>>712755142
>FRIEND is a cat
It's a hand.

>>712685946
You've already fought FRIEND, kinda. They were the one holding the Shadow Mantle. The Shadow Mantle holder was something wearing the mantle with pointed ears that could summon five FRIEND fingers. It's literally this thing that you were fighting wearing the mantle on its head.

>THE FORBIDDEN PATH BEGAN WITH ICE MAGIC
Why does FRIEND know???
I WANNA GO TO THE SHELTER AND PLAY WITH HIM ALREADY

>>712601207
It's Kris' severed hand.

I just realized. Initial ch1 menu with Gaster comments is pitch black, with neon green text and borders. This is similar to Ralsei's depiction of the Dark World. I wonder if we'll have another True Lab moment in later chapters, and if Gaster would be involved with experiments