“A dead end.” Cerberus sighed and put his hands on his waist. He looked behind where he came from and shook his head.
When he was about to start heading back, he heard the chirping of birds and buzzing insects. He turned toward the door and walked to it.
He frowned, bent his knees slightly, and saw a tiny hole, not any wider than his middle finger. Through the hole, he could see another room. The room was oval-shaped, with a ceiling that was about twenty feet high.
On the ceiling, there were veins that ran down the walls and floor of the room. Blue-weathered birds chirped loudly on top of those veins while small insects slithered down the floor.
The room was filled with a thick fog that made it impossible to see anything clearly.
‘That is the path.’ Cerberus turned back to start heading back. ‘This could mean that the real entrance is close. I already tried the entrance beside that, but there is only one left that is near this one… That must be the real entrance.’
He opened the chat interface and sent a message to Ambrose. After sending the message, which told him to meet him in the room, he closed the interface and rushed back.
…
“Took you long enough.” Cerberus stopped leaning against a wall and pointed with his chin at the nearby entrance.
“Mm, are you sure this is the path?” Ambrose asked as he walked calmly to the black-haired man with a long ponytail.
“Yes, let’s move.” Cerberus said without explaining anything and entered the entrance, followed by Ambrose, who was frowning. He thought it would end like before, with a dead end, but to his surprise, light soon appeared at the end of the path.
They had found the correct path!
After exiting the tunnel, they saw thick fog filling the room. There were sharp vines running through the floors, walls, and ceilings.
Cerberus drew his sword and approached the fog with a serious look. He soon entered the fog and heard another pair of footsteps following him, but he couldn’t see anything.
He was careful not to trip on the veins that were spread across the floor.
At that moment, the wind started picking up, blowing away the fog near them.
“Huh?” Cerberus stopped moving and looked around with a frown. Then someone bumped into him.
“Move!” He shoved Ambrose to the side, and at that very moment, air was cut right in the middle of them, leaving deep cut on the floor, which split the veins in half.
Ambrose wiped his sweat as he was almost cut into who knows how many pieces. He quickly drew his weapon and looked at the direction in which the assailant went. However, the thick fog soon covered them again, making visibility nonexistent.
Cerberus narrowed his eyes and suddenly lunged forward while swinging his sword across the fog, cutting it apart. A face appeared from the fog, quickly dodging the attack.
He managed to catch a glimpse of the face for only a second, but it was enough. It wasn’t a human face, as the assailant had neither eyes nor a mouth. Only hollow sockets with sharp nose.
The wind again picked up, and the eyeless figure appeared right beside Cerberus. Its limbs were eerily long, and its arms managed to touch the floor below them. It also had sharp nails with a length that rivaled daggers.
The strange figure raised its arms and slashed the nails down at the green-eyed man.
“Basic Slasher!” Cerberus sidestepped, dodging the attack, and simultaneously delivered a swift counterattack, which cut the figure’s long limbs. The separated parts of the arms scattered in different directions while loud scream reverberated across all the tunnels.
The figure fell to its knees and then to its side. It was panting heavily, with its arms spewing blue blood everywhere.
Cerberus lifted his sword and cold-heartedly slashed through its throat.
The figure lay lifelessly on the ground, and soon it dissipated into pixels, leaving behind a small treasure box.
Cerberus picked up the box and tossed it into his inventory.
Ambrose watched the fight silently. There was one moment when he planned to help, but after watching for a second, he realized Cerberus didn’t need his help. He was way stronger than the attacker.
‘His movements were so smooth and accurate. He clearly had prior experience in swordsmanship. I wonder how I would do against him? Hah, I would probably lose in second.
‘I had reached full completion rate with High Pain, and I haven’t tested it against a player yet, but I wonder how strong it would be now that I can use it to its fullest capability.
‘It also received the Rare rank, which I am pleased about, but I kind of wanted to get Beyond Rare. I guess it is not easy to get…’
“Enough of daydreaming?” Cerberus interrupted his thoughts. “Let’s move. We can’t be sure that no more of these creatures will appear.”
“Got it.” Ambrose followed behind, and they both left the tunnel while thinking about the fight he had seen.
At that moment, Cerberus suddenly stopped walking and laughed.
“Huh?” Ambrose stopped as well and turned toward the end of the tunnel. Surprisingly, the tunnel was the shortest so far, and there was a person blocking their path.
Her beautiful silver hair fluttered against the wind, while her cold expression showed no emotion except anger.
“Haha, Alice. What a pleasant surprise~” Cerberus grinned and glanced sideways at Ambrose. “I guess I made her mad.”
Ambrose frowned and wondered what he meant by that and why he was looking at him when he said that.
“I understand, Cerberus.” Serenity said coldly. “You are mad that I left Zahhak; I understand. Let’s discuss this like proper adults.”
“Oh, I am not mad. Not really.” Cerberus scratched his cheek. “I understand if you want to spread your wings and fly away. However, one thing I don’t understand.”
“What is it?” Serenity frowned.
“Why did you bring a dual wielder to my own dojo?” Cerberus laughed and shook his head furiously. “Is that considered a challenge to my authority?”
“N-No, he just happens to be a dual wielder, like you. It still doesn’t mean anything.” Serenity gulped dryly and tightened her grip on her sword.
“You have always been good at acting innocent, Alice~” Cerberus chuckled and drew his sword. Simultaneously, he took a second shortsword from his inventory. “That won’t work on me.”
‘He is also a dual wielder?’ Ambrose stepped backwards and gulped. He slowly drew both his swords.
“And now, I will kill your little pet.” Cerberus said as he lunged towards Ambrose with powerful strength behind his swings.
“Don’t!” Serenity screamed and started running with the wind blowing against her face.
“She doesn’t care about you.” Cerberus said while approaching Ambrose. “She is unable to care for anyone. She is indeed a perfect member of Zahhak, haha!”
“You are right; he is nobody!” Serenity screamed through her hoarse voice. “Your fight is with me!”
“Nobody…?” Ambrose looked stunned, as if the entire world had fallen around him. The words nobody echoed in his mind. First, the face of his sister, then his mother’s and finally his father’s face appeared. All shouting “nobody.”
At last, the smirking face of Alice appeared with expression that he had never seen her use before. A mocking face, ridiculing him, shouting nobody.
“Heh.” Cerberus brought his swords down and shouted. “Dual Basic Slasher!”
Ambrose lowered his sword with a cold expression.
When the swords were about to slash through his neck, he quickly jumped back and avoided the attack by a narrow margin.
“Oho.” Cerberus didn’t expect his attack to be dodged, but he didn’t care either. He charged forward with a different attack this time. “Hell Merchant!”
Ambrose coldly raised his right-handed sword and moved his left-handed sword to block the incoming two swords. Cerberus’ attack landed on his swords, and he felt immense weight land on his shoulders. 𝒪𝗏𝓛xt.𝗇t
Ambrose felt like his entire body was about to get crushed inside out, but against all odds, he straightened his knees and pushed Cerberus back with all of his might.
Cerberus had to take a step back, shocking him to his core. No one had yet blocked the Hell Merchant, as its pure strength was enough to vaporize his enemies. Yet he now lost the battle of strength against someone he thought was insignificant.
“Fuckers, all of you.” Ambrose grinned through his blood-covered teeth. His body was breaking apart, and his health was deteriorating at a rapid pace.
He managed to push Cerberus back, but the Hell Merchant attack caused him to suffer a catastrophic damage even though he “blocked” it.
Yet he didn’t care as he finally swung his right-handed sword down.
“High Pain!”