Howard was lost. He couldn't get his bearings among the ruins of the city. Even though there had only been two Corrupted, they had managed to reduce most of the houses to rubble. Still, most of the villagers had escaped thanks to the efforts of the soldiers and the Summoned One.
He moved with difficulty through narrow alleys, barely navigable for someone his size. But that wasn't his biggest problem. The Hounds had sharp instincts. Though their multiple spider-like eyes were defective, their sense of smell and hearing bordered on perfection.
He didn't have many options. He could try to leave the city and lose himself in the forest, but would that make it easier to escape… or only make him easier prey?
Why had he done something so stupid?
Attacking a Corrupted… Ha. Jumping off a cliff would've been less suicidal.
The Corrupted was getting closer. Its legs struck the ground with a dull, echoing thud. Howard's knees buckled.
He looked back. Nothing. He turned down a street that had remained intact, untouched by the attack. The buildings were dim, but at least they were still standing. He ran without thinking.
And then—he collided with something.
He fell backward and felt another body hit the ground beside him. A shiver ran through him. But no… whatever he'd hit was too small and soft to be the beast.
As his vision cleared, he recognized the bartender. Her blonde hair fell across her face, her chest rising and falling with panicked breaths. She looked at him with trembling eyes.
"Howard… what the hell are you still doing in the city?" she asked, urgency in her voice.
Howard looked up. He was terrified, his arms shaking.
"A-a-a… C-Corrupted," he stammered.
The woman held him in a brief hug.
"Easy, kid. It's okay."
"Of course it is."
A rough voice echoed from above.
The wolf dropped from a rooftop, foam dripping from its mouth, its many eyes wide with fury. They locked onto the trembling child. The bartender froze. She couldn't even scream.
Howard clung to her tightly.
The wolf smiled.
"Woman, let the brat go. He'll pay for what he did, but you… I might let you live. What do you say?" The creature licked its lips slowly. "Then again… maybe I'd rather take you back to my den."
The woman shivered. Her body wouldn't respond.
The wolf shrugged. "Well then, I guess I'll just have fun killing you both."
He braced to lunge.
The bartender dropped to her knees, clutching Howard tightly. But before the monster could move, a heavy thud broke through the air.
When they opened their eyes, he was there.
Kael—his spiked mace in one hand, his shield in the other.
"I'm afraid today… won't be a fun day for you," he said, trying to sound confident.
"How many damn humans are going to piss me off today?" growled the Hound, rising to his full height.
He focused his hundreds of eyes on the man. Kael trembled, trying to hold his ground.
The Hound's face twisted into a smile.
"You're not a Summoned One… what do you expect to do with your pitiful strength?" He swung his axe lazily from side to side as he advanced.
"Isn't it obvious? If I can't kill you, I'll at least make sure you suffer," Kael shot back.
A mocking laugh escaped the beast as Kael raised his shield—just in time to block the Hound's strike. Sparks scattered across the rubble.
Kael held his ground and struck his mace, but the Hound dodged easily. With a swipe of its claws, the beast slammed into Kael's shield, making him stagger. Then came a slash from its axe.
Kael quickly formed a finger-gun gesture just as the blade closed in on his neck. A small orb of energy shot from his hand and pierced the Hound's ear.
The beast roared, and Kael managed to fall back—just enough. The axe only grazed his neck. He braced to strike back, but the Hound's kick landed squarely, sending him crashing to the ground.
"I'm sick of these damn humans," the Hound snarled, closing in. One of his animal-like ears twitched in pain, a thin line of blood trailing down—but the wound was far from serious.
Howard looked around in desperation, but all he saw was rubble. The only open path was the one the Corrupted now blocked.
His breathing grew heavy. He wanted it all to end. He wanted the Hound to disappear.
The bartender held him tightly against her chest, but even she couldn't calm him. Her breathing was just as frantic, eyes locked on the stage before them.
Kael tried to stand, but the Hound's fist smashed him back down, slamming into his face. Blood poured from his broken nose, staining the ground. The creature grabbed him by the hair and lifted him until they were face to face. Kael tried to raise his arms, to keep fighting… but his muscles had nothing left to give.
"There's only one fate for those who try to be heroes. Remember that in your final moments," the Hound murmured.
He released him—only to drive a brutal punch into Kael's abdomen. Kael was sent flying into the rubble, shattered wood exploding in all directions. The Hound let out a tired sigh and slowly turned his attention back to Howard and the bartender.
His eyes gleamed once again with delight.
He studied the scene with morbid calm as he began to approach, dragging his axe across the gravel, savoring the feast ahead of time.
The bartender shielded Howard's face as the Hound's floral jaws opened wide, its fangs ready to tear into their flesh.
Then Footsteps. Heavy, deliberate, above them.
From above, a figure leapt down with difficulty, wielding a sword with a broken tip. He struck in a downward arc. The Hound, caught off guard, reacted by swinging his axe. The weapons clashed violently—sparks flew—and the newcomer rolled across the ground from the force of the impact.
The Hound stumbled slightly, stunned. He looked up toward the spot the figure had jumped from. The bartender did the same, hope flashing in her eyes.
But that hope quickly dimmed when she saw the newcomer's condition: his body was covered in blood, his left arm hung at an unnatural angle, and the tip of his sword was shattered—though one jagged corner still held a wicked edge.
It was the same Summoned One from before. Daion, the bartender remembered.
The Hound narrowed his eyes as he recognized him.
"The Summoned One… still alive?" he muttered to himself. Daion slowly rose, his piercing blue gaze locked on the Hound. "What happened to Dort?"
Daion looked confused for a moment but then understood—he meant the Glutton.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm here… and he's not," he replied, raising his sword toward the Hound.
The creature's many arachnid eyes squinted. Daion briefly wondered if spiders even had eyelids.
"You defeated my partner?" said the Corrupted, stepping forward. His beastlike legs tensed, fur bristling all at once, and his flower-shaped maw opened again. "What an impressive act. Let me reward you..."
Daion ran as fast as his battered body would allow, wielding his sword with only his right arm. The Hound dragged its axe and swung it upward in a powerful arc. Daion dove to the side, narrowly dodging the blow, and managed to slash the creature's leg. The Hound dropped briefly to one knee as a thin stream of blood ran down its thigh.
Daion pushed himself upright with a painful leap and raised his weapon, but the wolf reacted quickly, slamming him with its animal tail. Daion crashed onto his injured left arm and let out a cry of pain. The Hound spun on its axis, bringing the axe down in a furious strike. Daion raised his sword just in time, deflecting the blow. The axe embedded itself in the ground, sending up a cloud of dust and flying debris.
With jaws wide open, the Hound lunged at him. Daion, tense with instinct, kicked it straight in the snout. The creature stumbled back a few steps. The Summoned One forced himself to his feet again with a leap that made his legs crack and scream in protest.
Using the momentum, Daion charged toward the Hound, aiming directly for its chest.
"Come on, come on, come ooon!" he urged himself. "I just need to pierce its heart… and they'll be safe."
Just inches away from the beast, the Hound caught his arm. Daion pushed with everything he had, but with only one working limb, he could barely force the blade forward against the Corrupted's resistance.
"Please… just a little more."
The Hound let out a sigh of relief. With a sudden motion, it threw Daion to the ground. The Summoned One hit hard, landing right in front of the bartender and Howard.
Daion barely managed to lift his head. He looked at them. The woman was trembling, her eyes shining with tears ready to spill. And he recognized the boy… the same one who had attacked him earlier.
"Why am I even trying to save them?" Daion thought. "They probably won't thank me. They might even blame me for the ones who died."
Still, he struggled to raise his torso. His strength was nearly gone. He could feel his bones moving in ways they shouldn't. Blood ran from multiple wounds.
He was tempted to collapse—to just let it all end there.
But then, almost instantly, a voice echoed in his mind. Haruka's words.
"Most Summoned Ones end up doing questionable things just to survive… Some use their strength to commit horrors. You don't even seem capable of killing a rat without feeling guilty… But she doesn't know that."
It was true. He couldn't blame them. He had come this far—he couldn't let it all be for nothing.
Daion stood up, trembling. His body was stiff, locked, his teeth clenched so tightly he thought they might shatter. He still held his sword, determined to change what his predecessors had caused. He looked at the woman and the boy, placing himself between them and the Hound, his back to the beast.
The Corrupted was breathing heavily, panting and releasing steam from its snout, while a long tongue emerged from its flower-like muzzle, licking its face clean.
"So even if it's humanoid, it still has an animal cooling system," Daion deduced, glancing back over his shoulder. He smirked faintly as he saw the wolf stagger.
The Hound noticed.
"Want to know something interesting about my kind?" the beast growled, its maw opening and twitching with each word. "We can only use our howl five times a day. That's why we ration them. I used one when I slaughtered all those soldiers… another when I tried to kill you and the brat got in the way..."
Daion didn't quite understand where this was going. He couldn't move—his legs ignored every command. All he could do was wait… or endure.
"Another earlier this morning, while hunting… and the last one..." His throat suddenly bulged unnaturally. Daion's eyes went wide with panic as he saw corrupted omega energy swirling around the Hound's throat,, which opened like a deadly flower. "...Right now."
Daion turned his head, ready to leap out of the way. But the Hound didn't react to the feint. It wasn't aiming at him. It was aiming before him—at the two huddled in front him.
Daion spun around… and froze. "It's a bluff… He wouldn't waste a charge on them. Move, and he'll redirect it toward you," he told himself.
But the Hound's gaze remained fixed on its target.
And Daion's body wouldn't move.
"What are you doing, you idiot?! If you die, they die too… and the Corrupted will go after the survivors. Everything will have been for nothing!"
The Hound released the sonic blast.
Daion saw it coming—circular waves of omega energy expanding outward like rings of death.
He heard the screams behind him and acted on instinct.
He opened his arms… and stood still.
"A woman and a child… Damn this protective instinct and my idiot brain!"
The blast struck him square in the back. He felt every bone in his body vibrate and fracture, his internal organs slammed against each other, his ribs snapped like dry branches. His wounds tore open even more, and blood gushed from every opening in his face. He could even feel his eyes on the verge of bursting.
The attack ended.
Daion dropped to his knees. Blood poured from his body in waves, pooling into a deep red stain beneath him. His gaze fell on the pair watching him in horror, frozen, unable to move. He moved his lips… but no sound came out.
"Why am I still alive?" he wondered, letting go of his sword. It clattered against the ground with a metallic ring. "Even if my body's tougher… I should be dead."
He felt his head grow heavy, his body leaning forward, but the Hound grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked hard. Daion winced as his scalp stretched painfully, forcing his eyes open.
The Corrupted let out a guttural laugh, then released his hair and grabbed him by the back of the neck. Its hairy fingers coiled around his throat with a repulsive warmth, not squeezing fully—just enough to keep him breathing.
"I held back the force of that howl to make sure you survived. Now tell me… how many howls do I have left? Can you count, little Summoned One?" the beast sang mockingly, almost playfully, as the claw of his index finger pricked Daion's neck, slicing the skin just enough to draw blood. "Who should I kill first? Want to see a blonde bitch's brains splattered all over the ground?"
The bartender stifled a scream and turned away, sobbing quietly, powerless. Howard, trembling, looked at the Summoned One and whispered something. Daion couldn't hear him—his eardrums had burst—but he saw the boy lower his head in surrender.
"There has to be something… some way out of this." He tried to struggle, but it was useless. His muscles were torn—barely able to tense. His bones felt shattered. "I REFUSE TO DIE LIKE THIS!"
He managed to move the fingers on his right hand. It surprised him. He could still clench his fist… But what good would that do?
Then, as he looked down, he saw it. His sword, just inches from his hand. The gauntlet still shimmered faintly, as if calling to him, whispering: Do it.
He remembered how, every time he summoned his sword, it was pulled toward him with such force it always struck like a whip.
"You haven't made up your mind yet? Fine…" The wolf began swelling his throat again. Daion had known it from the beginning: That was his weak spot—the most obvious one. But it only exposed itself for a few seconds… and it held a massive charge of omega energy. "First I'll kill those two… And then, I'll slit your throat. Goodbye, Summoned One."
The Hound's jaws opened wide. Its throat glowed violently. In that instant, Daion summoned his sword. It shot upward with force, slamming into his open palm. He clenched it with every ounce of strength he had left and, using the weapon's momentum...
"Ghhh…" the Corrupted groaned as the broken tip of the sword drove deep into its throat.
Daion's bloodied arm slipped from the hilt and dropped limp, hanging like a severed rope.
The inertia had done the job—the blade had pierced through the Hound's neck. The beast released him, a thin stream of blood trailing from the wound. It staggered upright, stumbling as it tried to press against its swollen throat. But the sword slipped out and clattered to the ground with a harsh metallic clang that shattered the silence —loud, final, ominous.
Then, the Omega energy began to leak out.
The Corrupted tried to scream… but its vocal cords were shredded. Its throat kept swelling, desperately searching for a way to release the massive energy it had stored.
And then, with a scream so feral that even with his ruptured eardrums, Daion felt it in his chest It all exploded.
The Hound's head swelled grotesquely. Its many eyes burst one by one, spilling thick yellowish fluid. The bartender threw herself to the ground, shielding Howard with her body. Daion barely turned his head in time to see it — The wolf's head blew apart.
A violent mix of brain matter, blood, and corrupted energy sprayed in every direction, slamming Daion into the pavement like a ragdoll.
He lay there on his side, covered in the fluids of his enemy. He felt his mind fading, unsure whether he was simply passing out… or truly dying. And yet, right in front of him, he could make out a pulsating chunk of brain.
Then, the Summoned one smiled faintly. "In the end… there really were bitch's brains on the ground." That was the last thought that crossed his mind before the darkness took him.
Whether he died or not… he knew one thing for certain. He'd have to face that shitty god again.
End of Chapter 12.