"I can now see why Lucifer took a liking to you… This potential… oh~ this potential! You'll be strong… though, it's shame your journey ends here, boy. No reincarnation or deathly rebirths within my territory… even your daddy can't save you down here,"
My mind felt as if it had shattered like a broken pane of glass, leaving the shards to disintegrate and endlessly fall into the abyss.
…
Strangely, and somehow, I had awoken in a dark room, but I couldn't feel anything, hear anything, taste, smell, or even see anything.
Well, if you counted seeing endless darkness as something, then I guess I at least have the privilege of experiencing that.
Though, as soon as I felt the presence of what seemed to be a beast ripped straight out of the depths of hell, I screamed for my body to move, yet nothing happened.
The wolf with hundreds of eyes layered across its head stared down at me, its acidic drool already inflicting a torturous pain that made my mind almost shatter yet again.
But, the privilege of screaming had been revoked from me, and the only thing I could do was wallow in my own mind as the beast tore away at my body limb from limb, making sure I felt each and every individual ounce of pain.
Then finally, he chomped my head off, and for some reason, I experienced the feeling of my head being torn straight off my body.
It was a pain unlike any other as my spinal cord snapped in half, sending signals to my brain that I was dying, but I couldn't do anything… nothing at all.
But suddenly, my body began to rearrange, and I slowly, even if it was just the slightest bit of feeling, gained the ability to hear the very low growls of the beast who approached me once again.
I wanted to run away and escape from the pain, and this slight sliver of sound only accentuated my fear, even more, forcing my mind into some kind of defense mechanism.
I fainted… only to brutally wake up to the feeling of my head being torn off, forcing me to savor the pain of dying yet again.
This repeated over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over over and over and over over and over and over over and over and over over and over and over over and over and over over and over… again.
What seemed to be years had passed inside this chamber of darkness, but over time, I was able to regain my sense of hearing.
After what seemed to be ten years, I finally regained my sense of hearing.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAnother ten years passed, and I finally regained my sense of smell, allowing me to absorb the hints of moss and grime that covered the endlessly bloodthirsty beast.
Another ten years passed, and I finally regained my sense of taste, allowing me to taste the musty air that had been stained with gallons of blood.
And finally, after another ten long years of suffering, I regained my sense of touch, allowing me to simply move that body that I hadn't moved in decades.
But, I was quickly shot down by the monstrous wolf who grew endlessly after feasting on my body one time after another.
The next time my body rearranged, I gained an even stronger control over my body, but after an entire week of trying, I was finally able to stand up to the wolf and push it back.
Its overwhelming bloodlust and size could've crushed me under its palm, but as it looked down on me, it used just its massive mouth to swallow me whole… the perfect chance I was waiting for in order to escape this hellish place.
I jumped straight into its mouth, my body feeling as if it was still being torn to shreds with each step that I took.
The air was suffocating from the amount of blood that coated the insides of my sinuses and esophagus.
The hungry growl of the wolf's stomach continuously tried to digest me with just sound alone, but I pushed back with all my might.
I dug my insanely long nails into the wolf's cheek, which was as soft as a pillow, and once I felt its blood spray my face, I couldn't help but let out an ungodly smile.
"Revenge is the sweetest when your victim suffers the most," I muttered before tearing at the inside of the wolf, who couldn't do anything but shakes its head around to try and discard me from its mouth.
I kicked each tooth with all my might, ignoring my shoulders that had already dislocated from the violent shaking.
Each time I kicked a tooth, it would slowly get looser and looser until I finally tore it out, and I repeated this with each and every single tooth in the mouth of this damn monster.
Blood was all I could see, but I still squirmed my way through the flood until I reached the esophagus, tearing it apart with my dislocated arms.
I felt my humanity slowly slip away from me with each passing second, but if I needed to escape this hell, this was worth it.
And then finally, after I was done, I looked upwards and threw both of my arms that dug a hole into the roof of the wolf's mouth.
It howled in pain as its brain matter seeped from the hole and slowly filled its widened mouth that I used to escape swiftly.
I looked at my art as I stood there, covered in blood, beaten and burned by the acidic saliva, both arms limply hanging beside me… but I was completely content with my work.
The wolf's hundreds of eyes landed on me, attempting to charge towards me, but it had lost too much blood already, and as its brain began to dissolve with its very own saliva, its limbs stopped working, leaving it to die right in front of me.
I made sure to savor each and every second of it as the wolf's dying howls traveled through the endless darkness.
.
[You have beaten Stage One of Three]
[Stage Two will commence]
.
My face paled upon reading the text in front of me, and the only thing that traveled through my veins was an endless amount of rage.
My decades of suffering, time I would never be able to get back, was just preparation for stage one, and now I needed to complete two more that, as expected, were way stronger than their predecessor.
As my mind attempted to process and comprehend the hellish words laid out in front of me, behind the red panel was a massive wolf with hundreds of eyes yet again, but instead of one head, it had two heads.
"Cerberus… KAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! ALRIGHT! LET'S GO!"
[You have died]
[Stage will be reset]
As I looked down at my body which had been burned to ash by the flames of the second head, I looked back up at my enemy.
They had reappeared, and I was completely revitalized to the point that I even felt a bit stronger as the built-up exhaustion had been washed out of my body.
"Foooooo… I see," I muttered as I attempted to suppress myself from letting loose like that again… in fact, if this reset never happened, my humanity might've just slipped out of my grasp.
"Why do you want to still be human?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAll of a sudden, the first head of Cerberus asked me a question that nearly shook me to the core… as I had no reason to want to still be human.
"Why not become something stronger? Something much, much stronger than your previous mortal body. You've seen the demon lords… they're omnipotent beings who have long discarded their humanity yet still retain what it means to be human… in your terms at least,"
"The demon lords… were human?" I asked, and the second head let out a long sigh as if the first head had let something slip.
"Win, and I shall inform you of what you desire,"
I attempted to check my status once again, but all I received was a wave of,
[Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error] [Error]
A drop of sweat quickly ran down my cheek as I knew I had to do this barehanded, so as soon as I felt a strange hunger well up inside of me, I let it take over me.
[Teacher Quest has been revealed]
.
[Demon: Cerberus]
[Specialty: Magic]
[Difficulty Level: SSS]
.
[Teacher Quest: Unlock More Runes]
[Description: Your proficiency with magic has rapidly increased into something unheard of, but compared to the depths of the underworld, you are nothing. Use this slip-up in Beezlebub's small plan to acquire more power and earn yourself a new source of strength]
[Reward: [Skill Book - Magical Presence]
[Penalty Upon Failure: Cut All Stats In Half]
[Time Left: Infinite]
.
"We will no longer hold back. Prepare yourself, mortal, for you shall see the power of a god,"