Chapter 215: Big Doggy

Chapter 215: Chapter 215: Big Doggy

Reinforcements...

They’re coming?!

Joy spread across the faces of Victor Warner and Selene Lawson. He raised his iron hammer high, intending to smash the crack and make it wider.

Just as the hammer was about to fall, a massive claw—covered in pitch-black scales, its talons as sharp as knives—slowly reached out from the darkness within the gate and seized the frame!

The claw had only to squeeze lightly, and the gate’s frame, made of some unknown, durable material, let out an agonized CREAK!

A terrifying, despair-inducing pressure, far exceeding that of any monster they had faced before, surged out from within the gate like a tsunami!

Seraphina Sinclair’s pupils contracted sharply.

The information from her Insight Skill made her heart sink.

[Shadow-Hound (D-level)]

[Description: A powerful predator from the fissures of the under-world, drawn here by the aura of the Erosion Gate. It possesses claws that can tear steel and fangs capable of corroding energy. Its hide is tough, granting high resistance to conventional physical attacks. Oh, are you in an instance right now? Did you open the gate and find this? The vote to exit the instance is still open, isn’t it? Better run, you poor little human. Your luck is absolutely rotten.]

[Weakness: ???]

A D-level beast!

’And judging by the description, it seems not every survivor who opens the gate encounters this thing?’

’Did we just get unlucky?’

"Fall back!!!"

Seraphina Sinclair’s sharp cry snapped the other two out of their stunned terror.

Victor Warner and Selene Lawson scrambled back, their faces drained of all color, leaving only boundless terror.

The massive, scaled claw strained, seemingly trying to rip the opening wider so its entire body could climb through.

The gate’s frame let out a piercing, grating sound as more cracks spread across it.

’I absolutely... cannot let it out!’

Seraphina Sinclair’s expression hardened. Instead of retreating, she took a step forward!

She was about to put on her Single Lens to check the creature’s weakness when she saw a surprisingly human-like expression on its face.

It looked lost, helpless, and even showed obvious fear.

Its brow seemed to furrow as it strained to poke its head out further. Like a large dog, it stuck its head through the gap and sniffed the air carefully.

The instant it identified the scent, it froze.

A human-like expression of shock and awe was clearly visible on its savage face.

As if it were a person witnessing the impossible, it sniffed the air again, refusing to believe its senses. It seemed to be confirming a specific scent, its crimson pupils locked onto Seraphina Sinclair—or more precisely, onto the hand gripping her long knife.

Seraphina Sinclair had no idea what was so special about her hand.

But then, under the disbelieving eyes of Seraphina Sinclair and the still-traumatized Victor Warner and Selene Lawson, the Shadow-Hound—a beast radiating the terrifying pressure of a D-level monster—let out a sound utterly at odds with its size and appearance...

"...Whine?"

The sound was low, laced with a hint of probing, a touch of confusion, and even... a trace of wanting to please?

It tried to nudge its massive head further out, attempting to get closer to Seraphina Sinclair, but its huge body was stuck in the partially open gateway, making it look rather clumsy.

It did its best to retract its suffocating aura and the cold glint of its claws. Its huge tail seemed to want to wag, but the limited space only allowed for a slight twitch, which thumped dully against the gate’s frame.

’What is going on?’

’This monster... is it scared? Is it trying to curry favor?’

Its crimson pupils were locked on Seraphina Sinclair’s right hand. The greed and ferocity in its gaze had vanished, replaced by an almost instinctive reverence—even fear.

Victor Warner and Selene Lawson had already retreated over ten meters, their backs pressed against a cold wall, hardly daring to breathe. The incomprehensible scene before them had nearly shut down their brains.

Seeing Seraphina Sinclair make no move, the Shadow-Hound let out another string of unintelligible gurgles, as if desperately trying to explain something.

It cautiously began to retract its massive, pitch-black claw, its movements painstaking, as if terrified of being misunderstood.

The same power that could tear steel when it had seized the frame was now nowhere to be seen.

Then, under the trio’s stunned gazes, its enormous head began to painstakingly retract, inch by inch, as if trying to retreat back into the darkness of the gate.

But because its body was so massive, the process was both difficult and somewhat comical.

It even used its claw to gently push at the warped frame, trying to narrow the very gap it had forced open.

"CREAK... SCRAPE..."

But this time, it wasn’t the sound of destruction. It was the sound of the monster "politely" trying to stuff itself back through the opening!

Seraphina Sinclair: "..."

Victor Warner and Selene Lawson: "..."

In the midst of this bizarre silence, the battered Erosion Gate finally let out one last, overburdened groan.

"CRASH!"

It wasn’t the gate bursting open. Instead, the section of the frame the Shadow-Hound was stuck in had been completely demolished by its own careful attempt to retreat!

Rubble and twisted Metal Fragments rained down, revealing an even larger breach.

The Shadow-Hound’s massive body instantly lost its footing. It staggered, and the front half of its body tumbled out of the opening!

"ROAR!"

It let out an instinctive, intimidating roar. The terrifying D-level pressure spread out once more, tangible and foul-smelling, washing over them.

Victor Warner and Selene Lawson were so frightened by this sudden turn of events that they nearly collapsed.

But in the next second, the roar cut off abruptly.

The Shadow-Hound seemed to have startled itself, and it hastily clamped its mouth shut.

Its crimson pupils glanced nervously at Seraphina Sinclair. Its massive claws pawed helplessly at the ground, digging deep furrows into the floor.

It once again let out a whimper completely at odds with its massive frame, a sound full of grievance and panic, as if to say, "I didn’t mean it! The gate moved first!"

It clumsily but quickly righted itself. Instead of taking the opportunity to attack, it scrabbled with all four limbs, desperately trying to get back into the darkness.

It looked less like a terrifying predator from the fissures of the under-world and more like a large dog that had just broken its master’s favorite vase and was now trying to destroy the evidence.

’What in the world?’

Seraphina Sinclair couldn’t help but raise her hand slightly.

’This monster, a D-level predator, is acting so... comical?’

’Seraphina really didn’t want to use that word to describe this kind of monster, but its behavior was just so ridiculous!’

’It was nothing like the other D-level monsters she had seen. In fact, it was more like...’

Seraphina Sinclair paused. ’...the prey sent by The Eclipse Dragon!’

’That prey seemed fundamentally different from other monsters. The difference was clear in...’

Seraphina Sinclair’s gaze fell on the Shadow-Hound’s human-like face. Every one of its actions had a clear motivation, and it possessed a sort of cleverness, almost like a pet.