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Sai-hee could feel shock waves tearing across the space around her. What were they? Not words. Not thoughts. Raw emotions?

Whatever they were, they were destabilizing this place. Threatening it.

‘Dozy!’ said Morgunov over the still-increasing tremors. ‘Can’t you do something about your stupid dog, already?! He works for you, doesn’t he?! He’s been a real pain my ass, you know!’

‘I suppose I could. But his presence here makes me curious to see if he can actually kill you.’

‘Agh, you son of a bitch! I am gonna have SO much fun getting back at you for this!’

The shaking reached a critical pitch, and Sai-hee could no longer tell what Morgunov was saying. All she could hear was the sound of a great fissuring--both physical and not. Enormous cracks appeared in her senses, everywhere at once. Tearing cloth. Breaking glass. And earthy rumbling. All rolled into one tremendous noise.

Then it was overtaken by a howling snarl. And suddenly, the Man-Eater’s presence was quite dominant within the Void State. Demanding her attention.

And unlike the three of them, it was moving. Across this subspace or pocket dimension or whatever it was. The dog’s aura and soul moved through it, heading straight toward Morgunov.

‘Nope! Don’t like that! Bad dog! Very bad dog!’

It reached him and chomped down.

When their two souls collided, the entire space shattered. The cracks running everywhere gave way fully, and the Void State was no more, leaving only the disorienting chaos of the churning ocean in real-time.

Sai-hee was at a loss. But also intensely curious. Honestly, she didn’t blame Dozer for wanting to see what would happen here. Perhaps it went against her reputation as a negotiator and lover of peace, but she abruptly felt as though she shouldn’t intervene.

Not yet, at least.

Why not let this strange creature take its shot, she wondered? As long as it didn’t attack her, she didn’t see a reason to get in its way.

Hells, depending on how this went, she might even decide to lend the beast her aid.

The ocean was forming into a whirlpool around the battlefield now, as if it knew better than to try converging back in on everyone again. An enormous hole in the otherwise dark and cloudy sky was allowing plenty of light to shine down as well, making the Man-Eater’s pitch black body stand out all the more in the ensuing mayhem.