after getting smacked by the wolf's mighty blow and landing dozens of meters away with a harsh crash. Cladding consumed an enormous amount of Prana and he wasn't even proficient in utilizing it. However, even after using it while being protected by Mage's shield, he felt like all the bones in his body had cracked from the impact.

Keeping that Pseudo-Alpha wolf occupied all alone was definitely impossible for someone of his caliber.

He rolled on the ground from his spot and avoided another strike from the wolf, that intended to finish him once and for all, while his body shone with a soft glow as the light of healing fell on him.

'Mage, I could kiss you.'

He immediately stood up and swiftly turned his blade into its cannon form when he realized that the wolf wanted to turn around and enter the factory after disposing of him as soon as possible. It seemed that the wolf wanted to protect the body of her dead friend. He couldn't miss this chance when the wolf was distracted due to thinking up about her companion.

Unlike Diary, Smoker did not consider supernatural creatures as must-kill targets. It wasn't like humans were saints either. The proof was the fact that, as mercenaries, they had to drench their blood many times in shady deals that didn't specify the reason for the target's elimination.

This was a dangerous job and sooner or later, they would either retire or die like dogs. There was no in-between in this line of work. This was why he called their group. Edge. Because they were constantly living on the edge, treading on the thin line between life and death.

"We won't die today!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs and avoided another off-handed attack from the silver wolf that aimed at his head before sliding in front of it on the devastated ground and using his cannon at point-blank range to shoot at her chest before it could react.

His heart felt like it was bursting due to the over usage of his Prana and he felt like his body was creaking due to the rapidly circulating overdrive that his Prana pathways were under right now. His blood felt like it was boiling inside his body and even his cybernetic arm was heating as though it would explode at any moment.

But he did not care about anything. A mad maniacal grin was etched on his face even as he was engulfed in the explosion of his [Prana Cannon] attack. He believed in Mage and knew that he would protect him from the blast as much as possible.

"Uggh."

Blood spilled from his mouth but his grin grew larger and larger with each passing moment. Being in pain meant that he was alive and the howl of pain and misery that the wolf was emitting right now was like the most beautiful music he ever heard in his ears.

On Mage's side, he sighed at the recklessness of their leader but he was all the happier for his success. His Prana was bottomed out after deploying that protective measure and he could only maintain the shield around Smoker and no one else. But this was enough for them. The end was close. He could feel it.

Smoker had greatly incapacitated the Pseudo-Alpha wolf. Once Tracker came back with the body of her comrade, they might even be able to bargain with her. After all, he knew that even with this devastating attack there were no chances for them to win this fight.

'We can do it. No, we will do it.'

God never let down those who never gave up and never surrendered. This was his greatest belief--

--This was also his last thought as his head exploded after being pierced by a bullet moving at two times the speed of the sound.

"How..."

Diary looked down at the large hole in her chest even as the brain matter of her teammate splattered all over her face and body.

The only thing that went through her mind was the impossibility of Tracker dying inside the factory, while the life signal of the one that should have been dead appeared once again on her radar.

'So... This was a trap all along, huh...'

Even as she began to fall over from her position, she used her remaining energy to send a message to Transporter, their last companion.

[Flee...]

She hoped that at least one of them would survive for she knew that even Smoker had no chance of survival in this situation.

------

(AN: Heh, MP is way more brutal than SHK. I wonder if anyone caught the reference I hid with those mercenaries.)

[Trivia: The term Alpha Wolf and Beta wolf and Omega, doesn't really exist for wolves in the wild. This is more a thing for wolves in captivity. In the wild, the Pack is composed of Parents and children.

Though Nowadays the term Alpha and Beta are used in a totally different context. The funny thing is. In a Pack in captivity, the term Beta isn't a derogatory term. But is used to describe the second in command. They defend the pack from danger and feed the rest of the pack when food is scarce. In some cases, betas can become alphas if the original alpha dies or is removed from power.

Basically Alpha is the king. Beta is the Knight, the rest are the populace and Omega is the Outcast.]