Ch.1515. Blood Warrior

# ‘Revenge Hound’

If you only hear the name “hound,” you might easily imagine a fierce and ferocious four-legged predator, and this is actually half correct.

Its wolf-like head features a protruding mouth with yellowish, sharp claws and teeth.

These claws and teeth are sharp enough to tear through steel plates in a single swipe, and its blood-red eyes burn with raging flames of hatred.

However, the Revenge Hound is not a complete quadruped.

While it uses its long arms as legs when running to move quickly, during normal times it stands on two feet and fights by swinging its long forelimbs (arms).

In other words, the exact appearance of this hound is closer to a werewolf, yet it has distinct differences from ordinary werewolves.

Its hands are so abnormally developed that they’re more suitable as weapons for tearing apart enemies rather than for everyday use. The reddish fur, which cannot be seen on normal wolves, isn’t actually fur in the strict sense.

The nearly hairless limbs are indeed covered with insanely tough skin and stiff hair, but… beneath the fluffy fur, instead of similarly blood-colored skin, there are scales made of a material somewhere between metal and leather, reminiscent of scale or lamellar armor, protecting the body.

Furthermore, these creatures’ claws aren’t made of ordinary keratin but of a material similar to their scales. If summoned at grade 8 or higher, their claws are cursed with healing impediment and are treated as level 1 magical weapons (claws).

That’s not all.

Despite its hunched back, it’s larger than an adult male, reaching a minimum height of well over 2.5 meters. With not an ounce of fat and solid muscles, it’s perfectly suited for delivering quick and powerful consecutive attacks.

Its legs contain biological springs made of muscle-skeletal structures, allowing it to display bouncy yet fast, explosive movements and agility.

Meanwhile, its senses are as keen as its appearance suggests.

Its sense of smell can monitor wide areas spanning kilometers, and its hearing functions almost like a form of vision, allowing it to perceive what’s behind it as if it had eyes in the back of its head.

Unlike typical feline animals, it also has excellent visual detection abilities. When combined with its passive abilities as a divine servant, the Revenge Hound’s role becomes clear.

When utilized in armies, it serves as both a scout and quasi-light cavalry. When summoned by an individual, it functions as a solid melee damage dealer while also serving as a pseudo-rogue and detection shuttle.

And the method of creating these Revenge Hounds is—

《Alright, let’s go in!》

“N-no—grkblnmskdnwlrn…awoooooooo—!!!!!”

It involves collecting the souls of non-believers wandering in the soul realm (divine realm), then recycling the souls of various criminals among them and transforming them into hounds.

After the death of a sentient being, the soul is usually transferred to the heaven of the deity they worshipped. Those who deliberately remain or become non-believers are mostly people who violated the doctrines of their gods, ensuring their judgment in heaven.

But in this era, because gods are running amok, only relatively fundamental doctrines exist, such as not killing others without reason or not committing adultery with married women… How likely is it that those who can’t even follow these simple rules wouldn’t be considered serious criminals even by ancient standards?

Moreover, among Bjorn’s former tribespeople whom I’ve gathered, there are quite a few serious criminals, so there will be no shortage of criminal souls to turn into Revenge Hounds.

If all else fails, I can simply expend some of my power to create hounds.

※ ※ ※

Thus, my first servant, the ‘Revenge Hound,’ was completed, but… honestly, fighting against another god’s army with these dog-heads would be simply foolish.

Their physical capabilities are top-tier since all capacity was invested in basic stats rather than special abilities, but the problem is their intelligence.

Since they were created more as scouts and as punishment for criminals rather than as a true fighting force, their intelligence has been reduced to that of a ferocious beast or monster as part of that punishment.

Of course, they fight well since I created them myself, but… if hundreds of soldiers form a battle formation, it would be very difficult for the relatively lightly armored hounds to deal with them. Above all, I needed soldiers, not monsters.

Therefore, I deeply contemplated how to solve this problem, and in the end—

‘Should I recruit soldiers?’

I came to the conclusion that I should select volunteers from among Bjorn’s former tribespeople and the very few of my deceased believers who live peacefully in my domain within the divine realm.

As my believers increased and I became a lesser god, my domain has grown to roughly the size of a district. Unlike before when all areas were indoors, my territory now resembles a fairly normal modern city, albeit with mostly high-rise buildings.

Various entertainment facilities have been installed in the remaining spaces, but the most popular among them is—

“Eighty coins on Red Mustache!”

“Then I’ll bet ninety coins on Blue Hair!”

“Forty-five coins on Mustache!”

“One hundred coins on Blue Hair!”

—an arena where people fight each other using pseudonyms, and the adjacent gambling hall using coins (since all facilities are free to use, having more just feels good).

Originally built as a kind of dueling ground at the request of warriors with itchy fists, it became popular as spectators increased, eventually evolving into an arena where people fought brutally, given that there was no pain and death was followed by resurrection.

The gambling hall helps the audience become more immersed in the fights.

Anyway, since there were tribespeople who still craved fighting and combat, releasing their violent tendencies in this way, I began recruitment with the expectation of securing sufficient soldiers—

“I-I too will fight for Lord Ma-Duk!”

“As if Red Mustache would back down from such an opportunity!”

The response was explosive, thanks to the privilege of fighting under their savior stimulating their devout faith.

Out of approximately 15,000 people, nearly two-thirds—about 10,000—volunteered for recruitment, forcing me to select only the elite due to considerations of faith consumption.

Originally planning to test just one battalion of 1,000 soldiers, I had no choice but to increase it to three battalions, selecting the 3,000 former warriors with the highest combat abilities from among the volunteers.

Since they were already dead souls, their numerical attributes like mana capacity or physical capabilities wouldn’t grow, but they could continuously improve their skills (weapon proficiency). I instructed these selected warriors to fight constantly against each other and against the hounds, dedicating at least six hours daily to training.

I also trained these warriors to master almost all cold weapons to expert level, beyond their primary weapons. They learned discipline, obedience to orders, and various strategies and tactics, elevating their software to a level surpassing even mediocre aura users, despite having the hardware of lower-tier warriors.

After completing all these procedures, they must pass a final test—defeating a hound I personally summon while armed with only a dagger. Only then are they recognized as my soldiers and granted weapons.

They receive clothes blessed by me, red breastplates tempered with sacred blood, quality chain mail, plate armor components inscribed with scripture verses, red helmets, and finally red cloaks bearing the emblem of their assigned battalion.

Lastly, by receiving my blessing and maximizing their physical abilities to the highest possible level (top of 7th grade), the Blood Warriors—soldiers of the God of Blood and Vengeance—are born.

Infantry trained through thousands of battles—experiences mortals cannot have, including death—equipped with weapons and armor tempered with sacred blood and inscribed with every verse from the scriptures.

And cavalry who mount Revenge Hounds armored with red (demonic?) plates instead of well-bred horses, charging with disregard for their lives.

Each Blood Warrior battalion consists of 800 infantry and 200 cavalry, totaling 1,000 soldiers who will resist to the end even if annihilated. The happiness of being chosen by a god motivates them to continuously improve their skills.

Therefore, I deeply believed that these Blood Warriors—incomparable to the trash soldiers of other gods who spend all day drinking and indulging with slaves—would be a great asset when confronting the corrupt gods of the pantheon.