"Come on, loco, don't make that face,” he says laughing.” And who's that with you, my disciple?" he looks at me with a smile.

  "You've probably heard of him."

  "Pleased to meet you, my name is Altair."

  "So you are the new Lobo who forged an alliance with the Lengua Venenosa clan and defeated one of the Shmool brothers. Quite impressive feats. And what brings the future leader of the Lobos to my humble abode?"

  "The Cuervos hired us to track down and annihilate those responsible for slaughtering their own and prevent further attacks," I say

  Suddenly, Rio's expression sharpens. He remains pensive for a few seconds.

  "That smells fishy."

  "Fishy?" says Enlil.

  Rio inhales the last of his cigarette. Then he closes his eyes, and immediately, his pink mark starts to glow, spreading along his arm in these curved lines until it reaches his nose. As this happens, he begins to sniff around, and after a few seconds, he deactivates his mark and lights another cigarette.

  "It seems the Cuervos have tricked you, my disciple. And they're not alone."

  "The Dorados?" Enlil tightens his face.

  "Must be. Only a hound or an extremely skilled Dorado could have followed you without you noticing. The Cuervos subordinates' death was probably the Dorados' plan to secure the contract with you."

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  Enlil sighs.

  "Sorry, Rio. It seems they beat me to it this time."

  "Don't worry about it, loco. They must have planned this for a while. They would've done it without your involvement eventually."

  As he says this, he performs a spinning kick, knocking out one of his guards. Lilu jumps and trembles hiding at my back.

  "Tie up this traitor. He reeks of rats. And tell everyone to prepare to leave through the east exit."

  "We'll help," I say as I activate Hoomul’s mark. This causes my size and muscle mass to increase, not at the size of Hoomul, but enough to make my silhouette look stronger.

  "Haha, excellent! I'd appreciate that very much!"

  We begin evacuating the burrow. Enlil snaps his fingers as we walk through the narrow tunnels until we return to the surface.

  For a moment, we don't alert anyone, but then an arrow cuts through the air and Enlil deflects it with his arrow.

  I increase my size and start repelling the attempts of attack from the numerous Dorado’s hounds and Cuervos. The Dorados stay back using ranged attacks. Enlil takes care of those who slip past me.

  However, as this happens, more hounds arrive, led by a woman with pale brown skin and golden eyes.

  "So, this is how they found us," Enlil says, looking towards the woman.

  The hounds attack us, and we are gradually overwhelmed. At the same time, I soon hear the sounds of hound reinforcements approaching from the burrow's exit. I enhance the strength of the Hoomul Herencia and start smashing against the rocks around the entrance to make it collapse.

  "Look what the currents have brought," Eru says with his smug laugh.

  The fight comes to a halt. At the back, Lord Eru sits atop Rio, pressing his foot against his face and pointing his gun at his chest.

  Lord Eru gestures to pull the trigger, but then an arrow heads towards him, causing him to dodge, preventing him from firing.

  Lord Eru sharpens his gaze towards Enlil.

  "Long time no see, my son."