Notice: Floor Fifteen Boss Event - The Wrath of Cerberus - has been activated. Player SHADE has entered and as such, access to the boss chamber has been cut off until further notice.
"Standing in this place feels quite nostalgic, now that I think about it... I still remember that night like it was yesterday, that night when I drank almost twenty cans of blood-rage energy drink just to solo you, Cerberus -The Brimstone Hound".
Towering over his lanky figure was the massive frame of the boss monster of floor fifteen. It was curled in on itself, seemingly asleep. As the large iron doors groaned shut with a loud slam, a giant red eye peered from the bundle of scorched red fur.
"Wakey wakey!! Sleeping Mut".
Cerberus stood up, revealing all three of its heads. It's blood stained maw were bared at Min-jun, its paws poised to smash his miniature frame.
"As majestic as ever!! You're probably hoping to squash me one on one right?! Alright, I'll indulge you this one's. Only because I'd rather not waste card energy on an already defeated boss".
"Activate Deck Draw!!"
"Summon Artifact cards- dagger and shield"
Notice: Right-handed dark dagger and the Blood-bash shield have been summoned.
Defense and attack stats have received a five percent boost.
"You have three phases when it comes to your attack patterns. Right now, I'm facing the first of three. In this phase, the only attacks are paw strikes and lunges. But even with those..."
Boom!!!!
"... They're fast as hell!!!"
Min-jun avoided a near strike to his stomach, lunging backwards with his shield up.
"You mean business... Even after being farmed by several parties you still have strength..."
Dashing towards Cerberus, Min-jun struck it's paw, leaping off its claw to deal a strike to it's Central head. Cerberus winced in pain, having lost an eye to Min-jun's dagger. Pushing back, Cerberus lunged at Min-jun to create distance.
"You seem to be in pain, let's kick this up a couple notches... Sea King's Will!!!"
Tiny droplets of water suddenly condensed from the heavy steam in the atmosphere. Gathering into swirling masses of water, they conjoined around the dark dagger's edge.
"... Where there's steam, there's water. And when you're facing a flame type monster, it's usually best to have a trick up your sleeve. Upgrade!!"
Notice: Right-handed dark dagger has been morphed by Sea King's Will - New weapon variant acquired.
- Darkened Ice Edge - Celestial Grade - Diamond Tier Weapon
"Hmm, not bad!! Now the true fun can begin".
Using Shadow magic, Min-jun's figure vanished from plain sight. With break-neck speeds, he struck several places on Cerberus' body.
Notice: Freeze effect will be applied for every critical hit.
"Hahaha!!!"
In the heat of combat, Min-jun was dazed with joy, not holding back his excitement as he engrained Cerberus with slash after slash.
Speeding towards a lunging Cerberus, he dealt a leaping slash that split it's Central head into two.
Notice: Freeze effect has been applied.
The head of Cerberus froze In a thick casing of ice, breaking to shards from the strike. The beast fell on its belly, wincing in pain. Soon after, a mighty howl resounded from the remaining heads.
Notice: Blood Moon Regeneration has been activated.
"Onto the next phase then..."
The Cut-off central head started to regenerate, a gorry site of flesh and bone smashing together to regain their original form.
"The second phase is where it gets real tricky..."
From the beast's frame, there was a sudden cracking sound. Flesh tore off as the three headed hound split into three independent bodies. Those that lacked a leg grew one in a fraction of a second. Spines and tails were grown along with paws and fur.
"Cellular Division... Among all the bosses in this tower, Cerberus was the only beast who could do this... Create tangible apparitions of its original body".
The three hounds dashed around Min-jun, their individual speeds onpar with his Shadow magic speed boost. He knew what he had to do. Taking up the blood-bash Shield, he initiated its ultimate technique.
[Bloody Dome]!!!!
The shield shattered into blood red shards, floating and spinning around him as the Bloody Dome was formed. Dodging a sudden lunge from one hound, Min-jun side stepped another with ease, dealing a slash to it's form as he dodged. The beast withdrew, but there was no slash mark on its body.
"Hmm, so it's just like in the game..."
"Cerberus' second phase had one major obstacle. A player could not attack the hound that wasn't the central head. But all three hounds could attack the player. Back in the day, I spent hours trying to find a solution to that problem..."
"Very slick you stupid mut, but I know how deal with this issue".
Looking at the feet of all three hounds as they dashed from corner to corner, he noticed only one shadow.
"Gotcha!!"
Dashing towards the shadow, he leapt high enough to reach its head, cleaving it off with the Darkened Ice Edge. With the main body slain, the apparitions morphed back into the main body, regenerating all lost limbs and the central head. With a mighty roar that shook the chamber, Cerberus began to shift into its final form.
Its crimson fur began to glow, blood red eyes shooting to life as it began to gather Mana. Min-jun knew this move well, it was its magic attack, Flame Wave Roar.
Aiming the attack at Min-jun, it released the skill, torrents of heat speeding towards Min-jun.
"I've seen this too many times to flinch... Blood-bash!!!"
The Bloody Dome morphed back into a full shield, crashing down with such a force that tore through the hard ground, striking Cerberus' attack wave. Charging towards Cerberus, he leapt over its frame, dispelling the dagger and shield for his Chaos Gauntlet.
"Alright!! I'm afraid we'll have to end it here Cerberus!!!! Chaos Overdrive!!! "
Tendrils of red energy gathered at his fist, materializing into a giant pair of fists that smashed Cerberus into the ground.
Blood spewed as several system notifications popped up before Min-jun.
[Level up 8×]
Notice: Wrath of Cerberus quest has been conquered. Items obtained may have a low tier - Cerberus' first kill has already been claimed.
Items Obtained:
Brimstone Pelt
Fangs of Cerberus
Grimoire of Hell-Flame
New Card: Cerberus - The Brimstone Hound
New Skill: Blood Moon Regeneration has been morphed by dominant affinity- the new skill, Dark Moon Healing, has been obtained.
Heals all status effects and recovers health 100 points per minute.
New Status Aspects:
Username: SHADE
Class: Necromancer
Rank: S : [potential of evolving: high] .
Dominant affinity: Darkness
Current level: 51
Title: Plague Cleaver
Health: 1000300
Strength: 200
Intelligence:340
Agility:500
Dexterity:200
Mana:600
Luck:400
Unique skill:
Shadow Magic - basic level - 98%
Sea King's Will - basic level - 40%
Dark Moon Healing - basic level - 10%
"Woah!! All this?!! I wonder if it's because of my luck stat!! Oh well, it's time I got that flower. If I remember, I have to plunge out Cerberus' heart and plant to get the Lily of Amber... Sorry bud, but it has to be done".
Min-jun took out his dagger, begrudgingly walking towards Cerberus' corpse with regret in his tone. Kneeling at the dull crimson bundle of fur, he stroked it gently, looking for it's chest.
Stab!!
"I didn't wanna do this but, it's done..."
Digging a hole, he dropped the still beating heart into the hole, covering back up. True to it's magical nature, a lily of bright crimson, shining petals and calyxes bloomed. This was the Lily of Amber.
"I've got it... Now to get out of this chamber".
The iron door slowly groaned open. On Min-jun's smartwatch, it was seven in the evening. Looking up, he saw a crowd of men, killing intent oozing off them in waves. In their midst, a single figure of authority stood smoking a cigar with his hand in his hair.
"Oh!! So this is my welcome parade!!"
Min-jun was neither scared nor shaken. With a sly grin, he stepped out of the chamber. The men who thought they had cornered a rat, did not know that it was the rats that had failed in cornering a demon..