I Awakened My Game System! Now Three Great Houses Want Me Dead!-Chapter 99: Aspro!

The Daemon, now no longer just a head but a full-on zombie, followed Xenos, dragging its pack of Vrykolakases, those ugly, long-limbed things, behind it.

They swarmed him, protecting their master like loyal dogs...

If dogs could screech and look like nightmares.

Xenos didn’t know how Atys had managed to tame the Daemon, but he understood one thing: it always attacked whoever attacked it.

Which meant... the Vrykolakases could be used as a perfect shield for Xenos, since if Atys attacked even a single one of them, their attention would turn to him as well, something that he certainly wouldn’t want.

But it was sure as Tartaros was something that Xenos wanted, or rather, needed, as it was the only way he saw himself getting out of this alive.

"Perfect."

His mutual destruction plan had been initiated.

"COME AT ME!"

While dodging in between them, he raised his hand, his light gathering at his fingertips.

And they rushed at that light like moths.

His grin was ear-to-ear as he fired off a blast, not at Atys, but at one of the Vrykolakases, sending it flying towards the man, wanting to squash him.

But that would’ve been too easy.

Atys moved fast.

Way faster than his hulking body should’ve allowed, nearly blinking out of the Vrykolakas’s way.

In a few moments, he was directly before Xenos, who casually stared up at the man.

"A bit slow, no?"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Atys’s rage ripped loud as he came down with both fists.

Xenos quickly stepped back, easily dodging it, and then stepped to the side, dodging another attack, this one coming from a Vrykolakas that had come from behind him.

"Really slow."

"DIE!"

The ground cracked under Atys as he swung wildly.

Each attack, though missed, sent shockwaves everywhere around him.

Even in his rage, he somehow still didn’t hit the Vrykolakases, but Xenos wasn’t about to let that be.

Dodging a Vrykolakas’s swing at the last moment, he casually pushed it into one of Atys’s shockwaves, which exploded it into black pulp.

"...damn."

Xenos muttered.

’I guess that’s what happens when you stack Strength Runes.’

A single attack, even when faced with [Wise Fool,] would do him in.

After all, the Runebearer before him wasn’t only a ’strength build’ but also a Shepherd.

Thankfully, and again, he was too enraged to use his Synaxis...

Or perhaps he couldn’t use it.

Either way...

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Xenos dodged another swing, rolling back and flicking his sword up in one motion.

Atys stomped again, shaking the ground while screaming like a lunatic:

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Though the sight of him stomping the ground repeatedly might make most forget, he wasn’t the only one to worry about.

Around them, the Vrykolakases shrieked and lunged, their large claws scraping the ground.

Xenos spun his sword, the glow of [Wise Fool] flaring as he blocked every strike in one swing, then countered with the next, cleaving through two at once before quickly following through with another, killing two more.

Thankfully, he could use his [Wise Fool] on these creatures, as they were only Brephos Class.

"Next!"

Dodging more blows, he danced with them, ducking low and in before swinging again, cutting three into mushy halves.

But his fun was short-lived.

A shadow fell over him.

"...oh, right. You."

Atys’s punch came from the side, catching him before he could recover.

Xenos was expecting that, however, instantly activating a flash of light beneath him, blasting him up and out of range.

Atys followed almost immediately, meeting him high in the air, above their little battlefield.

Xenos stabbed his sword preemptively, his [Wise Fool] triggering to deflect the coming punch.

"RAAAAAAAAAH!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

And sure enough, it came alongside Atys’s rumbling roar, only to be caught by Xenos’ blade.

It, with a lot of effort, was deflected to the side.

But another punch came right after.

"Persistent bastard—"

BOOM.

Xenos barely dodged that one, flickering light bursting from his palms as he shot himself straight down, crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop away from certain death.

Thankfully, that earlier deflection had given him enough time to use his light once more.

But though he escaped death, he had dropped straight into the jaws of another, as dozens of Vrykolakases came rushing at him at once, and this time, he didn’t have light to help him, as the Rune’s activation period had ended.

"Not today."

Xenos wasn’t in the state to block, so he had to use what he saved up, one of the ten Runes on his Hands of Lethe, glowing bright for a moment.

Click!

The nearest claw froze in midair, its ’attack’ stolen, allowing him a moment to collect himself and kick straight through the gap, breaking out of the ring of monsters...

Just in time to see Atys charging again.

He punched out, and Xenos dodged left.

The resulting shockwave tore through the entire group of Vrykolakases behind him.

"My blind cousin aims better than you."

Xenos lunged in return, stabbing toward Atys’s head.

Atys swung at the sword in an attempt to break it, but the weapon vanished mid-swing.

It reappeared half a heartbeat later, materializing right beside Atys’s side, making it obvious that the entire move was a feint, where Xenos used his inventory just to finally reach him and cut through him.

Or, he should have.

The blade stopped, stuck halfway in.

"...huh?"

Immediately retrieving it into his inventory, Xenos tried to step away, but was too late.

Atys’s massive fist filled his vision.

It was directly before him.

He could not dodge it.

’DAMNATION!’

Xenos poured every last Rune from his gloves into that instant; nine, all gone in a single moment.

The punch’s ’attack’ was stolen, and it barely missed him, grazing the side of his cheek.

And yes, he was forced to use all nine of the remaining Runes as the attacker was of a higher rank, and since Divine Relics worked alongside the Soul, it demanded a lot more when a weaker user faced a stronger opponent.

"Great..."

Xenos stumbled back, his breath heavy.

"No cards left."

He couldn’t even catch a breath before Atys went wild again, slamming the ground in fury.

Luckily, that also drew the Vrykolakases’ attention, and they all lunged at him.

The perfect distraction.

Xenos took the chance to breathe, for real this time, and weaved through them, away from that maniacal bastard.

’I really did bite more than I can chew.’

Eris sighed in his mind.

’I told you so.’

Surprisingly, She didn’t seem too worried.

Something that Xenos picked up on pretty quickly.

’You’re unusually calm for the worst fight I’ve had... why is that?’

She didn’t answer... at least not with talking, as he felt Her gaze drift somewhere.

He followed it, and near the edge of this thicket of trees, beside a massive cracked boulder, something small and white moved.

"...what?"

He squinted.

It was fluffy?

The thing had four legs and one little horn.

Yes, it was a familiar dog-wolf thing.

"...you’ve got to be kidding me."

The same one-horned white dog he’d saved back then.

It was just... standing there, watching him.

And strangely, the Vrykolakases didn’t seem to react to it.

The same applied to Xenos now that he was closer to this ball of fluff.

Somehow, it could influence the Daemon’s mind, and since Atys was currently being overrun by them, Xenos was now allowed to stand around and do absolutely nothing.

"Well, I’ll be damned."

Xenos’s grin widened.

"You’re my good luck charm, huh?"

Eris giggled softly.

’Indeed. Duel-Fated, remember?’

He walked toward the little creature while Atys roared behind him once more, fighting for his life under the horde.

"Hey, buddy."

Xenos kneeled.

"Thanks for the help. I almost died there."

The dog stared up at him.

"Is this for me saving you back then? Thanks, and you’re welcome!"

Again, it said nothing, but slowly...

Wooof.

It brought itself close to him with a whine and rubbed its fluffy head on his leg.

"Aww, so you do remember me."

He reached out and patted its head, almost forgetting the war happening next to them.

"You’re softer than I remembered. How are you so clean in this shithole?"

It tilted its head, almost offended.

"You’re so cute, isn’t that right, Eris?"

She giggled in agreement.

’Who’s a good boy~’

The dog actually wagged its tail.

’Hm?’

Xenos tilted his head.

"...wait, you can hear Her?"

It barked once, almost politely.

"Huh. I guess you can."

He smiled a little, rubbing its fur again.

"Do you have a name, little guy?"

The dog shook its head, understanding him.

"Alright then, let’s fix that..."

Not finding that surprising, Xenos began to list out names.

"How about... Seth?"

It looked like it wanted to die.

"No? Okay, Smith?"

Even worse.

It flattened its ears and looked away.

"Alright, fine. Snow?"

Worse, the dog gave him a look that screamed, "Over my dead body!"

"Too basic? Wow, picky. What about White then?"

Much, much worse, with the dog turning around like it was ready to walk away from him forever.

"...Okay, okay, calm down."

Xenos laughed.

"How about... Aspro?"

That actually made it pause.

Its tail wagged once, then again and again.

"It’s ’white’ in Greek, I think... but you don’t know what Greek is, do you?"

No, it didn’t, but the dog nodded anyway, its ears up, tail wagging wildly now, traumatized almost, wanting this name before Xenos could change his mind.

’Aww, poor thing...’

Eris laughed in his head.

’You’ve tortured it into agreeing.’

"Hey, I’ll take it."

Xenos lifted the little guy up and revealed him to the grotesque battlefield before them.

"Welcome Aspro, everyone!"