Chapter 284 - Alpha Hellhound

So far, so good.

Rynold walked along the dark and winding forest, keeping his ear to the ground. While Rynold hadn't had the roughest journey so far, his entire encounter with Francie certainly set him straight. With a little girl disappearing like that on him, Rynold had half a mind to at least be more careful.

Although, Rynold thought to himself that it might've been better if he knew what he was dealing with than this. The whole 'being scared' thing — it wasn't something Rynold wanted to feel. For the most part, Rynold was more eager to be in a fight than anything else. At least, at that point, Rynold had a clear idea of what he needed to do.

But, this? Rynold didn't really want to go through the dark forest any more than he wanted to drink sewer water. Part of him just wanted to get this part of the journey over with, or, well, at least have some light that would brighten up his path.

However, Rynold had to stick with it for now.

As uncomfortable as the silence and darkness got, Rynold would have to suck it up. It was getting to him, though, as the uneasiness started to take its toll on Rynold's peace of mind.

'God damn it.'

With each step forward, Rynold only got tenser. He knew where he needed to go, but the uncertainty was driving him near-insane. Rynold was never one for embracing the unknown, after all, which was why he had so many questions. Now, however, Rynold couldn't appease the wariness bubbling to the top of his head. At this point, Rynold even found it difficult to remain level-headed.

Even with all these things popping up in his head, though, Rynold kept going. Fear was one thing, but Rynold would much rather be damned than be crippled by it. There was no point in heading back as Rynold focused on what was ahead. Thankfully, though, Rynold had yet to encounter anything life-threatening.

Or, well, at the first few hours of his journey at least.

'Hell, no,' thought Rynold as he commanded the four octahedron drones to separate from his being. They took spots specific to where Rynold needed to go. The only thing Rynold had to do now was to wait for his opponent.

'This would be a lot easier if I could see.'

Gritting his teeth, Rynold squinted. He looked around, using the octahedron drones to his advantage. While the fauna obstructed most of what Rynold could see using the drones, they still helped clear things up. Because, whatever the thing was, Rynold could tell it was a quadruped.

Retaining his Mana Gauntlets in Speed-form, Rynold had a feeling that this thing he was up against was fast. As he braced for an attack, Rynold suddenly recalled what the Mech God had told him and how accurate it was. Since, at this moment, Rynold was indeed fresh meat.

But then again, Rynold was the meat who fought back.

Bark! Bark!

Rynold immediately reeled back as what he was fighting became clearer. Not because Rynold felt scared, though. Instead, Rynold felt more than eager to fight and, more importantly, win.

As the creature got closer, Rynold could suddenly hear a distinct growl. It was a clear enough sign that Rynold was prey. Although, the quadruped remained cautious. It was as if the creature knew Rynold was not like any other prey like before. Animal instincts, perhaps? Whatever it was, Rynold wasn't in a mood to ask.

'Unyielding Twine.'

Activating the spell appeared plant roots and wrapped themselves around the creature's four legs. Rynold had trapped it in place just like that. And, with that, Rynold made his approach.

He remained calm, of course, as he approached the creature. Anything could happen, after all, and Rynold wouldn't make the mistake of falling for it. While this creature was alone, Rynold could sense that something was off with it. Rynold could see himself getting screwed over if he jumped the gun.

"What are you..?" asked Rynold as he carefully got closer to the creature, "I don't suppose you could understand me now, could you? Hm. Probably not."

Squinting his eyes once more, Rynold could barely see the outlines of a snout. The creature before him appeared no different than a dog. As far as Rynold knew, this thing he captured might as well be just a dog.

As soon as Rynold ever-so-slightly let his guard down, the supposed dog before him suddenly grew. The creature transformed from something small into something a dozen sizes bigger. Case in point, Rynold was first looking down on it. But now, the dog was twice his size.

"Son of a b—"

A paw landed on Rynold before he could finish the tactless remark. The dog swatted him away before he could say anything else. Rynold only stopped once his back slammed against a tree.

Rynold could barely defend himself from the attack. He only realized what had happened the moment he recoiled against that tree trunk. Fortunately enough, the adrenaline kicked in as soon as he landed, making Rynold recover from the sudden attack.

'I'm not making that mistake again.'

Clicking his tongue, Rynold activated [Protecting Light] and extended his Mana Gauntlets to Strength-form. Part of him wishes he had killed the thing on the spot before having to go through all this extra effort. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the dog coming his way, ready to strike back.

With steady breaths, Rynold focused on the battle at hand. He could feel his heart pumping, excessively so. Even though Rynold wasn't one to admit it, he was getting excited about a fight.

The dog rushed up to Rynold, its massive body bringing a lot of forwarding momentum. But, Rynold knew a weakness all the creatures in this dimension shared. He waited for the opportune time, of course, timing the attack when the creature was within twenty yards of where Rynold stood.

"Light's Discerning Eye!"

Like a flashlight pointed into the creature's eyes, it moved its head to the side but continued to charge forward. Rynold, seeing this coming, jumped to the side, just barely getting out of harm's way. The dog then came down crashing. Its blindness the cause of its fall.

Rynold wouldn't let such an opportunity pass and ran up to the dog. He stood above it, interlocked his fingers, activated Charging Fist, and slammed his Mana Gauntlets down. As soon as his fist landed, a shockwave erupted, and an audible cracking sound soon followed.

Just like that, Rynold managed to land a critical blow on the creature below him. He stood tall, taking a moment to catch his breath. And, from there, he activated [Scan]. In hindsight, it should've been the first thing he did.

[Alpha Hellhound Lvl 30]

'That's not good.'

While its level was not far too off Rynold's own, he knew that anything considered 'Alpha' was far from anything good. Having that one word in a creature's name was an omen for the bad news. Anything that followed from either killing this thing or leaving it alive was something Rynold did not look forward to.

Although, now that he had the Alpha Hellhound in the ropes, Rynold could kill it with relative ease. He raised his right Mana Gauntlet up high, ready to pummel down on the thing like there was no tomorrow. That was if only he wasn't interrupted by the rest of its pack.

Out of nowhere, Rynold could feel a bite on his left shoulder. It threw him off balance, and Rynold unintentionally fell to the ground. The hold on his shoulder didn't seem to want to let go, though, as the hellhound wanted to tear Rynold to shreds.

"Get... off!"

Rynold punched his right hand into the hellhound, slamming the fist onto the creature's skull. It caused the creature to let go, and Rynold quickly retreated a few steps before rejoining the fight.

'Are there six of them?'

Counting the Alpha Hellhound, there were now seven in total. It was funny how Rynold could take down the Alpha one with relative ease. But, now that there were six other hellhounds in play, Rynold's confidence dwindled slightly.

'Well, isn't this just great,' thought Rynold as he grimaced at the thought. Confident or not, Rynold still had to put on a fight. Although, at the back of his mind, Rynold felt the option of running away calling out to him. But, well, Rynold would cross that bridge when it came to it.

For now, Rynold braced for a difficult fight ahead. Six of these bastards would prove to be problematic, after all. While the Alpha was big and strong, these smaller ones would be much faster.

That said, Rynold's mind formed a dozen or so plans in a flash. He eyed his opponents warily, wondering which one would he take down first. Although, whichever he chose, Rynold just wished that he had the Mana to last the entire fight.