Cyd squatted in front of Cerberus, gently poking the nose of the middle head—the one that seemed the most stuck-up and determined to murder him.
"Look, it's not like I want to be rough with you," he said casually. "Why don't you just let us through and save yourself the trouble?"
The giant dog growled from beneath the crushing pressure of the black dragon claws still pinning him to the ground. "Don't act so calm. You've used up all your scales, haven't you?" The claws trembled as Cerberus writhed harder. "The moment you lose focus, I'll tear you apart!"
"Aw, busted." Cyd clicked his tongue. "Yeah, you're not wrong."
He looked at the creature's fifty-something heads and sighed. If this had just been the usual three, he might've wrapped this up ten minutes ago. But no, this Cerberus came with DLC: a whole chorus of snarling mouths and snapping teeth, which meant he'd had to unleash every last scale from the cloak forged by Hephaestus.
And now?
Now it was a waiting game. Whoever cracked first—him or the hellhound—lost.
But Cyd leaned in, grabbing the nose again. "Still looks like I'm winning, though."
"You think you can maintain control over all those scales at once?" Cerberus hissed, straining. "Let's see how long you last."
Cyd narrowed his eyes, but deep down… something was off.
Wait—he wasn't tired.
Not even winded.
He should've been. Controlling that many scales simultaneously was supposed to be mentally exhausting. Hephaestus had warned him that the cloak—crafted from the remains of a slain magic dragon—required his full focus and energy.
But this? This felt… effortless. Too effortless.
And come to think of it… hadn't there been moments before when the cloak acted on its own?
Like that time it shredded the sleeve of his shirt mid-fight just to form a claw.
He stood slowly, a shadow passing over his face.
And that's when he saw it.
His own silhouette on the stone behind him… overlaid with the looming shadow of a massive dragon.
[So you finally noticed.]
[I'm not dead yet, you brat.]
A raspy, smug voice whispered into his ear, making him stiffen.
"No way…" he muttered, hand covering his face. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"What's the matter?" Cerberus mistook the mumbling as fear and gave a guttural laugh. "Finally realizing you're outmatched?"
[Relax. I'm tied to your nervous system now, thanks to that greedy goddess wanting you to control me without training. She used my nerves. Thought I'd stay dormant forever. But hey—you dragged me into the Underworld. Guess what? You woke me up.]
Cyd's eye twitched.
[Don't look so sour. I'm literally part of your arm now. I can't hurt you. You beat me fair and square—ugh, still burns to say that—but I'm your weapon now. You saw how well we fought together just now? Amazing teamwork!]
"Oh gods… you're gonna talk a lot, aren't you," Cyd groaned, rubbing his temple.
[Get used to it, meatbag~]
Then—CRACK!
Cerberus twisted violently, its enormous weight shifting. One of the dragon claws slipped. Then another.
He was digging into the earth.
"Crap—!"
Cyd jumped back just in time to see the beast tear free. One paw came down like a hammer.
WHAM!
It hit him square in the chest.
The world turned sideways.
Cyd flew like a stone launched from a catapult, wind ripping past his ears as he hurtled through the air, limbs flailing.
"No no no no no—!" he yelled. "This is the direction of the river!"
Sure enough, the dark stretch of the Styx glinted below like a bottomless bruise. He tried to twist midair, shift his weight, anything—
But Cerberus was just too damn strong.
"CYD!!" Medusa's voice rang out behind him.
She hurled her chained scythe like a lifeline, the metal gleaming as it spiraled through the air toward him.
Not fast enough.
She grit her teeth.
[Chill, would you? I told you. I don't do playing dead.]
The dragon cloak on Cyd's shoulder unfurled like wings bursting from his back. Scales spiraled outward, locking into formation.
[And dragons can fly.]
The wings snapped wide. The momentum stopped.
Cyd hovered above the river, suspended by a pair of midnight-black wings.
He grinned.
"Now that's what I'm talking about."
He reached out and snatched Medusa's scythe midair like a pro.
"Medusa!" he called.
She didn't answer with words.
She spun.
With expert grace, she twirled the chain and yanked—using the scythe's momentum to whip Cyd back toward Cerberus like a human slingshot.
"Come on, then!!" Cerberus roared, lunging into the air with all fifty heads snapping and howling.
Cyd flipped, gripped the scythe tighter—and the wings behind him shed their scales, forming a swirling storm of shadowy armor.
He pulled his arms inward.
The scales twisted, layering tightly into a spiraling cone.
A drill.
"Spin."
The scales whirled so fast they howled, tearing through the Underworld's dead air. Cerberus's many eyes widened—but too late to notice the smaller, razor-like scales that had detached and shot ahead.
They pierced the beast's eyes one by one.
Blinding him.
"Game over."
Cyd's body, surrounded by the spinning black cone, smashed into the beast's core.
SPLURCH.
A massive hole punched straight through Cerberus's chest. Blood erupted from the wound in a geyser, hissing where it touched the cursed earth.
"I told you to sit."
The drill unraveled, scales scattering and then reforming into the cloak on his shoulder as Cyd landed smoothly on the ground.
THUD.
Cerberus collapsed. Dead.
…Or at least, that's what it looked like.
Cyd tilted his head. "Yeesh. That blood's nasty stuff."
He jogged over to the dropped supply pack Medusa had tossed earlier and pulled out a waterskin. Unbothered, he popped the cork and casually jabbed the opening into Cerberus's still-leaking wound, like he was collecting spring water from a mountain trail.
"…That's definitely toxic," he muttered.
But then—
Crack.
Crunch.
The sound of shifting bones echoed through the still air.
Cerberus's massive body rose.
The giant hole in its chest sealed before his eyes, and new heads began sprouting from the stumps like nightmarish weeds.
"This is the Underworld," the beast growled. "I guard this gate. That won't kill me."
Cyd stared. "I drilled you from skull to tail…"
"You did. And it hurt," Cerberus said, with something like a sleepy yawn rippling across his fifty voices. "But the rules are different here. I'm bound to this place. However—"
All the heads bowed at once.
"You won. Once. That's all it takes."
The hound laid flat, eyes closing.
Cyd stood there blinking. "…Wait, seriously?"
He pulled out another waterskin and pressed it up to one of the giant dog heads.
"Spare some spit? I need another sample."