"Sir Hero-!!!"
Raphtalia screamed so hard her voice cracked, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes in heart-wrenching anguish.
She had finally met someone kind enough to treat her well. Why had disaster struck him so soon? Why was heaven so unfair... Could it be? Was she really a child who brought misfortune...
"Ah... Quiet down, quiet down. Keep your voice down. I'm not dead!"
The familiar voice came from right in front of her, cutting off Raphtalia's grief-stricken sobs. She stared blankly at Chuan Wenwu, half of whose body had been swallowed by the two-headed black hound. His voice seemed to be coming from inside its stomach.
Then Chuan Wenwu began to move. He gripped the Demon Hound's upper and lower jaws with one hand each and applied a little force, prying its mouth open wider and wider until he could easily free himself.
"This damn thing fucking reeks."
With his upper body covered in the Demon Hound's foul-smelling saliva, Chuan Wenwu was naturally overwhelmed by the stench. He grimaced and cursed.
But aside from being smeared with drool, he showed no sign of injury despite having half his body swallowed by the two-headed black hound. He had not met the terrible fate Raphtalia had imagined.
Chuan Wenwu looked at the stunned Raphtalia and smiled. It seemed the two major scares in quick succession had successfully jolted her out of her panic disorder episode.
He said calmly, "Talia, look at you, acting like you've never seen anything before. Pull yourself together! You didn't really think your big brother Chuan would go down in this mutant dog's mouth, did you? Don't underestimate me, the Shield Hero! It can't even break through my defenses. At most, it can give me a little scratch."
That was the truth.
Although he had