Hellhounds Ignited
A slurred voice rasped from the necromancer: [M... I'll kill you!!]
The staff clutched in his grip writhed and shook, and the summoned undead charged at Adel in unison.
"Can I leave it to you?"
[You only give me the troublesome jobs.]
"Yeah. That's the contractor's privilege."
[Talk about smooth.]
Kalderet snorted indifferently at Adel's words but didn't refuse the chance for a fight after so long. [These aren't as tasty as dragon undead, but... there should be plenty to devour.]
Paat-!!
He bolted forward nimbly, leaving afterimages like black lightning streaking across the ground.
[Kyaaak!!]
Kalderet's forepaw smashed into an undead, shattering its skull into fragments. The undead, incapable of feeling fear, nonetheless staggered back from his rampage.
"Familiars take after their master. Looks like you're the one who's scared."
Whoosh--!!
In that instant, Adel's sword ripped through the air with a heavy whoosh, aimed straight at the necromancer.
Thud...!!!
His greatsword crashed down from above, cleaving into the necromancer's neck and collarbone. Not a slicing sound, but a crunch of breaking bone—and the necromancer's shoulder twisted grotesquely.
[...Kuhuk!!!]
Unable to dodge, he screamed in agony, his face melting away. Inside his robe, his body was half-dissolved, just like his face.
[Krrk... Krrrk...]
Thanks to that, the bones crushed under Adel's blade were starkly visible. Unable to withstand the sword's weight, the necromancer collapsed to his knees.
"Something's off..."
Adel eyed the limp necromancer. The bizarre sight—like the sorcerer had become undead himself—gave off an uncanny wrongness.
"Demon nectar grants immense power from the demon realm's magic, though the price is brutal. A guy who commanded true undead, guzzling enough demon nectar to melt his body... and all he can do is raise buried corpses?"
Thwack-!!
Adel kicked the kneeling necromancer's chest with all his might. A dull thud echoed as the body flew backward.
[...Guhk!!]
With a dying screech, the necromancer hit the ground, Adel's thick greatsword impaling his chest. What chest? No flesh remained; his ribs snapped against the blade with a crack!
[Kek!! Kehek!!]
The wretch writhed like an insect.
"Huh? Speak up. What are you hiding? Or did you chug so much demon nectar you're too crippled to use necromancy anymore? Or..."
In that moment, Adel's eyes sharpened.
[Heh... Heehee...]
The half-undead abomination, stripped of humanity, laughed as if mocking Adel.
"You... don't tell me?"
[Die. You sand-dust-stinking bastards.]
Hwaaaak---!!
Black smoke erupted from the necromancer's corpse, reeking of sulfur.
[...Watch out! Demon realm sulfur! It'll melt your body on contact!]
At Kalderet's warning, Adel shoved the body away.
[Kuuuuh...!!]
Black smoke billowed explosively from the flung corpse, coalescing into a massive skull shape that roared sharply before scattering.
[...The world shall drown in gray!!]
The necromancer's cry was swallowed by the smoky skull.
[Krrrar...!]
Clang! Kaaaang--!!!
The black smoke, fueled by the necromancer's life, dispersed and was absorbed by his summoned undead. Red flesh now layered over their skeletal frames.
"Those..."
Even the undead Kalderet had shattered reformed their bones. Adel scowled at the newborn beasts.
[Hellhounds.]
[And not just one or two. Impressive. To witness this in the human realm, not the demon world.]
As Kalderet and Garon said, the monsters encircling Adel were no longer bare skeletons. They were sleek, glossy black-red beasts with fangs bared in growls. Drool like blood sizzled on the ground, smoking with a chiik...!
[He sacrificed his own body as fodder? Fitting... for a necromancer.]
"Not quite. He's just a madman."
[Hellhounds are low-tier demon beasts, but look at the numbers. Over thirty. Even you couldn't take them all.]
"We'll see about that."
[Don't push it. Even with Garon's divine blood sustaining you, using more of my power is impossible.]
"You're right—pushing the void further is out. But hunting undead doesn't require void alone."
Click.
The gauntlet on Adel's wrist gleamed. Rundel's Gauntlets, token of his pact with Garon.
"Since ancient times, dragons have been called the demons' natural slayers. Their power exorcises fiends."
Woooong...
"Legend says the gauntlets of the crimson dragonkin king, heir to one of the Five Great Dragons—the Flame Dragon—house an eternal flame."
Click-! Geeing--!!
The gauntlet's backplate split open, revealing a flame-orb flickering within.
"A bead containing the Flame Dragon's breath. Hellhounds are mere tinder to a dragon's hellfire."
Clack-!
The plate fully opened, then the gauntlet rewound around Adel's wrist.
[W-Wait! Are you insane? Opening the flame-orb? That's pure dragon breath inside!]
Unlike his usual nonchalance, Kalderet cried out in shock.
[Even contracted to a god, you're still a novice. You can't withstand true Flame Dragon breath! Think again, Adel.]
Krr...
The black wolf form of Kalderet bit at the gauntlet, trying to stop him.
[I don't want to lose my contractor. Not after you came back! If you die, I might return to that eternal seal!]
He meant it. Amid the tension, Adel's lips twitched in amusement at Kalderet's desperation.
"Relax, Kalderet. My death won't reseal you. If anything, losing your binding contractor frees you, right?"
[...Idiot.]
Kalderet grumbled peevishly.
[Who wants you dead? You'd take away my greatest fun!]
[Kalderet's right. You're growing on me, kid. Even if you tricked me into this pact. Gotta admit, you're entertaining.]
"Trick? Hardly."
Garon's voice. The gauntlet's flame roared to life.
[Hmph, you're an ugly customer, but not hated. So I'll lend a bit more power. Against the rules, but...]
The small flames orbiting Adel swelled.
[You're one-of-a-kind entertainment. I must rise to it.]
For a split second, time seemed to halt. Or rather, Adel slipped between its cracks—into a non-space.
[You're the first human in my divine domain. Here, you can receive power in full. Borrow mine. With my hellfire, even the Flame Dragon's breath won't overwhelm you.]
Adel understood. Garon's power flowed purely through his body—not via pact or blessing.
[Just once.]
It was a god's descent—an awakening.
"Hoo..."
Adel exhaled, hot as a volcano's breath.
[A god descending directly, not through blessing. Cherish it. You'll never get this chance again.]
"We'll see."
The flames on Adel's greatsword guttered out as if starved of air, void cloaking the blade.
"Not my first time."
[...What?]
Garon couldn't believe it. Divine descent was a god infusing flesh directly—immense power, uncontrollable by mortals.
Yet...
[H-How...?]
Garon gaped as Adel began mastering his power.
"My body's soft, but my mind's not a child's. If I aim to stand above you gods, this much is baseline."
[What are you? Controlling descent requires god-like will...]
[You said you lived a past life? What hell did you crawl through...?]
Adel gave a wry smile. How could he know that path?
"Still lacking. I can handle you, but not Kalderet yet."
[Naturally. Can't settle for a mid god.]
[Hmph, I'm a desert overlord, and these pups think me soft.]
Garon sounded triumphant.
[If your body risked breaking, I wouldn't have descended.]
Divine power mastery has three stages: First Pole—using inscribed blessings on artifacts. Second Pole—channeling a god's grace without tools. Third Pole—borrowing a contracted god's might.
Typically, that's the limit for the blessed. But rarely, some transcend to the Zeroth Pole—beyond borrowing, manifesting divine power directly as vessels. In that instant, they wield semi-divine might.
Yet human flesh has limits; housing a god's power is deadly. Descended vessels usually surrender will entirely to the god, lest backlash destroy body and soul.
[But... if you control my power, it's different.]
Adel was attempting the most perilous act. As Garon said, far from safe.
Surrendering fully would invite no backlash. But Adel went further—wielding it himself.
[So close your mind and yield to me. That's my advice to my contractor.]
Acting on will post-descent defied the god's. The moment he asserted control, Garon's power would ravage his organs.
But this is a chance.
A golden opportunity to tame divine might. As Kalderet's contractor—and like his past life—Adel would claim more gods' powers ahead.
Yet he'd never seen it as mere grace.
"I'll rule over you all. So I can't fear using your strength."
[Well now? Boldly claiming the throne over gods. First human like you.]
[That's why he's fun. Garon, you'll learn his truth someday. Regression needs countless gods' consent.]
Garon's flames flickered at Kalderet's words.
[He earned their approval.]
[Sure, but not in that frail kid-body. A thunderbolt-headed brat controlling my power?]
"Want to see...?"
[Kraaaang---!!!]
Dozens of hellhounds lunged at Adel. Fangs gleamed like lightning from the sky.
"Then watch."
Slash.
Space itself tore.
Roooar...!!!
As if time froze, the hellhounds ignited mid-leap. When the crimson sword-strike—like a dragon's breath—engulfed them, only ash remained.