Chapter 65 The Lords (1) The meeting is about to begin
"And then, what was your answer?"
"The keyword 'Secret Room' has appeared twice already," the person she was talking to said. "In other words, as long as we can enter the 'Secret Room,' things will make a breakthrough... Wow!"
Xia Ying threw the cushion she was holding, smashing it hard into Taotie's face: "Nonsense! Didn't I already say from the beginning that I wanted information about the [Secret Room]? Don't waste my time!"
In the dream world, Taotie lamented, "I can't help it, I'm confined by the Demon Lord and so I'm really bored, and everyone's busy with that matter..."
Xia Ying asked sharply, "What is it?"
"..." Taotie obviously changed the subject, "Speaking of the [Secret Room], I do have some relevant information."
"Wait a minute, are you hiding some important information...?"
Before Xia Ying could press him further, Taotie quickly dropped the bombardment: "In Cocytus, there's a magical artifact called the 'Broken Key,' composed of thirty-two fragments. If you collect them all, you might be able to find the 'Secret Room' located in the 'Library'!"
"I think I vaguely remember this," Xia Ying asked, searching her memory for a vague recollection. "So, do you know how to collect all the [Broken Keys]?"
Xia Ying said without any politeness, "That's great, hand them all over to me."
"As for the cost..."
Xia Ying grabbed his tattered hood: "Haven't you found enough fun in me?"
"It was just a joke," Taotie chuckled. "Your story is interesting enough for me on its own."
As he spoke, the dream began to fade, and Xia Ying suddenly awoke, accompanied by a series of notification sounds from the [Student Handbook]:
"Beep! You have obtained [Broken Key - Part 1]".
"Beep! You have obtained the [Broken Key, Part Two]."
"drop……"
The alarm rang thirty-one times, waking Cerberus as well.
He rubbed his eyes and asked, "What's wrong, Xia Ying?"
“Ke'er…” Xia Ying looked at him and suddenly stopped speaking.
She didn't speak until the puppy stared at her, completely bewildered. "Ker, I suddenly remembered what happened on the Charon train."
The puppy tilted its head, waiting for her to continue: "Hmm?"
This means that finding the third survivor will lead to the final key fragment, and Xia Ying still remembers how Jormungandr explained the whereabouts of the abyssal creature:
Xia Ying hugged the dog's head: "Ker, you have to come with me to a place!"
Cerberus, transforming into human form, eagerly asked, "Where to?"
"To the underground prison!"
Cerberus paused for a moment, then hesitated, "Where is this underground prison you're talking about?"
“…” Xia Ying said, “Oh right.”
#####
A short time later, Xia Ying appeared in the Crimson Crown Ring with remarkable speed and agility.
"Fafnir, do you know where the underground prison is?"
The dragon looked at the girl in front of it and said with slight displeasure, "Is this all you came to see me for?"
She said slyly, "Well, I can't help it, I don't know Cocytus as well as you do."
Her words did not quell the dragon's displeasure, but Xia Ying mischievously added, "If you don't know, I'll just ask Charybdis."
“So, you’ve decided to ask me for help first, rather than the others.” Fafnir’s mood improved rapidly. “Then let’s go. We’re going to the underground prison.”
The dragon reached out to grab Xia Ying's wrist, but Cerberus immediately stepped in front of her and forced the dragon back with his scythe.
Fafnir frowned, dragonfire erupted, and a scroll of parchment flew into the dragon's lair.
The dragon stopped what it was doing, opened the parchment, and began to read its contents.
"This is really bad timing." His expression grew increasingly displeased, but he suppressed his impatience and said to Xia Ying, "Fine, let your dog go with you. I have something to take care of first."
Xia Ying, with her sharp eyes, spotted the black feather mark on the parchment: "Is the Lord of Demons summoning you? What important thing has happened in Cocytus?"
“The Demon Lord has given us a gag order,” Fafnir said briefly. “You’re going to the underground prison, which is located beneath the Crimson Crown Ring, but without the Demon Lord’s permission, I cannot grant you access.”
Xia Ying asked, puzzled, "Huh? So I have to go find the Demon Lord first? But I don't think he'll even listen to me..."
Fafnir did not speak, but stared at her with his brilliant golden dragon eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"Oh!" Xia Ying suddenly realized and immediately activated the [Sisyphus Collar]. "Fafnir, I command you to grant me the necessary permissions!"
A black collar suddenly appeared, and the dragon gathered magic particles at its fingertips, signing two agreements for access to the underground prison.
"Hey, you dog over there." After doing all that, Fafnir said lazily, "The underground prison is barely considered to have any dangerous abyssal creatures. Protect Xia Ying."
"You don't need to tell me!" Having achieved its goal, the demon hound was unwilling to linger here for even a moment longer, and immediately picked up Xia Ying and left the dragon's nest.
They crossed the rock pool and ran towards the outer edge of the volcano. Xia Ying glanced back and noticed a huge shadow sweeping across from above; it was a dragon rapidly approaching.
As it passed Cerberus, the dragon let out a long, mocking howl, which made the demon hound click its tongue in annoyance.
"This guy is even more annoying than Fenrir!"
Xia Ying muttered, "I wonder what's wrong with Cocytus."
It seems that only the Demon Lord and these Ring Kings know the inside story.
“However, Cerberus,” she turned to Cerberus, “your relationship with Fenrir seems to have improved considerably.”
The demon dog barked as if its tail had been stepped on: "No way!"
They left the dragon's territory and followed the instructions on their pass to the underground prison. The desolate land of the Crimson Crown Ring seemed boundless, so Cerberus transformed into a giant dog and carried Xia Ying on his back as they ran wildly across the red earth.
For some reason, the surrounding light seemed to be getting dimmer and dimmer. Xia Ying looked up at the sky of Cocytus and found that night was falling at a visible speed. Three moons hung in the sky, and the blue one was almost full and about to rise to its highest point.
Cerberus muttered, "The necromantic cycle is almost over."
What cycle follows that?
“The skeletal cycle,” Cer answered, glancing up at the moon as well. “Unlike the other two cycles, it’s nothing special. If anything, we tend to get a better night’s sleep during this time…”
He stopped speaking without warning, and not only that, his sprinting motion also came to an abrupt halt. Xia Ying immediately pounced into the fur on his back, looking in confusion in the direction of Cerberus's gaze.
At first she saw nothing, but after a while, a black fireball was illuminated by the edge of the bright blue moonlight.
The ball of black fire passed through the Moon of the Dead and sank to the other side of Cocytus.
The color and shape of the fireball seemed somewhat familiar to Xia Ying. Just as she was about to ask Cerberus a question, she noticed that the demonic hound beneath her was trembling slightly.
She wrapped her arms around the demon hound's neck and whispered, "Kernel, are you alright?"
Cerberus murmured, "She's here. Why is she here?"
Xia Ying leaned even lower: "Who are you talking about?"
"my mother……"
Cerberus struggled to retrieve his heart from his chest, gripped by fear, and uttered the name with great difficulty.
"Typhon".
####
Almost no one knows where the Lord of Demons resides; in fact, his territory hangs high above Cocytus, beyond the reach of any earthly gaze.
But today is an exception.
In the venue very close to the moon, the Demon Lord, the host, and four Ring Realm Kings were present. In addition to them, there were two other exceptionally powerful abyssal creatures also present.
“They’re so slow!” a female black dragon, larger than Fafnir, complained loudly. Her horns were incredibly thick, and her body was covered with pale scars from countless perilous battles. “Can’t we just start?”
"Quiet down, Nidhogg, this isn't your Nibelungen." This time, it was an elegant humanoid monster who spoke. "Since it's a meeting of lords, we should wait for the lords of the four Abyss Realms to arrive."
The Demon Lord nodded slightly: "Thank you for your patience, Lady Yaksha."
The lord of the Underworld, Yaksha, smiled knowingly at the Demon Lord and said, "Your Excellency Demon Lord, before that, would you be interested in discussing the cooperation between the Underworld and Cocytus?"
Before the Lord of Demons could answer, a fireball fell from the sky and crashed into the center of the venue.
The arrival of the third lord immediately made the atmosphere tense. Yaksha kept his schemes hidden in his eyes, while Nidhogg raised his scales and made no attempt to hide his hostility.
The Demon Lord effortlessly deflected the flying flames with his black feathers, waiting for his opponent to appear.
A giant claw tore through the fireball, and a tall abyssal creature emerged from it. She possessed both the delicate beauty of a woman and the terrifying body of a monster, with legs as strong as a lion's hind legs and a tail like a venomous python.
The lord of the Netherworld Court slowly took her seat, each step exuding a majesty akin to that of a mother goddess.
Good evening, my enemies.
Typhon surveyed her surroundings with her stormy, dangerous, and lustful eyes.
"Where is Lilith? Hasn't she arrived yet?"
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Author's Note: Ker's unhappy family background has left him deeply mired in family issues, and he desperately needs a good girl like Xia Ying to listen to his trauma.
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