Chapter 255: Hati

“Did you ever find the artifact?”

That was what I was mostly concerned about.

“I… actually yes, I did find it.”

I felt relieved hearing her answer and heaved a sigh of relief.

“The artifact is actually the remains of an angel. A bone to be exact, sharpened until it held a pointed edge. Almost like a stake,” Mariah explained.

The bone of an angel, huh? That was the last thing I expected. When she said artifact, I half expected a sword.

“Are you sure it will work?” I asked.

“Of course, I’m not a hundred percent certain, but it’s the best lead I’ve got. I spent centuries trying to obtain it. I’ll show you the artifact and let you see for yourself.”

This was quite a risk. If the artifact doesn’t work against Damian, then I would be putting myself in danger. I have to think this through carefully…

Just then, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something charging towards me. I quickly turned around to see a red streak heading our way. At first glance, it looked like a wolf covered in red flames.

“Sköll?”

I recognized him at a glance. He was much bigger than the last time I saw him, but not as big as Cerberus or the other shadow hounds. The Garmr continued to charge at me, and when it was close enough, he leaped into the air, launching itself like a missile.

At the speed that it was coming towards me, I had to brace myself for impact. I opened my arms wide in preparation. Mariah also took a step back.

BOOM!

It sounded like a small explosion had gone off when the Garmr impacted against me. For a split second, I was engulfed in red flames, but the flames were of no concern to me. What I cared about was the slimy substance coating my face.

“Show a bit of restraint, would you?” I reprimanded as Sköll covered me in his slobber by licking my face.

Not even Cerberus was brazen enough to begin licking me without permission. This was definitely not the norm for wolves, not to mention werewolves. I would imagine licking your alpha would normally be enough to constitute death. Still, Sköll continued licking me without any concern for my reprimand.

“Wha-what is that thing?”

Mariah looked taken aback as she watched me and Sköll. It must’ve been because we were covered in red flames. But Sköll’s flames had no effect on me, even though for Mariah it must’ve felt as if she was standing next to an oven.

“This is Sköll. He’s from a special breed of hounds named Garmr,” I explained.

“Garmr? I’ve never heard of such a creature,” Mariah said as she gazed at Sköll. She seemed amazed by him.

“They are a new breed. This one is called Sköll.”

“Sköll? Like the wolf that chases the sun from Norse mythology… I guess that would make you the sun.”

“I guess.”

I decided to let Sköll off the hook this time and began petting his head. In response, he let out an excited growl. He wagged his tail excitedly and began licking my face even more until suddenly he paused as if struck by lightning. Then, in the next second, he leaped from my arm and sat on the ground as if nothing happened.

Of course, I knew the reason for his strange change in behavior: His pack was coming. As their alpha, he must’ve not wanted them to see him like that.

Just a few seconds later, off in the distance, you could see a pack of what looked like wolves running towards us. Except these creatures were covered in flames of different colors.

A considerable distance in front of the pack was a wolf with white fur. This wolf was also covered by flames the same color as snow. No, in fact, the flames covering this particular wolf were almost the color of silver.

A while ago, Cerberus contacted me to tell me about a strange pup with a strange ability. This hound was called Hati. In Norse mythology, this was the hound that chased after the moon.

Why did I name them Sköll and Hati?

I had no clue.

It was more like instincts. I didn’t even feel like I came up with the name. It was more like I looked at them and knew what their names were. It was all a bit strange.

The strange ability that Hati possessed was the ability to freeze things. The flames around him produced cold instead of heat. There was always frost on the ground around him.

But when it came to the Garmrs, this wasn’t anything strange. The hounds shared different abilities based on the color of their flames, I would guess. For example, there was a hound with green flames. That hound had the ability to heal other living creatures.

There was also a hound with dark grey fur that could produce winds strong enough to blow down buildings. They all had different abilities based on the color of their flames.

The thing was that Hati was the only hound that had white flames surrounding him. Just like Sköll was the only one with red flames.

Hati’s ice abilities were indeed powerful. Her strength was only second to Sköll. But the reason Cerberus sought me out regarding Hati was because of what happens when both Sköll and Hati combine abilities.

The moment I saw what the two were capable of together, I was left speechless. The ability the two possessed when they combined power was breathtaking. This special power was what I planned to use to face Damian if it came down to it.

Hati was the first to reach us. She circled around me as I petted his head. Afterward, she went and sat beside Sköll. Soon, the other Garmrs arrived and they did the same action as Hati, allowing me to pet their heads.

It was a good thing it was only ten of them. The rest of the hounds must’ve been somewhere else. Mariah’s eyes were transfixed on Hati.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered.

“Hati is actually a girl.”

“Oh, I see,” Mariah nodded at my correction.

The Garmrs seemed more playful than the shadow hounds. But while the other Garmrs played, Hati sat like an exotic creature. A layer of frost was formed beneath where she sat, and she gazed up at the sky.

Hati seemed a lot different from the other hounds. She seemed much quieter. Mariah seemed captivated by her easy-going mannerism. I could understand how she felt. Looking at her, it was like I was looking at a celestial being.

It was the same with the other hounds, but even more so for Hati.

“It’s time to go,” I said after spending some time with the hounds, gauging their strength with a bit of playful combat.

Their training seemed to be progressing well. Cerberus was doing a good job of ensuring they were good in combat. They were highly intelligent in the ways of combat. After saying goodbye to the Garmrs, Mariah and I returned to the mansion.

“So where is the artifact?” I asked.

“I have it kept at the auction house. There, it is more secure since I have the ghouls protecting the auction house.”

Yes, I almost forgot. Mariah didn’t only have vampires under her control, but ghouls too. The vampires are all dead since I killed them, but I could still turn the ghouls she had.

A few moments later, Mariah and I arrived at the dome-shaped auction house. She also brought along the kappa that was in her service. The guards outside merely bowed their heads as we entered.

I followed Mariah into a backroom that looked like an office space. There was a large vault door attached to the wall at the back of the room. I got the sense that the door was reinforced by magic and would be difficult for just anyone to break down. I had the sense that it would be difficult for me to break down.

Mariah entered a code and spun the latch, opening the massive door. She still seemed exhausted from our battle before, so I stepped up to help her open the massive door. Immediately after the door was opened, what greeted me was a treasure trove of various items.

At just a glance, most of them looked like junk, but I could feel the power radiating from most of these items.

“All these items cost a small fortune to acquire,” she said as she entered the room.

“Boss, are you sure we should be umm…” the kappa suddenly spoke up, throwing glances at me.

“It’s fine. This man is now my alpha; what’s mine is his,” she said, throwing a wink at me.

The kappa looked back and forth between the two of us before nodding his head.

“It’s not my place to question your decisions, boss. My name is Broly; it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the kappa turned to me, introducing himself. I did the same and introduced myself in return.

At the same time, Mariah went over to a desk and picked up an item lazily lying there. Upon inspecting the item she picked up, I realized it was a bone.

“Huh, you keep such an important item out in the open?” I asked.

“Yep, if anyone happens to see it, then they would assume it’s just junk. I mean, most of the important items here are hidden beneath display cases and some are in the safe. No one would even bat an eye at a piece of bone lying on a desk with books, pens, and other junk.”

She had a point. That might be the best place to hide it. Mariah then carried the item over to me.

“Here.”

I didn’t take it immediately and instead stared at it.

“The bone of an angel… What would happen if I even touch this thing?”

I decided to put my curiosity to the test and reached out and took the bone from Mariah’s hand.

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