CHAPTER 62: FORCED COOPERATION (2)

Being suspected as a Ghost or a Dark Cultist is not what Deklan had in mind.

But it ended really well.

He was fretting about how to make Kaelyn involved in the battle against the opposing Null Zone—but to think that the Ghosts from the other side would’ve solved the problem for him was a pleasant surprise. Now, like it or not, Kaelyn was already part of the fight.

Now I need to prolong this and create no way out.

Deklan smiled inwardly, but paused.

It would be too obvious if he were to do that.

Kaelyn was a sharp woman, or else she wouldn’t have realized that he wasn’t normal that quickly.

So, he has to adopt a discreet method, or else it’s going to make the situation worse.

However, even if he did manage to keep her fighting, it’s not going to be enough.

That’s only going to be a temporary solution, not a real solution.

Either way, I’ll deal with these dogs first.

Deklan looked around at the other flaming hounds that were now wounded and angrier than before.

Then, he fixated on the biggest flaming hound who had been watching them battle closely, like a smart predator that was analyzing how its prey moved. "How long are you going to keep watching?" Deklan’s voice rang—taunting. "Don’t you feel sorry for your little puppies? If these guys were killed this easily, what does that say about you?"

"What are you doing?" Kaelyn exclaimed—in a whisper. "None of these guys are intelligent enough to speak, but they could understand you. Don’t piss them off even more."

Despite her warning, Deklan didn’t intend to stop, "Just ready your Spirit Talisman and follow my lead."

Growl!

"Did you hear that?" Deklan continued, patting the flaming hound that was pinned underneath him like one would to an obedient dog. "It’s calling for you, asking you to help. I’m really sorry for him to have a wuss leader like you."

Hearing this, the biggest flaming hound’s blazing eyes narrowed.

It was clear that Deklan’s words were influencing it.

"Hey," Deklan glanced at the whimpering flaming hound—with a fake concern. "Does that pussy have an ear problem? Or is he too scared to attack me, so he throws his little puppies at me first? Either way, why don’t you cry louder? Make that pitiful growl even more pathetic. Maybe then he’ll finally grow a pair and come at me himself."

"Here," Deklan pushed the spear into the flaming hound. "Let me help you."

Growl!!

Seeing how disrespectful Deklan was, the biggest flaming hound finally had it.

Its mouth blazed with flames as it unleashed a thunderous roar.

ROAR!!

Swoosh!

"Now you’ve done it!" Kaelyn activated her Spirit Talisman as the biggest flaming hound finally used its Minor Presence, a gesture that showed that it was going to be serious now. "What are you even trying to achieve by this?"

As Deklan said earlier, she would only need to trust him.

And doing that was really hard right now, seeing that he was only pissing these Ghosts off.

Just then, Kaelyn frowned when she noticed Deklan deactivating his Spirit Talisman.

It was almost like he wanted to get hit by this Minor Presence.

Swoosh!

[Minor Presence: Roaring Flame has affected the host!]

[Sanity has been decreased by 5 points.]

[Endurance has been reduced!]

[Status Effect Applied: Burn]

[Status Effect Applied: Panic]

[Hellhound killed: 20 Spooky Dollar obtained!]

Deklan killed the Hellhound underneath him in time, right before the Minor Presence struck him.

He gritted his teeth hard as a searing agony roared through him, as if his whole body were a pot left to boil over an open flame. Since all Minor Presence is a mental attack, not a physical one, it bypassed the Fire Skin trait without resistance.

But it doesn’t matter.

In fact, this was what Deklan wanted by taunting the biggest Hellhound earlier.

All he needed to do was to endure it once.

Naturally, he was aiming to develop resistance to the Minor Presence through the Iron Spine skill.

Just earlier, he met with the shadowy knight again.

Since he had already been struck by its Minor Presence once, he thought he didn’t need to worry about it, but he was dead wrong. In order for his Iron Spine skill to be activated, he needed to get hit by it directly, not through the Spirit Talisman.

Because of that, he has to deactivate the Spirit Talisman and eat this Roaring Flame directly.

"Protect me for a bit!" Deklan said with a restrained voice. "Just until I got through this!"

"I don’t know what you’re doing, but it better be something good."

Kaelyn wanted to refute, but she decided to see where Deklan was going with this.

As the two Hellhounds pounced at them again, giving no chance for them to recover, the serpent tattoo along her arm began to glow. Red aura sizzled from her body like vapor, and when she made her move, her speed was now faster than before.

For half a minute, Kaelyn protected Deklan.

She made sure that each strike she dished out was strong enough to knock the Hellhound away.

It was to keep the battle one-on-one, rather than going against two at the same time.

Clash!

Roar!

Swish!

Kaelyn clashed more than a dozen times in the span of half a minute.

Even though her rank was higher than these Hellhounds—she was still an Exorcist, and her mana was running low. As she brandished her katana, another came from the side, forcing her to block the attack with only her arm.

Flames scorched her clothes and skin as she was skidded several yards roughly.

A painful moan escaped her lips when her body slammed into a wooden fence and then a tree.

But she recovered quickly.

"Spell: Crimson Lash!"

She casts another spell, firing arcs of energy straight at the Hellhound that neared Deklan.

Just then, her eyes lit up when Deklan finally rose to his feet.

"It’s done!" Deklan lowered his stance; his eyes fixated on the biggest Hellhound ahead.

"Leave the two to me, you handle that big one!"

"That’s my plan from the start!"

Swoosh!

Deklan dashed straight to the biggest Hellhound.

In his hand, the spear shuddered and began to transform—its pale sheen collapsed into a seething black.

Shadows crawled along the shaft like living veins as he activated the weapon persona, Shadow Beast. He hadn’t gotten the time to rest it out properly, but the Hellhound before him right now was the perfect trial by fire.

Accepting the head-on confrontation, the biggest Hellhound also charged.

Its body blazed with fire, turning it into a meteor as it galloped forward with restraint.

Boom!

Upon colliding, a shockwave of mana and flames erupted.

Both were pushed back the same by the impact, but Deklan skidded back farther than the Hellhound, his boots ground trenches into the soil. The strength gap was obvious. Deklan was on the weaker side, but he gritted his teeth and drove his weight forward, refusing to back down.

In a fierce confrontation, the two brawled it out.

Deklan unleashed a flurry of slashing arcs, sweeping hacks, and savage thrusts.

His spear carved streaks of darkness through the air.

He wasn’t trained for spear combat as he had never even held a spear before in his previous world, so there were gaps, excess movements, wasted angles. But a week of hunting Ghosts—had carved enough instinct into him to keep his hands steady and his strike relentless.

For the second time, they crashed together again.

And the Hellhound couldn’t pierce through that storm of attacks.

Deklan’s eyes sparkled when he saw an opening—thin, but he seized it anyway.

Using the Astral Strike, Deklan raised his spear overhead and swung it down hard.

He missed.

It seemed the Hellhound was used to fighting, capable of retaining its calmness, which allowed it to create a burst of fire that detonated from its skull the second before impact. The mini explosion hurled the spear backward, dragging Deklan with it.

His balance shattered, and his feet left the ground.

Seeing this, the beast lunged.

Its head slammed into Deklan’s torso with brutal force.

Air blasted out of his lungs; saliva sprayed from his mouth as the world blurred for a second.

Deklan staggered, barely keeping his footing.

A fiery claw swept for his chest—he bent back on instinct alone.

Crash!

He stole a glance behind.

It was then that he was greeted by a house wall—cleaved open like soft wood. The swipe had torn straight through, splintering the structure in a single blow.

A cold breath escaped him.

Its swipe carried so much weight and power! I can’t get hit by that!

Fearing getting hit by that swipe, Deklan wanted to leap away to create a safe distance—between them, but in the next second, the world suddenly spun. He blinked his eyes as he realized the ground beneath him suddenly exploded, hurling him skyward.

Glancing down below, the Hellhound already leaped onto the rooftop and then pounced at him.

Its maw was opened wide, showing its sharp fangs—it was aiming for the kill!

Deklan wanted to block, react, anything, but the spinning momentum made it hard for him to do that.

No matter how strongly he tries to make the air current, it couldn’t push him out of the way.

He’s going to get mauled!

Just then, he recalled his new trait, the Ember Affinity trait.

Deklan tapped into that trait, intending to blast fire to the side to knock him out of the way.

But oddly enough, he couldn’t control ember like he could control air currents with the Breeze Affinity.

Something was different.

The Ember Affinity trait only allowed him to manifest ember within his body, not outside his body.

Boom!

Deklan’s body exploded with flames, pushing the Hellhound away as it crashed back down.

He blinked a couple of times, not knowing what had happened.

Frankly, all he did was stimulate the ember strong enough to cause a reaction, and this happened.

Regardless, this was a good thing for him.

"Pumple, keep it there!"

Deklan exclaimed as he pulled back his shadowy spear, charging to throw it as hard as he could at the spot where the Hellhound had crashed. Since it was a bit away from Kaelyn, he could afford to summon Pumple to help him.

Though Pumple couldn’t do much, he could distract or irritate the Hellhound.

Charging the spear with Astral Strike, Deklan grunted as he fired the spear.

He twists his hand at the last second, giving the spear a spinning effect to make it even faster.

Swoosh!

Roar!!

Deklan smiled at the loud whimper coming from the Hellhound.

Pushing his body forward with the Breeze Affinity, Deklan hurled himself forward, plummeting like a falling star. The Albino Spear levelled in his grasp, its point locked on the Hellhound already pinned by the shadowed weapon and Pumple.

His eyes narrowed on the Ghost’s exposed neck as he drove in for the finishing thrust.

Crash!