Chapter 31: Underworld Cerberus (2)

As Leon stepped onto the landing, all six heads snapped toward him simultaneously. Deep, guttural growls vibrated through the floor, rattling the bones in Leon’s chest.

"Two of them," Leon observed quietly, twirling the Bloodfang Edge in his hand. "Because one giant three-headed hellhound just wouldn’t be dramatic enough."

The hounds didn’t bark. They simply attacked.

The Cerberus on the left seemingly melted into the shadows beneath it, disappearing completely from sight. Shadow Step.

The one on the right lunged forward, all three of its jaws opening wide. A torrent of blinding, crimson fire erupted from its throats, converging into a massive pillar of heat that washed over the entire landing.

Leon didn’t try to tank hellfire. He triggered Gale Weaver, creating a localized vacuum directly in front of him. The fire struck the pocket of empty air and violently diverted around him, scorching the stone on either side but leaving him completely untouched in the center.

Immediately, his Origin Eyes flared. A faint, golden silhouette appeared directly behind him, emerging from the shadows of a broken pillar.

Leon pivoted on his heel, dropping to one knee as a massive set of jaws snapped shut exactly where his head had been a fraction of a second earlier.

He aimed Stormcaller’s Conduit upward and unleashed Arcane Requiem directly into the beast’s exposed underbelly.

Crack! BZZZT!

The gold-rank staff’s passive effect triggered. A massive chain of blue lightning accompanied the poison and decay, blasting the Cerberus into the air. The beast howled in agony—three overlapping cries of pain—as the decay immediately began eating into its flesh and the lightning scrambled its nervous system.

Leon didn’t stop. He turned his gaze toward the first Cerberus, which was already charging through the dissipating smoke of its own fire breath.

"Gorgon’s Decree," Leon commanded.

His eyes flared with a sickly, pale grey light. He didn’t need to meet their eyes. He simply swept his gaze across the charging beast’s front legs.

The effect was instantaneous. The hellhound’s right foreleg turned an ashen grey, the flesh, muscle, and bone transmuting directly into solid stone. The Deathless property of the talent brutally bypassed whatever innate elemental resistances the Hellborn beast possessed.

Unable to bend its newly petrified limb, the massive beast’s momentum betrayed it. It tripped, crashing violently into the stone floor and sliding forward in a tangle of limbs and heads, carving a deep trench into the ground.

Leon closed the distance in a blur of wind-assisted speed.

He leaped into the air, bringing the Bloodfang Edge down with both hands. Verlimon’s Judgment activated.

Slash!

The Platinum-tier skill, combined with his 25 Strength and the falling momentum, sheared cleanly through the neck of the beast’s central head. The shockwave from the strike exploded outward, caving in the skulls of the other two heads simultaneously.

Ding!

[You have killed "Underworld Cerberus (Level 25, Mini-Boss)" and gained 4,500 experience points.]

The second Cerberus, still suffering from the massive decay and lightning damage, managed to stagger to its feet. It opened its jaws, preparing to unleash another torrent of hellfire, but Leon was already there.

He didn’t use his sword. He simply pointed his open palm at the beast’s chest.

"Alpha’s Roar."

A concussive shockwave of pure intimidation blasted from Leon. The sheer pressure of the roar disrupted the hellhound’s casting, forcing the hellfire to detonate prematurely inside its own throats.

The beast choked, smoke billowing from its muzzles as it staggered backward.

Leon stepped forward and finished it with a single, brutal thrust of his sword through its heart.

Ding!

[You have killed "Underworld Cerberus (Level 25, Mini-Boss)" and gained 4,500 experience points.]

The massive beasts dissolved into ash, leaving the landing completely silent once more.

Ding!

[Lucky Fate has activated!]

[Rare Drop Probability significantly increased.]

[Underworld Cerberus (x2) have dropped: 55,000 Eternal Coins, 2 Hellfire Cores, 1 Cerberus Fang Dagger (Gold-Rank).]

[Talent Devourer: Residual Talent Energy Detected: "Hellfire Breath" (Fragments Available: 8)]

[Talent Devourer: Residual Talent Energy Detected: "Shadow Step" (Fragments Available: 8)]

Leon looked at the dual notifications. Sixteen fragments in total from two mini-bosses. Both of these abilities were incredibly potent, but right now, he didn’t have the time to sit and theory-craft his fusions. He mentally commanded the system to store both sets of fragments for later use.

He picked up the Cerberus Fang Dagger and the Hellfire Cores, tossing them into his inventory without a second glance.

His eyes were fixed on the massive steel doors ahead.

The chains binding them had begun to dissolve the moment the two hellhounds died, turning into black mist that faded into the air.

This was it. The core of the Underworld Realm.

Leon stepped forward, placing both hands against the cold steel. With a surge of his newly enhanced strength, he pushed. The doors groaned, an ancient, metallic shriek that echoed across the ruined city below, before slowly swinging inward.

Leon stepped over the threshold.

He entered a throne room of massive proportions. The walls were lined with braziers that flared to life the moment he entered, casting eerie, dancing shadows across the polished obsidian floor. At the far end of the chamber, sitting atop a raised dais of jagged black glass, was a throne.

The throne was empty.

But the room was not.

Surrounding the dais in a perfect square were four massive stone guards. They were larger than the Level 8 Stone Golem he had fought days ago on the road, easily towering thirty feet into the air. They held halberds that looked like they had been forged from the beams of a demolished bridge. They were entirely motionless, thick layers of dust and ash covering their shoulders, making them look like mere decorations.

But as Leon took his third step into the room, a deep, grinding sound vibrated through the floor.

The dust began to shake loose.

In perfect unison, the four massive stone guards turned their heads toward Leon.

And deep within their stone visors, their eyes flicked a brilliant, bloodthirsty red.