Cerberus roared again and hurled his colossal body at Strax, making the entire platform tremble beneath his paws. The three heads attacked at different moments, trying to surround him with jaws capable of crushing walls, while the chains attached to the infernal dog’s body dragged across the stone like metal serpents.
Strax dodged the first bite, grabbed the second head by the snout with both hands, and simply used its weight as support to rotate his own body.
His heel struck the third head directly beneath the eye, smashing it into the ground with enough force to open a long crack across the platform.
"You’re getting nervous," Strax commented.
The comment only made things worse.
Cerberus surged upright in an explosion of strength, thrashing all three heads wildly as he tried to throw Strax off his back.
Strax jumped before the beast’s own chains could strike him, landed a few meters ahead, and gave a small smile when he noticed that the three heads were already starting to lose coordination.
The intelligence was there.
But rage was taking its place.
Each attack grew stronger and more predictable, exactly like what happened with any creature that believed more violence could compensate for its inability to actually hit its opponent.
The left head attacked first.
Strax punched it in the snout.
The skull snapped sideways.
The right tried to reach him immediately afterward, but Strax grabbed two teeth, planted one foot against the lower jaw, and forced the entire mouth downward.
Cerberus whined in pain before Strax released the fang and kicked him under the chin, forcing that head back as well.
The central head finally found an opening.
Its jaws closed around Strax.
Or tried to.
He caught the upper jaw with one hand and the lower with the other.
The muscles in his arms tightened while Cerberus forced his jaws shut, but they did not move even a few centimeters.
Strax remained standing between the teeth, studying the inside of the demonic mouth with an almost disappointed expression.
"That’s all?"
Cerberus pushed harder.
Strax began opening the jaw.
The central head’s red eyes widened.
The guardian tried to pull back, but Strax moved with him and forced the beast’s mouth farther and farther open until the muscles around the jaw began trembling.
He could break it.
All he had to do was use a little more strength.
But his goal was not to destroy Cerberus.
It was to teach him.
Strax released the creature and drove a punch directly into the center of the snout.
The central head dropped.
The other two roared.
"You still don’t understand."
Cerberus attacked again.
Strax kept beating him.
There was no elaborate technique in that part of the fight.
Whenever a head lunged forward, it got hit.
When Cerberus tried using his paws, Strax broke his balance.
When the animal jumped, he grabbed him and slammed him back into the ground.
Every time Cerberus tried using infernal fire or spiritual energy, Strax crossed through the attack and struck the source before it could be fully released.
The guardian grew progressively angrier.
And Strax progressively more bored.
After a few minutes, he realized something simple.
There was no reason to keep holding back.
Until then, he had used only a portion of his physical strength, avoiding techniques capable of causing permanent injury.
Cerberus was far too durable to be killed accidentally and, above all, needed to understand a difference that human-sized blows were failing to communicate.
Strax stopped.
Cerberus did too.
All three heads breathed heavily, red eyes fixed on him while saliva dripped from their jaws.
The animal waited for the next movement, still believing this was merely a difficult fight.
Strax slowly exhaled.
"Fine."
Mana exploded.
The entire abyss trembled.
Strax’s body began growing before Cerberus could react.
Black scales covered his skin, his arms transformed into draconic limbs, and enormous wings tore through the space as they opened.
His neck lengthened, horns emerged above his head, and a colossal tail struck one of the nearby platforms, destroying it as though it were made of clay.
Within seconds, there was no longer a man standing before Cerberus.
There was a dragon.
A Demonic Dragon.
Strax’s presence fell over Tartarus like a calamity.
Cerberus froze.
All three heads slowly rose.
For the first time since the confrontation began, none of them showed their teeth.
Strax opened his eyes.
Then roared.
The sound did not behave like ordinary noise.
Draconic authority traveled through space with the roar, crushing the air, making the structures of the Bottom vibrate, and spreading an ancient pressure throughout the entire region.
Souls hiding kilometers away vanished into the ruins.
Submerged creatures sank even deeper.
Even the black waters of the Bottom seemed to retreat for several moments.
Cerberus took everything directly.
All three heads lowered at the same time.
The guardian’s legs began trembling.
Then buckled.
The gigantic body crashed into the ground.
Cerberus fainted.
Strax closed his mouth.
The silence slowly returned.
He remained in his draconic form, staring at the unconscious infernal dog in front of him.
"Oh, no."
One of his gigantic claws touched Cerberus’s body.
Strax shook the animal.
Nothing.
He used more force.
"Cerberus."
The central head slowly opened its eyes.
It was the worst decision of his life.
The moment he regained consciousness, he found Strax’s enormous draconic face directly in front of him.
The animal tried to close his eyes again.
"Don’t even think about it."
Strax slammed a paw into the side of his body.
Cerberus rolled across the platform like a gigantic boulder, smashed through a column, and fell among the debris.
Before he could stand, Strax caught one of his hind legs in his mouth, lifted the entire animal, and threw him into another section of the structure.
Cerberus tried to run.
Strax blocked the path.
Tried to attack.
Got hit again.
Tried to bare his teeth.
Strax roared from close range.
All three pairs of ears immediately flattened.
Even then, Strax continued.
Not because he was angry.
But because he knew stubborn animals.
Cerberus needed to understand that the difference between them had not been an accident, a special technique, or an unfavorable situation.
He needed to reach the point where his instincts recognized Strax before his consciousness even considered challenging him.
After several more minutes, the result finally appeared.
Cerberus stopped attacking.
All three heads remained lowered.
The gigantic body lay on the ground, paws tucked in and ears completely flattened.
A low sound escaped the right head.
A whine.
Strax stopped.
Another whimper came from the central head.
The left refused even to look directly at him.
Strax observed the animal for several seconds.
"Finally."
He began returning to human form.
The gigantic structure shrank, the wings disappeared, and the scales slowly receded until Strax once again stood before the dog in his ordinary appearance.
The contrast was ridiculous.
Cerberus was still dozens of times larger than him, but none of the three heads seemed willing to interpret that as an advantage.
Strax put his hands in his pockets.
"Sit."
Cerberus reacted immediately.
The animal jumped up too quickly, nearly tripped over his own paws, and then sat.
All three heads remained perfectly aligned, staring at Strax with a very clear mixture of attention and terror.
He nodded.
"Good boy."
Cerberus’s tail struck the ground once.
Strax noticed.
"Look at that. You learn."
That was when he raised his eyes.
Far above, at the distant gate entrance, Thanatos was still watching everything.
Motionless.
The Goddess of Death had just watched Strax turn Tartarus’s ancient guardian—a creature that had prevented gods, demons, and condemned souls from crossing certain regions for ages—into an obedient dog by simply beating him until his instincts gave up.
She seemed unable to decide whether she was furious, shocked, or genuinely concerned.
Strax tilted his head.
"What?"
Thanatos did not answer.
He spread his arms.
"You thought some demonic mutt was going to scare me?"
Thanatos finally managed to speak.
"You..."
She looked at Cerberus.
Then at Strax.
"You traumatized Cerberus."
"Tamed him."
"He’s crying."
"Details."
One of the heads released another low whine.
Strax looked at it.
Cerberus immediately fell silent.
Thanatos stared at the scene in absolute horror.
Strax, on the other hand, began to smile.
"But you know what?"
Thanatos knew that smile.
She had seen it a few minutes earlier.
She did not like it.
"I liked the game."
Strax slowly turned toward Cerberus.
All three heads followed his movement at the same time.
He pointed upward.
Directly at Thanatos.
"Bring me that hottie up there."
The silence that followed lasted less than a second.
Cerberus’s eyes ignited.
Infernal fire exploded inside all six pupils as the three heads rose.
The ears lifted.
The hind legs adjusted against the ground.
And all the pain from the previous beating seemed to disappear at the opportunity to obey an order from his new master.
Thanatos’s eyes widened.
"No."
Cerberus lowered his body.
"Strax."
His claws scraped across the stone.
"You are not going to—"
Cerberus launched himself.
The platform exploded behind him.
Thanatos watched that mountain of muscle, teeth, infernal fire, and freshly acquired psychological trauma surge up through the abyss directly toward her.
Strax put his hands in his pockets.
And started laughing.
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