Chapter 8

As I stood there dumbfounded, watching a scene that looked like nothing but one-sided violence from the Hunter, the Hunter reloaded his gun, aimed at the Observer, and fired again.

"Wait!"

I tried to stop him, but the bullet had already hit the Observer, causing it to shake violently. It seemed to have been hit in the arm, as it brought that part to its mouth and licked it with its tongue.

"Kyaung..."

...Making a strangely dog-like whimper. But when I saw the bullet bounce off instead of embedding itself, my eyes followed it, and seeing it roll on the floor, I was dumbfounded.

"...A BB pellet?"

Wasn't that just a white plastic pellet I saw? Wait a minute, no matter what, there's no way the Hunter would use such a childish toy against an Outer God. That means this bullet must be related to Outer Gods...

"Damn it, it's happening again."

Meanwhile, the Hunter clicked his tongue, reloaded the bullet into the gun, and started aiming at the Observer again.

Wait. If the Hunter is using it, it means it's a weapon that can defeat Outer Gods. Which means...

"Ah."

「Recently, it's been said that using weapons made from Outer God flesh can help in 'Defeating Outer Gods', but I'm not too sure about the details;;」

Remembering the text written on the wall, I could soon deduce the identity of that bullet. Was it made from Outer God flesh? So that's why it looks like a plastic BB pellet to me!

As I was gradually grasping the situation, someone started patting my shoulder hard. I turned my head to see Agartha with a pale expression.

"Tanton, you're too late!"

"What on earth is going on here?"

Since I didn't know exactly what was happening, I had no choice but to ask in return. Agartha made a frustrated expression as if to say 'Can't you see?', then sighed.

"The Observer has appeared and is destroying everything, and Mr. Hunter is trying to stop it!"

Certainly, the surrounding area was all destroyed… But looking at it right now, the Observer is just standing still while the Hunter is unilaterally beating it up!

Looking closely, the Hunter did seem to be showing signs of fatigue, as if he was being pushed back.

As if to prove Agartha's words, the Observer suddenly started running and charged towards the Hunter.

"Woof!"

"Ugh."

The Hunter was hit in the stomach by the Observer's charge, making a cute 'thud' sound. Contrary to the sound, the Hunter flew at a terrifying speed and crashed into the opposite wall, completely shattering it.

...It was hard to simply view the Observer as bad because its expression was that of an utterly wronged puppy.

"Oh no! Mr. Hunter is in danger!"

I felt an increasing sense of discrepancy, but it certainly looked dangerous. Agartha was just stomping her feet anxiously, then seemed to think of something and looked at me.

"Hurry, Mr. Tanton! You brought something to defeat that thing, right?"

"Ah, yes. It's this..."

I held up the dog bone that the Lesser Gods had told me to take, even sacrificing themselves. Ah, seeing this makes me want to cry again.

As I sniffled, feeling emotional, Agartha screamed and stepped back.

"Kyaa! Don't shove that at me!"

Uh. Hmm. What on earth does this look like to her?

I hadn't played the game this far, so I had no way of knowing what this originally was. Given that it's a weapon related to Outer Gods, maybe it looks creepy?

Agartha seemed to feel nauseous just looking at this weapon, covering her mouth with one hand while pointing at the Observer with the other, waving it.

"Either pass it to Mr. Hunter or throw it over there, just do something quickly!"

Hmm. Does it look like a sharp weapon to Agartha?

Nodding at Agartha's words, I took a stance to throw a spear, which I'd seen a lot on the internet.

"Take this!"

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

"Eat this!"

Whether it was luck or good timing, the dog bone started to rush towards the Observer in a gentle parabola at high speed.

At the crucial moment. The world seemed to move in slow motion.

The dog bone was gradually advancing towards the Observer, but the Observer quickly noticed and shifted its gaze.

Damn it. Had I underestimated the existence of Outer Gods too much?

The Observer soon turned its body towards the dog bone, ignoring the Hunter, and slowly started to move.

What the Observer did next made me doubt my eyes.

The Observer, which I thought had turned to block this weapon, instead leaped towards the dog bone, and just before it hit its body, it turned sideways.

And then.

"Chomp!"

It caught the bone in its mouth.

"Huh?"

During this whole process, the Hunter, Agartha, and I could only stare blankly at the Observer as if we had stopped breathing. After catching the bone, it landed on all fours and tilted its head. Then it shifted its gaze towards me.

"Damn it!"

Before the Hunter could react, the Observer suddenly started running towards me. I was so surprised I couldn't even make a sound, and before I could react, the Observer leaped at me.

Ah. Am I going to die like this? Although it has many eyes all over its body, I thought that if I'm going to die being crushed by a cute girl, it might not have been a bad life, and I closed my eyes.

After some time had passed like that.

When I was confused because nothing had happened, I heard something tapping my hand.

When I opened my eyes and looked ahead, what I saw were the Hunter and Agartha.

They were both looking at me with surprised expressions, and as I was reading the meaning of those expressions, suddenly I heard a 'huff huff' sound from somewhere.

As I looked around trying to find the source of the sound, I realized it was coming from right below me. So I lowered my head.

"Huff, huff, huff."

The Observer was smiling very brightly and tapping my hand with its hand, just like a dog pawing at its owner. With the dog bone it had caught earlier placed on the ground.

"Uh?"

As I stared blankly at the Observer, it seemed to realize something, paused for a moment, then picked up the dog bone in its mouth again and started pushing it into my hand. My brain was slow to interpret what was happening because it was receiving such unfamiliar information.

So. The Observer 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 Observer wanted. The game you play with dogs where you throw a boomerang or a disc and tell them to fetch it. The Observer seemed to be asking me to do that with it now.

"Uh..."

When I took the dog bone the Observer was holding in its mouth, it seemed to get excited at the prospect of playing the game once more, its tail starting to wag back and forth. Is what I'm about to do really the right decision? 

I felt like my last bit of human morality was crumbling. I mean, come on. At least from my perspective, how is this any different from treating a pretty woman like a dog, right now!

But not knowing my feelings, the Observer was now even whining as if to say 'Why aren't you doing it quickly?'

"Hee, heeng."

Haah. Seeing those desperate eyes, I felt like not doing it would make me the bad guy, so I finally put strength into my arm.

When I threw the dog bone a little far, the Observer ran with tiny steps, picked up the bone again, and came back with a bright smile, panting.

I felt like my reason was snapping. I felt like I'd already gone this far, so why not make it do everything?

"Paw."

"Woof!"

It raised its paw.

"Sit."

"Woof!"

It sat.

"Turn around."

"Woof!"

It turned around.

"Oh, good job."

"Grrrung."

When I patted it saying it did well, it closed its eyes slightly and wagged its tail as if it was pleased.

Umm. ...As I felt myself becoming more and more of a trash person, I was about to stop.

"Woohoo~!"

But the Observer seemed satisfied and started happily barking and running around me.

"Good human! Like!"

Squish squish squish. The jelly on its feet made sounds.

"Human, not hit me! Good human!"

"Uh, yeah. I'm a good human, so..."

Just as I was about to say 'That's enough now', for some reason the Observer's movement path suddenly changed, and it turned its body and rushed at me. This time it was running straight onto my body!

"Ahhh!"

I tried to turn my body and run away, but as if it had calculated even that, I was knocked down and pinned by the Observer.

I was afraid of what it might do to me, but then I felt something moist on the arm I was using to block. I raised my head in panic to see what that sensation was, and saw the Observer sticking out its tongue and tilting its head with a questioning expression.

Uh. Wait a minute. This is...

No way. It can't be, right?

As I looked at the Observer with an awkward smile, it seemed to take it as permission to continue, and started moving its tongue again with a smile.

"Lick, lick!"

"Urghhhh!"

And so, for a while, I had to endure being licked by the Observer as it pinned me down with its strength.