Gin knelt in front of it and gazed at its beady eyes.
It wiggled its front legs, perhaps trying to reach him, but of course it couldn't move with all the chains around it.
The only thing it managed to do was increase its adorability by 67%.
'Aww, poor baby.'
He tried to pet it, but his hand passed through its head.
It moved its head toward his hand, but finding nothing, it tilted its head, lolled its tongue out, and panted sadly.
His kokoro couldn't take this!
This poor buddy must have undergone countless atrocities from Evilus!
They probably dangled chew toys in front of him just to laugh when this dog couldn't reach them!
Damn you, Evilus!
Deciding quickly, he willed Blikjandaböl to fade away for a sec and moved his hand to pat it again.
He smiled at him.
The dog panted at him.
He reached out his hand toward him.
… He bit it.
"AAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
"..."
He was inside the HQ of an evil organization that terrorized Orario on a daily basis.
Screaming at the top of his lungs probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.
But then again, his hand had just been bitten by a dog.
"MOTHERFUCKKKKK!!!! LET ME GOOO!!! THIS HAND IS MY LIFEEE!!!!"
The evil in the shape of a small dog panted happily at his screams of pain.
This thing was definitely the top boss of Evilus!
Thanatos and Dicks must have been paying respect to it before!
"Huh?" No wait, something was wrong.
Amidst the pain, he felt a familiar sensation.
It was the same feeling as when he activated his magic.
"Y-you!?"
The dog's bite grew stronger as it sucked out his magic power. This accursed dog from the deepest circle of hell was sucking out his Mind at an unbelievable rate.
'No… Not only that, was this dog getting bigger?'
Yup, it was.
It was already the size of a small wolf now. If this thing kept sucking his Mind out…
The image of him ending up as its chew toy appeared in his mind.
"HEEELLLLPPPP!!!"
This dog wasn't letting his hand go, and he definitely wouldn't last if this thing kept sucking out his Mind.
Not only that, this thing was steadily growing bigger and bigger.
He looked at it again.
His hand was already completely inside its mouth. Haha, a puppy? This demonic wolf was going to be the death of him!
The Death Goddess's Bloodhound Gets Eaten Alive by a Giant Bloodhound.
'This wasn't even funny, world! I didn't want my life's punchline to be a wordplay, dammit!'
'What could i do now!? There must be something i could do!'
"How noisy."
The calm, serene voice wasn't coming from him.
Gin looked up and caught sight of a silver-haired woman standing in the doorway.
"I should have stayed in my room. That way I wouldn't have to see this stupid spectacle."
Ah, crap.
He was trapped between the final boss of Evilus and a mystery woman who seemed like a big deal.
He was so dead.
"What are you doing, letting it feed on magic, hmm? I thought all of you goons had been told to steer clear from this place," the woman said, looking disinterested even though she was staring at a man-eating wolf in the process of feeding on a poor sap.
"H-he was too cute?" he answered slowly, hoping that the response would please either the woman or the giant wolf, whichever could help him survive to see Hel and Riveria once more.
His answer didn't impress either of them.
Well, the giant wolf was wagging its tail and sending some wind his way, but it didn't show any signs of letting go.
"This thing?" The woman frowned and stared at the wolf. "The only thing I see are annoying red eyes which are asking to be plucked."
"Pluck them then, I don't mind!"
"I don't accept orders from nobodies like you." This woman was heartless. "…Still, you are lasting a bit too long for a nobody. Who are you?"
"A… janitor?" Gin responded. "I am here to substitute for the guy on sick leave. You know, the one that always wears hoods?"
The woman raised her eyebrow a little but stayed silent. "Anyway, can you help me, miss? I need my hand to mop the floor and stuff!"
"…I see. You are a janitor, hmm?" The woman walked closer to him and placed her hand in front of the demonic wolf.
Wait, what was she doing?
"Then you better clean up the mess this thing is going to leave behind."
Gin felt the hair on his body stand on end as an absurd amount of magical energy flowed from the unknown lady to the devil dog.
She was willingly pumping her own magic into the dog!? Was she insane!? No, more like, what the hell was up with her Mind!? She was definitely in a class way above him.
He felt the pressure on his hand disappear as a gap was created by the rapid growth of the wolf.
Not missing his chance, he quickly moved his hand away and wiped the wolf's drool on the floor.
…He ended up erasing some of the magic circle, but whatever. That was none of his business.
He downed all the Mind potions on his person and turned to the woman.
She was stoically moving away from the now towering wolf, not even looking the least bit alarmed at the apex predator.
No, knowing her magic power, this woman was probably the apex predator here.
The only prey here was him.
"Uhh, thank you, miss. You really saved me—"
"Save it. Don't talk. Don't breathe. Don't make a noise." She stopped him and turned away to exit the room.
The woman said nothing before leaving him behind, though he saw her steal a last glance at him.
He heaved a sigh and fell on his bum.
Well, that just happened. No, wait. This was his chance to get away from this place.
He didn't want to be in the same room with a Mind-eating dog!
....
He felt warm air above him and looked up to find the drooling giant dog.
He gulped and crawled slowly away from it.
'Calm down. Everything was fine. That thing couldn't do anything with all the chains and the sealing array.'
…Which he had just erased with his arms and knees.
Gin let out the most beautiful smile at the chained wolf.
The wolf grinned back and showed its sharp, white teeth. It looked at him with a familiar expression.
Hunger.
"Hahaha," his laugh grew larger at the sight of the chains creaking and breaking away slowly.
"Hahahahahaha!"
He ran away with every bit of agility he had.
Not a moment later, the corridor behind him exploded in a shower of debris, and the giant wolf howled happily at its newfound freedom.
Agility wasn't his forte.
Being an archer meant that most of the time, his enemy would end up dead before he found the need to retreat.
Sure, he had run away before, but it had always been from something unexpected, like some dumbass failing to finish off a Killer Ant, thus causing literally dozens of dog-sized ants to fill the area where he was hunting.
Having lower-mid agility wasn't something he had been really concerned about before.
Before what, you ask? Before the monstrous, giant murder wolf chasing after him from behind carefreely bulldozed through the passageways of Knossos, of course.
He glanced back for a second and instantly kicked out any intrusive thoughts about shooting that monster or playing dead.
Facing that thing or slowing down his strides meant an instant ticket to Kur, no cap.
He put his whole being into moving his legs.
Sometimes running away from your problems is the best course of action.
Therefore, he didn't even have to debate his next course of action.
Sure, that thing had sucked out his Mind until he could only use this spell two more times, but he had no reason not to use it now.
"I descend to the end. Overtaking the galloping horse, across the loud stream, over the high walls. Walking through the feast of the dead. My feet step into the innermost chamber of the beloved goddess. My body becomes the curtain that foretold disaster! For I am beloved by Hel! Blikjandaböl!!!" He finished the spell and patted his past self on the back for mastering Concurrent Chanting.
It was a testament to the horror of that abomination that his heart didn't feel safe at all, even with the ultimate defensive spell up his sleeve.
His legs didn't stop running even after Blikjandaböl became active.
After all, that thing could absorb magic on contact. He had no intention of testing if that thing could do the same thing with his spell.
Sure, back when it was a puppy, that thing couldn't do shit to his spell, but he was smart enough to consider the possibility that now, fully mature, it might have learned one or two new tricks.
The only question left was: should he run ahead or just slip through the floor?
His body moved on instinct before his mind made a choice. By the time he realized it, his waist had already passed through the floor.
Glancing to the back for a moment, he saw light gathering in the wolf's mouth.
That sight alone assured him that he had made the best choice possible.
Before his head managed to fully pass through, he was blinded by a stream of light coming from behind.
Yup, as if that thing wasn't dangerous enough.
The gods needed to learn a thing about balance before creating something that could suck out magic, grow from it, and let out a magical breath attack.
That thing was OP AF.
His whole body passed through the floor while his eyes were still blind from the bright light. This was bad.
He needed his sight if he wanted to actually make a landing. He was going straight down without stopping now.
"Swallow the light, O' Midnight Eye. Regain your true self and bathe in the darkness of the underworld."
Not wanting to risk going straight down to the lowest floor of the dungeon, his mouth chanted the insane words by reflex.
Niflheim flared up and forced the sight back to his eyes.
The next thing he knew, he found himself lying at the bottom of… a pool of water? Standing up straight, he looked around and was met with one of the most awkward sights he had ever seen.
Standing around him were a number of males from various races in their birthday suits.
The guy nearest to him, coincidentally enough the shirtless guy from before, stared at him with a deer-in-the-magic-lamp look.
Despite the situation, Gin's curiosity got the best of him and he let his gaze wander down.
Eh, no contest.
No need to tell him the cruel truth, though.
"Nice cock, bro." Gin gave him a supportive thumbs up.
It was always nice to be the bigger man.
Hehe, bigger man, get it?
"So… do you guys know anything about that dog-like monster breaking out?" he asked awkwardly to the rest.
"Y-you!? Where did you come from!?" The shirtless… well, all of them were shirtless now. The smaller guy asked him, alarmed.
"Not important, man! There's a giant wolf on the run!" Gin ignored his question and alarmed the others with a panicked voice. "I saw some dumbass guy and a lady with silver hair mess around with some dog on the upper floors and, and that thing fucking grew out of nowhere! Bigger than a house now!"
"Wolf? What the hell are you talking about?"
"This guy is suspicious as hell."
The guys looked at him with suspicion. Well, duh. They would be pretty stupid if they didn't question his presence.
"W-what!? Are you sure!?" Ah, luckily the small-sized guy was either too dumb or he was in the know about what that wolf thing was.
"Silver-haired lady? Alfia! That bitch! Is she sabotaging us now!?"
Gin didn't know if the scary lady and this Alfia the dude was talking about were the same person, but he nodded gravely all the same.
No need to stop him when he was drawing his conclusions now.
"We need to stop it now! All of you, suit up quickly and follow me!" He turned around and walked hastily, probably toward the dressing room.
Gin followed him from behind.
"We can't let that wolf run wild here! You!" He pointed to Gin. "Warn the others about this and call them to arms! We have no time to waste!"
"Sir!" Gin saluted him.
The others followed his lead and saluted along before moving in the direction of the dressing room.
But as soon as they arrived at the edge of the huge bath, dust fell from above and the ceiling cracked.
Gin ran without thinking.
Glancing behind a second later, a blast of something blew through the ceiling behind him, and the wolf, now larger than before and somehow clad in a mix of fire, ice, wind, and thunder, fell through the ceiling and landed in the bath.
"Everyone, stop it!"
The small guy barked a command behind him, and the others, naked and wet from the bath, turned toward the hulking mystic wolf.
Damn, these guys had adamantite balls!
"############!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Run for your lives!!!"
One howl from that monstrosity gave them a reality check, though, and all of them, even the small guy, followed in Gin's steps and GTFO as fast as they could.
Thus, Gin, fully clothed in black hunting apparel, ran alongside multiple naked Evilus guys along the corridors of Knossos, a giant hungry magical wolf hot on their trails.
In hindsight, this situation was pretty comical.
Like, he would definitely laugh his ass off if he viewed this from the outside.
He, the intruder, was now running alongside butt-naked terrorists in their own lair with a monster chasing after all of them.
Honestly, he wanted to just phase through the floor again and leave these suckers as wolf bait, but the fact that the wolf had somehow zoned in on him, even through multiple floors between them, gave him the suspicion that it was actually interested in him and only him, and these guys were just casualties.
Well, better make some more casualties then.
"Bossman!" Gin called out to the small guy. "Let's bait this guy toward the others and [Pass Parade] it to them!"
[Pass Parade] was a certified asshole move among adventurers.
You basically dumped strong monsters you couldn't defeat onto others in the hope that they could slow those monsters down in your place.
"That's underhanded!" "You're evil!" "We are comrades, you bastard!"
'What were these people complaining about? Don't act moral when you're just bad guys, dammit!'
"I see, that's a plan!" The small guy had small balls too, as expected.
He smirked at Gin. "Follow me then!"
'Forgive me, Ereshkigal-sama. You will get very busy for a while now.' He ran behind him, sporting the same evil smirk.
"For Thanatos!!!" Explosions rang out as some robed guys kamikazed the wolf with bombs.
Nope, that thing was still alive. All of them ran away again.
"The spirit is here! Everyone battle formation! Ready the magic swords!" Flame blasts filled the corridor behind him, but that thing came out unscathed, and blazing.
Like, literally, its fur was now burning with scarlet flame. So yeah, he was correct in his previous assumption.
That wolf really did absorb magic.
Welp, the guys behind him just got charred from being too close to it.
Gin sprinted through the corridors and stairs as the small guy led him to more and more ready-to-fight Evilus members.
How none of them questioned his presence was a fucking miracle.
The giant murder wolf had done wonders in diverting their attention from him.
Well, to be fair, the wolf was massacring them and destroying their HQ. Why should they care about a guy in black clothing like him? They probably thought he was a fan of Thanatos or something.
"ARGH!!!" Some dude got burned alive by the wolf's flame.
"NOOO-!!" Another stumbled and got crushed beneath its weight.
"-MAMA!!!" That one just pissed his pants. And he was dead too.
If this kept up, he might join the casualties.
He noticed something as he made another sharp turn.
This passage—
"It smells," Gin muttered unconsciously.
"I know! Your first time smelling burnt bodies, huh?" The small guy replied through his panting.
The two of them flinched as another death throe echoed in the back.
Burnt bodies? No. That just smelled like ash and cooked meat.
This smell… It was burning incense again? No, more than that… The smell was too strong.
He couldn't smell anything except it anymore.
Something at the end of the passageway was the source of this smell. Every last one of his cells was screaming out now.
He didn't want to be caught by that thing in front of him more than the wolf behind him.
He needed to escape this place no matter what.
"Sorry, Bossman." Gin slowed down his pace and called out to the small guy. "This is as far as I go."
"Huh? Wait, what do you mean by that!?" He turned to him in surprise. "Don't give up now!"
"Live on for my sake too, Bossman." Gin gave him a salute. Lit by the approaching flame from the wolf, he disappeared from his view.
"HOOD GUY!!!"
His pained cry was the last thing Gin heard as he passed through the floor.
And for the last thing he saw?
His eyes saw the one standing at the end of the passage.
He finally understood the true identity of the burning incense. Even that monstrous wolf would meet its end by his hand.
He had no doubt about that.
That black-armored person was someone who would bring death without fail.