Divergent Fist

"Haah!"

Azaroth gave a small cry as orbs of POD formed around him, not only did the gauntlet grant him more POD but he had perfect mastery over said POD.

'Truly an Emperor class item,' Azaroth thought as the balls of POD shot through the air toward the monsters that threatened his life.

There was a reason this Dungeon was called a Demonic Dungeon, the types of monsters in this dungeon were made up of demonic energy, a darker kind of magical energy.

'BLOODHOUND'

Its name was Orange and if Azaroth remembered clearly from Solo Leveling, Names that were orange meant they were of the same power with the User.

The balls of POD shot through the air with perfect accuracy heading for the five bloodhounds around Azaroth.

And the collisions brought about powerful explosions that rattled the room, spreading web-like cracks across the ground.

Azaroth dropped his guard.

"This is easy," He muttered a bit, but he forgot that in a dungeon… Letting your guard down is like wanting to lose your life in a dungeon.

SLASH!

Azaroth could barely react as a slash mark spread across his right shoulder, blood gushed out of the wound and he gritted his teeth.

"Begone!" He cried out and fired a blast of his Destructive energy to the Bloodhound that attacked him.

The Bloodhound weaved around the attack gracefully and it's eyes shone ina deep crimson hue.

…

[Skill: Murderous Intent has been used on the Host… Host has surrendered to the effects of Murderous Intent]

…

Azaroth felt every single one of his joint lock as he was seemingly paralyzed in the face of the Bloodhound.

He gritted his teeth and struggled to move, but his body didn't respond.

'Contingency!' Azaroth cried inwardly as the Bloodhound dashed toward him, His body refused to move…

A bright crimson aura covered the orb on the Destruction Gauntlet… His POD was revolving into the gem and its radiant crimson light seemed to brighten.

Multiple orbs of POD surrounded Azaroth as the Bloodhound stopped in it's tracks but the balls didn't stop growing in size.

They shot forward with incredible speed and slammed into the Bloodhound, the corrosive energy washing over the Wolf's body before exploding. Crimson flames spreading around the battlefield, shortly after the demise of the Bloodhound, Azaroth could feel his body once again.

"I shouldn't have let my guard down," Azaroth said and looked at the magic circle below him.

It was part of his experiments for increasing the power of destruction, right now, after a month of practicing; He could actually use the aura of destruction to passively increase his stats- For a little while.

[You have leveled up!]

A warm soothing feeling spread through his entire body as every bit of fatigue was instantly healed, as well as the injury on his right shoulder.

Azaroth walked through the Dungeon, facing Bloodhounds and Goblins enhanced with the power of Demonic energy at every turn. Each battle helped him hone his POD to new heights and at one point, He was grateful for visiting the Dungeon.

#####

Azaroth was exhausted, It had taken him a while but he had defeated every single monster in the dungeon APART from the dungeon boss.

His POD had increased in strength and Azaroth was glad about it, still though, It wasn't enough to match with Rias.

'Why is the plot so bent in her favour?' Azaroth thought as he went through the cave opening.

The magical energy in this side of the Dungeon differed from the magical energy that he had experienced since now, Like Rias's POD, It was thick and spread out.

Azaroth focused his Magical energy into the Magic circle beneath his feet, letting the energy course through it and into his body while he walked.

The Dungeon boss came into sight, a far bigger Bloodhound with storm black fur and deep blue eyes.

'BLOODHOUND BOSS'

And it was Red of all things!

'It's stronger than me,' Azaroth thought while channeling his POD into his gauntlet and taking a defensive stance like Grayfia had taught him.

The gauntlet let loose an eerie glow as multiple orbs of POD surrounded Azaroth, He pointed his finger at the Boss and the balls responded, shooting forward with the speed of a bullet- threatening to impale their opponent.

The Bloodhound boss was far much faster than Azaroth had anticipated, The moment it shot toward Azaroth, ripples went through the air as it dodged the POD orb barrage and closed the distance between itself and Azaroth.

Azaroth was surprised but he didn't let it show, He quickly took a Combat stance which helped him relax his muscles.

The words of Grayfia stuck to his mind.

"Don't ever let out in front of an Opponent," Grayfia had said, "Even if it's stronger than you, Don't deter- An indomitable resolve is better than Surrender,"

The wolf was meters away from him now but Azaroth dashed toward it first, the orb in his gauntlet letting off a soft glow as Azaroth clashed with the Dungeon boss.

The Martial arts technique that Grayfia had taught him involved him using his POD, Lacing it around his fists to deal more damage to the opponent but it required a great amount of concentration to harness and concentrate such amounts of POD into his fists.

Azaroth brought his foot down as the Bloodhound boss growled at him, Azaroth was not one to be intimidated. Gremory family magic circles appeared around his fists as a brilliant crimson flame wrapped around his fists.

He punched the Bloodhound right in the face and the beast winced in pain only for POD to bubble up and smash right into it's face, eliciting a scream of pain from the beast.

## Distant Flashback ##

"There's a reason why your Power of Destruction differs from that of Lady Rias," Grayfia said, "Unlike Lady Rias's POD, Azaroth, Your POD is delayed,"

"But this can come in your advantage in a battle, Very few Ultimate ranking devils are capable of grasping this delayed Magical feedback," Grayfia said.

Azaroth's eyes widened in realization, It was what he was thinking… Wasn't it? Delayed magical feedback?

'She means Divergent fist, doesn't she?' Azaroth thought.

"Alright Grayfia, If it's such a special skill then I'll learn it," Azaroth said, "Divergent Fist,"

"That's a good name," Grayfia complimented.

## End Of Distant Flashback ##

Azaroth had to admit, Delaying the flow of magic until after you've struck is ingenious. One of the good things Gege Akutami was capable of doing.

Azaroth moved to the right and dodged a slashing attack from the Bloodhound narrowly, he couldn't afford to get complacent in this fight. It could cost him his life…

Brilliant sparks of dark crimson POD covered his right hand as he brought it forward once again, smashing into the center of the Bloodhound.

The destructive energy sent the Bloodhound flying, scorching marks engraving themselves in it's skin.

Azaroth knew that he couldn't give the Boss any time to come back at him so he propelled himself forward with the added traits of his POD. With renewed bursts of speed, he advanced to the flying boss while being encircled with orbs made of his POD.

"Destruction Combination," Azaroth said, unveiling his POD spell.

-

Author's Note:

Now that I'm looking back on it, Too much POD but what can I do?

If you want to get more chapters ahead or immerse yourself in my fics, head over to patreon.com/izana07 and get some lemons!