The worldwide viewer rating was soaring.

It had already reached 33%, and hundreds of broadcasters across the world were airing footage of Hyun in real time.

The moment Hyunsoo climbed onto Cerberus’s back, the entire world fell into shock.

Especially because—

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAR!”

“GRRRRRR, GRRRRRR, GRRRRR!”

“GRRRAAAAAAAAARRR!!!!”

Drooling, Cerberus looked as if he could tear through the Great Archdemon Gremory’s neck with ease.

Yellow, snake-like eyes with narrow pupils.

A body that stood five meters tall.

Sharp teeth, and an appearance perfectly suited to the name guardian of Hell’s gate.

The sight was delivering shock to people all over the world.

But something else shocked them even more.

-It appears, based on the situation, that Master Blacksmith Hyun had some prior connection with Cerberus.

-It does not seem to be a pet-and-owner relationship.

-If they were pet and owner, Cerberus could not have been summoned in the first place.

-Still, controlling the Transcendent species Cerberus is nothing short of shocking.

-It seems the rumors were true.

-You mean the rumors that Master Blacksmith Hyun’s subclass might be Tamer.

-Yes, exactly. But even the God of Tamers shouldn’t be able to tame Cerberus, should they......?

That was true.

The commentators could not understand the current situation.

But something else was even more shocking.

“Ready, Hope?”

-......No, what part of that looks like Hope!?

-Cerberus’s name is Hope, right now?

-Does user Hyunsoo not know what hope means?

-Shouldn’t something named Hope be small and precious, something that makes you smile just by looking at it and actually makes you feel hopeful!!

-Maybe he accidentally named it Despair?

What baffled the entire world most was Hyunsoo’s naming sense.

And then—

“Sweep them away.”

BOOOOOOOOM-!

Hope shot forward like a flash of light. It was a speed that would have left viewers and commentators in awe.

The most bewildered person, in particular, was Jeramin.

“Why, why......?!!”

Jeramin was the one who had summoned and offered the sacrifices, and on top of that, due to Summoner’s Sacrifice, he was the one scheduled to receive a forced-logout penalty once Cerberus’s summon time ended.

Panicking, he shouted.

“Remove the buffs!!!!”

Immediately, all kinds of status skills slammed down onto Cerberus.

Dozens of buff-canceling skills struck him.

But—

[The opponent’s rank is too high.]

[He has resisted.]

[The opponent’s rank is too high.]

[He has resisted.]

[The opponent’s rank is too high.]

“......!”

In the game Ares, when placing a beneficial effect on an opponent—

That is, a “buff”—the restriction based on the opponent’s strength was not especially severe.

Even if they were the ones who had applied it.

Removing it came with restrictions.

The Indian rankers’ faces turned deathly pale.

Because they were the ones who had made Cerberus stronger.

Cerberus came charging in like lightning, and his first target was Jeramin.

“This makes no sense! This really makes no sense!”

Jeramin screamed as he faced Cerberus.

Others might not know, but Jeramin the Sacrificial Summoner knew just how horrific the Abyssal Hell penalty was, the punishment for violating causal law.

Abyssal Hell was a place where a living creature felt the greatest pain it could possibly experience.

And yet Cerberus had rejected him.

“Why......!”

Jeramin shouted, but he knew better than anyone.

A mere summoner is different from a master.

A summoner was only borrowing power.

How on earth......?

Jeramin found the existence called Hyunsoo awe-inspiring.

At last, Cerberus’s fangs bit into Jeramin.

CRUUUUUNCH-

Blood sprayed through the air, and the horrifying force of those jaws threw the Indian high-rankers into panic.

[Party member Jeramin has been forcibly logged out.]

Even if Jeramin was a summoner, he had still been forcibly logged out in a single blow.

But Cerberus’s body was a full five meters tall.

That also meant he was easy to attack, and attacks from India’s strongest rankers rained down on him like mad.

The first was Kumar, the closest among them, whose sword swung with all his strength.

CLAAAAANG-

[The attack fails.]

Kumar could not hide his bewilderment.

His sword had not even sunk in at all.

“What is this...... I am Kumar, India’s number-one-ranked user......!”

Not just Kumar, but the entire world fell into shock.

That was not an arrogant statement.

Because he truly was India’s number-one-ranked user.

And yet even he had failed to land an attack.

Hope’s front paw immediately stamped down on Kumar.

CRUUUUUNCH-

[You have taken 753,131 damage.]

[Freneng’s Armor is destroyed.]

[HP has fallen below 42%.]

In just one blow, Kumar, India’s number-one-ranked user, had lost more than half his HP.

Immediately after—

CRUUUUUNCH-

On the second strike, Kumar was forcibly logged out.

WHOOOOOOSH-

Watching Kumar scatter away, the entire world could not contain its shock.

And Hyunsoo was feeling Hope’s greatness directly.

(Hope)

Grade: Transcendent

Type: Summon

Level: 598

Attack Power: 9,040

Defense: 8,905

Special Abilities:

· Passive Skill: Tough Hide

· Passive Skill: Wags His Tail Only for Hyunsoo

· Active Skill: Eternal Flame

Potential: 153

Current EXP: 32%

Description: This is Hope, who was once the guardian of Hell’s gate. Since a wide range of full buffs are currently applied, no Transcendent species will be able to defeat him in his present state.

Luxiu’s Attack Power is in the five-thousands. But nine thousand......?

Hyunsoo could not believe Hope’s current state.

No matter how many spears stabbed him, swords cut him, or spells struck him from every side, Hope’s HP barely dropped.

And it was not only Hope killing the rankers.

Hyunsoo, standing atop him, was also continuously swinging Unparalleled and smashing down onto his enemies’ heads.

BOOMBOOMBOOM-

CRASHCRASHCRASH-!

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM-!

Then a notification sounded.

[You have hunted more than ten rankers acknowledged by Ares in a short period of time.]

[The title Ranker Hunter shines brightly.]

[The title Ranker Hunter can be upgraded if you hunt many enemies within 1 minute.]

In other words, it would change depending on how many enemies Hyunsoo and Cerberus forced to log out in a short time.

That speed only grew faster and faster.

[You have forcibly logged out Aruon.]

[You have forcibly logged out Karte.]

[You have forcibly logged out Bonegan.]

One beast was brutally massacring roughly 150 Indian rankers.

[You and Hope are running wild!]

[You have killed 30 rankers in a short period of time.]

[The title Ranker Hunter has been upgraded to Fear of Rankers.]

[You and Hope are dominating the battlefield!]

DING!

[You have killed 80 rankers in a short period of time.]

[The title Fear of Rankers has been upgraded to Ranker Massacrer.]

Nell, watching Hyunsoo and Hope rampage on one side, spoke to Luxiu.

“Aren’t you going to help?”

“......What exactly am I supposed to help with?”

“.......”

Nell had no choice but to agree.

Looking at the Indian rankers, they said,

“No, they basically put full buffs on Hope while begging him to kill them.......”

Nell, Luxiu, and everyone else from the nation of Hyun had already known about Hope’s existence.

So when the Indians had cast full buffs on him and shouted, “KHAHAHAHA, you’re all dead now!” among themselves, the people of the nation of Hyun had said this to each other.

Are they fucking stupid?

That was how absurd it seemed from the nation of Hyun’s perspective.

And soon—

“Gathering.”

Hyunsoo used the principle of Counter.

By summoning the Twin Dragon Sword, he pulled all the users together into one place.

At that moment—

[Cerberus’s Breath]

[Eternal Flame annihilates everything.]

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH-!

Eternal Flame blanketed a fifty-meter radius.

The unique power granted only to the Transcendent species Cerberus annihilated the remaining fifty or so Indian rankers.

The entire world could not contain its shock at the power of a Transcendent species.

More precisely, a fully buffed Transcendent species.

And every one of them scattered into ash.

[The title Ranker Massacrer has been finally upgraded to Ranker Above Rankers.]

“All thieves, steal until the very end.”

Once the entire situation was settled for the moment, Grand Thief Raon gave the order, and the disciples of the Grand Thief began looting their corpses at high speed.

-The Indian rankers originally intended to raid the nation of Hyun, didn’t they?

-What they were after was the nation of Hyun’s valuable weapons.

-But if this happens, the Indian rankers themselves may not even be able to participate in Continental War: World Championship.

-Because the thieves have robbed them of a large portion of their treasured artifacts.

-Even if they do march out, whether it will lead to good results is now uncertain.

And then—

“Firebird.”

Hyunsoo disappeared into flame along with Hope.

After returning to Atlas with Hope, Hyunsoo watched Hope slowly scatter away.

[Hope will be imprisoned in Abyssal Hell for 2 weeks.]

Hyunsoo’s heart ached, filled with guilt and sorrow.

Hope licked Hyunsoo’s face.

[Hope says it is nothing.]

[Hope says he will return soon, so it is all right.]

[Hope asks you to wait for him.]

At Hope’s attempt to reassure him, Hyunsoo nodded.

Because this was a realm where he could do nothing.

Soon, as Hope disappeared, Hyunsoo’s voice rang out.

“Thank you, Hope.”

At the end, Hope smiled while sitting there, and vanished just like that.

*****

Abyssal Hell.

The God of Death was bewildered by what Cerberus said after arriving.

“......You do not want to be summoned through the ring, but to become his true pet?”

The God of Death had the power to make that happen, and he was a god who enjoyed wagers.

The God of Death liked the deep bond between Hyunsoo and Cerberus.

Just because he was the God of Death did not mean he was an evil god.

But to Cerberus, who had made such a brazen request, he said,

“Originally, it was two weeks. But if you endure Hell for one month, I shall make it so. That month will be suffering far greater than you imagine.”

The God of Death looked at Cerberus, who slowly nodded.

“......I cannot understand. What on earth did you receive from him?”

Cerberus smiled faintly and answered.

“He said thank you to me.”

“That alone is enough.”

“.......”

The God of Death simply watched Hope.

And Hope was thrown in.

First, he entered a place where thousands of blades cut, stabbed, gouged, and butchered his entire body.

The God of Death thought it was the bluff of one who had never experienced it.

But after time passed, Cerberus emerged from the blade hell with blood pouring from his whole body and said,

“Next.”

“.......”

The next was a hell where his entire body froze solid.

The cold made it impossible to sleep, and each day brought pain as if thousands of awls were stabbing through his entire body.

Cerberus endured this as well.

“Next.”

After that came a hell where he fell from the highest place once every few dozen seconds.

Then came a hell where a twenty-meter steel ball, tall enough to crush even an existence like Cerberus in a single instant, rolled over his body.

“Next.”

“Next.”

“Next.”

Cerberus passed through every one of those hells and kept moving forward.

Even when his whole body was covered in wounds from blades cutting and tearing him apart.

Even when his entire body froze, his breath steamed from his mouths, and his whole body trembled.

Even when it felt as if all his organs were bursting in an instant.

Even when a massive steel ball crushed him.

Even when he thrashed in agony, unable to breathe.

Before long, most of the hells that had tormented Hope were over.

[A long bridge descending to the human world appears.]

[However, the bridge to the human world has no visible end, so this too will be suffering.]

Standing before the bridge, Hope looked at the endless path and said,

“I like one story.”

“......?”

“The story that when a dog raised by a human dies, the dog goes ahead to Hell, and when the human dies, the dog comes out beyond the rainbow bridge to meet them.”

The three heads spoke in turn, and every mouth was smiling.

“I thought it was an empty story.”

“I lived believing I would never have that kind of life, or that kind of master. But today, I learned something. There is something humans do not know.”

Smiling, Cerberus looked at the endless bridge connected to the human world.

“The dog that goes to Hell first never wants that human to come.”

“It may stand there and wait, but it waits for that human to come as late as possible, as slowly as possible.”

“......You mean?”

“Yes.”

Cerberus looked toward the surface and smiled.

“I will not wait for a master who will cross the rainbow bridge. Instead, I will cross the rainbow bridge and go meet him again. So he does not die. So he does not cross the rainbow bridge. So he can come as late as possible.”

The God of Death looked at Cerberus.

At last, Cerberus turned around.

Then he stepped onto the bridge that led to the human world.

TAP, TAP-TAP, TAPTAPTAPTAP-!

Hope began running with all his strength across that endless bridge.

Hope would not stop until he met Hyunsoo.

Because that was Hope’s rainbow bridge.