Chapter 36: 35. The Beginning of the End

Different POV at the start of the chapter.

it changes back where you find the asterisk.

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I was watching the space around my room through a window, and the silence wasn’t comforting even for a figure like me.

Living in the void is a lonely experience, but I guess it’s better than staying with the other deities.

The Primordial will be freed soon, and the little one might not make it after all. He was a Glitcher, and those weirdos had certain latent abilities that worked separately from the stuff given by the system.

However, he knows nothing about the matter and his records lack any decisive evidence. He’s never stumbled upon a way to awaken his latent power, and that’s not a good thing for him. I knew for a fact that he had a latent ability, and that he was using some of it unconsciously.

Unlike regular people, the system can’t fully access his mind; that’s why it misinterpreted his orders sometimes.

He resorted to voicing his commands to the system to reduce the chance of misinterpretations, but even that wasn’t enough as the system misunderstood his vocal commands on multiple occasions. Even a special being like me couldn’t spy on all of his thoughts, and I found the matter to be interesting.

I had a hunch that his power was a psychic one or a mental one, but there was nothing that I could change at this point. I was already too involved with him, and he had to prove that he can take care of himself.

I had little hope for the little kid, but I decided to trust him.

I must’ve sent him back in time for a reason, right?

I closed the window and sat on my chair once more. I opened the system link with Jason Stubbs and watched the events that happened around him with great interest.

*

As soon as the Cerberus fully regenerated its injuries using the soil from the ground, it engaged me in direct combat.

It had greater strength than the regular hellhounds, but I found that I could hold my ground against it using one thousand and five hundred Kelvin flames.

It used two of its heads as hammers, trying to smack me with blunt force. The third -central- head didn’t move as much, and it only tried to bite a part of my body when I was close enough.

Still, it didn’t manage to cause any concerning damage as I was fast enough to avoid most of the fatal blows, and my increased regeneration healed the minor injuries quickly.

I used jabs to keep some distance from the Cerberus, and a straight punch to the neck sent it flying when it got too close.

My enemy’s ability to absorb flames was problematic at first, as it extinguished the flames around my arms when they contacted its skin for too long. I even fractured a couple of my right knuckle’s metacarpals when the creature smacked my bare hand with a headbutt.

That truly hurt, but the increased regeneration healed it in less than twenty seconds.

However, the problem was solved when I increased the temperature of my flames to two thousand Kelvin, as it granted me enough speed to use hit and run tactics.

The fire was too painful to keep for too long, but I persevered until I got an opportunity to increase my END stat.

I forwent all safety precautions and went full-offense against my opponent. The creature looked startled, as it had the initiative in our physical exchange up till now. A well-timed back spinning kick destroyed all three of its heads in one sweep, and I used a front kick to send the creature flying away from me.

I decreased the flames’ temperature to a tolerable level, as I stared at the fallen beast. I had a faint hope that this boss was like the Hydra, and that it would die once all of its heads were cut off.

I was wrong.

Just like the last time, black soil started gathering around each of the creature’s necks. Three heads started forming, and the other superficial injuries were healed in no time.

Oh. I guess I can use this opportunity to increase my END anyway.

I swiftly opened my status screen and allocated forty points to my END stat. I tried to increase the temperature of my flames to two thousand Kelvin, but it still wasn’t as tolerable as I hoped for it to be. After investing twenty more END, the flames got relatively bearable.

I looked back at the Cerberus, and he was completely healthy. He used the skill that allowed him to summon minions, and twelve hellhounds appeared out of the gathered soil.

It’s official! I fucking hate this hellhound creation factory skill!

The creatures rushed at me with great speed, but they weren’t a match for me in my current state. Their movements looked sluggish, and I didn’t even need to use exaggerated motions to evade their attacks.

I was interested in gauging my current defenses, so I let the first hellhound bite me. His teeth penetrated my skin, but they didn’t manage to make a dent in the muscles. I was satisfied, and I thanked the little creature by killing it with a karate chop to the neck.

Two more creatures appeared in front of me, and each of them tried to attack me from a slightly different angle. I reacted in time, and caught each of their necks and slammed their heads toward one another as hard as I could.

Three enemies were gone, and nine remained. I decided to finish them off quickly, so I rushed to the three hounds that were closest to me. I attacked one of them with a palm strike using my right arm, and another with a hook. They were defeated instantly, so I didn’t waste any time thinking about them.

The third one was behind me so I struck it with a back kick. My aim was a little off, and the creature was still alive somehow. Its skin started glowing as a prelude to its eventual self-destruction, so I quickly destroyed its head with a double axe handle punch.

The six hellhounds that were left growled at me from a distance, but they seemed hesitant to attack me. I didn’t have the time to let them sit around freely, as the Cerberus was so close to recovering after he used the skill that created the minions.

They were about to scramble away from one another, but I didn’t give them the time for that. It only took me a second to cross the forty meters needed to reach them.

I kicked two creatures as hard as I could successively, and they flew in the air, or at least what remained of their bodies. I attacked two creatures with a couple of quick left jabs; one of them died and the other fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

The remaining hellhounds shrieked and seemed to have the intention of running away, but I used a basic combo of kicks to defeat both of them instantly.

Suddenly, I heard a faint roar from afar. I didn’t give much heed, as it was somewhat similar to a regular hellhound’s roar and I had too much on my plate at this point.

I took a look at the Cerberus, and it was still panting in its usual spot. It was my chance to surprise the creature, and I made sure to take it.

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I was in front of my opponent in no time, and it didn’t make any physical response besides opening all of its eyes widely. I kicked it from underneath its belly with my full force, and it flew at least twenty meters in the air. The attack destroyed a large portion of its body, but it wasn’t enough for the kill.

I increased the temperature of my flames to five thousand Kelvin, and I grit my teeth in response to the great pain that struck me.

I jumped toward the creature, and I was able to go a little higher than it due to my great strength. It flailed in the air trying to balance itself, and it made small whimpers as it looked at the ground below it.

Heh! If you want to go back to the ground this hard, then I’ll grant your wish.

I raised my right leg and struck the Cerberus’ back with the strongest axe kick that I could unleash. It fell straight to the ground with great speed, and its body made a loud thud when it touched the soil.

I fell to the ground as well, albeit at a much slower speed. I could see that the creature was minced into small pieces, and its parts were scattered randomly. The biggest piece that I could see was about the size of a marble, so I knew that there was little chance for the Cerberus to survive the encounter.

I panted for a while, and I felt completely drained. Using high-temperature flames was rather taxing, and I felt so tired at this point.

Thankfully, this is the last boss that I’ll have to worry about in the tutorial.

The strange thing was that the monster didn’t bleed when its body got destroyed, and I didn’t see any innards on the ground whatsoever. I tried taking a closer look at one of the pieces that remained of the Cerberus, and it had a similar disposition to regular coal.

Too bad I had to destroy this creature completely, as I might’ve gotten something useful for my fire-base class. I am not sure I can dismantle this scattered mess at all.

I looked at the system screen that I’d been ignoring for a while, and I was satisfied with what I accomplished.

[Hellhound] (Uncommon) defeated x34! Host earned 4200000 EXP.

 

[Cerberus] (Uncommon) (Level 78) defeated! Host earned 8000000 EXP.

 

-Host levelled up x6!

 

 

[Flame-N-Go] levelled up x6! It reached level 25.

 

[It’s fine!] levelled up x6! It reached level 25.

 

[Burn that Invader!] levelled up x1! It reached level 16.

 

[Flawed State of Being] levelled up x6! It reached level 17.

 

[Plasmic Torch] levelled up x1! It reached level 10.

 

[Light Steps] levelled up x8! It reached level 26.

 

I was somewhat disheartened to see that my level still hasn’t reached seventy-five, as that was the level at which the next class evolution happened.

However, I didn’t beat myself over it for too long. Not even Stella reached this level in my past life, so it was still very good.

I sprinted towards the location in which I threw my bag of holding, and I was relieved to find it intact. I went back to dismantle the corpses of the creatures that I killed in this area, and I was excited to see the loot that they gave.

Wait, so why didn’t I get any system screen indicating that I cleared the tutorial? I fulfilled the condition for clearing the tutorial and I should have gotten the clear at this point…

Suddenly, I heard a terrifying roar from above me. It sent shivers through my bones, and it took me a couple of moments before I looked up to search for the creature that made the sound.

[Host discovered a hidden boss!]

 

[Tutorial Clearing Condition:…Changed!]

 

[The tutorial can be cleared if you defeat the [???????]!]

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