Chapter 171 – Cerberus
Fatty didn’t log off to join Liu Lan’s celebration party. When he returned to Black Tortoise City, Drucker blocked his path again and dragged him to City Lord Lin Xi.
“Little Fatty, not bad. The heir to the Elementalist legacy, huh?” Lin Xi fiddled with the Phantasm Ghost Claw in his hand. Fatty snuck a glance, catching a peek as the claw trembled and dispiritedly moved per Lin Xi’s commands.
Opening the Elemental Mystery Realm had caused this phenomenon, so it would be strange if Lin Xi didn’t know about it. Fatty was already numb to Lin Xi’s omniscience, so he just smiled vigilantly. “It was only luck,” he said.
“Hmm? Aren’t you very proud about it? Do you think it’s that easy to inherit this legacy?” Lin Xi let go of the pitiful Phantasm Ghost Claw. “Since the past, the Elementalist has always been one of the top experts of the Dynasty and played an important part in the Dynasty’s dominance. If you inherit this t.i.tle, you must bear the responsibility that comes with it.”
One of the top experts of the Dynasty? Dominance? Fatty thought back to the former Elementalist, Wu Junxiao, who had died in the encirclement. It’s just a hidden cla.s.s; how big of an influence can it possibly have?
“That’s right. The Elementalist has always been one of the mainstays of the Dynasty, playing a great role in many invasions. Their duty to watch over the Demon-Sealing Stele at the entrance to the Demon Realm is most important above all. That’s why, Little Fatty, your mission is pretty weighty,” explained Lin Xi as though he saw through Fatty’s doubts.
“That formidable? Then what’s the origin of Yin Yang Inquisitor?” Fatty suddenly thought of Purple Bell and TenStepOneKill. The two received the Yin Yang Inquisitor’s qualification through different methods, but their power was roughly the same.
“Yin Yang Inquisitor? Those who travel the path of Yin Yang are heretics who betrayed the Dynasty!” Lin Xi snorted. “If it wasn’t for the fact that those Yin Yang Inquisitors haven’t done anything immoral to offend the Heavens, I would have captured them long ago and completely eliminated their legacy.”
Such a heavy murderous intent! Fatty’s heart jumped. Considering Lin Xi’s power was at least the rank of Celestial, it would be easy to take care of Purple Bell and TenStepOneKill with the flip of his hand.
“Do you know why there’s suddenly so many Guild Establishment Tokens?” Lin Xi suddenly said.
“Please enlighten me, my lord.” Fatty understood that the main subject had arrived.
“The world will fall into chaos soon,” Lin Xi sighed. “We’ve just sealed the crack at the mine, but more have appeared in other places. Aside from our Black Tortoise City, the other three city lords have also discovered cracks to the Demon Realm.”
“Cracks to the Demon Realm?” Fatty didn’t take this too seriously. We can just seal them again; why make such a big fuss?
“You think it’s not a big deal?” Lin Xi swept a glance at Fatty. “Demonic things have already crawled out of them.”
“Ohh?” Fatty finally felt the gravity of the situation. Last time it was the Demonized Bat King, a creature that had turned an entire mine upside down for years. This time it’s a demonic creature straight from the Demon Realm. The situation is, indeed, serious.
“But, it’s not that bad. The cracks were discovered as soon as they appeared. The city lords have all sent soldiers to guard them, so we don’t need to worry about the cracks themselves for now. However, the demonic things that came out have escaped. They must be taken care of, or else the safety of the citizens outside the cities can’t be guaranteed. The army of the Dynasty alone isn’t enough for this. We need to gather more organizations to help.”
So that’s why, Fatty finally understood. But, I’m afraid the reason he called me in here wasn’t just to say these things.
“Demonic things are vicious and brutal in nature. If they’re allowed to freely infiltrate the human world, calamity will definitely fall upon us. Aaaye, my heart is deeply aggrieved.” Lin Xi sighed exaggeratedly.
Here it comes. Since he’s said it like that, I’ll just take it upon myself first. Otherwise, there’ll be no rewards to gain when he makes it an order.
“This one is willing to take care of what troubles your heart,” Fatty offered with mock gallantry.
“Mhm, very good.” Lin Xi nodded, satisfied. “A crack has just appeared near the west gate of Black Tortoise City. A Demonic Cerberus ran out and killed many citizens. Go and eliminate it.”
Ding!
System Notification: Do you accept the mission “Slaying Cerberus”?
Accept.
Ding!
System Notification: You have accepted the mission “Slaying Cerberus.”
Objective: A crack connecting the Demon Realm to the Human Realm has appeared, threatening to destroy the peace that has lasted for so many years. The army of the Demon Realm is getting restless, thus a large number of demonic creatures have entered the Human Realm. They are vicious and brutal, and they’ve slaughtered countless lives. Brave warrior, take your weapon and destroy these filthy creatures!
Condition for completion: Kill Cerberus.
Location: (x.x.x,x.x.x)
Time limit: 1 day.
“This one will take his leave.” There was only one day to complete the mission, so Fatty had to hurry.
“Go. I wait for your good news.” Lin Xi waved his hand dismissively.
Exiting the City Lord Manor, the first thing Fatty did was check his stuff. The Elemental Armor and Sword were currently Silver-ranked, which managed to meet the standard. There were enough medical supplies in his inventory for the mission as well. The main thing was his skills.
The Elemental Skill Book only had the Elemental Movement Art for now. Moreover, Fatty discovered, upon opening his skill bar, that this Elemental Movement Art had a limited number of uses per day. The novice rank only permitted 10 times a day.
In a nutsh.e.l.l, the result of risking his life and putting his all into the cla.s.s enhancement had been nothing good. Fatty was upset. However, he could still use his a.s.sa.s.sin skill set. The Elemental Armor and Sword provided additional skills as well, which gave Fatty a little consolation.
Riding Wheat out the west gate, Fatty advanced straight toward the horizon until he stopped outside a small village per the mission’s coordinates.
From a distance, Fatty had already spotted a black column of smoke rising to the sky. When he entered the vicinity, he discovered that the small village had been ma.s.sacred.
Houses were burned, and the remnants of human limbs and bodies were scattered everywhere. Only several grief-stricken peasant NPCs were left to collect the corpses.
“Ahhh! Hurry and run! The demon has come again!” Seeing Fatty approach, the peasants were so frightened that they instantly moved to flee.
“Don’t be scared. I’m an envoy sent from Black Tortoise City to eliminate the demons. You can check.” Fatty pointed at the Black Tortoise’s Bronze Medallion on his shoulder.
“Ah, the Bronze Medallion. It’s truly a person from Black Tortoise City.” Seeing the Bronze Medallion, the peasants immediately ceased running away. They ran before Fatty and cried tragically.
“O great Envoy, you’ve finally come.” The NPC village head came forward. “Please, hurry and kill that wild dog. It ate half of our village!”
Wild dog? Fatty was dumbstruck. Then, he swiftly realized they meant the Cerberus. “Rest a.s.sured. I especially came here to slay it. Where has it run off to?” Fatty quickly asked.
“Over there. It headed in that direction.” The village head pointed the way.
“Alright. You guys hide somewhere first. I’ll come back after I’ve killed the Cerberus.”
Then, Fatty urged Wheat to hurry in the creature’s direction. Along the way, he saw burn marks everywhere accompanied by a dense black demonic miasma.
“Grrrrrrr…” Suddenly, a growl echoed from up ahead. Fatty knew the owner of this sound was his intended quarry.
Urging Wheat to silently creep forward, Fatty spotted a canine creature bigger than a bull tearing apart a human body. A herd of monster mobs followed behind it, competing for the pieces of flesh flung aside by the canine.
This demonic creature was the shape of a hound with three heads; it was, indeed, the legendary three-headed h.e.l.lhound Cerberus. As for the mobs, they were monsters materialized by the Cerberus using its demonic aura. Fatty creased his brows at this discovery.
“Grrrrr…” The Cerberus abruptly turned around and howled upon sensing Fatty’s approach. Throwing away the half torn corpse, it raised all three heads and looked down on Fatty with scorn.
Fatty dismounted and pocketed Wheat. Then, he stood face to face with the h.e.l.lhound. Fatty was only level 30, so Wheat’s level was higher than his; therefore, Fatty could only use it as mount, not a combat pet.
Same old rule: Appraisal.
Cerberus
Gold Demonic Creature
Level: 50
Atack: 120 – 135
Defense: 110
Skills: Can spit water, fire, and venom attacks.
Notes: A mid-rank demonic creature from the Demon Realm. Each of its three heads possesses a special ability. It is hard to defend once they attack altogether.
Having been used so many times, Appraisal finally ranked up to Advanced. As Fatty’s first skill to reach the Advanced level, it didn’t let him down and provided the full stats and info for the Gold monster.
“Gold Demonic Creature,” a rather rare t.i.tle, Fatty inwardly sneered. He took one step forward, then Stealth-ed.
Bang! The left head of the h.e.l.lhound opened wide and spat out a fire bullet. The fire bullet rammed into Fatty’s location and violently exploded, blowing a deep hole into the ground.
Fwis.h.!.+ Fatty’s attack was elegant and unrestrained despite the fact that he could only move at 60% his original speed in Stealth. This was a result of all the training in the Elemental trial. While the trial was to test the mastery of the Movement Arts, it greatly improved Fatty’s ability to react. Fatty suddenly appeared at the neck of the h.e.l.lhound and viciously thrust forward with the Elemental Sword. Blood instantly gushed forth.
–186
While it was only a Silver weapon, the Elemental Sword dealt no less damage than Fatty’s former Gold-tier dagger.
“Grraaargh!” The h.e.l.lhound shrieked tragically. Its left head abruptly lunged forward to bite, but Fatty nimbly dropped his body. With a loud crackle, the two rows of teeth heavily clashed against each other and emitted a series of creaking noises.
Puff! The Cerberus’ right head spat out a timely water arrow and effectively put a stop to Fatty’s Combo Attack. Fatty swiftly retreated and disappeared into Stealth after two steps.
“Awooo!” The h.e.l.lhound suddenly let out a long howl. All of the materialized demonic creatures instantly abandoned their pieces of meat and quickly flocked to the beast’s side.
The mobs surrounded the h.e.l.lhound, not leaving even a crack for Fatty to Stealth near it. The boss raised its heads. As the beast put up its guard, the three mouths curved up a little in antic.i.p.ation of dealing a fatal strike the moment Fatty appeared.
“Hehe!” Stealthing to the side, Fatty chuckled. As it seems, this demonic creature possesses a certain intelligence. At least, it isn’t like other monsters that only know to attack.
But, you think you can stop Lord Fatty’s a.s.sa.s.sination with just that? Earthwalk. Fatty’s body flashed, then completely vanished without a trace.