Not a pure-white dog, but Juicy, who had become the Pseudo-Appearance God Relic Fenrir.
Something about his state wasn't normal. He was so delighted, so delighted that he'd worked himself into a frenzy and completely forgotten himself.
The dog from his family home in his past life memories had gone wild just like that, huh.
"Wooooon! Woof woof, wof, woooooooof!!"
Oops—this wasn't the time to get all sentimental.
"Wanko, snap out of it!"
"Woof woof, wooooof!"
Juicy charged toward Narcissus on all fours.
Incredible speed. He jumped, spun in midair, and launched an attack at Narcissus.
"Graaah!"
Narcissus blocked with the Banish staff, face twisted in anguish.
But that was a kick... Banish claws protruded from his feet.
"Hah!?"
"Wha—?"
Wait... Juicy had Banish claws on both his hands and feet.
Juicy backflipped to create distance, then barked and charged.
"Woof!"
Juicy swung the claws on his right hand.
"Hey—"
Narcisse deflects and bounces them away.
"Woof!"
Juicy swung the claws on his left foot downward in an axe-kick motion.
"Whoa—"
Narcisse dodged while catching the strikes and flowing with them.
"Wraaooooh!!"
Relentless claw strikes from both hands and feet, one after another without pause.
It looked like a dog play-fighting — except a single hit meant fatal wounds, guaranteed.
But there was the elixir.
That didn't mean you could afford to take even one hit.
Depending on the situation, that one hit alone could kill.
That was what Banish was.
Even so, as expected of a Rank I delver.
She was deflecting and dodging every single one of Fenrir Juicy's unpredictable claw strikes.
Narcisse was seriously, straightforwardly strong in this kind of head-on fight.
Unexpectedly conventional, you could say. Even though the person herself was anything but.
"Hey — what the hell is going on!?"
Narcisse created distance after evading and yelled at me.
The Banish claws manifested on both of Juicy's hands and feet.
Those were probably the same thing as my Phantasmagoria back when I was Jealous.
By becoming a Fenrir, my Banish had evolved to match.
"ROOOOAAARRR!!!"
"Don't bark so happily, will you!?"
"Narcisse. Please fall back!"
I stepped forward, and — ah, I knew this was impossible the normal way.
I had no choice. I would become Generous.
Purple hair and purple eyes. Strange.
Every time I transform, my heart grows calmer.
At that moment, a sensation different from anything before spread through my body.
I could tell. Phantasmagoria was evolving.
I held out my hand.
"Loop of Phantasmagoria."
Countless translucent white Banish rings appeared in midair.
"This is..."
"Waf."
Juicy stopped in his tracks.
This was the new Phantasmagoria... wait. Wait. Wait.
At that moment, a memory from my past life surfaced in my mind.
And I understood that it was perfectly suited for the current Juicy.
I lowered my arm, and the countless Banish rings fell to the ground and drove into it.
But there was one that I did manage to hold onto.
"What are you planning to do, exactly?"
"Wof…?"
Maybe some instinct told her something was up, because Juicy didn't move.
I stacked the Banish rings I was holding on top of one another.
Gradually, the open space in the center of the ring shrank away.
I attached a Banish sphere to the middle. There. Done.
"What is that? A Banish disc?"
"A Banish Frisbee, Juicy."
"Woof!"
Right on cue, Juicy wagged her big, fluffy white tail so hard it whipped up a breeze.
"Go get it, Juicy!"
I threw the Banish Frisbee.
It left my hand easily and soared through the air — the Banish Frisbee.
"Woof woof, woof woof woof woof, awoooo!"
She charged after it and caught the Banish Frisbee in her mouth mid-air. Magnificently.
With her mouth!?
"Juicy!? Wait, you're not hurt…?"
She came back to me with the Banish Frisbee still clamped in her jaws, perfectly calm about the whole thing.
I really thought she'd catch it with her paws this time, at least.
I never actually expected her to catch it with her mouth like a real dog.
Maybe I'd been underestimating Juicy's puppy spirit this whole time.
Come to think of it, the fangs in her mouth had gone semi-transparent too…
"Surprised, huh? Those fangs are Banish too."
Those are Banish too!?
What even is Banish?
"Woof!"
"G-Good girl. Good girl."
Juicy came back to me and sat down.
I immediately reached over and petted her head. Made sure to thoroughly rub her ears too.
"Good girl. Good girl."
"Wof, wof, woooof…"
She whined sweetly, looking very happy.
That tone of voice could be seriously misinterpreted. I flinched.
Even so, I kept petting her while studying the fangs protruding from her lips up close.
I just had to confirm it properly.
They were genuinely Punish. You've gotta be kidding me.
In high spirits, Juicy let go of the Banish Frisbee from her mouth.
She held it out to me with her paw, then looked up at me with eyes all lit up and sparkling.
I knew that look.
She wanted me to throw it again.
So I threw it over and over as she urged, and Juicy caught it beautifully every single time.
Then she'd crouch at my feet, and I'd pet her.
Halfway through, Narcissus asked to have a turn and joined in.
She created a glove with Banish, then used it to throw my Banish Frisbee.
I thought that was pretty clever.
Still, though... what exactly was Banish?
Banish—the Relic I'd been using carelessly for years.
But this whole ordeal taught me that I didn't know a thing about it.
That was the lesson. And also...
If I'd told yesterday's me that I'd be turning Banish into a Frisbee for Juicy to catch and play with—
No matter how I put it, he'd just think I'd lost my mind.
Because even my current self thought the exact same thing.
Eventually, Juicy's Fenrir timed out and she reverted back to normal.
She collapsed at the same time. I hurried over, but she was already sound asleep, breathing softly.
Narcissus and I both let out a sigh of relief. I dispelled Generous as well.
"Doesn't work?"
I tried to throw the Banish Frisbee from my hand, but it wouldn't come loose.
It seemed I could only release it from my hand and throw it while Generous was active.
"Haaah... heave-ho. Ugh, I'm so tired..."
Narsesis groaned and sat down on the ground, stretching out both legs.
"How did Juicy get like this?"
To lose yourself that much no matter how excited you are.
Even for Juicy, something felt off.
Then Narsesis gazed at the sleeping Juicy and spoke.
"...So the pup was a Fenrir."
"Yes."
"Wof. Do you know about Genesis Combination?"
"I feel like I've heard of it somewhere..."
Where was it, though? I knew I'd heard the name before.
"Hey, this isn't the first time the pup turned into a Fenrir, right?"
"It's happened a few times."
Excitement can bring it out sometimes.
Ah, I remembered.
"Right. I used it before. Genesis Combination."
That was... right. It was during the King of the Death Wind.
If I recalled correctly, there was some condition between pseudo-divine incarnators that allowed complete synchronization.
"Then you're loosely synced with him, huh."
"W-what does that mean?"
"It means the pup was able to obtain Banish because of that loose synchronization."
"Loosely synced... S-so that means there's a connection?"
"That's right. It's like a leash on a dog's collar."
"I'm not sure that analogy really works, but... um, so is this my fault?"
Because I'd recklessly used Banish, the loose sync with Juicy meant it affected him.
That was what led to Fenrir going berserk through Banish.
"Well, you could say that, but that's not quite it."
"..."
"Listen. It's not a bad thing, you know. Even Fenrir going berserk was just a sort of side effect."
"A side effect... is that okay?"
I worried.
The phrase "side effect" rarely carried a good connotation.
Narshese continued in the same tone.
"Wof. You don't need to worry so much. You get used to this sort of thing. Used to it. The worst that'll probably happen is him turning into Fenrir when he gets excited. And if it happens again, you just handle it the way you did. That's all there is to it. Right?"
"Is... is that how it is?"
"That's how it is."
If that was all there was to it, maybe there was nothing to worry about.
Still, I didn't want to have to go through that with Banish again.
"Still, you know... I wonder if this is what it's like to have a dog..."
Narshese murmured, sounding somehow happy.
Is it? I wonder.