Volume 25 - CH 45

Cerberus, the monster in front of the Giant Gate.

It is much larger than a human, maybe 20 meters long.

It has three heads for each body, and vicious-looking fangs peek out from between its mouths.

As we approached, it clinked its jangling chains and turned its head toward us.

Fumu...it's chained up.

「That's a big dog! Oh, I'm no good with dogs. I've been bitten by one before and I'm scared of them. ......」

Everyone was wary, but so far there was no sign of it going to attack.

Probably, if we try to approach that gate, it will come at us with a bite.

It's the guard dog of that gate.

「Saki」

「Here, leave it to me.」

「Don't get too close.」

I think she knows what she's doing, but she must be careful. Because the big lion of the same size was also stronger than I expected.

The enemies in this trial are not to be underestimated.

「Don't worry. This is the time to use my skill, 【Curling】.」

I don't know why you had such a skill, but well that's okay.

Saki sent the pudding on the plate forward with a beautiful form.

The ground here is hard dirt, but the plate moves easily as if it were sliding on ice.

「Go, go, go!」「Yeah!」「Yip! Yip!」「Fooh! Fooh! Fooh!」

There was no one rubbing along with it, but some of the members cheering something like that.

Cerberus, whose body reacted with a jolt, whipped up and locked on to the approaching plate.

In addition, the plate slowed down as it approached,......, and while everyone watched with bated breath,......, it stopped right under Cerberus nose.

「All right! Nice! 」「Niceeee!」

Saki and Serina exchange high-fives in joy.

Now then ......

Cerberus was staring at the pudding to see if it would move, but then it twitched its nose and started to smell it. Then its eyes widened in amazement, and it swallowed the pudding with its tongue as the three heads competed with each other.

So far, so good.

But how could such a ridiculously large demon fall asleep just because it ate something sweet?

No matter how much the "Poetry of Welgilius" shows it, the blood sugar level is probably too high.

After finishing its meal, Cerberus lay down again,......, and closed its eyes.

「Ohhh!」

「Quiet.」

Cerberus, who moved its ears with a twitch, ...... swooned in its sleep and didn't move any more.

「All right, it looks like it went well. But ...... nothing is happening? Do we need to take it down?」

「Wait, Alec. Then you don't need to put it to sleep. It said to put it to sleep, didn't it?」

Serina is going to check it out.

「That's right. In that grimoire, it was cookies, though.」

「Is it wrong if it's a different kind?」

「No, since that demon slept, I think it was important to put it to sleep. If that's the case, then I think we need to do something after we put it to sleep. Not exterminate it.」

Hannah said calmly.

Something, huh?

「Look for something here. Maybe there's something around here that are suspicious.」

「「「Roger」」」

All of us approached Cerberus cautiously timidly, looking for something that would be considered the accomplishment of the trial.

「Brother, there's nothing here, after all. All that's left are some rocks.」

「Yeah」

「Hey, it's a dog, I think it's digging and burying its treasure.」

That's what Serina said, but it could be true.

But do we have to dig around here without any guesses to find it? With the size of this place, Cerberus will probably wake up while we're digging.

「Leave it to me, ―― answer my call, where is the thing you are looking for, 【Detect!】」

Letty chanted a spell. I look at Cerberus in caution, but there's no reaction.

「I found it. There and there. I don't want to go near that thing, so someone dig it up.」

Letty dexterously marked a red X on the ground with her non-chanting magic.

「All right, if that's the case, leave it to me.」

「I'll dig this one on the right!」

Jouga and Marilyn dug at their respective points. Jouga is using a sword, and Marilyn is using an iron spoon, but I guess it's her own spoon that she always carries with her.

「Oh, I found something. Ugh, bones, huh? No, it's a silver key! Brother!」

Jouga picked up a large silver key from the hole.

「Don't shout too loud. But you did a great job.」

「Yeah, I'm sorry.」

「This one's a leather collar.」

Marilyn dug out an old dog collar.

「Hmm, well, it looks like one of them is a right.」

I had a 【Premonition】 like a response that I had accomplished the trial with this. However, I don't know which one I should use. I can examined later, or use trial and error. It was the same with the treasure of the centaurs.

「Then let's get out of here. There's nothing more to do here.」

「Wait a minute, Alec. We can go to the other side of that "Gate of the Underworld" now, right?」

Letty pointed to a huge door behind us. The door is sealed shut with multiple layers of chains.

「Ah, that 『Silver key』 could be used for the padlock on that gate.」

Serina noticed that there was indeed a padlock hanging from the chain in the middle of the gate.

「Oh, then, let's open it quickly. While the Cerberus asleep.」

Jouga smiled and said lightly, but .......

「Wait, the other side of that gate is supposed to be the 『Land of the Dead』, right?」

Ione pointed out.

Yes, the 『Gates of the Underworld』 would be the entrance to the 『Land of the Dead』.

The solemn, dark-colored door gives off a somewhat evil and ominous atmosphere.

「Oh, ohhhh, that's a not good. And we're still alive!」

「The 『Land of the Dead』 ......」

「Hawawa!」

Everyone stared again at the huge door.

But it looks like Jouga is right, that thing doesn't seem to have any use for us who's still alive.

「Let's go.」

I decide to do so, and turned back.

「「「Roger」」」

「What are you doing, Fianna? We're leaving you behind.」

「Oh, yes.」

Now, on to the snake monster, Typhon.

Now there are only three trials left, and we've already finished half of them.

Wait for me, Meena, Kaede.