[Exclusive]
"I must see him again"
On the morning of January 0, Saint Dolores of Quovadis Family revealed a strong hostility towards the Night Hound.
As she bit her lip and muttered, her grave expression was suffocatingly foreboding.
Whether the Night Hounds are worthless or the Quovadis are worthless, the results will tell.
In the meantime, some have suggested that Dolores, who is usually mild-mannered and euphemistic in her language, is using such stubborn and strong language that a "holy war" could be declared. ...
Various newspapers began to circulate.
When the volunteers returned to Colosseo Academy, they were surprised to read the article in the academy's weekly newspaper.
"Wow, an article already appeared? We were at the scene of this history."
"Hmmm. The head of the department has declared a holy war."
"I didn't feel like I was in the mood for that. I think the article went too far."
Tudor, Sancho, and Piggy turned to the newspaper, each saying something.
Next to them, Bianca and Sinclair nodded.
"That's what journalists do. They have to be sensationalized to get views."
"Hey, Vikir, what do you think?"
Sinclair asks, and everyone's eyes turn in the same direction as hers.
In the back, a few feet away from the group, stood Vikir.
"...."
Vikir walks quietly, reading a newspaper article.
His mood is somehow lonely and despondent.
"Why is he in such a mood, dude, aren't you going to come, then I'll go first...."
As Bianca opened her mouth to speak in a sarcastic manner, Tudor, who was next to her, slapped her on the side.
"Hey. Don't you have any sense of consideration?"
"What? Considerate of what?"
"How do you think Vikir feels right now?"
"...How do I know what's on his mind?"
"Tsk, tsk, you inhumane bastard. You're the same as always."
Tudor turned his head slightly to look at Vikir behind him.
Then he turned back to look at Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair.
"Vikir, that guy, he peed in front of everyone yesterday."
"Yeah, and on the head of the department's body."
"...There was a lot of it."
"Ew, that's dirty."
"Your brother must be feeling really bad right now."
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair each chimed in with a comment.
Finally, Tudor nodded.
"Vikir, he probably wants to be alone right now."
"I know. I would have done the same."
"I'm afraid that hasty comfort can be poison."
"Maybe he needs to take a piss, man, timidly. You don't think we're going to gossip or anything."
"...No, I'd be nervous, to say the least, about that."
Sinclair glanced back at Vikir behind him and muttered something wistful.
"...I don't mind my hyung peeing on me."
"? Of course you wouldn't mind. You're not fucking cheap."
Tudor said to everyone, clapping Sinclair on the shoulder.
"Okay. Okay, so let's leave Vikir alone for a while. Piggy, why don't you sleep in our room tonight so he can be alone."
"Huh? Can we do that?"
"Why not? We'll go do some work together later."
"Okay, thanks, Sancho."
It seemed that Piggy had gotten to know a lot of the other kids through this volunteer work.
They naturally drifted away to give Vikir some alone time.
Meanwhile.
'They're going first, thank goodness.'
Vikir sneaked off to the side, watching his classmates swarm in front of him.
Thud.
Back in his dorm room, alone, Vikir sat down at his desk.
A small wreath and a stick of incense were placed on the desk.
As the incense burned, Vikir held the wreath in silence.
It was a mourning for Nymphet.
'Are you being too hard on her? Did she get a kiss?'
'No.'
'It's not 'no', it's 'don't'! She wants to give you a kiss like that!'
The conversation I had with the saint at the farewell replayed in my mind.
'If I had known it would be like this, I should have waited until then to get a kiss.'
Vikir's brow furrowed slightly.
" ...I'll have to hunt harder."
When the Age of Destruction arrives, innocent children like Nymphet will die in countless numbers.
It was necessary to hunt demons more diligently to prevent that.
Demons would be slain, as well as the traitors who had joined their ranks.
"To do that, we'll need to check the... harvest, right?"
Vikir pulled something out of his bosom.
It was a black leather sack, taken from Ephebo, Hebe, Pedo, and Geronto, one from each of them.
Each one of these sacks seemed to be alive, with pulsing threads beneath the black leather.
I put them together.
"This is ...."
Vikir's eyes widened slightly.
It was a single, large mask.
An oversized mask that looked like a bandana and a hood combined.
The ears had two pointy protrusions that looked like the scalp of a Doberman with its ears cut off.
And Vikir already knew what it was.
"So, this is what I get for my money."
The mask radiated an ominous aura.
It was an artifact comparable to the Magic Sword Beelzebub.
/ Mask
-Fratricide (同族相殘) +0
-Human Face – Beast Form(人面獸心) -Off
Vikir closed his eyes and recalled the information about the artifact.
Long ago, he had seen it in a book of all things in the East.
'It was a mask that grew stronger the more you killed your own kind.'
The mask was a demonic mask that, if worn by a human being, would give them the power to kill their own kind.
I've also heard that the mask has mystical powers, granting the wearer incredible recovery and mana accumulation.
'...Although I've heard it has some side effects.'
Vikir decided to try on the mask.
Flutter.
He flicked the mask off and placed it on his head.
"...!"
Vikir felt his body change.
His tattered body and stamina from the last fight with Dantalian began to recover rapidly.
It was a level of regeneration far beyond that of a Bog Salamander.
'This is amazing!'
Although the Bog Salamander's regeneration power was excellent for repairing its tattered body, it couldn't replenish its physical or mental strength.
But this mask can do that. With this mask, he could always recharge his fatigue.
...But there was one problem.
"...?"
Vikir gasped as he realized how much smaller he had become.
"haeg-haeg-haeg-"
He quickly turned to the mirror and saw a black dog, a black ball of fur, panicking in the room.
'This, this is me?'
Vikir gasped as he looked at his reflection.
There's a saying that 'alcohol makes you a dog', but it's only used as a metaphor.
There are other words like 'less than a dog', 'worse than a dog', 'like a dog', etc.... All of them are just metaphors.
But Vikir himself is now a real dog.
Shiny black fur, sharp teeth, cute little eyes, and pink jelly on his paws.
He looks like a puppy.
'Wait, this is a side effect of the mask? Oh, no!'
I exclaimed to myself.
"Grrrr-"
The only sound that comes out of my throat is the sound a puppy makes when it has to poop.
/ Mask
-Fratricide (同族相殘) +0
-Human Face – Beast Form (人面獸心) -On
The artifact's status is a little strange. Vikir felt the artifact turn from off to on.
Vikir quickly touched his neck with his forepaw.
Fortunately, there were still traces of the mask.
When Vikir showed his will to take off the mask, it fell from the flesh and skin and slithered away as if it had a will.
/ Mask
-Fratricide +0
-Human Face – Beast Form -Off
Off again.
Soon enough, Vikir regained his human form and stood naked in front of the mirror once again.
Vikir chuckled as he looked at the clothes on the floor.
"It would be nice to take off all my clothes at once before washing."
He pulls himself together and puts on the mask again, and this time he doesn't turn into a dog.
There's a clear line between on and off, so perhaps the mask can change when the wearer wants it to and not when they don't.
Vikir took off the mask and kept it.
'The ability to turn into a dog at will. More of a sub-ability than a side effect, I suppose.'
The ability to turn into a dog would be useful in many ways in my future career as a night hound.
Not only would it make me much more resilient, but it would also help me escape from prying eyes.
'...Let's see, was it possible to have a pet inside the academy?'
Luckily, there is no rule that says you can't have animals inside the academy's dormitories.
Many students have owls, pigeons, turtles, hamsters, etc.
However, they were not allowed to have large animals that could cause damage to their surroundings, which meant bears, elephants, etc.
Just as Vikir was looking through the book of dorm rules.
Pozak-
A sound caught Vikir's attention.
"...?"
The sound of something small and insignificant breaking.
Vikir turned his head to see what it was.
It was coming from his coat hanging in the corner of the room.
He dug into his pockets and found something amazing.
A Madame Eight-Legged Egg.
The black sphere was getting incontinent.
"Ah, so this is the one that blocked Dantalian's spear at the end."
I knew it was unexpectedly hard and bouncy, but I didn't think it would be able to withstand a demon spear.
But now that I look at it, it wasn't even damaged.
Crack, crack, crack!
The shell was cracking.
'Even the mother, Madame Eight-Legged, dissolved her eggs in her acidic saliva, so they were resistant to the shock....'
Vikir stared at the egg in disbelief.
And then.
Bam!
The shell cracked completely.
The thing inside opened its eyes for the first time and looked at Vikir.
"...?"
Vikir shook his head.
Inside the cracked shell, he could see something burnt, like a piece of bread.
It was a creature he'd never seen before.
And the creature, upon waking, saw Vikir for the first time.
Vikir shakes his head, and the creature shakes his head back, mimicking Vikir's behavior.
Vikir was a little nervous.
Though small and insignificant, this was clearly the young of Madame Eight-Legged, the reigning 'depth nightmare'.
Vikir had nearly died many times trying to hunt the giant spider.
But.
Amazingly, the dust-like thing leapt right into Vikir's arms.
He rubbed his face in Vikir's arms and started making the most unexpected noises.
[Woof- haeg haeg- kkingkking-]
It was like a newborn wolf pup.