The mutant Bloodfang Wolf's red eyes burned in darkness, its aura pressuring as if a storm. Even I, familiar with death, felt the animal's presence suffocating.
An Alpha who was mutated by its bloodline. Stronger, quicker, and sharper than a normal Bloodfang. Just its roar crushed the earth below my feet.
I gritted my teeth, holding out my palm.
[Stone Fist]
A hand-sized earth glyph materialized in front of my hand. Strips of thin magic carved themselves into a crude circle before the earth itself bucked up, spewing forth a crude stone pillar that slammed onto the wolf's paw. Tooth and stone impacted with sparks, the strike rattling my skeleton.
The creature didn't fall. It let out a howl and charged again, blurring at speed.
[Gust Burst]
A whirl of wind runes exploded at my feet, and a crazed gust snapped outward in a single snap. The wolf retreated, claws plowing furrows into the earth.
But only smiled. A predator's grin.
My magical aura pulsed wildly.
"Come, then," I breathed.
The wolf leapt, its teeth blazing with blood-red power. I replied by weaving three glyphs in succession, unstable and consuming.
[Overcharge–Flame Spark]
The hand-sized flame rune detonated chaotically into a radius of half a meter, unstable sparks flickering along its edges.
The rune I threw exploded.
A shaft of fire cut through the air, exploding against the wolf's chest. The explosion shook the walls of the south gate. Fire engulfed me, scorching my robe.
The wolf yelped, its fur on fire, its massive body collapsing to the ground. It still attempted to rise, red eyes from the strike, fury refusing to die.
I raised my hand once more.
[Shadow Coil]
From the glyph on my wrist, black tendrils erupted, tying its limbs. The wolf fought, growling, but the restraints tightened, shadows tunneling like chains of metal.
I crept closer. "You are strong," I breathed, "but your strength will be mine."
With one final shove, I sketched another volatile rune.
[Static Shock]
The circle crackled to life, and lightning drilled into the wolf's head. Its body jerked, then collapsed. Ah, dead finally.
It was quiet, broken only by Alenya's gasping in the distance. Two of her friends were still, bloody to the ground. She knelt beside them, trembling.
"Lucifer…" her voice cracked. "They're dead."
I gazed at her, then at the bodies. I hesitated, then reached out.
"Alenya," I stated, my voice decisive. "Become mine, and I will return them to you."
Her eyes expanded. "You… you can bring back the dead?"
"Yes. I am a Magus. I wield the Laws of the universe."
Her lips trembled, despair and despondency twisting into desperation. At last, she nodded. "I… Does your previous offer still count? I will go with you. But please save my friends."
A brief smile touched my mouth. "Okay."
I trod over the corpses. The air congealed, magical energy coiling about me like snakes. My thoughts transformed to the tomb-like tone of holy prerogative.
[Law Script: Resurrection]
An enormous circle spread on the ground, spreading in dark silver. Curves curled into impossible loops, runes as ancient as the stars unfolding alight.
[Clause:]
[By my power over life and death]
[By the Right of the Fallen, awaken.]
Filaments of pale light exploded from the shadows, two lost hearts caught in my trap. They screamed with longing as they were pulled back into flesh.
Their chests moved, expanding and contracting.
Their eyes fluttered open, gasping for air.
Alenya dropped to her knees, weeping openly. "They… they're alive…!"
I wasn't done yet.
Back at the wolf's corpse, I made a new glyph. It was serrated, large, and cold.
[Necromancy Law: Bone Stitch]
Dark flame wrapped around the dead creature in a circle. Magical chains bound onto its essence, yanking the soul back but subordinating it.
The Bloodfang Wolf stood, its eyes abyssal black now, its aura warped but strong. Its body cringed before me, fangs bared not in defiance, but in obedience.
"My Named Undead," I panted. "Bloodfang."
The binding was solidified, and a surge of dark energy pounded my back like a second heartbeat.
Alenya stared at me, wide with awe and horror. She had vowed herself a moment before in desperation. But now she realized the nature of the creature to whom she had vowed herself.
I smiled vaguely, shadows moving behind me.
Before anyone discovered it, I pulled out a fang from it and let it enter into the Undead Reservoir.
– – –
[Undead Name]: Bloodfang
[Race]: Alpha Bloodfang Wolf (Mutant Lineage)
[Current Rank]: B++ → Converted to Undead: B (Stable)
[Type]: Named Undead
[Bloodline Evaluation]: Descendant of the Direwolf Line.(SS Rank)
[Talent Evaluation]: S+(Can be upgraded with resources)