In an instant—
The beast's instinct flared.
Sensing the imminent threat of death, the evil hound's chains, pinned beneath Minori's iron sword, abruptly emitted a grim gray light.
"Chain Cyclone."
Crash!
The chains wrapped around the creature twisted violently, lashing out like whips. The sound of metal slicing through the air was sharp and menacing, and the coiled chains turned into deadly flails, striking toward Minori with ferocious speed.
"...Hm?"
Minori's gaze sharpened.
Without hesitation, he kicked off the ground, retreating backward at blinding speed.
An iron ring at the end of the chain flashed with cold, lethal light as it swept past him, cutting through the air with a thunderous crack.
Boom!
In the distance, a thick tree trunk split apart and collapsed with a resounding crash.
Landing lightly on his feet, Minori's eyes flicked toward the shattered remains of the tree.
"...Tch. Such destructive force."
Even with his reinforced physique, had that strike landed, he would not have escaped unscathed.
"So that's the evil hound's special ability. No wonder the guild ranks them higher than ogres."
A small smile tugged at Minori's lips.
Opposite him, the evil hound had regained its footing, breathing heavily, visibly drained after unleashing its trump card.
"But—"
Minori's golden eyes gleamed coldly.
"—such abilities can only be used once."
Indeed.
The once-writhing chains now hung limply against the hound's body, lifeless. The vitality they previously displayed had completely vanished.
According to the information Minori had gathered, "Chain Cyclone" was a powerful single-use ability, reserved for critical moments in battle—or to ensure a swift kill.
Without giving the beast time to recover—
Bang!
The ground cracked beneath Minori's feet as he launched forward, covering the distance between them in a single breath.
His iron sword flashed downward in a brutal arc, aiming for the exhausted hound's exposed side.
Suddenly—
A shadow loomed overhead.
Another evil hound had hidden nearby, now springing forth with a savage roar, fangs bared as it leapt through the air.
Minori reacted instantly.
"Quick Slash."
Without altering his posture, he shifted the trajectory of his swing mid-motion, reversing the sword upward in a rising slash.
Crash!
The second hound's chains tried to react, curling protectively around its body.But Minori's strike, augmented by his physical enhancements, smashed through the defenses.
Ping!Crack!!
The sound of bones shattering echoed.
The airborne evil hound was hurled aside like a broken toy, crashing into the dense undergrowth with a heavy thud.
Had it not been for the defensive chains mitigating some of the impact, Minori's strike would have cleaved the creature cleanly in two.
"Roar!"
The first, weakened evil hound—seeing an opportunity—lunged forward, its bloodied jaws snapping toward Minori's face.
"Instant Reflex."
Minori's body flowed backward as though time itself had rewound, evading the charge with ease.
As he retreated, he swung his sword in a sharp, practiced motion.
Pshk!
The iron blade sliced cleanly through the evil hound's abdomen.A fountain of blood and viscera erupted from the wound as the creature collapsed, twitching violently on the blood-soaked ground.
The stench of death thickened in the forest air.
Minori flicked the blood from his sword with a single, precise motion.
"...As I thought. After 'Chain Cyclone' is used, the chains become inert. They can't even offer passive defense."
His tone was dispassionate, cold.
Wasteful, in a way.
He briefly considered the idea of such a technique in serious battle: powerful, yes, but utterly fatal once exhausted.
『Experience Gained: 369』
Minori noted the prompt appearing in his mind.
"Higher experience yield than ogres, hm? Not surprising for creatures that survive in the deep jungle."
He muttered to himself, already scanning his surroundings.
The experience value from a single evil hound nearly equaled the total he could accumulate from an entire day of hunting weaker monsters.
Suddenly—
Rustling bushes, heavy breathing.
The second evil hound staggered from the undergrowth, blood dripping from its maw, its steps unsteady.
Its bloodshot eyes fixated on Minori.
It briefly glanced at its fallen companion—
Then growled, low and furious.
Minori tilted his head slightly.
"You didn't flee... Loyalty? No—probably just beastly stubbornness."
The evil hound lunged, putting everything into its final charge.
Cold light flashed.
Minori's sword, merciless and swift, carved through the beast mid-leap.
The three-meter-long hound fell to the ground with a heavy thud, dead before it even touched the earth, scattering a circle of fallen leaves.
『Experience Gained: 382』
Glancing at his status display, Minori noted:
『Experience Slot: 9256 / 9500』
"Only two hundred more to level ten..."
He exhaled slowly.
This jungle—dark, cold, oppressive—had worn on his nerves over the month he had spent here.
Soon, he would ascend another threshold.
"Magnificent, my lord!"
"You're incredible—defeating even the evil hounds with ease!"
"I've never seen a human as strong as you!"
"Those monsters used to feast even on ogres from our tribe..."
The shrill, sycophantic voices filled the air.
The goblin elder—Blinmuguo, whom Minori held captive—was practically groveling, his terror replaced with obsequious praise.
Minori clicked his tongue, irritated.
"Quiet."
Instantly, silence fell.
Minori turned his attention back to the corpses.
The evil hounds' most valuable features were not their flesh, but the unique bone-like chains wrapped around their bodies.
While their corpses might fetch a price at the guild, Minori hesitated. His magic item box was already stuffed with the remains of over two thousand goblins.
He was growing weary of stockpiling monster bodies like trophies.
"...Do they buy entire goblin corpses?"Minori mused absently, then refocused.
He knelt beside the fallen hounds.
The chains—though they appeared metallic—were actually formed of dense, black bone, glistening with a dark sheen even under the faint light filtering through the canopy.
Upon closer inspection, he found that the chains were anchored directly into the evil hounds' spines, emerging from the back of the neck.
In the gloom of the forest, their black coloration made them appear to float eerily around the creatures, offering both defense and concealment.
"No wonder they're called evil hounds..."
"A biological armor fused into the body. Protects the vital spine and soft underbelly. A grotesque but efficient design."
Minori murmured appreciatively.
Then—
Without hesitation, he drove his iron sword into the hound's exposed neck joint.
To his mild surprise, the bone chain's anchor was relatively soft compared to the chain itself, and with a few precise cuts, he extracted it cleanly.