The Three-Headed Hound Attacks

At the far end of the horizon, where Tenerum's eternal twilight met the swirling vapors, a blurred black shape approached at astonishing speed.

At first, it was only a writhing black speck, but as the ground trembled faintly and the wind carried a stench of rotting flesh and primal savagery, its outline rapidly sharpened.

"That's..." Frank's voice held a barely perceptible tension. He pointed into the distance, his pupils contracting slightly.

Hercules looked in the direction his close friend indicated, and his heart sank.

That thing moved like no ordinary beast. It was massive and heavy, and every step seemed to stomp in time with their heartbeats.

As it drew closer, the monster's horrifying form finally revealed itself to the terrified surviving trainees. Like the guardian of the underworld in ancient myths, the creature had three hideous heads!

Each head resembled a grotesquely twisted giant wolf. Corrosive saliva dripped from its gaping jaws, burning sizzling pits into the ground.

Six eyes burning with eerie green fire fixed on the insignificant intruders like beacons from hell.

"Weapons! Now! Form up!" Hercules's roar shattered the deathly silence and snapped the others out of their terror.

Adrenaline sent his mind racing as his gaze swept across their surroundings.

But an endless, flat wasteland stretched around them, with no terrain they could use to maneuver or hide.

Run? Turning their backs on a monster like this would be suicide. Their only chance of survival was to fight to the death!

Without a moment's hesitation, Hercules sprang into action.

He tightened his grip on the torch made from resin-soaked rock fibers, its leaping flames casting flickering light and shadow across his resolute face.

At the same time, he reached back and drew the Monomolecular Knife from his waist, its cold edge reflecting the firelight.

Then