103.
Jian hurriedly pressed the button on the box. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” began playing majestically.
Siyun looked at Jian with a confused expression at the sudden music. Yongho, transformed into a Dark Knight, also tilted his face slightly.
“Hyung, what are you doing…?”
Hyunsu also asked cautiously, wondering if something was wrong with Jian’s mind. Sehun was the only one who wasn’t surprised.
“In mythology, Cerberus is weak to music.”
Jian rubbed his nape, feeling embarrassed. Even so, his round eyes didn’t miss any of Cerberus’s reactions.
Whimper…
It was something he had prepared as a last resort. But it actually worked. When the music filled the surroundings, Cerberus made an unexpectedly weak sound.
The bubbling blood from the cut surfaces also slowed down. The pointed ears kept twitching toward the direction of the music.
One of the heads even yawned deeply. It tried to stay awake by rubbing its eyes with its front paws, but drowsiness began to cloud the eyes that had been full of killing intent.
The movement of the beast that had been actively attacking just moments ago noticeably slowed.
“Let’s attack at once.”
Sehun subtly moved the broadsword he had created from Cerberus’s blood. The tip of the sword, floating high in the air, aimed at the crown of the middle head.
Understanding Sehun’s signal, Yongho tightened his grip on the giant scythe. Siyun moved toward the head that was still regenerating.
“One, two, three.”
Sehun counted down. Jian swallowed hard. The duration of his attack skill was coming to an end.
Despite using an enormous amount of life force, Cerberus hadn’t died. It seemed to be due to its incredible regenerative abilities.
“Now.”
The giant broadsword plunged into Cerberus’s crown like lightning. Cerberus urgently tilted its head to the side, but it was too late.
The tip of the sword that had pierced through the head protruded from under the jaw. Simultaneously, Yongho’s scythe cut off the last remaining head.
The eyes of the head that fell to the ground rolled around. Siyun cut off the half-formed head once more.
Two heads and a lump of flesh that hadn’t yet become a head rolled on the ground. The body that had lost its heads staggered.
The blood flowing from the cut surfaces created acrid smoke when it met the lava. Jian covered his nose and mouth with his palm.
Siyun turned to the group and shrugged. A tired smile crossed his face, which still had black stains on it.
“I think we’ve dealt with it? Now we just need to break the mana stone…”
“Team Leader!”
Jian shouted in surprise at the shadow rising behind Siyun. Sensing something was wrong, Siyun raised his greatsword, but the massive front paw struck his body faster.
“Ugh…”
Siyun, letting out a dying groan, flew like a baseball. Yongho, frowning, rushed at the newly appeared Cerberus.
Just as the giant scythe was about to cut off the middle head, a pitch-black breath erupted.
Though he quickly rolled to the side to avoid it, part of Yongho’s leg was grazed by the breath. Jian gritted his teeth as he watched the bones melting instantly.
“A-another one has appeared…”
Hyunsu raised his trembling hand. A new Cerberus had emerged from the gate that the headless Cerberus had been guarding.
The Cerberus with only a body left approached the newly appeared Cerberus. The head that had just spewed breath clamped down on the approaching Cerberus’s body.
The other two heads also began to chew on the body of the headless Cerberus.
Jian covered his mouth with his palm. Even though they were monsters, watching one eat its own kind made bile rise in his throat.
The body that had lost its heads fluttered lifelessly like a kite in the sky before collapsing to the ground.
There was no relief even watching the meat chunk gradually turn to ash and disappear. This was because another shadow flickered behind the newly appeared Cerberus.
“…There’s one more.”
Jian’s eyes fell on the gate made of thorns. The gate, through which the scenery on the other side was clearly visible, was more like a doorframe than an actual gate.
But each time a new Cerberus appeared, the space rippled in blackness. It was different from the dungeons they had cleared before.
Until now, when they defeated all the monsters in a dungeon, a portal to the next floor would open. New monsters had never respawned before that.
“Hunter Lee Jian, how much cooldown time is left on your defense skill?”
“…48 minutes.”
Siyun, clutching his side, approached and asked Jian. He gritted his teeth at Jian’s answer.
Tremendous pain rose from his broken ribs. He took out a wound healing potion and downed it in one shot.
“If we face two at once, we’re at a definite disadvantage. I’ll lure one away separately so they can’t join forces.”
Siyun quickly assessed the situation. One fortunate aspect was that only two new Cerberuses had appeared.
If more than ten had appeared, everyone inside could have been annihilated.
They had already used a lot of their abilities to defeat just one. Looking at Jian’s pale face, Siyun rotated his hand holding the greatsword to loosen his muscles. The pain rose as his bones were still mending, but it was bearable.
“I’ll disable Cerberus’s hearing and try to put it to sleep!”
Hyunsu, who had used a healing skill on the injured Yongho, stepped forward. He used his skill on both Cerberuses simultaneously.
Grrrr… Woof! Woof!
Hyunsu’s ability only partially worked. The heads that lost their hearing painfully beat their ears with their front paws.
The heads that were drowsily closing their eyes shot open when the adjacent heads bit their ears.
“What should I do…?”
As Hyunsu panicked and started to whimper, Siyun winked as if to say it was okay.
“You dog bastard! Come this way!”
Siyun rushed forward and climbed onto Cerberus’s back. From that position, he plunged his greatsword into the eye of one of Cerberus’s heads.
The enraged Cerberus jumped up and down, trying to get rid of Siyun on its back. As Siyun intended, one Cerberus gradually moved away from the gate.
“Hyunsu, come next to me. Sehun, you too!”
Not missing the opportunity created by Siyun, Jian used his stealth skill and attack skill simultaneously.
Since Yongho had to face Cerberus in close combat with his scythe, Jian planned to protect Sehun and Hyunsu, who could attack from a distance, while attacking himself.
Thinking they needed to defeat at least one as quickly as possible, he used his attack skill at full power. His head spun, and his heart felt like it was being crushed.
Checking his life force, he saw that more than half had already been depleted. He tried using the music artifact again, but it seemed ineffective this time as Cerberus’s eyes remained alert.
“Hyung, something’s wrong with Sehun.”
Hyunsu grabbed Jian’s arm and shook it. Thanks to Jian’s stealth skill, Cerberus couldn’t recognize Jian and Hyunsu.
Meanwhile, Yongho, who had recovered with Hyunsu’s healing skill, flew high into the sky to attack Cerberus, but Sehun just stood blankly. Hyunsu’s face crumpled with anxiety.
“Sehun!”
Jian called out to Sehun. Cold sweat poured down like rain, blurring his vision.
It was strange that the person who had been at the forefront of defeating Cerberus was now standing like a broken doll. Thinking he needed to go to Sehun, Jian pushed himself even harder, injecting more life force.
“Cough…”
“Jian hyung!”
When Jian’s knee buckled and he coughed up blood, Hyunsu also turned pale. He quickly supported Jian’s arm on his shoulder.
“Hey, Han Sehun. What are you doing? Snap out of it!”
Had Sehun been hit by a mental attack from Cerberus? But if so, the others seemed fine.
Hyunsu was at his wit’s end because Sehun didn’t respond despite his desperate calls.
Cerberus’s eyes fell on Sehun, who was standing blankly. Blue ice crystals formed inside its wide-open mouth.
Everything in a straight line froze instantly from the breath that was shot. Jian looked at where Sehun had been standing with disbelieving eyes.
No way.
His mind went blank as if someone had struck his head with a hammer. He pushed away Hyunsu, who had been supporting him, and ran toward Sehun.
His legs kept giving out, making him fall to the ground several times. He couldn’t even care about his clothes burning from touching the lava or the burns on his legs.
“Sehun…!”
There was a metallic taste of blood in his mouth, as if the inside of his throat had been torn. Jian barely crawled to reach Sehun.
He could see a figure standing upright amidst the falling ice crystals.
Yongho urgently stabbed Cerberus’s eyeball with his scythe to prevent the next attack. Meanwhile, Jian, who had reached Sehun’s side, raised his trembling arm.
Focused on dealing with the immediate crisis, he hadn’t noticed what state Sehun was in. Sehun’s abilities were far superior to Jian’s own.
