by Scar, Rick
He snorted. “A fake. Just as I told you.”
“Hey! Are you saying I’m so damn stupid? That I’m a complete idiot, you fucking piece of shit? Are you?!” the demon bared his fangs, standing right before Raven. “You know…Ha, ha! Instead of raking my brain over all those books, teaching myself to recognize the true nature of items, I…I learned to slash and kill bastards like you who think they’re the smartest ones in the room!” His claw dug into the rogue’s belly again.
Without waiting any longer, Will activated the forerunner.
The space around them trembled. Like a peal of thunder, a long, drawling wolf’s howl came. Cerberus was instantly located on the map. Hiding the figurine and half-bending, the rogue pointed in the flashing light’s direction.
“The crystal’s working! Cough, cough…It must be his mother’s spell locating him. Now, you crazy madman, let me restore my strength.”
The demon (who’d frozen on spot upon hearing the howling) grinned, muttering in his language. Still holding Raven’s body on his claw, he brought it closer to his face.
“Wow. Ahahaha. Looks like you spoke the truth. I can recognize his howling anywhere. I’m literally smelling the dog’s stench. Well. I’ll wait for you to restore and then I’ll use you as a bait to destroy the dog! Ahahaha…ahahaha…”
Lying on the ground by the Dark Chasm was a bleeding man. Standing by his side was a boy lifting his insane face to the sun. He laughed, laughed and laughed, working himself up into complete, absolute insanity full of darkness and terror.
Chapter 98. The Show Begins
S tanding no chance of using the box himself, Raven did not give any further thought on how he could deceive or kill Cerberus. He probably couldn’t do that alone by any means so, regaining his strength, he just led the way for the insane demon.
***
It took them two days to discover Cerberus’s exact location: the same small hut on a small mountain ridge, guarded by the smoke hounds who’d leveled up since Will had last been here.
He barely managed to describe his plan to his crazy companion who’d been extremely agitated throughout the talk. A couple of times he almost sent Will to respawn again, but some part of his mind apparently remained fairly normal; instead of attacking his former jailer right away with a mad yell, he spent a while planning his actions while listening to the rogue.
After the discussion, the demon climbed to the top of the highest mountain with lightning speed and waited for an opportunity. Will had to distract the dog for some five seconds, and that would give Farris an edge.
Neither the wizard nor the dog would have stood a ghost of chance against each other when fighting in their human-like appearances. The smoke hounds were no problem for the demon, but Cerberus himself was. The rogue’s presence provided Farris with an advantage, however small. Once the human distracted the dog, he would apply his best skill, increasing his odds of winning.
Just like Cerberus, he had little wish to regain his true appearance. This world locked the demons’ powers inside them so they only retained their size and a couple of skills they used to have in the demon world. The price of unlocking their true selves was tremendous: doing that, they would have been unable to use even a tiny portion of their powers for years, falling easy prey to absolutely anyone.
***
Raven stood at the foot of that very mountain where the demon stood ready to ambush to avoid being smelled by the hounds that would warn their master. Standing in the open, he recollected his thoughts and took a deep breath.
“RA-DER-MIN!” The rogue’s voice resounded across the ridge and, reflected by the rocks, it reached the small hut in a hollow.
The door opened at once. Cerberus, in his human form, stood on the threshold. Looking around, he saw a tiny figure far away and jerked up his brows in surprise. Raven? he asked himself. Why is he here? Why isn’t he coming?
While he wondered, the tiny figure waved a hand to drive his attention. “I came to give it to you!” the figure shouted.
This phrase had two different meanings: one for the demon who’d heard the story of Cerberus burning down Will’s home and family and torturing him, another for Radermin who’d given him the quest of returning the box.
The hunter was surprised: some time still remained until the three-month deadline. And why was Will talking to him from a distance? Whistling to the hound inside the hut, Cerberus slowly started towards the rogue. Something definitely was wrong. He had to find out what.
***
Phew. Good enough he’s coming. If he didn’t, I’d be toast, the rogue thought, his whole body tensing up. This spot was to witness a battle putting an end either to him or to…
“Why are you here?” the other man spoke softly.
Will interrupted him in a hasty whisper: “Grab me by the neck! Fast! I have the box but the wizard demon who stole it is coming with me. Do it! Now!”
Cerberus’s fast response deserved utmost praise. Before uttering the last words, Raven was already held up in the air by the hunter’s hand.
“Where’s the box?” Pandora’s servant asked, apparently nervous.
“Here,” Will nodded at his ring. “And the demon’s above on the mountain. Now start beating me but don’t kill me. I’m supposed to distract you…Ah!” A big fist struck his face, pressing the rogue against the rock.
Cerberus started to come up slowly, pretending to enjoy this play with a puny human while talking fast, barely moving his lips: “Do you ever use your head? Why bring the wizard with you?”
“Unforeseen circumstances arising by fate. Don’t be so shy. Hit me, but not with full force—or I won’t be able to help you kill him.”
“You won’t be able to help anyway,” the demon world’s guard hissed, punching the rogue plastered to the rock in the belly. “Even with his brain disconnected from his real body, Insanity is not the kind of enemy you can do any damage to. Give me the box bef—” A mighty blow swept him off his feet, sending him flying. His left arm remained where he’d just stood.
“Ahahaha! Hey! My good old friend! Here comes…who? Yes! Me! That’s me! Say. Say you’re glad to see me. Aren’t you? Ahahaha! Look! You’ve dropped something.” Picking up Cerberus’s arm, the demon waved it as though in greeting. “Wow! What’s this? Are you greeting yourself? What a narcissist hypocrite. What about me? Don’t you want to greet me? Do it! Now!”
Grabbing the severed limb by the hand, the demon repeatedly shook it with such vigor that blood splashed all around, washing the boy all over like a rain of blood.
“Now we’ve greeted each other properly. Hey! Ahahaha. You’ve done your job, piece of meat. Soon I’ll kill him. Then I’ll kill you. Just. As. Promised.” Singing the last word, Farris darted toward the maimed Cerberus and suddenly stopped as if caught in a paralyzing fishnet.
The demon’s popped eyes rolled as he struggled to grasp what had happened. His still body hung in the air, an inch above the ground, and saliva dripped from his mouth as he found he could not even move his tongue. The pupils of his eyes were the only moving part.
“That’s Dancing of Time, you bastard! You won’t break free however hard you try. Cerberus! Attack, damn you!” Groaning, Will finally got out of the dent in the rock made by his body and, dusting himself off, stirred the only one in this world who could kill his most hated companion.
“Is that your doing? You’ve levelled up high over such a short time,” the other man said slowly.
“KILL HIM!” Will growled. “Enough time wasted talking to me, you shitty guard. Do you think he’ll stay like that forever?” the rogue yelled, wondering why the damned Cerberus had become so talkative all of a sudden.
Shaking his head, the guard came to. Smirking, he darted for the wizard. “Looks like I have a debt to pay, you cursed monster. No use of this arm, anyway.” He applied a powerful skill, turning his hand into a fiery dog’s jaws that bit off the demon’s left arm.
That made the count 1:1.
Will
started to believe in victory. By the time his skill expired, Farris had lost another arm, and there was a big hole in his chest. Raven knew this demon was too powerful to merely rip his head off (although he’d love to see that). More than once, he shouted for Cerberus to destroy at least the demon’s heart, or cut off his legs up to the shoulders, but the dog just kept working his claws ardently. They hit the opponent’s body with a metal clang.
Radermin started to get tired. His blows became slower, even despite Will applying the maximal level of his speed-boosting skill to his ally. This skill appeared not to work properly for guys like Cerberus. Or was it the demon’s tremendously high level? The rogue couldn’t even see what level he was.
Chapter 99. Time to Pay
A las, things did not run smoothly. The skill that was anything but cheap expired before Cerberus could kill the demon.
“Give me the box! Now!” Radermin growled.
Reacting instantly, Will was about to throw him the box when the ground shook, making him fall and roll back.
“You’ve made a bad, bad mistake, fucking messenger! Ahahaha! Your meat will be my food. I’ll destroy your soul and use it to regain my powers.” The remnants of the demon boy’s body swelled, letting out a thirty-foot-tall, human-like monster with giant, razor-sharp claws, its body covered in shiny metal scales.
Initially, the creature had had four arms, but now it only had stumps in place of those severed by the hunter. Raging in the monster’s eyes was a storm of fury, pain, suffering, insanity, darkness, and chaos, with blazing whirlwinds in place of pupils. The demon’s roar crushed the nearest mountain top. Barely escaping the falling rocks, Will glanced at the one whom he’d spent so much time with.
Name: Farris
Demon of Insanity — wizard
Level: ???
Health: ???
The monster kept growing larger and larger. As if he weren’t formidable enough, Raven thought with immense pity for himself. He had overrated Cerberus; that was why things were going so badly.
Why is he so weak? He had barely done any damage to the enemy over the four minutes he’d been paralyzed. The hole in the demon’s chest, previously large, now looked more like a bullet wound.
Calling to Cerberus, Will tossed him the box. “What’re you gonna do?” he asked while the demon was still evolving into his new appearance. And that…that son of an indecent woman replied with such an absurd suggestion it made Will wonder if Insanity was even the craziest one there.
The dog asked him to DISTRACT the monster for a whole TWO MINUTES!
“Are you nuts or what?!” Will roared in fury, staring back. “Can you compare my powers to his? Or have you been splashed with this bastard’s blood and infected with his mad—”
Before he could finish, Farris came to and tried to pin the rogue with his claw.
“I never imagined it to be like that! NEVER!”
Cerberus remained Will’s only hope. He apparently knew how to use the box. Will only had to live until he did that.
Raven darted for the wizard’s leg and applied Without Barriers to climb the crazed giant. Seeing his body desecrated by the human ant stepping on it, the demon tried to shake him off, but Will dug his blade into the giant’s hip and, enduring the giant’s shaking movements, he continued his race upward, striving for his enemy’s head.
The demon was slower in his giant form, and Will being on his body prevented him from making full use of his clawed paws. Trying to smash the rogue with the flat of his hand, the wizard realized he could no longer feel this tiny piece of meat. Glancing beneath his cupped hand, he saw nothing and, deciding he’d crushed the tiny creature completely, he shifted his eyes back to Cerberus who was some 150 feet away, drawing magic runes on the rocks.
In the meantime, Will had left the shadow and reached the giant’s shoulder by applying Double Jump.
Now Finger Snap.
The giant froze and clutched at his head, accidentally scratching himself with a claw. Blood gushed from the wound, pouring over his shoulder.
“Get off me, you little scum! Hey!” the demon roared. However hard he peered, he couldn’t see Raven, which only infuriated him more. “Time to teach you a small practice lesson! Climbing anyone, make sure…they can’t use magic! RAGH!”
The demon’s whole body covered with fire. Paling, the rogue used Double Jump again, stabbing his dagger into Farris’s bald head right above his ear to hang on for dear life. The flames enveloping the demon’s body were not high; the dagger’s length was enough for Will to escape burning alive.
Hanging on for some five seconds, he then jumped off, cursing, and twisted to fly through the flames right into the demon’s ear. It had no fire inside, providing a great opportunity for…
“Soul Cry! Ahahaha! Do you read me? Over. Are you having fun? Are you? Hey! Tell me you’re having just as much as I am!” The rogue was paying the demon back with his own coin for all the suffering from him.
“RAAAGH! You son of a bitch! You’re not getting off that easy, you piece of shit!” The demon’s roar was full of pain and fury. He could do nothing about the human in his ear. In the meantime, Will tossed his dagger and, smirking, he stabbed it into the monster’s eardrum, spicing it up with Air Knife.
He’d even over-fulfilled his task; the demon could now think of nothing but getting rid of the cockroach inside his head. Will cut a small passage through his ear, getting doused with the giant’s creature blood. Smirking, he kept cutting through to reach the brain. Bringing his dagger down, he recalled all his deaths and unnecessary torture coming from his crazy companion’s hand. He badly regretted this game had nothing like TNT or C-4. He wanted nothing more than to blast this giant piece of meat to smithereens. Alas, none of his skills could do that.
I should’ve left Soul Cry until now, Will thought with regret when his next blow opened the way to the creature’s brain. Crunching his neck, Raven grinned and raised his dagger, ready to land the most powerful blow when the giant’s whole body started to vanish, leaving Will in the air with his hand still raised.
“Huh?” Immensely astonished, he realized he was falling. His Rock Climber’s Cape prevented him from losing more than 10% of his health upon hitting the ground.
Seeing the one-handed Cerberus standing aside, the rogue asked: “What happened?”
“I used the box.” Radermin sighed and sat on the ground.
“Ah. Imprisonment?”
“Yes. How long I have been after this scum. My lady would’ve killed me ten times over for being that slow.” He smiled a wry smile.
“Um.” Raven smiled broadly, imps dancing in his eyes as he anticipated a lavish reward. “Time to pay me, Cerberus.”
Chapter 100. See You in Six Months... Bastard
“Y ou’re right. Although it happened all of a sudden, I still was able to get him. Though just for a short time.”
Congrats!
The first part of the Pandora’s Box quest has been completed early!
Since you did not share the whereabouts of the wizard, and later the box, with Radermin, the next three parts of the Pandora’s Box epic quest chain are completed automatically. You receive all the rewards AND a special bonus for creative problem-solving and early quest completion.
Reward:
+ 310,000 XP (reduced because the wizard stayed alive);
+ 8,300 gold (reduced because the wizard stayed alive);
+ 1,000 influence points (reduced because the wizard stayed alive);
You get to ask Radermin one question and get one answer;
A class-appropriate rare skill (reduced because the wizard stayed alive);
Part of epic-rank gear;
+ 640 Radermin’s approval points.
Bonus Reward:
You have an opportunity to get Radermin to open a passage between this floor and another floor of your choice, for your personal use only.
Duration: The passage will stay open for 3 months
Restrictions: You can’t
take another player or NPC with you. If you violate this condition, the passage will close.
Level Up
Current attitude status:
Radermin 340/400 − trust
You’ve learned a rare skill: Leap
Rank: Rare
Enables you to tear the space apart and teleport instantly in your chosen direction.
Range: 30 feet
Energy required: 100
Cooldown: 2 min
Ghostly Wei’s Cape
Rank: Epic
Requirements: 200 Agility
Description: A piece of the cape worn by a famous assassin of the past. The cape has been separated into three parts. Find the remaining pieces to restore the item.
Agility ??;
Speed ??;
Defense ??;
Stealth ??;
Characteristics:
Skill: Spurt of Death
Description: ??
Skill: Wings
Description: ??
Skill: Robed Assassin
Description: ??
Restrictions: ??
Reading the reward info, Will went into mental raptures. Although some properties were still hidden, the very names of the skills provided by the cape made him itching to get them.
But now he had to get what Cerberus still owed him. Shaking his head and wiping saliva from his chin (how did it come to be there?) the rogue returned to the conversation. “I don’t get it. Why for a short time?” Will remembered the description of the Imprisonment skill. It said the box owner was free to chose any imprisonment duration. Why hadn’t Radermin done that?
“Um...” The hunter looked down at the box in his hand and patted it tenderly, his face sad. “Do you know the whole story of this item?”