Dark Fantasy: Super Coward Mode

Chapter 8

As I stood there dumbfounded, observing the scene that seemed like nothing but a one-sided display of violence by the Hunter, he reloaded his gun, aimed it at the Watcher, and fired.

“Wait a minute!”

I tried to intervene, but before I could, the bullet that had already been fired hit the Watcher, causing them to shudder.

It seemed to have struck their arm, and they brought that arm to their mouth, licking the wound with their tongue.

“Kyaww...”

...making a sound that oddly resembled a puppy’s whimper.

However, when I noticed the bullet bouncing off rather than embedding, my gaze followed it, and I soon found it lying uselessly on the ground, rendering me utterly dumbfounded.

“...BB bullet?”

Wasn’t that just a plain white plastic pellet?

Wait, how could the Hunter possibly use such a childish toy against an Outsider?

That meant the bullet had something to do with the Outsiders...

“Damn it, not this again.”

In the meantime, the Hunter clicked his tongue, reloaded the bullet back into the gun, and aimed at the Watcher once more.

Wait a minute.

If the Hunter was using it, that meant it was a weapon capable of taking down an Outsider.

Which means...

“Ah.”

I recalled the phrase written on the wall: “Among the recently discovered methods, using a weapon crafted from the flesh of an Outsider can allow for ‘Taking Down Outsiders,’ but beyond this point, I’m not really sure;;”

I quickly deduced the true nature of that bullet.

It was made from Outsider flesh.

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

As I gradually began to understand the situation, someone slapped me hard on the shoulder. Turning around, I saw Agartha wearing a distressed expression.

“Tanton! It’s already too late!”

“What on earth is happening?”

Not knowing the exact situation, I could only respond with a question.

Agartha looked at me as if to say, “Can’t you tell?” and after a sigh, she explained.

“The Watcher has appeared and is about to destroy everything, and the Hunter is trying to stop it!”

There was definitely a lot of destruction all around.

However, from what I could see right now, the Watcher was just standing still while the Hunter was the one mercilessly pummeling them!

Upon closer inspection, I could note that even the Hunter was showing signs of weariness; it looked like he was being pushed back.

Trying to prove Agartha’s words, the Watcher suddenly started to charge, rushing straight at the Hunter.

“Woof!”

“Gak!”

The Hunter was hit in the stomach by the Watcher’s charge, making a cute “pong” sound.

Contrary to the sound, the Hunter was propelled with a ferocious speed, crashing into the opposite wall and utterly shattering it.

...It was hard to fully vilify the Watcher when their expression still reflected that of an unjustly wronged puppy.

“Oh no! The Hunter is in danger!”

Despite the overwhelming cognitive dissonance, it definitely looked perilous.

Agartha seemed to be growing increasingly frantic, her feet shuffling, and then I caught her gaze as she realized something.

“Hurry, Tanton! You brought something to take that down, right?”

“Oh, yes. This....”

I lifted the dog bone that the Outcasts had insisted I carry with me even at the cost of their own lives.

Ah, just looking at it was making me teary-eyed again.

Feeling touched, I was in the middle of sniffing back tears when Agartha screamed and jumped back.

“Yikes! Don’t shove that in my face!”

Huh.

Um.

What on earth does this look like to you?

As I took the dog bone from the Watcher’s mouth, it got all excited, wagging its tail in delight as if to say we could play again.

Is this really the right call I’m making?

I felt like I was losing the last shred of my human morality.

After all...

From my perspective, what’s the difference between treating a cute girl like a dog right now?!

Yet, unaware of my inner conflict, the Watcher was whining impatiently for me to throw it faster.

“Hee, hee.”

Sigh.

Looking into those eager eyes, I felt like not tossing it would make me the bad guy, so I mustered the strength in my arm.

I threw the dog bone a bit further away, and the Watcher scampered off like a little nut, coming back with the bone and panting happily.

My rationality felt a bit severed.

I thought, why not go all the way since we’ve come this far?

“Paw.”

“Woof!”

I raised my hand.

“Sit.”

“Woof!”

It sat down.

“Turn around once.”

“Woof!”

It did a spin.

“Oh my, good job!”

“Wooof.”

As I patted it for doing well, the Watcher closed its eyes and wagged its tail in joy.

Ugh.

...I was about to call it quits as I felt my dignity slipping away.

“Woof~!”

But then, satisfied with the game, the Watcher started to bark gleefully and run in circles around me.

“Good human! I’m happy!”

Pitter patter, pitter patter.

The jellies on its feet made sounds.

“Human, I won’t hit you! Good human!”

“Uh-huh, yes, I’m a good human...”

Just as I was about to say, “Let’s stop now,” for some reason the Watcher changed its path and lunged directly at me.

This time, it was aiming straight for my body!

“Ahhh!”

I spun around to escape, but it seemed to have calculated that and ended up knocking me down.

I was terrified of what would happen next when I felt something warm and wet pressing against my arm.

Panicking, I lifted my head to check what it was and saw the Watcher with its tongue out, tilting its head in confusion.

Oh.

Wait a minute.

This...

No way.

I mean, really?

When I awkwardly smiled at the Watcher, it seemed to take that as a cue to go ahead and started grinning again while wagging its tongue.

“Lick, lick!”

“Uuugh!”

And thus, I found myself pinned down by the Watcher, getting licked for what felt like an eternity.