Su Fu was stunned by the scene before her.
The flames of a hellhound were supposed to be blazes that could incinerate the soul itself and that dog just opened its mouth… and swallowed them?
This stupid dog would eat anything; it was just like that snake but the good news was that the hellfire, which was supposed to be hot enough to melt anything, didn’t seem to harm the Howling Celestial Dog in the slightest.
It acted like it had just eaten an unappetizing snack, even letting out a small burp.
“Woof woof!” The Howling Celestial Dog stuck out its tongue and muttered, “That tasted awful. It’s not nearly as delicious as the flames of the sun.”
Su Fu: “…”
‘You’re actually critiquing the flavor?’
But upon second thought, it made sense.
The Howling Celestial Dog was the Sun Swallowing Godly Lord, a being legendary for being able to swallow the sun in a single gulp.
Mere hellfire naturally meant nothing to it.
It was likely that as soon as the fire entered its body, it was neutralized by the Godly Power that formed its own internal world, eventually being expelled as a wisp of blue smoke.
Su Fu looked up at the hellhound, Cerberus, as records of the creature surfaced in her mind.
‘Cerberus was the watchdog of the Underworld, the Divine Beast of Hades.’
Legends said it guarded the gates of the Underworld, preventing souls from escaping back to the world of the living while also stopping the living from trespassing into the domain of the dead.
It was one of the most terrifying guardians in Greek Mythos.
As an S-class Anomaly, it had likely replicated the abilities of the legendary hellhound perfectly.
By now, Cerberus had fully descended.
A massive, pitch-black rift had been torn through space, and three hideous dog heads had completely emerged from the dark abyss.
‘Wait, black mist…?’
‘No’, Su Fu focused her gaze and realized it was actually a fog composed of countless wailing souls.
Just a single glance was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
As the hellhound stepped out, the black mist trembled, and the souls wailed.
“Where is the World Tree?!” the central head let out a deafening roar.
“Spit it out!”
Olaf and the others clung tightly to the rubble, not daring to let go, fearing they would be blown away by the hellhound’s aura.
“Gods above…” Eric’s teeth chattered, “How could the World Tree… attract a monster like this?”
It was an S-class.
They were all A-class.
How were they supposed to fight that?
Charging in would just be making themselves into easy pickings.
“Fortunately… fortunately its target is the Penglai Immortal Ship and not us.” Olaf felt a wave of lingering fear, “Otherwise, we’d be dead by now.”
The three of them looked at the hellhound and then at the black dog.
The contrast was too vast.
The black dog was tiny, while the three-headed hellhound blotted out the sky, hideous and terrifying.
“Can that little dog really handle a hellhound?” Erika asked skeptically, “It looks… too small.”
Even if it could swallow flames, there was no way it could stand against a monster that had crawled out from the depths of hell, right?
“Ignorant little thing,” the left head said gloomily.
“I can stomp you into meat paste with one foot,” the right head added, licking its fangs.
It didn’t believe this tiny creature could keep swallowing its attacks forever!
A tiny black dog, not even as big as one of its claws—it was simply seeking death.
Cerberus’s three heads opened their bloody maws simultaneously.
The wails of countless souls echoed from the void as it once again spewed forth hellfire a thousand times more terrifying than before!
Countless wailing souls were mixed within the flames.
The aura of the Underworld spread, as if death and destruction were about to drag the entire space into hell.
“Ant!”
“Die!”
Any creature, even a god, should have retreated in the face of such an attack.
However, the Howling Celestial Dog merely tilted its head, standing still without moving an inch.
“This fire really doesn’t taste good…” it muttered softly, “I don’t really want to eat it…”
As it hesitated, Su Fu’s voice drifted over from behind: “Stop playing around. Hurry up, alright?”
“Alright, alright,” the Howling Celestial Dog replied cheerfully, “Since you said so, I’ll show it the power of the Sun Swallowing Godly Lord!”
Before its voice had even faded, the Howling Celestial Dog’s body, standing amidst the hellfire, suddenly began to expand!
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
It grew from a small dog to the size of a common wolf, then rapidly expanded to the height of a house, then a small hill, then a mountain…
Then, it stood tall, propping up the heavens and treading upon the earth.
Its pitch-black fur stood upright like steel needles.
In the blink of an eye, its size was equal to that of the hellhound and it didn’t stop there.
Although that hellfire tasted bad, it was still a source of energy that could be used.
To be called “Sun Swallowing,” it naturally had to possess an infinitely massive body, large enough to swallow the entire sun in one go.
At first, Cerberus was dismissive, even letting out a mocking laugh but as the Howling Celestial Dog’s size continued to grow until it was equal to its own, the laughter stopped.
When the Howling Celestial Dog became ten times its size, terror finally surfaced in those six crimson eyes.
“This… how is this possible?!” The central head’s voice trembled, “Aren’t you just a little black dog?!”
“How can you become this big?!”
Before it could react, the Howling Celestial Dog had already raised a massive paw, bringing it down with a terrifying pressure that could destroy everything!
“Little black dog? You’re not worthy of calling me that!” The Howling Celestial Dog’s voice boomed like thunder, “You should call me…”
“The Sun Swallowing Godly Lord!”
“CRACK—!”
A world-shaking boom rang out as the three hideous heads burst simultaneously.
The massive body was crushed to pieces under that single paw, and the aura of the Underworld instantly vanished.
Nothing remained in the world but the scattered remains of the hellhound, drifting down slowly like black snow.
The Howling Celestial Dog calmly wagged its tail, its body rapidly shrinking as it ran back to Su Fu’s feet.
“Done!” It held its head high with pride, “Am I amazing or what?”
The Howling Celestial Dog’s tail was practically wagging into the sky.
Su Fu leaned over to rub its head and praised it: “You really are something. You’re amazing!”
At this level, it really felt like the True Lord had been holding back!
In the distance, Olaf and the others watched this scene in disbelief.
The entire process had happened in the blink of an eye.
An S-class Anomaly, the three-headed hellhound, had been slapped to death just like that?
All that remained were the fragments filling the sky, proving that an S-class Anomaly had indeed existed moments ago.
“That’s… that’s it?” Erika was dazed.
The hellhound had made such an arrogant entrance, and this was the result?
One paw.
Just one paw.
“The world-renowned hellhound… was taken out that easily?” Eric turned his head mechanically to look at the little black dog by Su Fu’s feet.
His adam’s apple bobbed, “The Chinese Pantheon… even their dogs are this powerful?”
Olaf suddenly felt a bit ridiculous.
He had originally thought it was tragic enough that their World Tree had been snatched by a dog.
But looking at the hellhound’s fate, at least the World Tree had been swallowed and carried away rather than being slapped into dust.
Thinking about it this way, his heart actually reached a strange state of equilibrium.
The trio’s gaze toward the Howling Celestial Dog changed instantly.
‘Was that really just a dog? That was clearly a Dog God!’
“So… are we still going to take back the World Tree?” Eric asked weakly.
The other two stared at him like he was a madman.
“Take it back from where?” Erika pointed at the Howling Celestial Dog, her voice pitching up, “From the Howling Celestial Dog’s stomach?”
“Don’t talk nonsense; the World Tree belongs to the Howling Celestial Dog!”
Olaf corrected him with righteous indignation, “What does it have to do with us?”
“I don’t want it!”
“I definitely don’t want it!”
Erika and Eric glanced at each other and nodded rapidly, “I don’t want it either!”
“Right, right, right. We don’t want it, don’t want it…”
The three of them tried their best to minimize their presence, fearing they would attract the attention of that terrifying black dog.
Meanwhile, Shen Yan’s voice rang in Su Fu’s ear: [“Penglai Immortal Ship has resolved the Anomaly: Cerberus”]
[“Obtained Reward Trait 1: Netherworld Deterrence”]
[“Obtained Reward Trait 2: Map Switch”]
[“You may select from the following maps to replace the current map…”]
Su Fu’s eyes lit up, “Rewards are here!”
Before, when she was on the Penglai Immortal Ship map, she didn’t know why, but no BOSS had invaded at all.
It had made it impossible for her to get any traits even if she wanted them.
She hadn’t expected that because of the Rainbow Bridge map, she would accidentally get a BOSS “delivery.”
She looked at the obtained traits and muttered, “Does this mean I can switch to a new Chinese map?”
Speaking of which, could she choose a powerful Chinese map?
The kind that could sweep up everyone and end the league immediately?
Other maps might not be able to do it, but if it was a Chinese map… it definitely had that capability.
Let’s see what’s available!
At the same time, the world channel saw this message synchronized: [Cerberus has been killed by the Penglai Immortal Ship]
The key point was that the time between the latest broadcast and the hellhound’s appearance was only a few minutes apart.
This meant that the S-class Anomaly that made countless test takers tremble with fear didn’t even have a chance to struggle before the Penglai Immortal Ship.
It was simply crushed!
[That was Cerberus! It was dealt with that easily?]
[It’s over, it’s over. Who can stop Su Fu now?]
[Even the three-headed dog of the Underworld wasn’t a match. Who else can contend with the Penglai Immortal Ship?]
[This is too terrifying! No wonder the Greek and Norse maps couldn’t hold out…]
[I just want to ask one thing: test takers of the major maps, can you even sleep at night?]
[I really want to know what rewards the Penglai Immortal Ship got and who the next target is…]
[The Penglai Immortal Ship is about to sweep the entire league!]
[No! I don’t want to die!]