Ch.8Chapter 8

Looking at the scene that appeared to be nothing but one-sided violence from The Huntsman, I was in a daze when The Huntsman reloaded his gun, aimed it at The Watcher, and fired.

“Wait!”

Though I tried to stop him, the bullet had already hit The Watcher, causing her body to shake violently.

It seemed to have hit her arm, as she brought that area to her mouth and licked it.

“Kyauwung…”

…making a strangely dog-like whimpering sound.

But when I saw the bullet bounce off rather than penetrate, my eyes followed it, and seeing it rolling on the floor, I was completely dumbfounded.

“…A BB pellet?”

It was just a white plastic pellet.

Wait, no matter what, The Huntsman wouldn’t use such a childish toy against an Outer God.

That meant this bullet must be related to the Outer God…

“Damn it, this happens again.”

Meanwhile, The Huntsman clicked his tongue, reloaded the pellet into his gun, and aimed at The Watcher again.

Wait.

If The Huntsman is using it, it means it’s a weapon that can defeat an Outer God.

Which means…

“Ah.”

“Among recently discovered methods, using weapons made from an Outer God’s flesh can ‘defeat an Outer God,’ though I don’t know much beyond that;;”

Remembering the text written on the wall, I could quickly deduce what the pellet was.

It was made from an Outer God’s flesh.

So that’s why it looked like a plastic BB pellet to me!

As I was gradually understanding the situation, someone tapped my shoulder repeatedly. When I turned around, Aghartha was standing there with a pale expression.

“Mr. Tanthyn, you’re too late!”

“What exactly is going on here?”

Since I didn’t know exactly what was happening, I had no choice but to ask in return.

Aghartha looked at me with an exasperated expression as if I should know, then sighed and said:

“The Watcher has appeared and is destroying everything, and Mr. Huntsman is trying to stop her!”

The surrounding area was certainly all destroyed…

But from what I could see right now, The Watcher was just standing still while The Huntsman was beating her up one-sidedly!

Looking more carefully, The Huntsman did seem tired, as if he was losing ground.

As if to prove Aghartha’s words, The Watcher suddenly started running and charged toward The Huntsman.

“Woof!”

“Ugh.”

The Huntsman took a hit to his stomach from The Watcher’s charge, making a cute “thunk” sound.

Unlike the sound, The Huntsman was sent flying at a terrifying speed, crashing into the opposite wall and completely destroying it.

…It was hard to simply view The Watcher as bad when her expression was that of the world’s most wronged puppy.

“Oh no! Mr. Huntsman is in danger!”

I was experiencing increasing cognitive dissonance, but he certainly looked in danger.

Aghartha was stomping her feet anxiously when something seemed to occur to her, and she looked at me.

“Hurry, Mr. Tanthyn! You brought something to defeat that thing, right?”

“Ah, yes. It’s this…”

I held up the dog bone that The Exiled God had told me to take, even sacrificing themselves.

Ah, seeing this makes me want to cry again.

As I sniffled, feeling emotional, Aghartha screamed and backed away.

“Kyaak! D-don’t point that thing at me!”

Uh.

Hmm.

What on earth does this look like to her?

I hadn’t played this far in the game, so I had no way of knowing what this actually was.

Being a weapon related to an Outer God, maybe it looked grotesque.

Aghartha seemed nauseated just looking at the weapon, covering her mouth with one hand while pointing at The Watcher with the other, waving frantically.

“Either pass it to Mr. Huntsman or throw it over there, just do something quickly!”

Hmm.

Maybe it looks like a sharp weapon to Aghartha.

Nodding at her words, I took a stance like those javelin throwers I’d seen on the internet.

“Here goes!”

Shifting my center of gravity forward and leaning my body, I simultaneously threw the dog bone forward.

“Take this!”

Whether it was luck or good timing, the dog bone traced a gentle arc as it rushed toward The Watcher at high speed.

At the crucial moment.

The world seemed to move in slow motion.

The dog bone was gradually advancing toward The Watcher when she suddenly noticed and shifted her gaze.

Damn it.

Had I underestimated what an Outer God was?

The Watcher immediately ignored The Huntsman and turned toward the dog bone, slowly beginning to move.

What The Watcher did next made me doubt my eyes.

I thought she had turned to block the weapon, but instead, she leaped toward the dog bone, and just before it hit her body, she twisted sideways.

And then.

“Ang!”

She caught the bone in her mouth.

“Huh?”

Throughout this sequence, The Huntsman, Aghartha, and I could only stare blankly at The Watcher, as if our breath had stopped.

After catching the bone, she landed on all fours and tilted her head.

Then she shifted her gaze toward me.

“Damn it!”

Before The Huntsman could react, The Watcher instantly started running toward me.

Too shocked to even make a sound, I couldn’t react in time as The Watcher leaped at me.

Ah.

Is this how I die?

Though she had eyes all over her body, I thought that if I had to die being pounced on by a beautiful girl, maybe it wasn’t such a bad way to end my life. With that thought, I closed my eyes.

After some time passed.

When nothing happened and I was feeling confused, I heard something tapping my hand.

Opening my eyes to check what was in front of me, I saw The Huntsman and Aghartha.

They were both looking at me with surprised expressions, and as I tried to interpret their expressions, I suddenly heard a “huff, huff” sound from somewhere.

Looking around to find the source of the sound, I realized it was coming from right below me.

As I lowered my head.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

The Watcher was smiling brightly, tapping my hand with her hand like a dog pawing at its owner.

She had put down the dog bone I had thrown earlier.

“Uh?”

As I stared blankly at The Watcher, she seemed to realize something, hesitated for a moment, then picked up the dog bone in her mouth again and started pushing it into my hand.

My brain was slow to interpret what was happening because it was processing such unfamiliar information.

So.

The Watcher is a dog.

I threw a bone.

The dog caught the bone and brought it back to me, pushing it into my hand.

Only then could I understand what The Watcher wanted.

The game you play with dogs, where you throw a boomerang or a disc and tell them to fetch it.

The Watcher seemed to be asking me to do that with her.

“Uh…”

When I took the dog bone from The Watcher’s mouth, she seemed excited at the prospect of playing the game again, her tail starting to wag back and forth.

Is what I’m about to do really the right decision?

I felt like my last moral sense as a human was crumbling.

I mean, come on.

At least from my perspective, how is this any different from treating a pretty woman like a dog?

But unaware of my inner conflict, The Watcher was now whining as if asking why I wasn’t playing yet.

“Hee, heeng.”

Haah.

Looking at those desperate eyes, I felt like I’d be the bad guy if I didn’t play along, so I finally put strength into my arm.

When I threw the dog bone a little distance away, The Watcher trotted over with tiny steps, fetched the bone again, and returned with a bright smile, panting “huff, huff.”

I felt my reason snap.

Having gone this far, I felt like seeing how far I could take this.

“Paw.”

“Woof!”

She raised her paw.

“Sit.”

“Woof!”

She sat.

“Turn around.”

“Woof!”

She turned around.

“Good girl.”

“Grrrung.”

When I patted her and told her she did well, she closed her eyes slightly and wagged her tail happily.

Umm.

…Feeling increasingly like trash, I decided to stop.

“Worhung~!”

But The Watcher seemed satisfied and started happily barking and running around me.

“Nice human! Like!”

Squish, squish, squish.

The jelly on her feet made sounds.

“Human, not hit me! Nice human!”

“Uh, yeah. I’m a nice human…”

Just as I was about to say “that’s enough,” The Watcher’s movement path suddenly changed, and she twisted her body and lunged at me.

This time she was charging directly at my body!

“Aaaah!”

I tried to escape by turning around, but as if she had calculated even that, I was knocked down and pinned by The Watcher.

I was afraid of what she might do to me, when I felt something moist on the arm I was using to shield myself.

Startled, I raised my head to see what it was, and The Watcher was sticking out her tongue with a questioning expression, tilting her head.

Uh.

Wait a minute.

This is…

No way.

It can’t be, right?

As I awkwardly smiled at The Watcher, she seemed to take it as permission to continue and started smiling again, playing with her tongue.

“Lick, lick!”

“Uhuuuuugh!”

And so I had to endure being licked by The Watcher, pinned down by her strength, for quite some time.