Chapter 95: Unleash the Divine Dog or…?

"How many times are we going to try ripping off The Divine Wolf or…?" I asked, staring at the title above me in exasperation. The Divine Dog shrugged.

"As long as you don't name me Ark, I don't care if you want to rip off Tyrone Bedoire's story a thousand times."

"What, are we advertising other webnovel authors' stories for them now?"

"Quit wasting time on the fourth wall and summon me already!" The Divine Dog snapped. I sighed and returned to reality. I opened my eyes just in time to watch Lan Bei Er's barrier shatter from the gryphon's relentless pummeling.

"Hah!" The assassin who had summoned the gryphon crowed. "Let's see who can protect you now?"

Instead of retorting, I intoned a single word. It resonated with power, bestial qi unfurling from my body to manifest itself in reality.

"Unleash."

The shadow chains…no, shadow leashes clicked open, and all restraints on the Divine Dog fell off, temporarily freeing the divine spirit beast. The immense white hunting hound materialized in reality, and he celebrated his first emergence after being forcibly bound into a spirit contract by throwing his head back and howling at the heavens.

The howl was so thunderous that even the gryphon was stunned, its muscles locking up from instinctive fear. It reflexively took a step back, its great wings spread protectively as if to shield itself. Its eyes widened as it watched the Divine Dog shake himself to relax his muscles after spending so long bound in the dungeon.

"Oho." The Divine Dog licked his lips in anticipation, staring hungrily at the trembling gryphon. "You are right. That gryphon looks very delicious."

"You can have it," I said, waving almost flippantly. "Just make sure you swallow everything, right down to the last bone."

"You bet I will."

The Divine Dog pounced, his jaws snapping shut around the gryphon's neck before it could react. Holy heavens…what incredible speed. I almost couldn't follow his movements, his immense body disappearing into a white blur before he crossed the wide distance in an instant.

Good thing he was on our side now.

The poor gryphon didn't even know what hit it. It flailed about wildly, frantically clawing at the Divine Dog to break free. Blood spurted from a ruptured jugular vein and it stemmed the bleeding with a surge of qi after it tore away, blood dripping from its beak. It snarled and tried to bite the Divine Dog, but he simply swatted its head away, almost burying it in the ground.

With a cry, the gryphon kicked out wildly in an attempt to slash the Divine Dog, but he deftly leaped away. Fiery qi swirled in his mouth before he released the flames upon the gryphon, bathing the majestic winged beast in an emerald inferno.

The gryphon shrieked in agony and thrashed about, but its throes only got weaker as time passed. Somehow it managed to drag itselt out of the flames, but the Divine Dog was already waiting for it, smacking its head with his paw and knocking it off its four feet.

"M…monster!" the assassin was gaping at the grisly scene in horror, unable to believe his eyes. He swiveled toward me, his mouth hanging. "What the hell is that thing!? Why do you have such a spirit beast!?"

"What?" I snorted. "So only you're allowed to summon a contracted spirit beast, but I can't? Since when did I ever say that I'm not a summoner?"

"Impossible!" The assassin couldn't accept reality. He shook his head, as if hoping he would wake up from a nightmare. "This can't be happening!"

"How noisy," I said, using Shadow Step to appear behind him. He spun around in astonishment, somehow parrying my blade in time. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't just swinging Abyssal Edge. Black qi glowed along the edge of my sword and I blasted him with a Shadow Dragon at pointblank range.

Coughing and choking, the assassin staggered out of the black explosion, dark qi continuing to swirl around his battered body. Blood flowed off his arms, face and chest in rivulets, and his upper robes were all but disintegrated, revealing a ravaged torso.

"You…!"

"You what you?" I retorted ipatiently before kicking him. He tried to dodge my foot, only to have my elbow clatter into his face when he looked up. I tried to finish him off with a slash from my sword, but the tenacious assassin parried my blade.

No matter. I unleashed Shadow Sword Strike and blew him back, sending him tumbling to the ground with fresh wounds opening up across his devastated body.

Choking and wheezing, the assassin tried to rise to his feet, bringing his sword up to block my blade and prevent it from slicing through his neck. Despite having my decapitating blow foiled, I was able to kick him while his guard was down (or up, rather), my foot connecting with his solar plexus and hurling him back a few paces.

He struck the ground and bounced, almost a parody of my predicament earlier. Now it was his time to be thrown about like a ragdoll.

Forcing his momentum to a halt by stabbing the ground and skidding haphazardly, he raised his head to glare at me defiantly. However, I was no longer in front of him.

"Where…?!"

Too late, he sensed me emerging from behind him using Shadow Step. He sneered and whirled around, lashing out with his sword.

"Do you really think using the same trick twice will work? Attacking from behind…it's the oldest trick in the book!"

However, I didn't attack him. Instead, his blade cleaved through thin air. I had appeared quite some distance away, way out of sword range. The assassin's features contorted in confusion, his face now clearly visible after his mask had been obliterated by my consecutive attacks.

Then I swung my sword and unleashed Shadow Sword Storm. The assassin was pretty agile, able to weave through the bombardment. Not only that, despite being severely injured, he had not given up. Darting around the rain of black swords, he closed in on me, cutting the distance between us as he thrust his sword toward my neck.

Before he could reach midway, my Shadow Sword Strike knocked him back. He grunted and blocked it with his sword, cleaving the blast apart. Even so, his momentum had been stilled for a moment.

Heaving, he shook his head and jumped away to evade another couple of shadow swords from above. Switching his sword from one hand to the other, he cut and sliced apart another group of shadow swords, buying himself the time he needed to get away.

"Little tricks…" he growled. He turned to his gryphon, hoping that it could break away from its opponent for a moment and help him take care of me. He was under no illusion that his gryphon could defeat my Divine Dog, but as long as he eliminated the summoner, the summoned contract spirit beast would naturally disappear as well.

"Sorry, but I'm not Yue Yang."

"Who?!" The assassin's expression twisted in bewilderment. I hit him with a Shadow Dragon by way of reply while he was still processing my sentence. Cheap move, I know, but I'm a demonic cultivator. I don't care about being honorable or chivalrous and all that.

Whatever the case, his gryphon was in no condition to help him. It was currently being devoured by a triumphant Divine Dog, who had the wailing creature pinned to the ground. Lowering his head, he bit down hard and tore out chunks of flesh, spraying blood all over the courtyard.

The gruesome scene chilled both enemies and allies alike. Even the assassins, inured to countless deaths and killing, couldn't help but freeze, chilled by the sight of the Divine Dog feasting on a dying spirit beast. They weren't traumatized exactly, not even disturbed, but the display of wanton violence gave them pause.

"I heard the news, but I couldn't bring myself to believe it." To my surprise, the emperor spoke up. I didn't think he would hang around when his life was in danger, but then again, the safest place for him to be was probably next to his royal guard, who were on the verge of pushing the assassins back. For now, though, even the royal guard had froze to watch the Divine Dog, unnerved.

Then they shook themselves out of their stupor and resumed their life-and-death fights against the assassins. Both sides were battle hardened, so gruesome deaths weren't exactly alien to them. Even so, it was still chilling to witness such a massacre.

"You really tamed the Divine Dog and bound him to a spirit contract with you." The emperor continued, turning to stare at me in awe. He shook his head and smiled. "With you taking the Divine Dog under your charge, I wonder what heights the Huang Kingdom can achieve?"

"Uh…"

I shook my head wearily even as I dispatched the wounded assassin. He was lying on the ground, his eyes wide as he watched the demise of his spirit beast. Before he could crawl toward it, I plunged my sword through his back, killing him almost instantly.

I wasn't some sadistic bastard who enjoyed tormenting my foes. I had read some comments from edgelords screaming at me for not making my enemies suffer slowly and painfully, condemning me for killing far too quickly – apparently because they didn't find the deaths of my opponents satisfying. What the fuck…these readers were so edgy that I actually bled just from reading their damned comments. They clearly needed psychiatric help. I couldn't help but be disturbed by their edgy "Why the f* did the MC kill him so fast?! He should have dragged out the death and made it more painful. Loser MC."

Seriously?

Not that I cared. Those edgelords could burn in whatever hellhole they were currently residing in (most likely their parents' basements or some dark, edgy abyss where they could stew in their hatred for the world). Instead, I turned my attention to the emperor.

"Your majesty, I mean no offense, but I am not a weapon. Neither is the Divine Dog. I suggest you refrain from considering us as…tools to elevate the Huang Kingdom. I will be more than happy to protect the kingdom and its citizens from threats…but we are not tools to be unleashed upon the other kingdoms and conquer them."

Bloody hell…I didn't run away from a demonic sect just to end up doing the exact same thing a demonic sect would do. The emperor appeared to understand.

"Ah, right. I apologize. Of course…I didn't mean it that way. If you had such ambition, you would have joined the imperial guard and become an army general. Of course, you're more than welcome to elist in the military if you're ever so inclined."

"Thank you. I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I'm not worthy. I just wish to live a peaceful life with my wife."

"Ever the romantic, huh?" The emperor shook his head and studied Lan Bei Er as she healed another one of his royal guard. I was already moving on to the next target, taking out an assassin by surprise while he was distracted by He Shan Jie's Divine Gaia Golem. Hong Yao Yao's opponent was next, stabbed from behind by me while she was fending off her crimson butterflies. Chi Yan, on the other hand, didn't any help. He was dispatching the assassins with ease, his broadsword reaping a heavy toll on their numbers. The emperor watched us and exhaled softly. "I owe you my life, so I can't ask for anything more. I suppose I should be content with you protecting my kingdom."

The Divine Dog proceeded to stomp and pulverize a few more assassins. With the tide turned in our favor, the royal guard could mop up the remaining assassins. They chased and hunted down the survivors who had begun to turn and flee, realizing that they were outmatched. Refusing to let even one escape, the royal guard swiftly established a perimeter and hemmed them in.

Apprehending what remained of the assassins was the royal guard's job. I had done what I felt I was obligated to do. Sighing in relief, I dropped down next to Lan Bei Er, who was tending to the grievous wounds of a royal guard. He had taken a stab from a poisoned dagger, it seemed.

Allowing my wife to focus on her healing work, I stayed quiet and checked on the emperor. The commander of the royal guard had pulled back to personally protect the ruler of the Huang Kingdom. I also checked on Huang Qian Jin and Huang Wan Hai, but they were being guarded by Hui Ying, the pseudo Valkyries and a bunch of royal guard.

"Great work, brother Ye!" Huang Qian Jin called out to me, hurrying over. I waved weakly, feeling the exhaustion overcome me.

Turning to the Divine Dog, who had finished his meal and left no trace of the gryphon except massive bloodstains, I began to dismiss him with a thought, pulling him back to the shadowy sector in my personal soul space.

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