Chapter 511 - 514: Currently Fighting My Way into the Underworld

In Clavenna's territory, a woman hurriedly crossed the spacious courtyard of the estate, running toward the outer gate.

Right behind her, an elf wearing a half-mask followed closely.

Liya soon arrived at the iron gate of the Clavenna estate.

Two demi-human guards stood on either side of the iron gate.

They warily perked up their ears. After hearing the footsteps, they quickly turned around and looked toward the source of the sound.

They had thought that someone had broken into the Clavenna estate because they had failed to keep watch properly.

But after taking a closer look and recognizing Liya, they relaxed their vigilance.

They brought their legs together in unison and bowed.

"Miss Liya!"

The two demi-human guards looked at her respectfully. The cat ears and dog ears on their heads twitched lightly before settling down again.

Liya finally stopped at the gate as well. She braced both hands on her knees, bent over, and panted.

Her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and the soreness in her muscles made her squint.

It seemed she would need to step up her training from now on.

Leon's followed closely behind and stood beside her, nodding toward the two demi-human guards.

The guards quickly understood what Leon's gesture meant. They turned around and returned to their positions on either side of the gate, turning their backs and once again perking up their ears in vigilance.

Only then did Leon gently bend down and stroke Liya's back, helping her regulate her breathing.

"Miss Liya, what's wrong?"

Leon was somewhat curious as to why Miss Liya had immediately turned around and run out of the estate after listening to Zora speak, all the way to the gate.

After catching her breath, Liya slowly straightened up and gave Leon a smile, shaking her head.

"I'm fine."

Then she turned toward the open space outside the gate and shouted with all her strength, "Little Rus!"

'Little Rus?'

Leon blinked, somewhat puzzled.

She didn't seem to have heard this name before.

Could it be a new guard Miss Liya had recruited?

But in the next second, an intense and scorching aura of death suddenly enveloped her entire body.

Leon's emerald-like eyes widened, every hair on her body stood on end, and even her pointed ears trembled involuntarily.

This terrifying aura... It was as if it came from a demon god deep within hell.

Leon's body stiffened where she stood. Her mind went completely blank for a moment, and she even forgot to assume a defensive stance.

The terrifying pressure surged through the grassland air and into the gate, violently striking Leon's face.

That feeling, like a wave of hell itself, was like a scorching wall of fire formed from countless wandering souls, gradually swallowing her.

Leon's eyes were sharp, but the terrifying pressure before her left her unable to move even one step.

The atmosphere around her seemed to freeze. She was so tense that she almost stopped breathing.

But then...

"Woof!"

A clear bark came from nearby.

Leon froze.

She stood quietly in place, her sharp gaze fixed on the direction of the gate.

A unique little three-headed dog came running from the distance, each head sticking out its tongue. Its red fur shone beneath the sunlight.

Leon stared dumbfounded at the strange three-headed puppy. Carrying a strong gust of wind, it swept past her and pounced straight toward Liya.

As the puppy approached, that intense pressure gradually faded.

Leon stood where she was and blinked, feeling as though everything that had just happened had been an illusion.

'An illusion...?'

Leon turned her head and looked toward Liya with a complicated expression.

She watched with her own eyes as Liya patted the three heads of the red puppy, rubbing its soft fur.

At this moment, a voice came from beside Liya.

"Is this... the watchdog from hell?"

Liya nodded and replied, "That's what Viktor told me."

"He said its name is Cerberus."

Hearing this, Zora, who had just arrived, looked strangely at the three-headed puppy beside them.

'This thing... was actually the legendary watchdog of hell?'

She had originally thought that the watchdog Viktor brought back from the Gate of Hell would be an imposing and terrifying creature.

But the puppy before her was actually smaller than the ornamental hunting dogs raised by their merchant association.

The only difference was that it had three heads.

Many people had grown up listening to stories about the underworld.

Whether because their parents, who believed in the gods, had instilled the concept of hell in them from childhood, or simply because they were curious about mysterious things.

The underworld had always been a mysterious and imposing realm in people's minds.

No one knew whether it truly existed or not. There were simply many different legends about the underworld.

People believed that the souls of the dead would go there, and that the underworld would determine their fate according to the good and evil they had done throughout their lives.

And in the minds of many people, Cerberus, the watchdog of the underworld, should have been an existence with three savage heads.

It was cruel and fierce, capable of tearing apart every sinful person who tried to escape from the underworld.

However, who could have imagined...

Zora looked at the three-headed dog from the underworld before her. Seeing that it was only this small, she couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed.

And now.

As Liya stroked Cerberus's head, she began thinking.

She remembered that not long after Viktor emerged from the treasure chest that day, he had said that he had brought back a dog.

At first, Liya had thought that this was nothing more than a joke from Viktor.

She had simply assumed that Viktor remembered what he had told her at the time and had casually found a three-headed magical beast to fool her with.

Even when Liya saw Cerberus's small red body, she hadn't thought that it came from hell.

Because, much like what she and Zora thought, this puppy looked far too ordinary.

Other than having three heads, there was practically nothing about it that connected it to a three-headed hellhound.

But now, Liya felt a strange premonition.

What if all of this was true?

What if Viktor really had deliberately brought back this hellish hound?

Could she use this three-headed hellhound to find Viktor's whereabouts?

So Liya lowered her head and gently asked the three-headed dog, "Little Rus, tell me."

"Where exactly did you come from to appear at our house?"

Cerberus swayed its three heads, stuck out its tongues, and wagged its tail, looking very well-behaved.

It seemed to be thinking about Liya's question.

Suddenly...

"Woof!"

It turned around and ran toward the depths of the estate courtyard.

A look of surprise appeared in Liya's eyes.

"Quick, follow it!"

Leon immediately pushed off with her feet. Her figure swept through the space like an afterimage, closely following the hellhound.

———

After a while, Liya finally found her by following the footprints Leon had left behind.

As an ordinary person, she was panting heavily, supporting herself on her legs as she gasped for breath.

At this moment, Liya was surprised to discover that she had actually arrived at the door of the large warehouse on the estate.

This place had always been used to store some miscellaneous items from the household, and Haiernason usually handled the sorting.

However, Haiernason was still in the south and had not returned recently, and she hadn't come here either.

After resting for a while, Liya raised her head and happened to see Leon standing at the warehouse entrance.

Her eyes were fixed straight into the depths of the warehouse, and her emerald-like pupils were trembling slightly.

Curious, Liya walked over and gently patted Leon on the shoulder.

"Leon, what's wrong?"

Leon did not answer.

Confused, Liya could only slowly raise her head and follow Leon's gaze toward the depths of the warehouse.

The scene before her made her heart suddenly pound in shock.

Cerberus was crouching on top of a pile of miscellaneous items, its three large mouths viciously biting into that crimson armor.

The armor that had originally been hanging on the wall was now lying on the ground, and part of it had even fallen into its mouths.

Liya felt as though she had been struck by a bolt from the blue. Her pupils contracted violently.

That was the relic her father had left behind!

Originally, this suit of armor had been kept in Liya's bedroom.

But because Viktor had suddenly appeared in her bedroom, Liya had been left with quite a bit of psychological trauma.

After that incident, Liya had directly put the armor into the warehouse and locked it away, in order to rid herself of that unpleasant memory.

She still remembered that besides the armor, there should also have been a treasure chest stored together with it.

But when Liya came back to her senses and looked toward the place where the armor had originally been, she suddenly froze.

'The treasure chest is gone!?'

This discovery made her feel a powerful wave of dizziness.

But before she could react, a crisp cracking sound entered her ears and brought her back to her senses.

At the same time, an extremely ominous premonition rose in her heart.

She lowered her head and looked at the armor being torn apart by the three-headed dog, standing completely stunned.

The helmet of the armor had been bitten to pieces.

Suddenly, Leon's eyes widened. She quickly grabbed Liya by the shoulder and pulled her backward.

"Miss Liya, danger!"

Under this sudden pull, Liya couldn't help taking several steps backward.

Then she came to her senses.

Liya looked toward the depths of the warehouse, and a crimson flame entered her eyes.

Crimson flames burst from the shattered helmet.

After drawing several circles through the air, they wrapped around Cerberus's red body.

In an instant, an unbearably scorching wave of hell swept through the entire space.

Terrifying hellfire enveloped Cerberus's body.

The red flesh gradually began to expand, then slowly shrank and disappeared.

Flowing silver light was revealed across its mechanical skeleton, which was gradually enveloped by the chaotic and violent flames.

At the same time, the three crimson heads with tender red tongues sticking out also lost their flesh, revealing heads like steel.

All six deep-set eye sockets erupted with scorching heat.

Steel-like fangs flashed with dazzling radiance in the flames, as if the flames deep in its throat were vengeful spirits trying to break free from their restraints.

At this moment, Cerberus's body had expanded to more than five times its original size.

Feeling wave after wave of scorching heat, Liya and Leon both raised their heads high.

They stared at the extremely violent three-headed dog in shock.

At this moment, Zora finally arrived, panting heavily.

She stood beside Liya, gasping for breath as she spoke.

"Ha... wait... wait for me."

But when she raised her head and looked ahead, her eyes suddenly widened.

The next second, a huge and blazing stream of fire shot past her ear like an arrow released from a bow.

The terrifying, violent sound swept past her ears, even causing bursts of ringing.

The red-orange flames were like a terrifying comet sweeping across the grassland, passing through the cold air and bringing with it a scorching, searing wind.

Zora stood frozen in place, her mind taking quite a while to process what had happened.

Only then did she turn her head in a daze and look at the blackened trail covered in sparks left on the ground.

Huge pawprints had sunk deeply into the snow.

And in the distance, a huge crimson comet was speeding rapidly in some unknown direction.

Liya looked at the scene before her and felt her legs go weak. She dropped onto the ground.

Leaning against the doorway, she continued staring in shock at the crimson comet in the distance.

Leon beside her had long since gone numb, staring into the distance.

Her emerald-like eyes held nothing but crimson as she muttered to herself, "An illusion...?"

'So this is the power from hell...'

———

Across the silent, empty land, a hoarse and sharp voice suddenly rang out:

"So, your father agreed to it?"

"I can't believe it. Viktor once said that he was an extremely frightening daughter-obsessed father."

The golden-haired girl lowered her head and looked at a crimson treasure chest with gold inlaid around its edges, her expression somewhat complicated.

And from her shoulder, that hoarse voice continued, "Even with my help, the path you have chosen now is still a path from which there is no turning back."

"Even so, have you made up your mind?"

Erika took a deep breath. Then she clenched her fist against her chest and nodded firmly.

"I see."

Vega on her shoulder watched her and nodded, his voice carrying a hint of satisfaction.

"Then go forward without hesitation."

"You are my first believer. I will never stand by and watch you walk toward death."

Hearing this, Erika extended her hand with a slight tremble and carefully touched the treasure chest.

"Professor Viktor has saved me countless times."

As soon as she finished speaking, the treasure chest slowly opened.

A cloud of hazy crimson smoke immediately surged out of the treasure chest.

Erika watched as she was gradually enveloped by the smoke, her body slowly becoming translucent.

Within the smoke, her final words rang out with determination, "This time, it's my turn to save him."