When the Door opens, we find ourselves inside the Black Forest. The trees are surrounding us on all sides, but they seem clearer now, like I can see beyond the darkness of everything. Fein seems to feelthe same thing, as she looks around confused for a second. "How long do you think it'll take us to clear the dungeon now?"
The question brings her back to focus, and I can see her calculating on her head. "Maybe a week or two. Depends on how fast we find the monsters. Don't use your fire here. It will definitely burn down the entire forest if you do." I nod, humming in agreement. The fire spreads very fast, so there's no way we could put it out in time.
I use Energy Generation with INT, and small sparks appear on my hand. Not enough to do anything serious, but it'll deal more damage if I fight bare handed. Kinetic energy will also be effective, so it's not too bad. "Let's get going then."
We stand up and look around. When we entered the Door, the memories from being here felt refreshed, and a lot more clear. We head off in the opposite direction we were coming from, jogging instead of walking this time. Though, with our AGI, jogging is faster than most people can sprint.
We run by the monsters, killing them quickly. I use a spear from a distance, using kinetic energy to throw it. This kills most of the monsters, and the ones that survive are finished off by Fein at close range. She uses a spell that makes her spear glow a vibrant white, and it goes through even the stronger ones like butter.
"It seems I underestimated us. Maybe 5 days at best. Assuming we continue at this rate for most of it." I feel fine so far, but I don't actually know how long I can keep going for. My stats are over 10x they were when I first opened the Door to Fein's world, but I don't know if that means I'm 10x stronger, or if it's not a direct math.
It doesn't take us too long until we find an easy pattern. We continue to run through the forest, killing the monsters as fast as possible. On the second day, we split up to cover more ground. Both of us are plenty strong to deal with anything here, so I'm not too worried about either of us getting hurt. The third day, we meet up again, and continue with our original plan.
The monsters drop like flies, but I'm expecting something to go wrong eventually. And on the fourth day, my paranoia is proven true. As soon as the last monster is killed, I get a notification from the system.
(Difficulty level too low for host. Forcefully activating Difficulty Increase. Already at max Difficulty. Activating Difficulty Expansion. Activating Hell Difficulty. Forcefully activating Challenge.
Challenge: Defeat Cerberus, the guardian of hell)
What? What?! WHAT?!
Cerberus? The Cerberus?! "What monster is usually the boss for this dungeon?" I ask Fein, panicking. She didn't seem to get the notification, as she looks confused by my panicking. "A Spirit Wolf. Their main weakness is light magic. They can use dark magic and mental attacks, but their physical abilities are weak."
I tell Fein about the notification, and the increase in difficulty. Hell mode? And a Challenge? Is it because we grinded strength for too long? Is it because of how fast we killed the normal monsters here? It doesn't matter right now. It wasn't too long ago when we fought the fledgling demon, and Cerberus is likely a full demon from what I know. We might be in a lot of trouble here.
The ground shakes, splitting open in the middle. I grab Fein and make us lighter, before flying us into the air. We watch the ground crack into the shape of a pentagram, a star with five points surrounded by a circle. Three deep howls reverberate through the air, shaking the trees and further splitting the ground. A massive three headed hound crawls from the middle of the pentagram, and they stare at us with malice.
I feel the dark magic passively being expelled by its body, not even casting a spell. Fein is completely still, easily telling how strong this monster is. "We need to run. Now!" She yells out to me over the sound of the shaking ground. I fly straight up, trying to make some distance.
One of the heads howl, and it releases a massive ball of fire, at least twice as large as I am. It hurles at us, and fly horizontally, trying not to get us burned. I barely get us out if range, and I can feel the heat of it against my back. That's how fast it was moving. And that was just a starting move, not even full power.
I feel a cold sweat on my head. Cerberus let's out a wave of black magic, threatening to kill us with the pressure it puts on us. Fein passed out, going completely limp. The only reason I'm still awake is because my wings and claw absorbed the energy that hit me.
First things first, I need to get Fein somewhere safe. I look around, but there's nowhere that's actually "safe", as Cerberus throws another fireball into the sky at us. I dodge it again, but it's closer to hitting this time.
( A demon pities your situation)
(A god wishes to assist you)
(A demon is offering help)
(A demon is suggesting you leave the girl)
(A god is suggesting you sacrifice yourself for her)
(A god is imploringly you to sign a contract with them)
(Being may be suggesting you choose before a choice is made for you)
Seven screens appear in front of me, in a multitude of colors. Red, white, black, purple, green, pink, and grey, respectfully. Deciding I have nothing to lose, I focus on the black screen, and time around me completely stops. A figure, clad in a black robe and mask, appears before me.