With my control returned, I stared down at my own hands and closed my fingers one by one. The feeling of being manipulated like a puppet terrified me. I looked up at the monstrosity, its figure both gallant and apocalyptic, and I asked, “Why did you control me?”

Cerberus shifted, his weight causing the entire cavern to shake. “I sensed someone worthy to become my champion. I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste,” replied the beast, his voice sending shivers down my spine.

I realized, then, what had happened. The monster used illusion and dream magics to control me. My body, due to my non-combat class, had lower magic resistances and thus I was susceptible to such things. I hadn’t considered it a possibility. Mind control magics did not exist in Xternity. I was careless.

Without a single wasted movement, I pulled one of my precious tier 9 potions from my inventory and shotgunned it.

“Monster,” I said, my voice laced with venom as I wiped the leftover potion from my lips, “I will ask you again. Do not lie to me a second time. Why did you control me?”

The creature seemed to stir, as if confused. “I did not lie,” it replied, its body leaning towards me as if ready to pounce.

“You claim you want a champion, yet you decided to control me. For all I know, you aren’t even really the guardian of this ‘Bridge’ between worlds. You have no proof of your claims, and you’ve lied to me twice now,” I said, as I pulled my Tier 10 armor Ether’s Bane out of my inventory and slipped it on over my equipment.

“You, child, you dare to question me? I AM CERBERUS!” The beast bellowed and the cavern shook… But then something strange happened. The creature seemed to shrink back and its starlight eyes receded to mere dots in the darkness of the cave.

“Your magics wont work on me anymore, Cerberus,” I chided, my voice laced with rage. “If you truly wanted a champion, why did you not call out to my companion Benson? He is thousands of times stronger than I.”

“YOU INSOLENT WHELP!” Boomed the creature as it took a step forward, its teeth the size of trees, gnashing. The monster’s chains went taught and held it back a few meters before it could reach me.

“I don’t care if you’re some God’s pet,” I said, standing my ground in the face of the beast. “You tried to control me. You tried to manipulate my mind. Even if everything you’ve said so far is true, I REFUSE TO BE YOUR PUPPET!” My own voice grew louder as my anger bloomed. I truly didn’t care if the beast really was some legendary guardian between worlds, or if he was some demon attempting to beguile me with rotten apples. Even if he was speaking the truth, I didn’t want his help.

“You insect,” growled the monster, its voice growing quiet and deep. “You dare to treat me this way? I offered to make you my champion, to help you in your plight, and you repay me with insults?”

“Yes,” I said, indifference in my tone. “You never intended to help me. You intended to use me... As evidenced by the fact that you continue, even now, to cast high level mind manipulation magics on me. Have you not noticed each one reflecting back to you?”

The beast didn’t reply immediately, but I felt his surging mana calm. Soon, his invisible spells stopped assaulting me. There was a long silence. The monster scoffed and then let out a short laugh.

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“Fine. Go. I will simply wait for another, even if it takes another 7000 years. And when I am finally freed from these chains, I will find you and burn your soul,” said Cerberus, his voice filled with a quiet superiority.

I couldn’t help but laugh in reply.

“Do you really think I would leave this place peacefully? You claimed to have been trapped down here for 7000 years, Cerberus,” I said, a smile on my face. “That means the world doesn’t need you. Even if you are some Godly being, you are underestimating me. I don’t know if I can kill you, but I can certainly plant runes across this labyrinth that block all magic from leaving the lower floors. You will never be able to call out to another Champion again.”

“YOU MONGREL!” The beast roared and his chains rattled. The room shook but my laughter drowned out the monster’s cry.

“Benson, I know you’ve been watching. I need your help for a bit,” I said loudly. As if from thin air, my companion appeared next to me. I wasn’t completely sure, but I assumed he followed me. I felt unimaginable relief at seeing him actually appear. It would have been rather embarrassing if he wasn't actually around. 

“What do you need, Mistress?” He asked, a cold toothy grin on his face. His eyes seemed to beam with pride.

“I’m going to set up some isolation runes. I assume you’ve mapped out the Labyrinth when you followed me?” I asked.

“Yes, Mistress, I did.”

“Good,” I said as I pulled several small blank wards from my inventory and started to scribe them with magic carving. “Lead me to the entrance of this floor. Clearly whoever first trapped this mongrel down here didn’t do a good enough job. We’ll have to show them what a proper magic seal looks like.”

Benson’s smile grew wide. “I was worried,” he said. “I thought whatever spell had been used on you wouldn’t dissipate.”

“I’m certain you would have been able to do something about it, Benson,” I said with a forced smile as we started walking away from the chained behemoth. I couldn’t hide the terror in my voice. The beast bellowed in rage behind us, but we ignored it. Neither Benson nor I had enough mercy to even consider hearing out Cerberus’s original request. If the monster were truly benign, it wouldn’t have used such diabolical methods to contact me in the first place.

I looked at Benson and, for a moment, thought about just how much he suffered during his years trapped in Xternity. I had been controlled for only part of a day… And that was far too long for my tastes.

At least now I had an idea about how I ended up in a different world. Cerberus probably hadn’t lied about the bridge between worlds. Perhaps in the future I will regret not giving him a chance to explain everything, but my Reflect Magic potion could only last for so long. I wasn’t willing to risk being in close proximity to that monster, even with Ether’s Bane equipped, until I increased my own resistances to illusion-type magics.

Despite how much I wanted to return home, I wasn’t willing to cut a deal with the devil to do it… Especially if that deal involved the control of my own mind and body.

Besides, it’s not like Cerberus was going anywhere anytime soon. I could always come back and deal with this devil later on… Though it would be on my terms, not his.