Chapter 116 – Five-headed Hydra
When Brendel tracked down the Hydra, he also discovered Amandina and Dia hiding in the bushes hundreds of meters away to spy on the mythical creature.
Amandina had originally gone out to find Dia, who was moving everywhere senselessly to gather materials for Tamar. She was guarded by the Fire Claw Lizardmen and they managed to find her near a lake looking at the scale that was eventually pa.s.sed to Brendel.
Amandina recognized the scale as she had encountered the description in the books that she read, and a few of the books described the Hydras in great details.
She got the Fire Claw Lord, Ropar, to report to Brendel, while she got the others to track the serpent. Soon enough, they discovered the huge creature. It was a five-headed Hydra, its body was sleek and elegant against the areas of light and darkness. The detailed scales were ink-black, but there were several sections seemed to have a green glow.
It was a Poison Hydra.
Its defense and strength were not as strong as its other relatives; it could not become a fog-like existence like the Nine-headed Shadow Serpent, or manipulate Ice or Fire Elements like the other subspecies. However, they were the hardest to deal with because their corrosive poison could shoot a hundred meters in distance and melt Magic Alloy.
“All of you stay here and wait!” Brendel immediately ordered the excited youths who were ready to try their mettle. “Kodan, Scarlett, Ropar, attack it from the back while I attract its attention and force it to use its poison. The angle that it can attack from is only 180 degrees, so make sure you stay out of range.”
Brendel was the first to charge out.
“That’s too dangerous!” Kodan pulled out his sword and followed next. Brendel had promised to give him a Potion of Dragon Strength for taking part in this battle.
“Leave it to me!” Brendel activated the specially crafted Wind Sigils by Tamar on his sword sheath, raising his Agility tremendously.
He entered the Hydra’s guarded range a few seconds after he spoke, and the gigantic creature that was tens of meters tall had its third head raised up. Its huge tapered mouth opened up and shot a geyser of black poison from nearly a hundred meters away, but the youth had not forgotten how to fight this creature.
He frowned and immediately veered towards the sides, allowing the poison to fire past him while he continued to advanced quickly. The hissing poison continued past him and splattered onto the ground.
Smoke immediately appeared as the poison corroded the foliage. The chemical reactions even caused the liquid to burst into flames, while the surrounding plants visibly wilted at the speed where the naked eye could even detect it.
The young men who were originally ignorant of the monster they were facing immediately paled and even a few yelled out.
“Marsha above!”
Mordenkainen stared at Brendel who was now dodging the Hydra’s projectiles from the five heads in disbelief. The latter’s movements were in a blur, but it was clear that he was avoiding the poison arrows with ease.
He had heard of Brendel’s legendary exploits that seemed almost exaggerated, but he discovered that the reality before him surpa.s.sed the stories. His jaw collapsed several times and went back up to clench his teeth when it appeared dangerous.
“I-Incredible. Didn’t our lord say that we can be as strong as him one day? Is this really true?” The person next to Mordenkainen suddenly spoke and jerked the nearest person’s sleeve, who happened to be Merial. She pulled back a little.
“Oh. It’s you Merial. Did I pull too hard?”
“N-nothing,” Merial shook her head vehemently and replied, “our lord seems like he’s a Gold-ranked swordsman, I think we would need decades of training to reach his level……”
“Decades, but our lord looks like he’s at most twenty years old!”
“Our lord is a genius, do you think you can compare to him?”
“Well that’s true, but isn’t it too long to train for decades?”
“You’re talking about a Gold-ranker.” One of the youths who was a former mercenary replied sarcastically at once: “Do you think it’s lettuce from a field and you can get a large number just by planting them? You have heard of the reserve knights from the Holy Cathedral, right? As long as you have the abilities of a Gold-ranker, you can enter the Holy Knights’ reserves—”
Many held their breaths when they heard him speak about that position. It was a legendary status where most would aspire to, and they were existences far beyond the likes of Graudin.
Someone else added to the discussion: “You don’t even need to reach the Gold-rank, as long as can become a Silver-rank, you can become knighted under any lord!”
Even if a knight was the lowest cla.s.s of n.o.bility, the t.i.tle was full of enticement.
“Then is it possible for us to reach the Silver ranks?”
Carglise finally came back to his senses. He suddenly felt that Brendel must have been laughing maliciously inside when he rushed at him with a sword. He was merely an Iron-ranker and dared to challenge a grandmaster swordsman with the capabilities of a Gold-ranker.
Even though he was thick-skinned, he could not help but burn up a little. Still, he looked at the others and answered: “We will definitely be able to enter the realms of a Silver-rank.”
“Why are you sure, Carglise?” Merial asked curiously: “A common man would find it hard to reach that level, and you need a certain level of talent right?”
“Don’t you find that you’re improving really quickly?” Carglise asked.
Everyone stared at him. Did they really improve? Kodan called them fools where no man could hope to compare, and Scarlett shook her head every time she saw them. Even their lord who seemed friendly and approachable merely smiled at them without saying anything. These actions made them feel like they were completely untalented.
But Carglise shook his head. He knew that they had no problems. In fact, he realized that his swordsmanship that had not improved for a long time was starting to become better. He was even surprised to find himself becoming stronger after entering the Dark Forest for a week. He was almost at the stage where he could be called a Silver-rank.
“Do you know what swordsmanship the lord is teaching you every day?” He said, and most of them shook their heads.
“Merial.”
Merial frowned: “It appears to be the Holy Cathedral of Fire’s swordsmanship.”
“Isn’t it forbidden to teach it outside the Holy Cathedral?” Someone called out, and suddenly there was silence amongst them. A few of them looked at each other; it was quite a severe crime to teach the techniques from the Holy Cathedral of Fire.
Carglise did not care the Holy Cathedral as they would not pick the youths here to train them. The latter could choose from a large number of talented youths who were blessed by the G.o.ds.
He was a normal person at the end of the day.
He patted Merial lightly on her shoulders: “Do you understand why I feel like I have chosen the correct decision?”
Merial blushed a little.
The others started pondering when they heard Carglise’s words.
While the youths were lost in their thoughts, Brendel was not as relaxed as they thought. Even though there was no direct hit by the venom shot out from the five heads, there was a flashing warning in green color on his retina:
– Poisoned.
Brendel had gone past the fifth round of attacks by the Hydra, and the monster finally needed a little time to prepare for its next projectile. He quickly made a signal to Kodan, Scarlett, and Ropar to make their moves while making a side turn in order to lure the monster, as well as staying away from the poisonous cloud.
He swiftly checked his Stats Window to confirm his vitality.
It was still green.
Even though he was poisoned, his Physique was high enough to resist the venom since it was past a hundred points. Any normal person would have died a hundred times if they pa.s.sed through the poisonous cloud.
But once he inspected the details, he found that the Resistance Bar was yellow at 87%, and it was dropping. He calculated the time and estimated that he had less than ten minutes to resolve this issue, or he would die from the poison.
[As expected from a high-level Gold-ranked monster. It’s not easy to deal with it.]
The time taken by the Hydra to spew its poison again was a minute and a half, and the attackers needed to close in the distance. However, the Poison Hydras were intelligent enough to retreat and shoot its projectiles while retreating.
Unfortunately, Brendel had drawn its attention long enough for his allies to sneak up behind it. When the Hydra finally discovered them, it could only hiss angrily as it did not understand strategies.
The time taken to get close to the huge monster only took thirty seconds. Brendel activated his Charge skill, leaping to avoid the Hydra’s tail swipe that was like a steel whip. It was a cla.s.sic move for dragons and its subspecies. The tail had scales harder than metal and easily broke the ancient trees apart, sending loud smashing sounds accompanied by tremors that could be felt miles away.
Brendel somersaulted and landed next to the Hydra’s front right leg, raising Halran Gaia as he did so.
Brendel raised Halran Gaia with both hands and tried to cleave the Hydra’s leg, which was more like a rock pillar. Surprisingly, the monster’s dexterity was astonishingly fast despite its huge body. It drew in its foot so quickly that Brendel could only cut through the air.
However, the powerful strike destroyed the ground beneath the Hydra and caused fissures to spring up everywhere. The sword’s contact to the ground also caused a shockwave to spread out in a cone and the Hydra became unbalanced; its body slanted towards the side.
But Brendel could not find an opportunity to continue to attack because the five heads of the Hydra danced around the air like whips, trying to bite the youth, which forced him to retreat repeatedly, and he ended a distance that was ten meters away.
His allies approached the Hydra’s back to find a chance to attack it, but Brendel immediately roared when he realized there was a ripple of energy emanating from the Hydra: “Be careful of its Venom Shield!”
The three was momentarily stunned as they found a wall of green liquid appearing out of thin air before them. Kodan and Scarlett had enough experience to stop themselves from advancing, but Kodan went one step further and hurled his dagger into the wall to strike the Hydra’s body.
A soft hissing sound could be heard before the dagger even went through the liquid. It was quickly turned into white smoke.
“Marsha above!” Kodan felt relieved in his heart that the warning came in time, but he started to wonder how they could handle this d.a.m.ned creature.
However, Ropar did not seem to hear Brendel’s words and rushed straight into the wall of venomous liquid, but it was not affected at all, though the dirt on its scales was burned away.
[Immunity to poison!]
Brendel’s eyes widened in surprise.
[W-well, a four-legged Hydra is considered somewhat to be like a lizard. Ropar and Hydra can kind of be considered as the same type. It can be considered reasonable for some kind of suppression amongst the same type.]
Ropar had broken into the Hydra’s defenses, surprising everyone. The huge monster was unable to turn its heads around in time and Ropar swung its greatsword on the Hydra’s rear right leg. Flames wrapped around the greatsword as it severed the Hydra’s scales and sinew. Before the blood could spew out, the heat turned it into gas and was spurted out in a red mist.
The Hydra raised all its heads and screamed at the same time. The deafening blast transmitted for miles, frightening the nearby birds into taking flight.
The wall of venom rippled a few times and disappeared at the same time the Hydra got injured.
[[Now!]]
Kodan and Scarlett thought at the same time. They charged in together, but after taking a few steps they felt a sinking feeling beneath their feet and the ground collapsed.
“What are these?” Scarlett felt her heart skip a beat. She saw countless green th.o.r.n.y vines breaking through the ground as though they were alive, and they were darting towards her legs.
It was not just her. Kodan also faced the same situation.
Brendel’s reaction was to plant his sword into the ground to gain balance from the unsteady ground, while he raised the other hand towards the sky—
The youths who were watching from saw a small Magic Formation appearing above Brendel. A card was thrown into the air, causing tiny grains of green light to appear from the earth and rising up to rush into the Magic Formation.
Over a hundred golden Holy Swords poured out from thin air and surrounded the Hydra with the blades pointing at it.
The youths completely froze when they saw the scene. They had imagined the most beautiful swordsmanship and terrifying magic from the singing bards and legendary tales, but they did not expect to see such a sight coming from the young n.o.ble.
Carglise’s eyes appeared glazed as he stared dumbfoundedly at the majestic moment: “Merial, I feel like I’m an idiot.”
Merial lowered ahead and replied softly with a red face: “Yes, you always have been one.”
The Hydra also felt the threatening swords. The fifteen pairs of eyes across its five heads stared at the formation of swords. The vines swiftly changed directions and formed into a dense towering shield that was ten meters long.
“Advance!” Brendel yelled at Kodan as he activated the card.
The golden swords of light fell like a meteor shower, drilling through the shield of vines and turning the outer layer into ashes. Very quickly, the shield was filled with holes as the swords rained into the shield. Light poured out from the shield in all directions, and the green poisonous vines gradually turned into a bubbling red liquid.
The Hydra’s poisoned vines created by its Element Power was pierced through by the swords, and the pillars of light came into contact with the Hydra’s chest. The leather protected by the crystal-like scales temporarily refracted the light, before it also turned red and the scales shattered into fragments. The blood beneath its hide was expelled in a red mist. and the immense pain caused the Hydra to writhe on the ground.
Kodan and the other two fighters did not stop to watch the scene. They avoided the hydra’s tail that was thrashing around like a whip and tried their best to wound the monster.
The Hydra was certainly not as agile and quick as a Wind Wyvern, but its defenses were far superior to the latter.
Scarlett used her full strength to create an Arc Lightning from her Element power, which traveled several tens of meters across the monster’s scales, but most of the energy did not go through its hide and only caused a small burn mark.
Kodan also tried using a shockwave to damage it, but the results were similar.
Ropar was unable to do a ranged attack and merely rushed in with its greatsword, but it became clear that each blow damaged the Hydra. Kodan and Scarlett promptly discovered this fact and started copy the Lizardman’s actions, stabbing and cutting the monster, instead of using their Element Powers or techniques.
Even though the Hydra had astonishing regenerative abilities, it did not mean its blood could be recovered as quickly. It started to become clumsy and the attacks from the five heads became slower after the increasing loss of blood.
Brendel, who was still attracting the bulk of the monster’s attention, found it easier and easier to avoid the attacks. Soon enough, he found an opportunity to get closer to the monster’s right chest.
A deep breath was taken in before the Halran Gaia was swung.
A combination of Power Break and White Rave Sword Arte.
Muscles worked under the direction of his level 16 Aouine’s Military Swordsmanship, and a white maelstrom was formed from the shockwave—
One of the youths thought a huge dragon had smashed into the Hydra.
A vertical hurricane tore into the Hydra’s already injured chest, dragging away flesh and blood into the air. It did not end there as Halran Gaia added on to the technique, turning the ground into mud that reached ten meters deep. The Hydra desperately tried to claw its way up, but it was dragged down by gravity.
When the technique was over, the landscape had changed entirely. The single slash made by Brendel caused layers of earth to shift as though there was a huge landslide. The dying Hydra was half buried under the soil as blood continued to spill from its wounds.
Brendel took a few more glances before he sheathed his sword.
The forest was silent.
Brendel went over to Dia and Felaern, instructing them to clear the poisonous air with wind magic as he imbibed an antidote potion. After it was done, he told the youths to investigate the surroundings for treasure.
They were quite reluctant to go near the Hydra. The monster’s strength had surpa.s.sed their understanding, and they could not believe how big it was when they approached it. It was difficult to understand how a person could defeat this creature.
They debated amongst themselves fiercely, and there were those brave enough to poke the crystal-like scales. Everything was unfamiliar to them.
Kodan was eventually sent along with them to find the Hydra’s nest. Monsters did not drop any equipment, but perhaps there were things that could be used in its nest.
The next thing that Brendel did was to get Felaern to pry the scales down from its chest. The rule of having a lucky babe looting something must never be changed, despite the lack of equipment drops.
The scales of a Hydra’s front chest were called Hydra’s Blessing. They were green in color, unlike its back where the scales were as black as ink. Brendel knew that these unique scales could be used in many places, and they were important Alchemy materials.
[A shame that I have to use my full strength to damage the Hydra. Only thirty scales are pulled out. At most it’s enough to make a magic armor.]
He made plans for the materials gained.