– Danger Rank: A
– Discovery Location: Bupyeong-dong, Bupyeong-gu, Incheon Metropolitan City, Republic of Korea ‘Bupyeong Station Underground Shopping Mall’
The three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell beyond the River Styx.
The three heads each have different egos, but the head acting as the leader exercises control over the body.
It tears apart living beings approaching the gates of hell and swallows foolish spirits trying to escape hell whole.
The ID tag ‘Choco’ hanging around the Hellhound’s neck.
And the high-rank beast Cerberus that revealed itself before my eyes.
No words come out.
So the high-ranking official’s pet was the Hellhound? And they requested it as F-rank?
“What a mess, this is real.”
The situation is a complete disaster.
At that moment.
Kwaang!
Cerberus charged, pulverizing the ground.
Its massive claws tore the floor like cotton candy, scattering tile fragments.
What Cerberus pounced on was the Hellhound sprawled on the floor.
[Krrrr—!]
[Kyung—! Kyung kyung—! Kyung—!]
[Grrk~! Grrrrrk~!]
All three heads began savagely biting into the Hellhound’s body.
Kwadeuk! Kwadddeuk! Ppaduk! Ppadddeuk!
Sounds of skin, flesh, and bones tearing and crushing echoed.
Cerberus devoured the Hellhound greedily, as if starved for days.
[Kyaeng—! Kyang—! Kyaaeng! Kaek—! Kyaek—! Kaek—!]
By the time the pitiful screams ended, the Hellhound had vanished without a trace.
At the same time, changes began occurring in Cerberus’s body again.
Deudeuk~! Udeuddeuk~! Kwajik!
Sounds of fur, bones, muscles, and flesh bursting, twisting, and swelling continued.
They repeatedly burst, expanded, and regenerated.
Kkudeuk~! Ppadddeuk! Kwadddeuk~!
No doubt.
Cerberus was transforming into an even larger and more hideous form.
Soon.
Puhwaaaaaaaaak—!
Sulfur flames blazing from Cerberus’s eyes and maws erupted like an explosion.
By then, the interior of Bupyeong Station underground shopping mall had long been filled with intense heat that made breathing difficult.
By the way.
……Did Cerberus have this ability?
Cerberus is a famous high-rank beast known to everyone.
Thus, information about it is detailed.
Overwhelming power, speed, and defense. And the hellish sulfur flames spewed from its three maws.
But the ability to transform its form was completely unheard of.
At that moment, Jeanne spoke in a low voice.
[During my time as Knight Captain, I conducted several Cerberus subjugation operations with my subordinates, but never once witnessed an individual capable of changing shape. This specimen is likely a mutant.]
“Mutant…… No way……!?”
Experimental magical beast.
That short phrase flashed through my mind.
At that instant.
[Krrk!]
[Krrr rk!]
[Kyung—! Kyung kyung—!]
Cerberus began growling at us.
Its leg muscles were tensed tightly, ready to pounce at any moment.
It’s coming!
The moment I thought that.
…Pung!
Cerberus vanished in an instant.
..No, my eyes simply failed to track Cerberus’s movement.
Ultra-high-speed movement incomparable even to the Hellhound.
With my dynamic vision, I couldn’t follow not just the movement but even the afterimage.
Swaeeeeeeeek!
Wind whistled loudly in my ears.
But at that instant.
Ppa—gak!
[Kaek!]
Cerberus let out a short scream and was sent flying.
A pale fist embedded in its abdomen.
Jeanne’s strike had precisely hit its solar plexus.
[How dare you bare those filthy teeth at Master!]
Soon, Jeanne kicked off the ground and leaped.
She smoothly ran along the split concrete walls on both sides.
Taat—! Tadadadadat~!
In an instant, Jeanne’s fist surged toward Cerberus’s face.
But.
Kwaang—!
Cerberus swung its front paw to counter Jeanne’s fist.
Kwaang! Kwang! Kwaang! Kwakwaang! Kwang!
Booms comparable to explosions shook the underground shopping mall chwaereng chwaereng.
Jeanne and Cerberus began clashing fiercely.
An unpredictable close-quarters battle ensued.
But.
..No, shouldn’t that not be happening?
Cerberus’s danger rank is A.
In contrast, Jeanne is one step higher, A+.
That means there should be at least a 10-fold combat power difference between them.
But Jeanne was not showing an overwhelming gap against Cerberus right now.
At that moment.
Pit!
Jeanne leaped, kicking off the ground.
A fierce spinning kick exploded toward the front.
But Cerberus quickly rotated its body to evade the attack.
Swik—
In the end, Jeanne’s kick shattered the concrete wall and embedded into it.
And only then did I realize.
What the problem was.
‘Sword’
Yes.
She currently had no weapon.
Not even armor!
Combat power measurement includes the individual’s weapons and skills.
A Death Knight without sword and armor.
It’s like a Cerberus without teeth and claws.
At that instant.
Kwakwakwakwang—!
Jeanne, hit by Cerberus’s tail, flew and crashed into the concrete wall.
As with the Hellhound, Cerberus held the advantage in speed.
At that moment, Jeanne frowned as she tried to get up.
[……Tch!]
A steel beam protruding from the wall had deeply pierced her side.
Ssuuk!
Jeanne casually pulled out the steel beam and threw it away.
Black blood gushed ulkeok ulkeok from the wound.
At that instant.
Hwareuk~! Hwareureureuk~! Hwareuk~!
Red sulfur flames began gathering in Cerberus’s three maws.
The blazing sulfur flames melted surrounding steel beams and cement into mushy mud without restraint.
At that moment, a half-open fire hydrant caught my eye.
For now, this!
I pulled out the fire hose and turned the valve with all my strength.
Puhwaaaaaaaaak~!
Soon, yellowish liquid sprayed in all directions from the hose nozzle.
Metallic smell, mold, and old sewer stench.
The rotten water inside the hose poured over Cerberus’s heads, emitting all kinds of foul odors.
Then.
[Keoeok—! Keok~! Keok keok~! Keok~! Keogeok—!]
Cerberus began kkyeok kkyeok spitting sulfur flames onto the floor.
It closed its eyes and repeatedly pawed its nose with its front paw.
With its sensitive sense of smell, it seemed to suffer several times more from the stench.
Chance!
I turned the valve to maximum and threw the fire hose toward Cerberus with all my might.
Chwaak—! Chwaaaaak! Chwaak~! Chwaaaaaaaaak~!
The fire hose thrashed like a snake thrown into a fire pit, spraying rust water everywhere.
Seizing the gap, I quickly helped the fallen Jeanne up.
Jeanne frowned as if her pride was hurt.
[The battle is dragging on. I have no face, Master.]
“It’s okay. Without sword and armor, the handicap is big.”
Her average stat parameters themselves should overwhelmingly favor Jeanne.
Unfortunately, right now, she’s just a bit behind in gear.
At that instant, something suddenly came to mind.
“Wait. We can use that! You know, the technique you were spamming in the Forest of Blade Trees dungeon! The ultimate move!”
[Do you mean the ‘Seven Demon Strikes’?]
Seven Demon Strikes.
Yes, it was definitely something like that.
I nodded and said.
“With that, we can finish Cerberus, right? If one isn’t enough, use all seven!”
The Seven Demon Strikes is a wide-area technique that turned the interior of the Forest of Blade Trees dungeon into a wasteland.
No matter how agile Cerberus is, it couldn’t possibly evade in this narrow space.
But.
[I am sorry, Master. To use the Seven Demon Strikes, a sword is required.]
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, no weapon, right.
—Ding dong!
Even Morgue’s Magical Warehouse still has quite a cooldown left.
Then, no choice but to find another way.
Dig a trap like against the Crowmen.
Or find a sword Jeanne can use.
For now, even a kitchen knife……. No, initially
There was a Daiso-like store around here……. Would a kitchen knife work for that Seven Demon Strikes technique…….?
At that moment, Jeanne’s voice came from behind.
[Master.]
“Huh?”
As I turned to Jeanne, my words got stuck in my throat.
大大大大大大大大—
pitch-black flames were already enveloping Jeanne’s entire body.
The wounds healed in an instant upon contact with the cold black flames.
Wow— I’ve heard many times about the absurd recovery of undead, but to think it’s this much…….
Soon, Jeanne said with a serious expression.
[Master, could you grant this unworthy disciple one more chance?]
……Do you have a good method?
Jeanne slowly nodded and continued.
[I have experienced a similar situation in the past. It was when I subjugated a Cerberus alone with my vice-captain and sworn friend, Sen Hybaren. At that time too, there was no usable weapon, like now. Moreover, even knight order support was difficult…….]
“Yeah, yeah. It was extremely arduous, but you eventually took it down, right? How exactly?”
It’s better to nip TMI in the bud early.
Jeanne slowly nodded and continued.
[The place where we fought Cerberus was Siren’s Hill. At that time we burned herbs with strong scents collected from various places to paralyze Cerberus’s sense of smell and restrict its movement. If we can disrupt its sense of smell, there is a sure way to dispose of it.]
A tactic that reversely exploits the sensitive sense of smell of canine beasts.
It was definitely a strategy that would work.
“If it’s something like that, there are perfect things here.”
This underground shopping mall is full of them.
Items of modern society that couldn’t be cleared even after becoming ruins.
Beasts that crossed over would feel alienation when encountering tools of modern civilization.
Just as modern people feel unfamiliar and amazed when encountering otherworld civilization, otherworlders would feel the same when encountering modern civilization.
And that civilizational difference would become fatal traps for Cerberus.
“……!”
I turned my head.
Soon, a store with its shutter half-down came into view.
Above the store hung a fancy italic sign.
[Imported Diffuser Discount Store DEFUNA]