~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My god—this had completely spiraled out of control.
Levi felt like his heart was about to leap out of his throat, only to be shoved back down by an icy hand, choking the breath out of him.
To the left was Captain America, sprinting for his life, a whole swarm of howling Hydra soldiers hot on his heels. Gunfire, explosions, and shouted orders blended together into something like a moving rock concert—except the instruments were death itself.
To the right was the Hound, that ghostly figure who had emerged from the darkness. He stood there quietly, saying nothing, yet the bone-deep chill and killing intent radiating from him were far more terrifying than the entire murderous symphony on the left combined.
What do you call this?
A wolf ahead, a tiger behind—and two nearly frozen rabbits caught in the middle.
Levi's brain began spinning at full speed.
The western ridgeline was about eight hundred meters away. Captain America ran incredibly fast, but factoring in the snow and broken terrain, it would still take him around a minute and a half to reach the riverbank. The Hydra troops chasing him were about a hundred meters behind—maybe ten or fifteen seconds slower.
And the Hound?
Less than fifty meters away.
He wasn't moving quickly—but that was deliberate. With the explosive power of an elite operative like him, how long would fifty meters take at full sprint?
Five seconds?
Or three?
Damn it—either way, faster than Captain America.
It was over.
Levi's heart dropped. His carefully laid plan—having two raging floods collide while he slipped away in the chaos—had collapsed because of a difference of just a few seconds.
Now the situation was simple and brutal:
Before any reinforcements arrived, that sadistic butcher would reach the "kitchen" first—and calmly prepare the two "main courses."
"Gabe," Levi murmured, his voice squeezed between clenched teeth. "Get ready to fight for your life."
His hands tightened around the MP40 submachine gun he'd stripped from a Hydra soldier. The icy steel was the only thing grounding him.
Gabe didn't reply, but Levi felt his body tense again. Faced with certain death, people either completely collapse—or unleash their final madness.
Downstream, the man known as the Hound moved.
He didn't charge in as Levi had expected. Instead, he advanced with the elegance of someone attending a formal banquet—step by step, unhurried, walking toward the reed bed where Levi and Gabe had hidden earlier.
His gaze never wavered. A faint, mocking smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He was enjoying this.
Like a master bomb technician admiring a crude, amateurish device.
Closer.
Even closer.
Cold sweat soaked Levi's palms. His index finger rested on the MP40's trigger. He knew that two more steps—just two—and the Hound would hit the trip line made from a shoelace.
It wouldn't kill him.
But it would blow him sky-high, buy them a fraction of a second.
Yet the Hound stopped.
He halted less than half a meter from the nearly invisible cord, tilted his head slightly, and studied it with open disdain—like a grown man looking at a child's prank.
He'd spotted it.
Levi's heart clenched again. This man's perception was monstrous.
The Hound slowly lifted his foot, clearly intending to crush the crude mechanism and erase their last shred of hope.
And then—
"Whoosh—!"
A sharp, piercing sound ripped through the air from the direction of the western ridge.
An instant later, a red, white, and blue circular shield, spinning like a fired artillery shell, came screaming in with unstoppable force!
Its target wasn't the Hound.
It wasn't Levi or Gabe.
It was a birch tree behind and slightly to the side of the Hound—thick as a man's wrist.
"CLANG!"
A deafening metallic impact rang out.
The shield slammed into the trunk, releasing an enormous burst of kinetic energy. Wood splinters exploded outward as the shield ricocheted at an impossible angle—straight toward the Hound's back!
The change was too sudden.
Too fast.
Even the Hound hadn't anticipated it.
His relaxed posture vanished instantly, replaced by pure, animal instinct. He abandoned his step toward the trip line and twisted his body at an angle that defied physics.
"Bang!"
The shield skimmed past his back and smashed into the frozen ground behind him, sending chunks of icy soil flying.
He'd avoided a direct hit—but the violent force still threw him off balance, pitching him forward.
Straight toward the trap.
The Hound's pupils shrank to pinpoints. He tried to recover—
Too late.
His combat boot came down hard on the shoelace.
"Snap!"
The cord broke.
The pin was yanked free.
Now! Levi screamed inside his head.
"BOOOOM—!!!"
A thunderous explosion tore through the riverbank.
The full power of the C4 detonated in an instant—orange fire, black smoke, shattered ice, and pulverized earth blasting outward in a terrifying shockwave.
The ground itself seemed to shudder.
The once-invincible Hound didn't even have time to grunt before he was hurled through the air like a rag doll, flipping twice before crashing with a splash into the icy river.
From shield impact to explosion—it all happened in barely a second or two.
Too fast for anyone to process.
Levi and Gabe stared, dumbstruck, their minds blank.
They… survived?
No.
They didn't survive on their own.
He had arrived.
Levi whipped his head toward the west.
A tall, broad-shouldered figure burst out of the chaotic treeline. He wore a blue, white, and red combat suit, a white star blazing on his chest in the firelight. His face was smeared with soot and mud, his breathing ragged, his eyes exhausted—
But his back was ramrod straight, like a spear that would never bend.
Captain America. Steve Rogers.
He was here.
Three seconds later than the Hound—
But his shield had arrived three seconds earlier.
Those three seconds had saved Levi and Gabe's lives.
"Down!"
Before Levi could react, Captain America's loud, urgent shout rang out.
The next instant, a hail of bullets tore into their position—Hydra troops had caught up!
Levi snapped out of it, yanking Gabe down as they pressed themselves flat against the rock.
Sparks flew as bullets slammed into stone. Shards of rock sprayed everywhere, stinging their faces.
Chaos.
Total chaos.
Captain America sprinted and dove for cover ahead. Hydra soldiers chased him in a frenzy, firing wildly. And somewhere in the river, the Hound's fate was unknown.
The small stretch of riverbank had become a meat grinder.
Opportunity.
Levi's eyes burned.
This was exactly what he wanted.
He popped out from behind the rock, raising the MP40.
He didn't aim at Captain America.
He didn't aim at the Hydra troops directly chasing him.
He aimed at the flank.
Three Hydra soldiers were moving through the trees, trying to cut off Captain America's retreat.
"Captain! To your right! Three of them!"
Levi shouted at the top of his lungs—in English.
At the same instant, the MP40 roared.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"
A burst of bullets tore through the trees.
He wasn't trying to hit them.
He was marking targets—with sound and trajectory.
Captain America, crouched in a shell crater, heard him. Without hesitation, he rolled, grabbed the shield embedded in the dirt, and hurled it toward where Levi had shouted.
"Clang! Clang! Agh—!"
The shield carved a perfect arc through the woods, accompanied by two dull metallic impacts and a scream, before flying back into Captain America's hand.
The flanking Hydra soldiers went silent.
Half-crouched in the crater, shield in hand, Captain America finally turned his gaze toward Levi.
Surprise.
Caution.
And a trace of gratitude.
The battle—
Had only just begun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
🎉 Power Stone Goal Announcement! 🎉
I'll release one bonus chapter for every 200 Power Stones we hit!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~