Chapter 29 Crossing the Underworld (3) Alright, good puppy, lick it...

Xia Ying had anticipated the attack from behind, but she still couldn't help but sigh, "Now we have no choice but to turn back."

She spun around and swung her sword to block the thrusts of the black thorns.

The moment she turned around, the surrounding scenery began to recede, the exit that was so close quickly disappeared into the distance, and the two of them returned to the fog-shrouded underworld.

The monster, who shared the same face as Cerberus, paid no attention to this; his expression was filled with excitement and pleasure, and his attack became even more ferocious.

The shadow lunged at her like a beast's jaws, but Xia Ying slashed it open with her sword, glimpsing the other's eyes through the dark gap.

Despite having the same crimson eyes, Cer's eyes looked more like burning fire, while the abyssal creature before him was like surging blood.

Xia Ying was slightly stunned, and it was this moment of distraction that made the other party realize her weakness. The shadow seized the opportunity to grab her ankle, wrapped around her body, and hoisted her arms, restricting her movements like a puppet on silk.

The [Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi] slipped from her hand and shattered into points of light before hitting the ground. Xia Ying exclaimed in surprise, feeling as if she had suddenly become bait wriggling on a fishhook... No, that association is a little disgusting. How about changing it to a butterfly struggling in a spider web?

Satisfied with her description, the little butterfly was pulled by a thread to Cerberus. The unknown monster stared at her with blood-red eyes, then suddenly smiled, revealing sharp canines.

"Isn't this easy? I really don't know why that good-for-nothing can't do it."

He reached out and slowly gripped Xia Ying's neck, saying in a dangerous, low voice, "You must be very surprised by my existence..."

"I already knew that?" Xia Ying blinked. "But you haven't been out and about for a while. Uh, long time no see?"

This answer seemed to take the other person by surprise. He suddenly froze, even forgetting to tighten his grip: "From when?"

“I noticed it from the beginning; you two are completely different.”

Xia Ying listed them one by one.

"Cer is curious about human creations, while you are very resistant. Cer is a great cook, while you are terrible at it. Cer loves watching soap operas, but you prefer gore movies... And also, Cer is gentler and more intelligent!"

The other person narrowed their eyes in displeasure and unconsciously licked their canine teeth: "You really like that good-for-nothing, huh?"

"You're not allowed to say anything bad about my family's Ear!"

Xia Ying protested loudly.

“I know it’s Cerberus who appears most of the time, but when he feels uneasy or tired, you sometimes take control of his body. Speaking of which, I seem to have seen you less often lately; perhaps it’s because Cerberus…”

"You mean he's become more settled and peaceful lately?" the monster interrupted her, laughing loudly. "No, quite the opposite! It's because that guy is becoming increasingly afraid of me, so he's desperately trying to suppress my appearance, but that just proves I'm getting stronger!"

Xia Ying calmly stared at him: "So, who exactly are you?"

The monster stopped laughing and slowly moved its hand, which was gripping Xia Ying, down her slender neck.

“I and ‘him’ are both ‘Cerberus’ itself and part of ‘Cerberus’.”

All expression vanished from that face, and his eyes turned into bottomless red vortexes.

"So, what you should be asking is, who are 'we'?"

He felt the delicate, warm skin of the young girl with his fingertips, as well as the flow of blood and the beating of her pulse beneath it—all of which constituted her vibrant and dazzling life.

“‘Cerberus’ was the first to be born among us. It was almost devoid of reason, and was pure and uncontrollable death and destruction itself. Thus, ‘he’ came into being.”

"He was able to wield the power of death, and at the same time became the first barrier to restrict that power. But unfortunately, he could not escape his fate as a creature of the abyss."

"That's what the monster said."

“The killing and death that ‘he’ could not bear, the intense desires that ‘he’ did not want to endure, I will bear them all. We are two ends of a scale, and the more I bear, the more the power tilts in my favor.”

The monster paused, slowly withdrawing its hand. At the same time, sharp black shadows rose from the ground, circling around Xia Ying and glaring menacingly.

“I have to thank you, human. If it weren’t for you, ‘he’ wouldn’t have been foolish enough to give up his power, and I wouldn’t be as powerful as I am now…”

The Kusanagi Sword suddenly tore through the shadows binding Xia Ying, and she broke free abruptly, leaning forward and grabbing the other's wrist forcefully.

"You first appeared the day after I found Cerberus."

Xia Ying stared straight at him.

"That was also the first time you tried to kill me, but you failed because you were too weak. The second time was two weeks later. You hesitated for a long time, but still didn't make a move. I guess it was because you thought I still had some use in the human world at that time."

At that moment, the black-haired, red-eyed demonic dog placed steaming food in front of Xia Ying, and at first glance, it seemed no different from usual.

Xia Ying looked at the dishes for a while before finally picking up her chopsticks and putting a bite in her mouth.

The demon dog asked somewhat restlessly, "Xia Ying, how is it?"

"..." The girl chewed and then stopped. "Not bad."

"So, you've always known I existed?" The demon hound grinned uncontrollably. "You noticed every time I appeared, every time I harbored killing intent? Then you must also know what kind of gaze I was giving you, right?"

He stretched out his arms and pressed Xia Ying deeply into his embrace, with such force that it seemed he wanted to crush her until the two became one.

“It’s so unfair. Compared to the cowardly ‘him,’ I’m the one who has borne the most desires. I love you more, crave you more… and want to kill you more than ‘him’.”

More and more shadows surged out of the monster's body, spreading over Xia Ying's body, as if trying to use darkness itself to entangle the two of them together to the death.

"Just look at me, don't look away, just speak to me, don't let anyone else hear your voice..."

The crimson vortex in his eyes grew increasingly frenzied, and his whispers were both wicked and sweet, almost like a plea.

A shadow condensed into a thin blade above Xia Ying's head, slashing toward the back of her neck as if to execute her, but was shattered by an unknown force before it could reach her.

Then, Xia Ying finally moved.

The shadows that had been tightly binding the girl suddenly broke free of control and receded like the tide as Xia Ying moved.

The monster tried to control the shadows again, but the shadows refused to obey his commands... Instead, they gathered into a swamp at his feet, trapping him inside.

The monster looked at Xia Ying: "What did you do?"

“Me? No, it’s Cerberus.” Xia Ying smiled at him and said slowly, “My Cerberus, even though he’s temporarily trapped inside my body, has been protecting me… But you’re different from Cerberus, you’re a bad dog.”

Xia Ying extended her index finger and pressed it against the other person's chest: "How pitiful. You want me so much, but you can't touch me because of Ker's existence... However, the current situation is a bit special."

She withdrew her hand and gently ran her palm across the [Kusanagi Sword]. Her skin was cut, and blood quickly welled up.

The monster's gaze froze; he stared intently at the trembling blood droplets, his eyes revealing a stark hunger and desire.

At that moment, a shadowy figure formed a ring, binding his neck like a chain. The girl wrapped the end of the rope around her palm, pulled sharply, and dragged the monster down to her feet.

Xia Ying crouched down, gripping the dog leash tightly while smearing the blood that dripped from her fingertips onto the monster's lips, watching as his eyes grew even more crimson and deep.

“Although you are a bad dog, right now, whether it’s me, you, or Kerr, we all need to get out of here quickly, so I can give you a little reward… as long as you are willing to obey my orders for the time being.”

Her fingers paused slightly, then gently moved away from the other person's lips.

"So, what's the answer?"

"..." The monster was silent for a moment, then grabbed Xia Ying's wrist and left a shallow, sharp tooth mark on it. "Deal."

"very good."

Xia Ying looked down at him, her smile deepening slightly, and magnanimously touched his lips with her blood-stained fingertips.

"Alright, good puppy, lick it."

#####

"By the way, what should I call you?" Xia Ying suddenly asked her travel companion who was walking ahead.

The other person replied nonchalantly, "Whatever."

Xia Ying readily agreed, saying, "Then I'll call you 'Shadow'."

"..." The other person slowed down for a moment, but ultimately did not raise any objections.

Xia Ying took this as an admission and brought up another matter: "Speaking of which, there don't seem to be any powerful enemies in Mission 15, so why has Ker'er been trapped here for so long?"

“It’s not the enemy’s problem,” said the monster Xia Ying called “Shadow.” “He has entered the Netherworld region hundreds and thousands of times, and he has failed to pass through each time.”

Xia Ying pondered, "Is it because he always looks back?"

“No.” The shadow decisively denied her guess. “It’s not because of turning back, but because we can’t move forward.”

Xia Ying remained silent. The shadow clearing the way ahead noticed her confusion and continued, "You'll find out soon enough."

As time passed, the scenery around them indeed changed.

At first, just like last time, the scenes that appeared were ones that Xia Ying felt nostalgic for.

Now that she knew the reason, Xia Ying was no longer as wary as she had been the first time. Instead, she happily described the scenes to the other party.

“This is the beach I used to go to when I was a kid… This is the zoo… This is the planetarium… Oh, this is the amusement park in the city, I went there once with Kear.” She thought for a moment and added, “You were there too, remember? We ate ice cream together.”

The shadow gave a soft hum, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Neither of them paused in their steps, and they quickly passed through these memories. After that, the road ahead began to change.

The city gradually disappeared, replaced by scorched earth and a red moon.

There were also mountains of abyssal creature corpses.

"For those who retain happy memories, the underworld will naturally use these joyful memories to lure them back."

"The shadow said."

“But Cerberus had no pleasurable experiences to be used as bait, so the memories of killing were presented in front of him, preventing him from moving forward.”

Xia Ying walked straight through the scene, trying her best to avoid looking at the bloody parts, and retorted, "At least Kerber had a lot of fun when he went to the amusement park with me..."

“That’s precisely why he can’t cross the Netherworld.” The other person stopped. “Take a good look at your surroundings, Xia Ying.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Ying subconsciously looked around, and then she finally realized that, sometime during the night, those corpses were no longer creatures from the abyss.

Xia Ying died, Xia Ying was killed by Cerberus's own hands, Xia Ying's expression was frozen in that moment of pain, sorrow and disbelief.

However, none of those were Xia Ying.

Instead, it was Xia Ying, whom Cerberus feared most deep down.

Xia Ying said softly, "Just as I thought."

She walked to the stunned demon dog and took his hand.

“I may know you a little better than you think. I know about the Shadow and that you sometimes have nightmares,” she said calmly. “But now you must wake up. Whatever the future holds, we have some things to do now, Kel.”

Cerberus tightened his grip slightly: "How did you know it was me?"

"Welcome back." Xia Ying turned her head and smiled at him. "Because I have never mistaken Ke Er for someone else."

“…” Cerberus took a deep breath. “Hold on tight, Xia Ying.”

He then scooped Xia Ying up with one hand and tossed her onto his shoulder.

Xia Ying was greatly shocked: "Why is it that these touching moments are all about carrying sacks again!"

"That's faster!!" Cerberus shouted back, "Let's start running!!!"

Black flames suddenly ignited, rapidly extending forward and instantly tearing open a path.

The demonic hound raced through the fiery inferno, and the scene behind it began to crumble and disintegrate, relentlessly pursuing the two.

"Time's almost up!" Xia Ying shouted. "Come on! Don't let them catch up!!"

Cerberus gritted his teeth and ran wildly toward the exit.

Just as the light ahead was no longer far away, the road began to collapse from the very beginning, flanking the two from both sides.

Kerri rode the fire and soared into the air, but the collapse of the mission scene caused gravity to disappear as well, and a powerful suction force pulled them into the depths.

"Cher! Hang in there a little longer!"

Cerberus held Xia Ying in one arm and gripped a floating stone slab tightly, barely slowing his descent into darkness.

But the annihilation continued, and the stone slab began to slowly crumble. Just when the two were almost at their wits' end, Xia Ying's neck suddenly flashed, and a necklace appeared.

That was a sign that the Sisyphus Collar was about to activate.

"We made it!" Xia Ying's spirits lifted suddenly. "I told you I wouldn't do anything I wasn't sure I could succeed at!"

Cerberus, still not understanding, asked, "What?"

Now it's Xia Ying's turn to say those words.

She cried out, "Ker, hold on tight to me!"

The Sisyphus Collar activated one of its magical effects.

A storm of magic enveloped the two, carrying them away from Mission 15.

"Beep! Wilderness Mission #15: [Crossing the Underworld] is complete."

A flash of white light, and the notification sound of mission completion rang out. When Xia Ying opened her eyes again, she found herself pulled under the cloak.

Fafnir frowned at her: "If the goblin hadn't told me you were stuck in a wilderness quest..."

His words suddenly stopped. The dragon gripped her wrist, prying open her fingers one by one, and stared at the wound on her palm.

Then, he noticed Cerberus, who had returned to the Wilderness Hall with Xia Ying.

The demon hound glared at Fafnir holding the girl's hand with extreme displeasure, and licked the blood from the corner of its mouth.

However, the dragon's rage had already erupted.

A blinding light suddenly exploded as golden dragon fire and pitch-black hellfire collided violently in the hall.

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Author's note: We've all run into each other, now look what's happened.