Chapter 85 - [Bonus ] After Victory

The giant dog disappeared, relieving the residents of the UnderWorldLand. However, the fight is far from over.

On the area that Cerberus has rolled on, buildings were crunched and the stench of blood filled the area. Joren looked around and a sea of bodies presented itself.

"... ghouls…" he muttered.

When he first arrived here, the place was filled with happiness and energy. Little did he know that the city was built upon the dead. He doesn't know why this would be a thing. However, it makes sense. Shouldn't there be a lot of dead people? He has seen more demons and monsters around than ghouls, one of the few transformations a human would turn into after death.

There are ghosts, and then there are skeletons. They find it hard to move, so most of them are buried along with the rest of the ghouls.

While making sense of what happened, a three-headed humanoid dog walked out of the mist made out of dust.

"Disappointed to see the UnderWorldLand's true state? Or horrified?" the left head asked as his beard shivered.

The Cerberus looks like a three-headed werewolf with burning red fur with a hunched back.

"No, not really…." Joren shook his head.

"No need to act tough. This place is sickening. The UnderWorldLand takes its power from corpses, disabling them from moving. You thought this city is run with electricity, right!?"

"Yeah, but I don't really car-"

"This is the UnderWorldLand! Only the potent; creators, artists, entertainers, engineers, and professionals who can make great contributions are the ones taken out of the ground. This is better than the Isle of the Bless-!"

BANG!*

Like the boom of a cannon, an explosive sound interrupted Cerberus' speech. The Cerberus didn't process what happened first as it was too fast.

"I said I don't care…!" Joren said after noticing that instead of a blank bullet being extracted from the gun, it's the small cigarette before it refills itself back to the mouth of the barrel.

'C-cool…' he inspected it. Even though the shot he fired sounds more robust than a cannon's, it practically has no recoil!

<Hehe, impressed?>

"No… just a little bit." Joren felt like he would lose if he agreed.

<Fortunately, your Toughness spiked up before your Strength, or that shot would've taken out your arms if that stat is still normal.>

"That's pretty damn scary… I'm lucky again."

Joren playfully passed the handgun between his hands, feeling his affinity to it. It would've been the perfect gun if it doesn't talk or has the dead-pan eyes, but that's tolerable compared to the first design.

"Also, this is just Type I, right? What are the other Types?"

<Once you reach Thugness 1000, you get the privilege to switch to either a Gangsta Knife or a Gangsta Grenade. After that, Thugness 1500 give you a Gangsta Assualt Rifle, and the best after reaching Thugness 2000 is the Gangsta Minigun.>

"Why do you put Gangsta before every word…."

"What power is that!?" Cerberus finally snapped out of his senses as his three pairs of eyes stared at the weapon that Joren holds.

BANG!*

"Gah-!" the Cerberus was knockback. Unlike the punch, the objects that hit him were small, and thus, its force is concentrated in one spot, earning it a destructive penetration force!

The werewolf glared at Joren before he disappeared from the spot due to sheer speed. Meanwhile, Joren just stood there. His eyes were following something before his whole right arm flicked-

BANG!*

"Gurgh!!"

The Cerberus spun as it tried to dodge the bullet and barely did so.

"Curses!"

BANG!*

The Cerberus' blood spilled onto the ground as he didn't have time to react this time.

<I thought you're not going to kill the dog!?>

"I know when to stop. I'm just disabling its movement." Joren replied when Cerberus disappeared from his previous spot again.

After a second of thought, Joren swiftly turned around while passing the handgun to his left hand.

BANG*

Above, Cerberus spun mid-air, dodging the bullet, but after he stabilized, ready to pounce towards Joren, a fist was waiting for his left head instead.

BAM!*

Joren prepared his punch after ensuring where the Cerberus would land. However, the Cerberus didn't fly away. Instead, he was able to grab onto Joren swiftly.

"You may be able to predict my movements, but my strength and speed still-...!" the Cerberus' smile disappeared when Joren unhesitatingly pointed the handgun to the dog's left shoulder.

"Are you sure you can talk? Because I think I can, not you."

The Cerberus gulped before a series of gunshots sounded. After a while, Joren walked out of the Erebus' gates with the gun and a cigarette in both hands.

"That's easier than expected… I hate to say it, but this Gangsta System has been helpful." each word releases smoke.

<... Joren, next time buy a cigar. That small stick looks awkward.>

"Can't you give me a cool moment after victory?" Joren snapped out of his satisfied look before frantically looking around, "Also, where's Kidrith!?" he gleefully looked around while in a hurry.

After some time, he finally found Kidrith and another person besides her. He could immediately recognize this person.

"Kidrith!" he called to which Kidrith looked back with a surprise.

"Y-you're bac, where's Cerberu-!" she stopped, prioritizing to warn Joren about Thanatos instead, "Also, Joren, God Thanatos isn't our ene-"

"Oh, hey, Thanatos, why are you here?" Joren waved his hand as a greeting, "And what were you saying?"

"Ah… n-nothing." Kidrith thought that Joren would take a defensive measure and offend Thanatos, making an enemy out of the God of Death. She didn't think Joren would make a friendly approach instead.

"Joren," Thanatos smiled and replied, "I heard that you successfully escaped the palace and that… you're full of life, again… what a surprise!" he genuinely reacted with widened eyes.

"Hahaha, it's nothing. That douche almost killed me back there, though."

"Douche…" Thanatos knew who Joren was talking about but didn't know how to react to Hades being called that way, "Well, anyway, we don't have that much time to talk. Sooner or later, Cerberus will report your escape, and Hades might send the Furies themselves to hunt you down."

"Oh, the walls must've blocked your sight, but the Cerberus is now unconscious."

"Ahh, alright, the Cerberus was beaten, hahaha…." Thanatos laughed, "You can fool that senile dog but not me, Joren."

"..." Joren just shut his mouth. Even Kidrith was puzzled as to why he would say that. They should see it for themselves.

"Again, we don't have much time so, follow me." Thanatos led them to the riverside and pointed at a small boat, "You can use Charon's old ferry if you want. I just hope you don't tell anyone it's me who pointed it out, and better, you bring it back."

Being presented by this, both Joren and Kidrith were speechless.

"I heard from Kidrith that you plan to swim, and it's the funniest thing I've heard. Styx is also a living Goddess, the daughter of Oceanus. She'll detect you. Using this old ferry, though, she will not take it as trespassing."

"Thanatos!" Joren almost cried out of gratefulness and hugged Thanatos, making the God of Death and Kidrith shriek in terror.

"Hahaha, sorry, sorry. You're one of the few who did something this great for me. I can't hug them since they would brand me as a pervert."

"And, you can't hug me because I'm the God of Death!" Thanatos replied while flustered, feeling strange for someone to cross his personal space, "But how the hell is you fine!?"

"I don't know. Maybe, I'm immune to death since I've escaped it once?" Joren laughed.

"Immune to death… HAHAHA!" Thanatos laughed out loud before patting Joren's shoulder after some hesitation. His laugh became louder when Joren didn't have any reaction to his touch, like, for example, dying.

"Then, Thanatos, let's do it!" Joren then offered his hand for a handshake. Thanatos didn't accept his handshake when they first met, but now the God of Death took it.

"We're officially friends, I hope!"

"You bet!"

The two laughed again, making Kidrith think she's the weird one for getting scared of Thanatos.

After some time, Joren and Kidrith rowed the boat while waving their hands and shouting thanks.

When they were gone, Thanatos flicked his finger, and a ghoul rose from the ground. Touching the ghoul with his fingertips, the soul from the ghoul was forced out and back into the ground with that slight contact.

"I thought my power vanished for a second there… how could a human do it? Only my siblings are immune to my powers…."

Thanatos then went back to Erebus as he found it weird while there was still no one coming there to catch Joren.

There, he found the destruction of a vast area in the UnderWorldLand. In the midst of it, a crowd of demons and monsters was in the middle.

Walking there, everyone made a path with their heads bowed down. Thanatos' eyes widened when he saw Cerberus lying on the ground with multiple gunshots on his body, barely breathing.

"So, it's true…" he muttered before looking at everyone, "Have anyone called the palace?"

"The ghouls, Mayor." one demon in particular replied.

"I'll report this myself.. Prepare me a chariot."