Doomsday Pillars

Night time, 12 hours after the start of the expedition.

The expedition group had advanced through the antechamber, killing every Abyss creature they came across so mercilessly so that one could see the thousands of critters’ bodies and hundreds of still-flaring hellhounds lying on the ground behind them, verifying the destruction they had left.

These fighters then finally reached the second gate, the connecting place between the antechamber and the main chamber of Abyss. The place where Cerberus, the gatekeeper of hell was.

Looking at the best fighters the world had to offer while receiving their undivided attention could make anyone who was in his current position nervous under the pressure. However, Alex did not seem to feel the pressure as he slowly opened his mouth.

"I assume that some of you have encountered and faced this monster before." said Alex calmly and clearly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Therefore, let me ask three groups of volunteers, one each to face the three boss monsters."

Alex saw that Winter was about to step forward to volunteer, alas, he was a step too late because another fighter from the US got ahead of him and stepped forward first.

"Us. We will show how it is done." said the US fighter that came from General Max’s camp. As the man said that, another 4 person stepped forward and stood beside him. These people were Sky Realm fighters who were also members of American army. Seeing this, Alex just nodded and threw his gaze elsewhere, expecting others to step forward too.

The second group that volunteered were Christina and the two members of firebirds, Corrie and Maxine. After that, the third group of volunteers came from Germany, who unexpectedly sent only one person, a handsome middle aged man with a muscular build and long golden hair tied into a bun wearing a black suit with gold-rimmed tie. This man was the leader of the German entourage named Alaric. Alex nodded his head towards this man as a show of respect.

The group that would face the three Cerberus had been formed, which consisted of 5 people from America, 3 women who were members of the firebirds and a man from Germany. These 9 people then immediately walked closer to the 3 statues of the three-headed giant dog while being watched by the other fighters.

It could be seen that the leader of the US volunteer group who stepped forward earlier, a man from Texas named Liam, was annoyed by the current situation. In his opinion, the fact that they had volunteered 5 of their fighters to fight while others only sent a group of women and a lone man was a thorough humiliation.

At first, he was overjoyed by the fact that he had beaten that guy from McCord’s camp. However, the expression on his face slowly turned unsightly as he saw that the next volunteer was only a group of women, three women at that. His face finally could not take it anymore when he saw that the last volunteer was only a man, one f*cking man.

Even though his mind was saying ’To hell with all of this, let me and my men fight these 3 monsters alone," Liam could only swallow his own irritation and put up with the situation. Because in truth, he had only seen this monster and never fought against it. Therefore, he was not sure that his group could fight it alone.

"Attack!!" exclaimed Liam loudly as he furiously charged towards the statues, followed by his men.

The two women next to Christina were also ready to charge forward when Christina suddenly spread her arms and held them back. The same could be seen with Alaric, who continued to walk casually without any intention of rushing forward.

When the 5 American fighters entered within a 25 meter radius around the statue, the three statues’ surfaces immediately cracked and shattered as three ferocious three-headed Cerberus emerged from them. When the three Cerberus opened their eyes and showed their blood-colored eyed full of malice, the 5 fighters still continued their charge until only 20 meters remained between them. Seeing the small figures approaching them, the three Cerberus instantly roared, making deafening sounds that travelled through the hall they were in.

Hearing the thunderous sounds, the five fighters were undaunted and started the attack by opening fire on those Cerberus with their high caliber rifles.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Loud sounds could be heard as they continued firing their rifles at the Cerberus. But unfortunately for them, none of the bullets their fired were able to penetrate the monster’s thick hide and could only bounce off of it, like rubber hitting a wall. Seeing the situation, Liam hurriedly took out a rocket launcher from his storage ring and fired it.

*SWISH*

BOOOOMMMM!!!

Smoke and dust immediately filled the hall as the rocket hit the monster. Alex saw the other fighters who stood waiting and watched, laughing a little as they saw the American fighter’ overly flashy but ineffective way of fighting.

The Cerberus which was hit by the rocket instantly roared in anger and lunged towards the American fighters. Meanwhile, the other two Cerberus didn’t stay still and joined in to attack them as well.

However, when the second Cerberus was just about to start moving, Aleric suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was standing in front of it. He then quickly swung his hand which was covered with brownish glow towards the Cerberus.

[Stone Fist]

BAM!

A loud sound echoed through the air as Aleric’s blow hit the Cerberus and knocked the monster down and left it twitching on the ground. [Stone Fist] was an Earth element spell that enabled its user to concentrate all energy on one point of impact, resulting in a lethal strike. Alex and the fighters who observed the battle were amazed by the decisive blow delivered by the German man.

On the other side of the hall, Corrie and Maxine stomped their feet on the ground as they dashed towards the third Cerberus at high speed. When they arrived in front of it, they immediately lured the third Cerberus away from the other two. With the current situation where the three Cerberus had separated and were fighting individually, the battle would be easier.

It appeared that among the 5 American fighters, apart from Liam who was a Fire element Sky realm Magus, the other 4 were only Sky realm Knight. However, thanks to their military background, they were able to gang up on that poor Cerberus effectively. These people apparently attacked the Cerberus using a strategy where they made Liam as their core point, while the 4 other people served to assist and provide opportunities for him. Alex could see that Liam began to cast his [Fire Infusion] spell on the tier 3 ax he had in hand. He then immediately swung the ax towards the Cerberus, slashing and striking any opening that appeared as the others distracted it.

When the American fighters were busy fighting, Aleric on the other hand did not remain silent. He then proceeded to cast another spell, a lightning element spell [Energized]. Unexpectedly, it turned out that Alaric was a dual element Magus.

Enhanced by the [Energized] spell, Aleric grabbed one of Cerberus’s legs and slammed it on the ground again, over and over until it stopped moving. He then began to tear the Cerberus with his bare hands.

On Alaric’s fist, Alex could see a shining glove that looked like a tier 3 artifact. Seeing that, he thought to himself while stroking his chin. ’A dual element Magus and a tier 3 artifact user. Formidable indeed.’

Alex also believed that Alaric had reached level 40, judging by the physical strength and spirit power he showed.

The American fighters who saw Aleric’s actions did not want to lose and began to take out their artifact weapons. Slashes and stabs continued to hit the Cerberus’s body and wounds began to cover its entire body until the monster’s movements turned sluggish. A while later, the monster finally fell and was lying on the floor.

"Yeah! We did it!" exclaimed one of the American fighters with pride. However, the man’s excitement quickly evaporated as he saw Aleric was already sitting calmly on top of the second Cerberus’s scattered body while watching them.

To cover up his frustration, Liam thought that at least they were not any slower than those female fighters. Just as he was about to make fun of those women, Liam saw something was wrong with their situation.

When he paid closer attention to them, Liam noticed that the two women didn’t attack the Cerberus at all, only diverted its attention. Until finally, he saw a short-haired Asian woman take out a sword that was burning violently like embers.

Liam disdained the woman and spat on the ground when he saw her pull out the same spell he used. However, he was surprised to see Christina moving so fast as she swung her sword upwards towards the Cerberus. That single slash caused a crescent-shaped red flame to appear and rushed towards the Cerberus until it reached the ceiling of the hall, leaving black burnt marks there. The Cerberus was seen standing there motionless before slowly separating and split in half with its wounds cauterized.

Alex was surprised when he saw that attack. That was a tier 4 fire element spell [Fire Blade], which meant that Christina had successfully reached the high stage of Sky realm Magus. Alex was amazed by Christina’s ability to achieve her elemental understanding so quickly.

In a short time, all three Cerberus died by these 3 groups. Alaric and Christina quickly became the topic of conversation of all of the other fighters. Whereas Liam could only be annoyed by himself.