Kairos 84: God's Best Friend (Patreon)

Cerberus roared and the cavern was set ablaze.

Streams of flames erupted from his three mouths, illuminating the darkness with their bright light. Kairos’ party dispersed in all directions, the spot where they had been standing a few seconds ago turning into a smouldering crater.

“Buckle up, Kairos!” Rook warned his rider as he took flight to avoid the flames. No sooner did the duo reach a few meters above ground that a torrent of fire swallowed them. Even though he summoned a cloak of protective wind and benefitted from Andromache’s buffing spells, Kairos felt the heat increase around him.

When he and Rook emerged unharmed from the flames, they found Cerberus charging at them with relentless fury. The beast’s chains rattled behind him, while the ground shook beneath his feet. “We’re not here to harm your mistress!” Kairos shouted as loudly as he could, trying to reason with the beast. “We come to help her!”

“LIAR!” Cerberus’ three heads answered with thunderous rage, each with a different voice. “I WILL EAT YOU LIKE YOU DEVOURED THE MASTER!”

Cursing the blood of Lycaon in his veins, Kairos raised his spear in defiance.

“Into the fray!” Agron roared as he charged the beast right back, with Cassandra following after him. Sertorius cast [Agility Up] on the minotaur, hastening his movement, while Nessus and Andromache unleashed a volley of arrows and lightning bolts to cover them. Only Thales retreated towards the skiff, perhaps hoping to have the team evacuate down the riverstream before the hellhound could reach them.

Arrows and lightning bolts bounced off Cerberus’ hide as if it were made of steel. The hellhound’s three heads roared in outrage as they glared at Agron and Cassandra. “OUT OF MY WAY!”

[Cerberus] used [Hellfire Rage]! [Fire] attacks will bypass [Resistance]!

Agron became a blur and played a sorrowful ballad on his Songaxe. The same that Orpheus once used to lull Cerberus to sleep.

[Orpheus’ Lullaby] negated by [Horns of Hypnos].

Unlike the tales, Cerberus didn’t fall asleep.

The minotaur reached Cerberus before Cassandra did, leaping in the air with superhuman strength. He intended to climb on a colossus as he did in Orichalcos… but alas, Cerberus was no mindless dragon. Showing surprising agility and reflexes for his tremendous size, the hellhound swept Agron away with his paw while the minotaur was in midair, throwing him against the gate as if he were a mere fly.

Wincing as he heard his ally crash against the door’s steel, Kairos descended on the beast from above with Rook. He briefly considered using [Warg] to possess Cerberus, but his misadventure with the Nemean Lion had taught him such attempts were useless against divine beasts.

Instead, he breathed a cloud of poison straight into Cerberus’ heads. The hellhound let out a roar of annoyance as the miasma infected his eyes and retaliated with his fiery breath, though Rook skillfully dodged every attack.

[Cerberus] is immune to the [Poison] ailment!

But from his bloodshot eyes, the hellhound was not immune to raw [Poison] damage.

The miasma briefly blinded Cerberus and allowed Kairos to strike from above, just as Cassandra did the same from below. Both their weapons managed to pierce the creature’s hide, but they might have as well hit a wall of stone; the [Anemoi Spear] barely grazed Cerberus’ back, while the [Fork of Nemesis] bounced off the hellhound’s leg.

He’s not magically invulnerable like the Nemean Lion, Kairos thought while clenching his teeth. But his skin is thicker than armor!

Cerberus rotated on himself, swiping away the poison and unleashing flames in all directions. Cassandra ducked to cover, while Rook was forced to retreat to avoid the hellhound’s blazing breath.

Kairos prepared to blast the beast with wind, only for Ceberus to leap in the air in an attempt to reach him. Rook let out a cry of surprise as he barely managed to avoid the hellhound’s snapping jaws. “My second best friend is your great-great grandchild!” the griffin loudly complained. “Can’t we talk this out?!”

In response, Cerberus leaped at the flying duo again with his claws out. Kairos hastily shaped a tunnel of wind to let his griffin move faster, both swiftly getting out of the beast’s reach. The ground shook when the giant hellhound landed, the entire cavern trembling. Shades of the dead floating beneath the river Lethe fled downstream in abject fear.

Heracles manhandled that thing with his bare hands on his own, Kairos thought. The feat looked all the more impressive. “Away, Rook!” the Travian King ordered, as he noticed Andromache hastily cast a healing spell on the wounded Agron in the corner of his eye. They needed to distract the beast away from their allies. “Downstream!”

Rook obeyed his command, flying above the river Lethe. As Kairos expected, Cerberus went right after them and ignored the rest of the group. His desire for revenge against Lycaon’s brood trumped everything else, his footsteps heavy with fury.

As Rook flew above the river’s shores with Cerberus in hot pursuit, Kairos’ allies on the ground attacked the hellhound from the flank. “[Agility Down],” Sertorius cast as Nessus fired an arrow, before adding a command. “Stop!”

While Nessus’ projectile bounced off one of Cerberus’ helmets, Sertorius’ spell traveled from his staff to the beast in the form of a blast. His weapon turned his single word into an irresistible command.

Kairos expected Cerberus to shrug the spell off, as a [Demigod] should… but to his surprise, it did have an effect. Though the hellhound didn’t slow at all, his left head appeared to freeze in place; the central and right one roared and breathed flames as if nothing happened.

The left head isn’t immune to mental effects, Kairos realized. The fact the two others ignored the command, however, meant that each of them had separate abilities, immunities, and could direct the body even if one of them was disabled. We’ll need to neutralize them individually.

That was why each had a copy of the [Horns of Hypnos]. Agron’s insight had been correct, the beast was probably vulnerable to [Sleep] effects, whether they came from the enchanted cave or songs. If they could destroy the three helmets, Cerberus might fall asleep.

But Sertorius’ [Aeon Staff] shouldn’t affect [Demigods] at all. Why did it work on one head?

Kairos looked over his shoulder to glance at his team, noticing Cassandra and Nessus pursuing Cerberus on foot while Andromache followed in cloud form. The rest of his team had moved to the [Telchine Skiff], intending to descend the river the old fashioned way. Only the fires started by Cerberus made the gates of the Underworld visible in the background.

Once again, Cerberus leapt at Rook in an attempt to eat the griffin. Thankfully though, his iron leash was not infinite in its length; the hellhound’s chain held and stopped him in midair. The beast let out a roar of frustration, flames erupting from his three maws.

“The helmets!” Kairos shouted to his party as Rook dodged fireball after fireball. Cassandra raised her fork as she ran, preparing to make a leap, while Nessus stopped and aimed with his bow.

Having failed to break his chains, Cerberus stood on his back legs, his three forehead reaching the ceiling. Each head’s eyes brightened with a different color, blue for the right, green for the left, and red for the central one.

[Cerberus] used [Elemental Shift]! Each head will gain a different elemental attack!

Kairos had Rook turn around to strike first. The Travian warlord set his gaze on Cerberus, locking eyes with it before it could unleash its breath attack. “[Telchine Sorcery: Charm].”

The left head fell under his spell as it did with Sertorius, the eyes turning from furious to obedient. The others, however, shrugged off the effect. The right one unleashed a cold, freezing wind, while the central one spat out a sphere of magma.

Rook had to dive down to avoid the fiery projectile, but the stream of cold proved harder to dodge. It became closer and closer, and the griffin entered the range of Cerberus’ claws in an attempt to evade the breath attack.

Andromache came to their rescue. Flying in the air in cloud form, she spoke ancient words of power and unleashed a fireball at Cerberus; though the flames didn’t harm the hellhound, the blast knocked back the right head and made it snap its jaw in surprise. Free from the icy breath’s relentless pursuit, Rook dived down between Cerberus’ legs and then flew upward behind his back.

Cassandra finally reached them and made her move. Pointing down her fork, she called upon its fiery powers as she used it to throw herself up in the air. A burst of flame erupted from the tip mid-movement, propelling the Lady of Cinders upward.

Jason of Iolcus had used the same technique in Achlys, and it lived on in his successor.

Cassandra’s high jump reached its end on the back of Cerberus’ right head. The beast unfortunately noticed and attempted to swipe at her with his paw before she could land a blow.

Having waited for the right moment, Nessus fired an arrow right in the right head’s eye. The projectile struck from an unexpected angle, the impact making Cerberus howl in pain. The hellhound stopped his attempt at killing Cassandra to instinctively cover his wound with his paw, which proved a disastrous mistake. Pivoting her fork in midair, she hit the beast’s right helmet and unleashed a mighty fire burst at its joints.

Kairos had to raise his hand to protect himself from the resulting blast’s flash, but what he saw made him grin. The right head’s [Horns of Hypnos] cracked as its joints shattered, the steel snapping in half.

Cassandra paid the price for her stunt though, with her own blast propelling her backward. “Rook!” Kairos shouted, as his companion fell from a deadly height. His griffin immediately turned towards Cassandra, while the Travian warlord summoned the winds below her. This slowed down her fall long enough for her to land safely on Rook’s back.

“Nice jump,” Kairos congratulated Cassandra, as she adjusted position behind him.

“Thanks,” she replied with a smile. “I invested in my [Strength].”

The pain snapped Cerberus’ left head out of its trance, all three of his mouths howling in rage. “I’m sorry,” Kairos apologized as Rook flew in circles around the giant beast. He felt no malice for Cerberus; he was only doing his job as a guard dog.

“Well, I’m not!” Rook replied, holding a grudge. “Serves him right for trying to eat us!”

To Kairos’ delight, the right head’s roar weakened. Its strength left it, its jaws closing as it became dizzy. Though she hadn’t fully destroyed it, Cassandra had damaged its helmet enough to make it useless. The central head attempted to keep its neighbor awake by nuzzling it, but couldn’t prevent the right head from falling into deep slumber.

Two more to go.

Rook gained altitude again, before attacking Cerberus from the left while Andromache did the same from the right. This time, the hellhound realized the danger the entire party posed and split his attention; the left head turned in the griffin’s direction, while the central one matched Andromache’s fiery projectiles with its own.

Facing the left head, Kairos attempted to charm it again… only for Cerberus to find the perfect defense.

The left head closed its eyes and avoided the enchanted gaze.

Now I know what Euryale felt the first time we met, Kairos thought with annoyance. Cassandra unleashed a burst of ghostly flames in an attempt to damage the helmet, but Cerberus’ left head answered with a breath of poisonous smog. Rook pulled back to avoid the attack, the venomous cloud melting the ceiling’s stone while Cassandra’s flames harmlessly dissipated into the air.

Unfortunately, Andromache didn’t fare any better. Her gaseous body allowed her to easily dodge Cerberus’ jaws and flames, but her projectiles bounced off its helmet without damaging it.

“Why isn’t it working?” Cassandra wondered as she observed Andromache’s fruitless efforts.

“Because Cerberus’ heads changed elemental affinities,” Kairos guessed. “The central head must be immune to fire, and it extends to the helmet. The right one used cold-based attacks.”

“Let’s see if poison trumps fire then,” Cassandra said as she raised her fork at the left head. “Nessus, distract him!”

“I’m trying!” the satyr shouted from the ground as he attempted to find the right angle to hit Cerberus’ eyes. The [Horns of Hypnos] helmets made it difficult, as did Cerberus’ frantic movements. The hellhound’s paws swept the air in wide motions to catch the flyers harassing him.

Rook made a circle motion around Cerberus, with Kairos suppressing all sound and smell in the air by redirecting the wind. As he suspected, by closing its eyes to avoid being [Charmed], the left head relied on sound and smell to locate the griffin; Rook and his riders had become invisible to its senses.

Cassandra raised her fork to strike the left head’s helmet from behind with a fireball, but Cerberus anticipated the attack. The beast hit the ground with his back legs and threw a volley of dirt and stone in the air, the same way a dog dug into the ground to bury a bone.

“Rook, beware-”

Kairos never finished his sentence, as a flying stone hit his best friend right in the chest at high velocity.

Rook let out a screech as he fell backward with both of his riders, losing control of his flight. Cassandra fell off, but quickly used her fork’s fiery burst to slow down her flight and land safely near Nessus.

Kairos could have leapt off Rook’s back and done the same, but his griffin would have hit the ground at full speed. Instead he attempted to create a cushion of wind beneath the both of them, to negate the impact.

He only weakened it.

Kairos saw stars as he and Rook hit the cold hard ground of the cavern, the impact tossing him off his griffin’s back. He saw stars and heard the sickening noise of his friend’s wing snapping, before rolling on the ground. The Travian king tasted dirt, and his sense of hearing briefly left him. Everything became a distant echo.

You have been [Stunned].

Kairos slowly managed to rise to his feet by using his spear as a crutch. His [Hydra Crown] would have helped him recover, but without it, his vision remained blurry. Rook whined not so far from him, his left wing broken.

“I’m here…” Kairos said as he almost stumbled, his vision blurring again. The Travian warlord cursed the Fate System for status ailments, as he struggled to walk straight. “I’m coming…”

“Kairos, run!” he heard Cassandra shout at him. He noticed Andromache and Nessus both desperately trying to distract Cerberus with projectiles, as the towering hellhound turned around to face Kairos. “Run!”

Kairos looked up, his vision blurring as Cerberus’ central head took a deep breath and prepared to burn him alive.

But what the Travian lacked in strength, he more than made up for in friends.

A projectile cloud of black miasma suddenly exploded right in Cerberus’ face, making the hellhound scoff smoke. Another explosion followed and then a third, obscuring the central head with alchemical fumes.

[Cerberus] has been [Stunned].

Andromache floated down next to Kairos, and regained her nymph form as she cast a healing spell on him. His mind cleared like the skies, and his vision returned to normal.

[Stunned] ailment lifted!

Kairos’ eyes widened as he regained control of himself, his head turning to glance at the Lethe river.

The [Telchine Skiff] floated down the stream not so far from the battlefield. Agron rowed alone, while Sertorius cast spells on Thales as the automated loaded spherical projectiles on a sling. “[Perception Up]!” Kairos heard his brother-in-law shout. “Hit!”

Thales’ aim was true. His projectile shattered upon hitting Cerberus, the smoke making the giant hellhound’s central head sluggish and unfocused; and when the next bomb missed, Nessus detonated it in midair with a well-placed arrow.

Kairos finally guessed what Thales had been trying to do when he ran back to the skiff.

The automaton had hastily crafted makeshift bombs using the Lethe river’s water, heightening their potency by mixing it with potions. Cerberus was resistant to the liquid’s amnesia effect, but Thales’ substance repeatedly [Stunned] the central head and locked him in place.

Realizing it might not last forever, Kairos immediately used the distraction to rush at his griffin’s side. “Rook, are you alright!”

“I’m okay…” his best friend replied while sluggishly rising back to his feet, miserably trailing his damaged left wing. “I’m okay…”

He looked just as [Stunned] as Kairos himself. “Andromache, heal him please,” Kairos asked as he raised his spear. Though Cerberus’ central head had grown sluggish and no longer threatened to incinerate or crush them, the left one was trying to locate the group by smell.

“Do not move, brave bird,” Andromache whispered as she cast healing spells on Rook.

“Kairos, above!” Cassandra shouted a warning, as she attempted to gather momentum for another jump.

Cerberus’ paw fell down on Kairos’ group in an attempt to squash them like insects. Kairos repelled it with a blast of focused wind, only for the left head to unleash a cloud of poison in retribution.

Just as the Travian King was counting on.

Using his [Anemoi Spear], Kairos created a current of wind and redirected the attack. As he suspected, just as his own poisonous miasma had slightly harmed Cerberus’ eyes, the beast’s own cloud proved effective against it. The wind redirected the acidy substance to the central head’s helmet, melting the steel. Without this protection, another of Cerberus’ maw closed in deep slumber.

Standing at the prow of the [Telchine Skiff], Sertorius raised his staff and cast a spell at Cerberus. Kairos didn’t understand its meaning, but he heard the order that came with it.

“Look,” Sertorius said, his spell turning into an absolute command.

The left head’s eyes snapped open and met Kairos’ gaze, sealing Cerberus’ fate.

“Sit!” the Travian warlord ordered as he activated his [Telchine Sorcery] Skill. “Now!”

Ceberus’ butt hit the ground so fast that the cavern trembled.

You [Charmed] [Cerberus]!

Kairos raised his hand, his men lowering their weapons. Cerberus’ left head, the only one left awake, stuck out its tongue and breathed heavily. “Good boy,” he said.

As long as Cerberus wouldn’t suffer any damage, he would remain [Charmed].

Congratulations, you have earned one level (total fifty-eight) and 3 Skill Points.

The group gathered around the tamed hellhound, with Kairos comforting Rook as Thales swiftly put back his wing in place with surgical precision. “Ouch,” the griffin complained.

“Brave bird, it will be over soon,” Andromache said as she reinforced his bones with a spell.

“You’re the bravest bird of all, Rook,” Kairos reminded him. “It’s just a bruise.”

“I think you should be the one getting healing, Kairos,” Rook replied with kindness. “My feathers are soft and strong, but you only have skin. The fall must have hurt you more than me!”

As an answer, Kairos simply petted his griffin with a smile.

“I wouldn’t mind some help as well,” Agron grunted. Even though Andromache cast spells to patch him up, he still bore bruises from Cerberus’ blow. “That dog hit me harder than the dragon ever did.”

“I thought [Demigods] automatically shrugged off the effects of your staff?” Cassandra asked Sertorius with a frown. Truthfully, that question had bugged Kairos all fight long as well. “How did you affect him?”

“Look at the hound more closely,” Sertorius replied calmly.

Kairos followed his advice, using [Observer] on the central head.

Cerberus, Hound of Hades

Legend: Loyal Gatekeeper (Demigod)

Pantheon: Psychopompós.

Level: ???

The Travian King didn’t understand what his brother-in-law was getting at… until he examined the left and right heads.

Cerberus, Hound of Hades

Legend: Kind Dog of Hell (Hero)

Pantheon: Psychopompós.

Race: Hellhound (Progenitor)

Class: Monster (Divine Beast, Dungeon Guardian, Behemoth)

Level: 60

Cerberus, Hound of Hades

Legend: Haunter of the Dead (Hero)

Pantheon: Psychopompós.

Race: Hellhound (Progenitor)

Class: Monster (Divine Beast, Dungeon Guardian, Behemoth)

Level: 60

“That’s how it is,” Kairos muttered to himself. “Unlike a hydra or even his own descendants, Cerberus is three souls sharing one body, each with a different [Legend]. Like conjoined twins.”

“That explains the different set of immunities,” Cassandra whispered.

His brother-in-law nodded. “I realized that Orpheus was a mere [Hero], yet he put all three of these heads to sleep... and for a spawn of Typhon and Echidna, Cerberus was tamable. It seemed very odd that he would need to wear these helmets to stay awake, unless…”

“Unless he was naturally vulnerable to [Mind] effects,” Kairos guessed.

“One of the perks of being a [Tactician] is complete battlefield awareness. I sensed you pull the head under your spell once, and I figured you could do it again.” Sertorius crossed his arms as he examined Cerberus. “Now, what do we do with him? Do we put the last head to sleep? Or can you command him to lift the barrier, Kairos?”

“Letting him fall asleep entirely would be unwise, sir,” Thales said. “Without any means to repair the helmets and with Persephone occupied, he might never wake up on his own.”

Cassandra nodded in agreement. “This would let undead escape the Underworld.”

Kairos smiled kindly at Cerberus. “Can you lift the barrier for us?”

“Yes, young master!” the left head said with a calm, gentle voice that reminded Kairos of his mother’s dog. Cerberus’ eyes flared with light, and the crimson veil beyond the great gates’ threshold turned translucent. “Will Cerberus be punished for harming the young master?”

“You should return to your doghouse for the crime of breaking my wing!” Rook complained.

Cerberus whined with a guilty look in his eyes, and although the hellhound was a colossal behemoth of mass destruction… Kairos couldn’t help but find him cute. “Just watch the door after we’re gone,” he asked Cerberus. “Don’t let any dead soul pass, and we’ll ask your mistress for a treat. One for each head.”

Cerberus barked in happiness, his tail wagging behind him.

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A/N; chapter made possible by you, dear patrons.

I admit I didn't have as much time to edit this chapter as I wanted, but I hope you appreciated it. The battle was heavily inspired by my experience with JRPGs, especially the Bravely Default series ;)