Chapter 250 Suffering With Cerberus (Final)

And so, as the two heads slid off their necks, I awaited the next notifications that were bound to come.

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[You have beaten Stage Two of Three]

[Stage Three will commence]

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Upon waking up, the obvious happened, and I was greeted by the sight of a three-headed dog now chained up by a metal collar linked around its neck.

It growled and rumbled like an earthquake as it looked at me, but before I could even stand up, the darkness before me parted, and a sword as big as a mountain acme crashed down towards me.

The size was unbelievable, and there was no way for me to dodge it, so just as I wrapped myself in my bloodlust, I set my hands out.

I was going to catch this massive weapon even if it tore my body in half… but it was too much for me as the sword was so sharp that it cut straight through my hands, my arms, and then finally my torso and legs, splitting me completely in half.

As I slowly opened my eyes again, I watched the Cerberus for any cues on when he activated the skill, but the big dog didn't even twitch a muscle before the massive sword came crashing down yet again.

"Since I can't block the sword… I'll just end this quickly," I muttered, and as I conjured a spear of bloodlust, to my surprise, my blade ripped through each and every head.

The three-headed dog was clearly exhausted from using that much mana to summon such a gigantic spell.

"Huh? It hasn't ended yet?"

But, to my surprise, yet again, nothing happened as I waited for the new notifications, only to be split in half once again.

"What the hell?! IS MY OBJECTIVE TO CATCH THAT THING!?" I screamed at the dog, but he didn't react.

He was silent now. Too silent… so I knew now I couldn't rely on him for information, so I quickly took these few seconds to brainstorm any ideas on how to pass this last trial.

"Maybe… Do I have to break it? Catching it seems impossible without the status, so maybe I have to break it possibly?" I muttered to myself, but as the thought sank in, even more, I was decimated by the falling sword.

…

A month passed with yet another continuous string of deaths, and I was now stumped on this last trial, as killing the Cerberus didn't mean anything.

Even hiding within its body would end up in me getting killed, which I thought would work as the user must be stronger than the spell itself, right?

Well, clearly, some spells are meant to be so powerful that they have a chance of even decimating the user at a moment's notice.

"Hey! You fucking dog! TALK TO ME!" I shouted as I ran up to the three-headed beast, but even when all six eyes looked at me, he didn't respond.

His eyes were cold as if the past few months had never even happened.

"Tch… Fine… I know what to do now," I muttered to try and provoke the Cerberus into speaking, but upon seeing him not even flinch a muscle, I let out yet another long sigh.

Well, I guess I'll just try it out.

As I jumped up into the air, I conjured what seemed to be thousandth spear and twirled it above my head to build up some momentum.

I then coated my weapon made in bloodlust with even more bloodlust to reinforce it before slamming it into the quickly falling sword.

And I had an inkling that this might be my key to progress, but once I saw my arms get completely torn off, my jaw dropped, and I quickly fell to my death as the sword destroyed the abyss beneath.

I thought I would fall endlessly, but it was as if the darkness was sucking up my consciousness and eating it for breakfast.

It was hungry for blood, and it soon tore my body apart.

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[You have beaten Stage Three of Three]

[Congratulations! You will be summoned to Cerberus' humble aboad]

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All of a sudden, just as my consciousness was about to slip out of my grasp, a few notifications appeared in front of me, and I couldn't help but smile through the disappointment in myself.

It was so much easier than I expected, and my bloodlust had taken control of my mind, clouding my judgment and making sure I wouldn't be able to progress any further.

…

"I'm sure you understand your mistake now, right?" A familiar voice greeted me just as I snapped my eyes open and found myself lying on a grand couch.

I was in a fancy and almost royal room made completely of darker shades such as black, dark-red, and various dark-orange decorations.

"Yeah. I've lost what made me an amazing warrior," I sighed, disappointed in myself yet again, but before continuing the conversation, I made sure to check something.

[A few skills have evolved due to your hard work]

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[Tangible Bloodlust has fused with Blood Manipulation to become Royal Blood Magic]

[Blood Sampler has evolved into Vampiric Drain]

[Blood Envision has evolved into Vampiric Creation]

[Cloak of Blood has evolved into Shroud of Fermented Blood]

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『Status』

[Name: Orion]

[Race: Demi-Human]

[Class: Prince of Blood]

[Level: 35/55] (110/200) XP Needed

[HP: 100/100 MP: 75/75 SP: 55/55] - Above Human

[Strength: 40] - Above Human

[Defense: 40] - Above Human

[Magic: 45] - Above Human

[Speed: 45] - Above Human

[Skills: [Spear Coating] [Berserk Coating] [Empower] [Scout] [Ancient Torterras Tongue]

[Prince of Blood Skills: [Royal Blood Magic] [Vampiric Creation] [Vampiric Drain]

[Shroud of Fermented Blood] [Egg of the Progenitor]

[Passive Skills: [Toxic Immunity] [Toxic Body] [Night Vision] [Breath of the Snowy Underworld] [Blood of the Underworld] [Blood Tainted Aura] [Blood Tainted Presence] [Speech of a King] [Constitution of a Tarturling] [Prisoner of Tartarus]

[Rune Path: [Influence of Battle] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked]

[Equipment: [Magic Ring] [Storage Ring] [Sangria King's Spear]

…

"Geez… that's amazing," I muttered with a large smile and was already jittery to test out my new skills.

But suddenly, a cup of tea was held out before me, and a woman with long black hair, predatory red eyes, and a build that was insanely buff stepped in front of me.

"I never thought you would be a woman? Your voice was deeper than any other dude I've encountered," I chuckled before taking the tea and sipping on it.

It was probably the best cup of tea I had ever had in my life, and the way it was so tangy and sweet without any sugar to creamer was mind-blowing.

"Pretty good, right? It's made from the herbs I grow in the back of my base… and I'll take what you just said as a compliment," The woman lightly smiled before sitting down on the couch next to me and sipping on her own cup of tea.

"Ummmm… the teacher quest said that I would acquire a skill book of some sort? Have I not yet completed the quest?" I asked just as the atmosphere began to get a bit awkward.

"It should be coming soon,"

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[Teacher Quest has been completed]

[Rewards have been granted]

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Suddenly, a leathery book appeared in the palms of my hands, and as I caressed the rough yet silky feeling, I slowly opened it up.

I slowly began to read the first words, but my mind trailed off elsewhere.

"Where are my friends?" I asked, and the Cerberus audibly sighed before standing up and walking over to her window.

She gestured for me to follow her, and as soon as I saw the putrid sight from outside the window, I already knew whose territory we were in.

"They're undergoing their own tempering. Especially that Cy kid… he was taken by Beezlebub himself, so I can't really confirm that he'll be alright once the training is done,"

She pointed up at the very pinnacle of the disease-ridden mountain, and right there, sticking at the top of the point, was a massive palace where I assumed Beezlebub would stay

"Training?"

"Yeah, he probably wants the kid to unlock his next rune. Poor thing… he must be squirming with centipedes crawling up and down his esophagus,"

I nearly gagged at the woman's description but held it in, in order to save just a bit of face.

"Throw up if you want, but if I had to say… your training was much worse than his. The others are just laying in a room, having their body tempered by Beezlebub's thick mana. He truly wants the best for you all, but he got ahead of himself upon seeing you… I mean, you are the son of Ares after all,"

"I know, I know… but he didn't even help my friends or me as we were banished down here. He watched my mother die slowly, seeing each and every agonizing second of his,"

The woman glanced over at me with mixed eyes before slowly glancing away as if what I had just said was incorrect.

"What? You think he wanted something else?"

"He wants you to become a monster… something that even he won't be able to oppose in the future. And through the greatest suffering do the greatest winners emerge,"