Dawn broke in a dreary gray, as if even the sun was reluctant to look upon the chaos that had unfolded in the border forest of Veridia. Inside our hiding cave, tension still hung thick in the air, thicker than the morning mist.
I was still half-paralyzed. While I could move my neck and fingers now, my legs felt like gelatinous wine left out under the sun. Lady Seraphina sat in a corner of the cave, hugging her knees, not daring to meet my eyes after last night's "attempted assassination" incident.
"Rest time's over," Elena stood, tightening the leather straps of her shoulder guards. She gazed into the forest with vigilant eyes. "They're close. I can smell their foul breath from here."
"Who? Tax collectors?" I tried to lighten the mood.
"Worse. Blood Hounds," Elena replied curtly. She walked toward me, then turned her back and crouched. "Up."
I swallowed hard. "Lady Elena, this is a bit embarrassing for the dignity of a grown man like me…"
"Choose: dignity or life," she cut sharply.
With Lila helping to push my back, I was finally "strapped" onto Elena's back. She used her cloak to tie me to her waist so I wouldn't fall while she maneuvered. It felt… awkward. My face was right next to her silver helmet, and I could faintly smell the mixture of sweat and lavender soap from her hair.
"Hold on tight, Pan Hero. If you bite your tongue while I jump, I won't treat it," Elena warned before launching us out of the cave.
"Wait! My pan!"
The black pan floated on its own from the ground, still in Semi-Sentient mode, sticking to my right hand as if pulled by an invisible magnet.
"Okay, Pan. You're my right-side shield. Don't let my butt get hit by arrows," I whispered to the inanimate object. The pan trembled lightly in agreement.
We had run about five hundred meters through the dense pine forest when the howls sounded.
AWOOOOOOOOO!!!
The sound was not of ordinary wolves. It was metallic, shrill, and painfully ear-piercing. Five black silhouettes leaped from the bushes behind us.
They were dogs. Calling them dogs was an insult to poodles. These creatures were as big as cows, their skin made of cracked obsidian, with glowing orange magma seeping from the fissures. Their eyes were empty, only fire burning inside, and their saliva dripped, scorching the grass they stepped on.
[System Alert: Enemy Detected!]
[Name: Hellhound Tracker (Elite Type)]
[Level: 15]
[Strengths: Tireless, fire bite, extremely loyal to master (Malphas)]
[Weaknesses: Holy water, ice cream, hard hits to the nose]
"Lila! Slow-down bombs!" Elena shouted without slowing. She zig-zagged between trees with impossible agility for someone carrying a 70-kilogram adult male on her back.
"Ready, Big Sis!" Lila, running alongside Seraphina, dug into her bag. She threw three glass spheres behind us.
POOF! POOF! POOF!
The spheres exploded, releasing sticky purple liquid onto the ground. The two front Hellhounds stepped into it, slipping and rolling into a large tree.
GUK! CUIT! (A yelp of a squashed dog)
"Hahaha! That's Slippery Floor Brew!" Lila cheered.
But the remaining three Hellhounds leapt over their fallen comrades. They closed in. One opened its mouth wide; a fireball began forming in its throat.
"Elena! Six o'clock!" I shouted.
Elena couldn't turn, focusing on carrying Seraphina and Lila out of danger.
"Rian! Do something!" Elena yelled.
"Damn! I'm cargo, not a fighter!" But my hands moved. Adrenaline temporarily lifted the paralysis from my upper body. "Pan! Deflect mode!"
I swung the pan behind Elena's back just as the fireball shot toward us.
CLANG!!!
The fireball hit the bottom of the pan, bouncing upward and exploding against a tree branch, showering us with burning wood splinters. The pan glowed hot, yet the handle remained cool in my hand.
"Wow! Hot! Hot!" I yelled. "Elena, run faster! My butt's heating up!"
"Shut up and keep shooting!" Elena replied. "Think of yourself as the turret! I'm the legs, you're the weapon!"
"Turret?! You think this is some medieval Call of Duty game?!"
But the idea… made sense. Elena couldn't wield the Greatsword effectively while carrying me. I had to be the long-range attacker.
"System! Gacha! Now! I need projectiles!"
[Ding!]
[Emergency Request Accepted. Using 1 Gacha Ticket: "Kitchen Spice".]
[Spinning...]
[Congratulations! You received item: "Devil Chili (x50)"]
[Description: Chilis rated 50 million Scoville. Causes stomach leakage and profound regret in enemy orifices.]
A small pouch of tiny red chilis appeared in my hand.
"Lila! Do you have a slingshot or something?!" I shouted.
"Catch this!" Lila threw a simple rubber slingshot she usually used for shooting birds.
I caught it. Hanging onto Elena's back as she bounded over the forest floor, I placed one devil chili into the slingshot.
"Taste this, Hellhound! Spicy Shot!"
I aimed at the closest Hellhound, just about to bite Elena's leg, and released the shot.
Flick!
The tiny chili flew straight into the giant, wet nostril of the Hellhound.
Silence.
Then...
NGUINGGGGG!!!
The Hellhound stopped abruptly. Its fiery eyes widened. It sneezed violently, expelling fire from its nose. It scratched its snout on the ground, howling in pain as if it had inhaled molten lava.
[Critical Hit! Weakness Exploded!]
[Enemy affected by: 'Burning Nose'. Accuracy reduced by 100%.]
"Success! Hahaha! Take that!" I laughed triumphantly.
"Good, Rian! Keep shooting!" Elena praised, her breath ragged.
We continued running. I became an impromptu sniper on Elena's back. Whenever a Hellhound approached, I shot chili into their eyes or nostrils. Elena's fast movements combined with my accurate shots (thanks to the auto-aim system quietly assisting) kept us at a safe distance.
However, the forest thinned. Ahead lay a wide ravine with an old suspension bridge of rope and rotting wooden planks. Below, a raging river rushed over sharp rocks ready to crush bones.
"The bridge!" Seraphina pointed. "That's the border of Veridia!"
"Cross it quickly!" Elena commanded.
Lila and Seraphina ran first. The bridge swayed violently in the wind. Elena followed behind. The old wood creaked under the weight of both of us plus her heavy armor.
When we reached the middle, the last Hellhound—a much larger Alpha—appeared at the edge of the ravine. It didn't chase the bridge. Instead, it opened its mouth wide, gathering massive fire energy. It didn't intend to chase us—it aimed to destroy the bridge.
"Shit! It's going to cut the rope!" I shouted.
"Hold on!" Elena increased her pace, but there were still ten meters to the other side.
The Alpha Hellhound launched a massive fireball—not at us, but at the bridge's support post on our side.
BOOM!!!
The rope snapped.
The bridge collapsed instantly. We were airborne, gravity pulling us toward the deathly river below.
"ELENA!" Seraphina and Lila screamed from the safety of the cliff across.
In midair, time seemed to slow. I saw Elena's face beneath her helmet, but I could sense her calm.
"Rian," she said calmly over the roar of the wind. "Trust me?"
"In this situation?! YES!"
Elena drove her greatsword into the cliff wall mid-fall. She didn't swing at the enemy. She rammed it into the rock with all her strength.
KRAAAAK!
The sword lodged deep into the crevice, holding our weight with a painful jerk. We hung there, swinging fifty meters above the river, supported only by the sword's hilt and Elena's extraordinary arm strength.
"Argh…" Elena groaned, her muscles tensed to the max. "You… are heavy… Rian…"
"Sorry! I'll start dieting tomorrow!"
Above, the Alpha Hellhound howled in frustration as its prey did not fall into the river. It prepared to fire again at us, the immobile targets on the cliff wall.
"Lila! Now!" Elena shouted.
On the cliff above, Lila was ready. "Eat this, Ugly Dog! Mega Boom Potion!"
Lila threw the entire contents of her bag at the Alpha Hellhound. A colorful explosion erupted—smoke, slime, fire, and foul stench mingled. The ground at the cliff's edge collapsed under the blast.
The giant dog howled as its footing disappeared, tumbling past us, plummeting toward the river below.
SPLASH!
Silence.
Elena exhaled deeply. "Lila… Seraphina… pull us up…"
Half an hour later, we lay on safe grass on the opposite side of the ravine. My breath was still ragged. My heart pounded like a metal drummer. Yet oddly, the sensation in my legs returned. The paralysis effect vanished due to the adrenaline shock.
I untied myself and rolled off Elena's back. The female knight lay on her back, removing her helmet. Her face glistened with sweat, blonde hair plastered to her forehead, but she smiled. A genuine, unrestrained smile.
"We… are insane," she said, laughing softly between breaths. "Chili turret? Seriously?"
I joined in, massaging my tingling legs. "Hey, it worked! Did you see the dog's face when its nose burned? Epic!"
Lady Seraphina crawled closer. She didn't speak, but she took a handkerchief to wipe dust off Elena's face, then cleaned mine. The small gesture said more than a thousand apologies.
"Thank you," Seraphina whispered. "Both of you… thank you."
[Ding!] [Quest Complete: Escape from Veridia.]
[Reward: XP +1000, Party Affection Maxed.]
[Corruption Meter: 0.15% (Stable).]
I looked up at the brightening sky. We had survived. But when I glanced at the forest ahead—the unclaimed lands we had to traverse next—I saw a thin black shadow standing among the trees. My demonic self.
It no longer threatened. It simply stood there, staring at Elena with an expression difficult to read. Sad? Longing?
"Enjoy your time, Rian," the voice echoed in my head. "The more you love them, the sweeter it will be when I destroy it."
I clenched my fists, gripping my loyal black pan. "We'll see about that, bastard," I murmured.
"Who are you talking to, Rian?" Lila asked, picking up scattered devil chilis.
"No one," I said, standing and extending a hand to Elena to help her up. "Come on. I'm hungry. I need real ingredients, not mud porridge again."
Elena took my hand. Her grip was strong and warm. "Cook something delicious, Pan Hero. You owe me your life today."
"Yes, Commander."
We walked away from the ravine, entering a new forest full of new mysteries. Our adventure was far from over.