The Mad Dog Arrives in the North Sea
“Hoo……”
Adel could feel the mana condensed in his true blood rapidly spinning.
[Be careful. You have two true bloods. That means the balance of the two powers connected to the spirit axis is crucial. The more your mana amplifies, the more your divine power must increase as well.]
In other words, both powers had to grow simultaneously—which meant the strain on his body wouldn't just double, but multiply several times over.
Crack-!!
And just as Kalderet said, his veins began swelling precariously in places.
“It's at double now!”
“……Speed it up more.”
Once a cycle of mana circulation ended, beads of sweat dotted Juwan Regian's forehead.
'This is taking longer than I thought. Kalderet, buy me some time.'
[Got it. Just don't die on me.]
Kalderet glanced at Adel with uneasy eyes before moving his body.
Thud!Thoom!Thud!!Thud!!
As the golem swung its fist, the impact shattered the ground, sending canyon ice surging up to form a massive wall.
[Tch, annoying……!]
Kalderet twisted his body swiftly, dodging the ice pillars rising from beneath his feet.
Vmmm……!!
The golem's eyes gleamed, and with a clank!, the back of its newly formed arm folded open, revealing a circular cannon barrel.
[Damn that Tika bastard—he made all sorts of crap!]
Kabooom---!!
A blinding white light burst from the cannon at its bent wrist.
“……Triple now!”
Juwan Regian's shout echoed from afar. But Adel, eyes closed and focused on the mana circulation, was oblivious to his surroundings.
[I'll collect on this debt later.]
Kalderet gnashed his teeth and hurled himself toward the beam pouring from the cannon.
Bang!!Craaaack……!!
A deafening explosion erupted from him as he blocked the golem's attack with his body, black smoke billowing out.
[……Guh!]
With a dying screech, Kalderet's body was flung back.
Clank-!Thud-!Thoom-!!
The golem strode toward him as if it had been waiting, tossing him aside like trash.
Ssssh……
White steam rose from his entire body, heated to scorching temperatures. But Kalderet, reeling from the heavy blow, couldn't rise immediately and staggered.
[Goddamn it…….]
As Adel's mana amplified in his true blood, it suppressed his divine power, making an already grueling situation unbearable—Kalderet spat out ragged breaths, struggling to move properly.
[Grrr…….]
The golem chuckled lowly, as if mocking his plight.
Vroooom--!!!
It raised its massive fist high and slammed it down with all its might.
Crack-
Kalderet squeezed his eyes shut, staring at the incoming attack.
Splat!!
A dull thud echoed through the canyon.
[……?]
But unlike the sound, Kalderet wasn't flung away. He cautiously opened his eyes.
[An ancient god in such a pathetic state. I wanted to see you take a few more hits, but oh well.]
[Garon.]
A blazing wall of fire blocked the golem's fist right in front of him.
[How's it feel getting help from a mid god?]
[…….]
[Elemental gods rank low in the divine hierarchy, but they've got one big advantage. Unlike you lot, we don't rely solely on contractors for divine power.]
As part of the natural world, like mana or spirits, elemental gods could draw forth their own divine power.
[Not exactly a pretty sight, but……]
Garon spread his arms wide. Spherical fireballs formed in his open palms.
Whoosh……!!!
The surrounding snow melted in an instant.
[Pulling off that kind of power in this cold? Impressive.]
[The sun's up, after all. Ancient gods aren't all that special. Count yourself lucky Garon's here by your side.]
[……You bastard.]
Kalderet smirked despite himself.
That was when it happened.
Thud-!!
Garon clutched his chest, staggering from a pain like a hammer blow to his heart.
[……Cough.]
And Kalderet felt it too. They knew what this crushing pressure meant.
“Hoo, hoo……”
Even his breaths were thick with mana. Adel's eyes had turned pure white.
[……You've done it.]
Shoooaaa---!!!
With those words, Garon vanished as if sucked away. Kalderet followed suit—it was as if even the divine power needed to maintain their forms was being drawn in.
“That actually hurts.”
Adel pressed hard on his chest and said.
“I-it worked……”
Juwan didn't know, but Adel was well aware that the magic theory he'd constructed was flawless.
In his previous life, Juwan Regian rarely showed emotion, but there was one topic he'd open up about: the regret that his theories took far too long to see the light of day, held back by the Ivory Tower's suppression.
“Of course it worked. I don't gamble without certainty.”
The validation of his theory was surprising enough, but what shocked Juwan more was Adel enduring that massive mana vortex.
“Fall back.”
At his words, Juwan nodded and hurriedly retreated.
“Hoo……”
Thud-!!Thud-!!Thoom--!!!
Sensing the extraordinary aura emanating from Adel, the golem charged with all its might, refusing to give him time.
[Grrrrr……!!]
As it raised its arm overhead, ice pillars jutting from the ground flew toward it and clung to its limb.
Scraaaape……!!
Dozens of ice chunks spun around it, coalescing into a massive flail-like sphere.
[Raaaaah!!]
The golem's roar. It swung its fist down with full force to crush Adel in one blow.
At that instant, a chilling energy coursed through Adel's body. The mana cycling through his blood vessels, on the verge of bursting, erupted explosively like a god's descent.
Bam!Bam!Bam-!!!
The golem hammered down relentlessly like a blacksmith with its giant fist. An indiscriminate barrage like an aerial bombardment.
“Nngh……”
Juwan shivered with goosebumps each time the ground quaked, frozen in terror and unable to control his body.
'This is…… real combat……'
He'd studied countless strategies and tactics at the academy, watched footage of historic battles—but this was entirely different.
“A-Adel!!!”
Paralyzed by the overwhelming pressure, all Juwan could do was scream in a trembling voice.
Ssssh……
The rising dust slowly settled. The ground, battered by the golem's fists, was cratered like a meteor strike.
Groooan……
The golem slowly straightened its waist. But at that moment, nothing remained where its fist had struck.
Step.
Adel appeared behind the golem, stepping onto the nape of its neck.
He exhaled slowly. Then he roughly tore off the tattered robe that had covered his face.
The state of Dragon's Gluttony at stage two, reduced to rags, showed just how devastating the golem's attacks had been.
“……Hup.”
But in that instant, Adel nocked an arrow to his bow.
Whiiiiiir……!!!!
Sharp mana gathered at the arrow's tip against his nock, twisting the air into a spiral.
Pang-!!!!
Like flicking his fingers, Adel released the string. The arrow pierced the golem's cervical vertebrae, bursting out through its throat.
[Grk!!!!]
The golem staggered in agony. But Adel didn't stop—he thrust his fist into the hole.
Crack……!!Craaaack……!!
He poured mana inside.
Krunch!!Kaboom!!
Starting from its head, the golem's body crumbled like shattering roof tiles under the cascading mana from top to bottom.
[Rooooaaarrrrr!!!!]
The golem's scream of pain echoed. But it didn't last.
Its core changed color, cracks spiderwebbing across it.
Crack-!!!
Adel plunged his hand into the disintegrating body and gripped the core with all his strength.
Shrrrip……!!
As he yanked it free, attached tubes and mechanisms tore away with wet snaps.
“It's over.”
Adel squeezed the extracted core. It would have been great to subjugate an ancient golem, but if not, better to destroy it.
“Instead, I'll gladly devour the divine power inside.”
As he tightened his grip,
Crack……Craaaack……
The core cracked, the light within flickering as if about to shatter.
“……No!!!”
That was when a voice shouted from the canyon's rim.
Adel whipped his head around.
“Bin hyung?”
Surprisingly, the one yelling from the anvil's summit was the Bin he'd been searching for.
“You're alive!”
In his joy at finding him, Adel raised his hand—only for Bin to shout,
“Adel!! Drop the golem's core right now!!”
“What?”
“It's a fake!! It's gonna explode!!!”
The reunion's joy was brief; at Bin's cry, Adel looked at the core in his hand.
Crack……Craaaack……
A sinister red glow flickered from within the cracking core.
[Watch out!!!]
Kalderet realized too late. The golem Tika made was his final bastion against divine punishment. Its destruction meant all hope was lost.
“……Damn it!!”
Adel hurled it away. He tried to wrap himself in Dragon's Gluttony—then remembered he'd discarded the tattered robe after the golem's earlier attack.
“Hyung! Get down!!”
“……What?”
In that instant, a flash hurtled toward him. Adel leaped back.
Shing-!!
The light that would have cleaved him spread wide, forming a massive shield-like barrier. The glowing shield turned blood-red, as if absorbing gore.
'That’s……'
Adel frowned slightly at the familiar light wall.
'Nell's Curtain.'
A special defensive ability usable only by followers of pure-blood gods.
'Only high-ranking executives can use it…… Who is it?'
Kaboooom---!!!
A massive explosion swept over the barrier, flinging the one who'd made it.
“Cough, cough……!!”
He tumbled across the ground, collapsing at Adel's feet before staggering up.
“Hyung!! Are you okay!!”
Seeing the soot-blackened, ruined face staring back and yelling, Adel stared in disbelief.
“……Yohan?”
At his name, Yohan grinned, oddly pleased.
Time had passed since they'd parted in Cratel—he'd changed a lot. Once shorter than Adel, he'd shot up into a sturdy build, his face marked with large and small scars from who knew how many ordeals. He was starting to look like the man from Adel's memories of his past life.
“Why are you here?”
The Mad Dog had come to the North Sea.