Hell Hounds from the Jungle Depths

Rama deeply missed his homeland, the Fire-Burning Realm—a place filled with foul air, billowing smoke, and flowing magma, as cruel as it was evil. Unfortunately, as he had not yet reached maturity, he was forced to remain in the Prime Material Plane, which he found intensely uncomfortable. This was the fate and trial of his race; every young Hell Hound must leave the Fire-Burning Realm for a relatively milder plane. As a race of pure slaughter, they grow by constantly killing and battling, devouring the flesh and life force of the weak (especially humanoids) to gain power. When a Hell Hound reaches full maturity, that is the time for them to return home.

As a Hell Hound nearing maturity, Rama was exceptionally tall and robust, with a hideous and terrifying appearance. Standing upright, he looked like the ugliest blue-skinned Goblin magnified to six feet tall. This evil demon occupied one of the most fertile and lush areas of the Hidden Forest: a lake formed by a hot spring. The heavy snow left the land desolate, and only the areas around the sulfur springs deep in the forest remained verdant, attracting large numbers of hungry animals and monsters seeking to forage for the winter. These surviving lives provided Rama with ample fresh meat, and the faint scent of sulfur wafting from the spring intoxicated him—it was his greatest pleasure and enjoyment in this Prime Material Plane, which he otherwise found utterly detestable, aside from killing and eating.

Rama always prided himself on possessing a cleverness and caution that other Hell Hounds lacked, though it looked more like cowardice and timidity. Whenever a strange, powerful presence appeared near his lair, it always made Rama uneasy. The deaths of two of his kin who had arrived in the Prime Material Plane years earlier made him glad he had understood and reaffirmed a principle early on: "The demon that sticks its head out first returns to eternity early."

Those two arrogant fellows had hunted humans recklessly near Sambada in the North, drawing the attention of a powerful entity among the beings of the Prime Material Plane, and were wiped out—lair and all—by a human (though a small number of Hell Hounds claimed it was actually a Dark Elf). Whenever any of his kin, or rather, his fellow demons, mentioned this, they would invariably mock the stupidity, arrogance, and ignorance of those brothers who violated the trial's traditions. The unwritten tradition of the Hell Hound juvenile trial: every young Hell Hound undergoing the trial should avoid gathering with their own kind in one place; when killing, they should use ambushes and sneak attacks rather than launching direct assaults, and they must avoid the attention of the surrounding indigenous creatures.

Rama was an absolute devotee of the trial's traditions. He chose his trial area in the Hidden Forest, located in the savage and ignorant wilderness far from the prosperous lands of humans. When he was still relatively weak, Rama disguised himself as a wandering Goblin to infiltrate a Goblin tribe, secretly hunting down stragglers from rival tribes or his own, as well as other creatures, for food. As Rama gradually matured, his physique grew stronger and taller, and his fur color shifted from yellow to red. The Hell Hound left the Goblin tribe that could no longer provide him with cover, transformed into a giant wolf with dark red fur, and infiltrated a pack of Worgs in the forest, eventually becoming one of their leaders.

Several months ago, a powerful Winter Wolf from the north migrated to this area. While conquering the Worg pack, it recognized the true identity of Rama, whose fur had begun to turn blue, and demanded the demon's allegiance. Although a Hell Hound's strength is not inferior to a Winter Wolf's, the cunning Rama did not refuse directly. Instead, he proposed a test for the Winter Wolf to prove it was worthy of his loyalty: kill a young female Frost Giant who had been wandering in the area. In reality, Rama knew she was actually a powerful half-giant, and one who had already "submitted" to an even more powerful human.

Looking at the crudely defended village in the distance, the Hell Hound raised his front paw (though he could assume a humanoid form, Rama still felt more secure in his beast form) and pointed it out to the Winter Wolf: "The female Frost Giant lives inside, along with three humans—one adult and two children."

"Enough! You only need to tell me the location of that cowardly Frost Giant; there is no need to concern yourself with other matters! You timid creature! Get lost!" Faced with the Winter Wolf's impatient rebuke, Rama, who was secretly sneering at the success of his scheme, put on an angry expression and let out a threatening growl, baring his fangs: "Watch your tone, you cold thing! Don't blame kind-hearted Rama for not warning you! Watch out for your opponent; that girl is not so easy to deal with!" At the same time, he added to himself: Of course, that human man is even harder to deal with.

With an angry look, Rama left behind a "Good luck!" and turned toward the depths of the forest. When his back was turned, his wolf-like mouth involuntarily curled into a hideous, terrifying grin.

The outcome was exactly as Rama had envisioned—the Winter Wolf was killed by that human. Although the Winter Wolf had cautiously and cunningly tested the waters several times, it ultimately could not escape its fate, because from beginning to end, it never figured out who the real threat was. The Hell Hound, hiding in the distance, was also terrified. The Winter Wolf, whose strength was on par with his own, had been killed by Chen Jinyang with his bare hands in a single encounter; that human's power was too terrifying. Rama turned and jumped into a Dimension Door, fleeing far away from the area. Even whenever Chen Jinyang went out hunting, he would send his underlings to keep watch while he himself stayed far away from the human's hunting grounds.

While fearing the human's great strength, Rama also deeply coveted Chen Jinyang's flesh. He believed that if he could devour the body and life force of that human with "terrifying" strength, he would surely complete his trial and become an adult Hell Hound. He might even grow into an even more powerful Large Hell Hound (though this was impossible). Every so often, Rama would be unable to suppress his inner ambition and would sneak near the village under the cover of night, only to flee in panic, gripped by fear as he recalled the scene of the Winter Wolf's death.

But now, the Hell Hound had to run for his life. An even "more powerful" monster had appeared in the Hidden Forest; Rama hadn't even seen what the monster looked like. Days ago, he had heard that the possessor of another nearby hot spring had been driven away by a terrifying monster, and all the animals near that spring had failed to escape, except for the original leader. Since then, the Hell Hound had been restless; recalling the terrifying situation at the time, the timid demon still felt lingering fear.

On a pitch-black (though the bright moon was actually hanging high) night, the Hell Hound was lying beside the hot spring, fast asleep and dreaming sweet dreams. He dreamed that he had defeated that detestable human, trampling him, torturing him, biting him, and eating the human alive bit by bit amidst his desperate screams. Then, the "great" Rama became even greater—the great King of Hell Hounds, King Rama or Lord Rama.

Rama—no, Lord Rama—who was intoxicated by his new, stronger, giant body, suddenly felt his body shake. The earth trembled violently, and a giant foot the size of a small hill landed in front of the "King of Hell Hounds." Rama stared fixedly at the massive sole, his head tilting back mechanically bit by bit. A giant, whose upper body was obscured by clouds, reached down from the sky with a head so huge it defied imagination, opened a mouth like a bottomless abyss, and "Roared—" as it descended.

It was him! It was that human he had just devoured! "Ah—! Ah—! Ahhh!" The Hell Hound, scared out of his wits, woke up from the nightmare with an unconscious scream. He slammed his head into a rock beside the hot spring, and then, with unfocused eyes and rolling pupils, Rama instinctively opened a Dimension Door and fled the scene with a terrified shriek. Perhaps because he was too preoccupied with the human, the Hell Hound inadvertently opened the Dimension Door in the direction of Gnome Village. The terrified demon felt as if the entire forest behind him was filled with terrifying monsters chasing him (they were actually just tree trunks). He ran as fast as he could, leaving a faint trail of snow on the white ground.

As he was fleeing frantically, Rama suddenly saw a giant "human-faced monster" lying on the ground in front of him, waiting for him. The monster's human face was four or five meters high, and its body, dozens of meters wide, was over ten feet thick just lying on the ground. With an "ambush" in front and "pursuers" behind, and his once-a-day Dimension Door already used, the "cornered" Hell Hound finally summoned his courage in despair, and the violent, demonic nature flowing in his blood was ignited.

Since there is no way to escape, I won't let you have an easy time even if I die! With the fierce spirit of "willing to be hacked to pieces to drag the emperor off his horse," Rama instantly activated Berserk and Levitation. With snow flying everywhere, he leaped into the air and used Blink to pounce toward the "human-faced monster's" eyes. The secondary effect of Blink made Rama instantly sober, but it was too late. The momentum of his high-speed run, combined with the full-force leap in a berserk state and the effect of Blink, was like a car traveling at two hundred kilometers per hour crashing headlong into the cliff ahead. The poor little Hell Hound only saw darkness before his eyes, felt something hard and sharp pierce his brain, and then his entire body slammed into the "giant human face" like a meat patty. With a "crash," the "human face" and its connecting structure shattered into a pile of debris. The "brave" little Hell Hound's body trembled a few times, collapsed into the shattered ice, and went silent. The most humiliating death in the history of Hell Hounds was born! Truly, there is no one before him, and one can only hope the juniors will work harder.

Chen Jinyang, who was snuggled in Phinia's embrace and sleeping groggily, was awakened by a dull thud. He lazily twisted his body, burrowed his head a little deeper into the giantess's chest, and continued to sleep while snoring.

At dawn, Chen Jinyang called Alos and Mishaer to start their morning exercises. When they walked out of the cellar, they were surprised to find that the ice fortress near the gate had turned into a pile of ruins. The little girl stomped her feet on the shattered ice, her face full of frustration as she said:

"So hateful! It took me over ten days of hard work to make 'Brother William's face,' and it's all gone in an instant!"

Alos also muttered from the side: "Exactly! It also took me a lot of effort to install the eyelashes made of wooden spikes."

Although he was puzzled by the collapse of the supposedly sturdy "Ice Castle," Chen Jinyang comforted the two little ones: "Alright, alright! The weather is getting warmer, so it's normal for the 'Ice Castle' to not be sturdy. It just saves us the trouble of tearing it down. Today, we won't practice anything else; we'll just clean up these ice shards."

The two little rascals' faces fell, and they dejectedly looked for tools to move the ice shards. Alos stepped on the "crunching" ice, preparing to collect the wooden spikes he had inserted earlier, when he suddenly felt something soft under his feet.

"William! There's something here!" Alos called his brother over to take a look. After clearing away the covering ice, the corpse of a giant blue wolf appeared before them. The wolf's head was hideous, terrifying, and extremely strange, with several wooden spikes the little ones had used for the ice face's eyelashes stuck into the giant wolf's head and throat. It had died in an extremely frustrated and comical way.

Chen Jinyang looked at the giant wolf's corpse and was speechless: The sound last night was real; I thought I had misheard it in a dream! So it was this! It was exactly one of the two exotic beasts that had been wandering near the village with the Winter Wolf and the Brown Bear a few months ago, only its fur wasn't this blue back then.

"Let's go! Let's carry it in! This is a fine pelt delivered right to our door!" Chen Jinyang reached out and grabbed the Hell Hound by the scruff of its neck, while the two little ones each grabbed a hind leg and the tail, dragging the corpse toward the shed used for butchering.