Elinalise stepped forward firmly, reinforcing Roxy's theory to calm the atmosphere.
— "I've heard stories about this too... I know someone who went through something similar to Zenith, and today, they lead a completely normal life."
Her words managed to appease the fire burning inside Paul. For Rudeus, although he slightly doubted the testimonies of Elinalise and Arthur, Roxy's technical explanation seemed logical and gave him the anchor he needed.
— "The problem remains that cursed Guardian..." — Elinalise intervened, redirecting the conversation to the critical point. — "Seriously, it's the first time I've seen a Hydra like that."
Gisu continued, drawing everyone's attention with a worried gesture.
— "It's a huge problem. If what Arthur says is true, we can't do anything to it with direct magic attacks. It swallows them all."
— "Not to mention it regenerates its severed heads instantly..." — Talhand added, crossing his arms heavily.
Roxy stepped in, sharing information.
— "A long time ago, I read a book about a diabolical dragon whose scales were made of magic stones capable of absorbing mana. It was said they went extinct after the Second Great War between Humans and Demons when the continents were separated. I always thought they were just legends... and to think I'd find one here."
— "Does that mean they are completely immune to spells?" — Gisu asked, scratching his head.
— "Basically, yes... but there is a way to defeat it," — Arthur replied, making everyone look at him with a mixture of surprise and hope. — "If we burn the stump immediately after cutting it, it probably won't be able to regenerate the head... right, Rudeus?"
Rudeus nodded, understanding the logic. "It makes sense. If we cauterize the wound, it's possible we can stop the regeneration. It's a myth from my old world, but here the biological rules are different; it might just work," he thought.
— "Then that's the plan," — Roxy added, her eyes flashing. — "We will take advantage of the moment of the cut to launch fire magic directly at the stump. Without scales to protect it, the fire should take effect."
Gisu closed the meeting with these words.
— "Perfect. We'll test if that idea works and decide from there. The premise is clear: don't die trying. What do you two think? Can you cut those heads?" — Gisu looked intently at Arthur and Paul.
— "Sure, no problem. I've caught my breath," — Arthur replied confidently
— "Yes..." — Paul muttered, in a muted voice that made Rudeus let out a sigh of concern.
However, before moving forward, Paul stopped in front of Arthur.
— "Arthur... thank you for stopping this immature old man."
Then, Paul turned to his son.
— "Rudy," — he called him with a vulnerability that broke the young mage's heart. — "You really are an incredible son... You kept your cool while I was acting like a fool." His mouth twitched in a grimace of pain. "I'm a horrible father. I feel like I don't deserve a son as good as you."
Paul looked at him with renewed determination, yet loaded with a strange heaviness.
— "I know it's not what a father should say, but please... rescue your mother. Even if it costs you your life."
Rudeus, far from being intimidated, held his father's gaze.
— "I will save her."
Paul smiled at the response and ruffled his hair affectionately, just as he had years ago.
— "Everyone! Let's move!"
With their hearts in their throats and a plan in place, the group headed back to the crimson portal for the rematch.
...
Upon reappearing, the Manatite Hydra was already waiting for them. Its nine heads rose in unison, hissing with renewed fury at seeing the intruders return.
— "Everyone to your positions!" — Paul roared, drawing his sword with a firmness he hadn't possessed minutes before.
Arthur and Paul shot forward like arrows toward the beast. Elinalise followed closely with her shield up, while Talhand advanced heavily to cover the flanks. Behind them, Roxy and Rudeus maintained a safe distance. Gisu, aware of his limits, stayed near the entrance.
Arthur, fueled by a reinforced Touki, surged ahead of the rest. His feet barely touched the tiles before propelling him forward again. The Hydra reacted immediately: three of its heads lunged at him in a coordinated attack, moving like emerald whips with disproportionate speed.
Without hesitation, Arthur gripped his sword with both hands. With an upward diagonal slash, he severed the first head that tried to bite him. Before the monster's body could react, Arthur stepped on the still-bleeding stump to propel himself into the air, narrowly dodging the other two heads that collided with each other where he had stood a second before.
In mid-air, Arthur extended his left hand toward the open wound.
— "¡¡FLAMETHROWER!!" — he shouted.
A concentrated blast of fire erupted from his palm, striking the exposed flesh of the stump directly. The fire cauterized the wound instantly, leaving a trail of ash and burnt meat that did not bubble. The plan was working: that head would not grow back.
However, the triumph was short-lived. As Arthur landed, a fourth head that had remained hidden behind the smoke made a serpentine movement, appearing from his blind spot. With jaws wide and fangs dripping with venom, the head was inches from devouring him from behind.
"Crap! I won't be able to turn in time..." — Arthur thought, feeling the beast's foul breath on his neck.
He tried to force his body into a desperate spin, but before he could, a silver flash cut through the air. The Hydra's head flew into the air, describing a bloody arc before hitting the ground.
Paul appeared in his field of vision, sword still in the final position of the strike, eyes fierce.
— "Don't get distracted, Arthur!" — Paul exclaimed, giving him the space needed to recover.
— "Got it!" — Arthur replied, recomposing himself instantly as he saw Rudeus launch a discharge of fire toward the new cut Paul had just opened.
The group quickly regrouped, forming a star formation: Paul and Arthur in the vanguard, Rudeus in the center coordinating attacks, Elinalise and Talhand covering the flanks, and Roxy in the rear, maintaining a global view of the battlefield.
— "It's working! Let's keep going!" — Rudeus shouted.
— "Yeah!"
However, the Hydra was no ordinary beast. Noticing its heads were no longer returning, its killer instinct shifted. It quickly identified the catalysts for that devastating fire and decided to eliminate the link it considered most vulnerable. Two of its heads launched like arrows with speed exceeding anything seen before.
Rudeus managed to dodge the first by pure instinct, but the second head had already predicted his movement and headed relentlessly toward him.
— "Cover me!" — Rudeus shouted, seeing the jaws open before him.
Arthur gritted his teeth and tried to go to his aid, but a third head stood in his way. It didn't try to bite him; instead, the creature tensed its neck and swung it like a colossal whip, seeking to crush him.
Without time to dodge, Arthur was forced to take the impact. He reinforced every muscle in his body with a massive amount of Touki and crossed his sword in front of him in a desperate block.
The thunder of the impact resonated through the mausoleum.
Although the block was successful, the power of the blow was massive. Arthur was dragged back, his boots carving deep furrows into the stone floor a meter long. The impact knocked the breath out of his lungs, and a metallic taste flooded his mouth.
Roxy, who had just launched a healing spell to help Elinalise (who had taken a blow meant for Rudeus), watched in horror as Arthur was hit.
— "Arthur! Are you okay?!" — Roxy shouted, her voice laced with genuine anguish.
— "I'm fine!" — he replied, though his voice sounded raspy. He turned his face and spat out a bit of blood before standing up.
"That damn thing has ridiculous brute strength..."— he thought, feeling a stab of pain in his ribs. He placed his free hand on his chest, and a green glow of healing magic enveloped his torso, relieving the pressure from the hit.
Arthur prepared to charge again, but as he looked down at his weapon, his heart skipped a beat. The blade of his sword, the companion that had followed him through so many battles, had a slight but clear crack near the hilt.
"If it takes another hit of that magnitude... it will break."
— "Hold on! We can still do this!" — Paul roared, lunging at another of the heads to draw the beast's attention.
Paul cut one head, Rudeus used a fireball to cauterize it, while at the same time Arthur cut another and used flamethrower. Talhand and Elinalise covered them while Roxy protected them both. Everything was going well.
However, upon losing its fourth head, the Hydra changed. Its five remaining heads moved with a malignant intelligence, ignoring the swordsmen and concentrating all their fury on the link that held the defense: Talhand.
— "Kuuh!" — the dwarf rolled across the floor dodging an onslaught, but a second head struck him, dragging him across the tiles.
Talhand ended up on his back, blocking the jaws of a third head trying to devour him with his shield and axe, but the fourth was faster. Its jaws snapped shut on his leg with a metallic crunch.
— "CRACK!"
Before the teeth could pierce the bone, a silver blur crossed the air. Arthur arrived like a lightning bolt, severing the head cleanly.
— "Flamethrower!" — Arthur shouted, incinerating the stump on the spot while helping the dwarf up. On the other side, Paul and Rudeus dispatched the fifth.
— "By my mother's beard! I'M ALIVE!" — Talhand gasped. — "Thanks, kid!"
— "That's what comrades are for," — Arthur replied, though his gaze never left the monster.
Roxy didn't waste a second: — "May the power of God be offered to those who have lost strength! VITALIS!" — Healing magic enveloped Talhand, closing his wounds.
— "Only three left!" — Elinalise cheered.
The Hydra retreated, but in an act of savage desperation, the central head bit one of its own cauterized stumps, tearing off the burnt flesh to force regeneration.
— "Don't give it time!" — Paul roared.
Elinalise lunged with a battle cry, driving her Gladius into the bleeding neck while invoking a Glacie-Impel. A colossal block of ice crushed the budding head before the scales could protect it. Immediately, Roxy finished it off with an Igni-Flare, sealing the neck for good.
Only three remained. But then, the Hydra raised its remaining necks. Their mouths opened slowly, accumulating a fiery glow that made the air vibrate.
— "Paul, back! IT'S GOING TO BREATHE FIRE!" — Arthur shouted, recognizing the pattern.
They retreated in a heartbeat. Arthur and Rudeus stood at the front, joining hands to create a Massive Water Wall. The clash of fire against water caused a steam explosion that flooded the room, raising the temperature to unbearable levels.
Without waiting for the steam to dissipate, Arthur and Paul charged from the flanks. In a synchronized movement of steel and fire, they severed and burned two more heads.
— "Perfect! Only one left!" — Rudeus shouted excitedly.
In that moment of apparent victory, the air grew heavy. Arthur, who had been focused the whole time, had relaxed slightly due to how easily the fight was progressing. Suddenly, he felt a premonition.
The Hydra, reduced to a single head, lunged forward—straight toward Rudeus.
¡"OH, CRAP"!...Arthur turned his body quickly.
— "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" — Paul roared, running toward Rudeus and shoving him aside.
The Hydra passed through their former position. Having lost all but one head, the beast lashed its body wildly; the Hydra swung the cauterized necks like whips filled with thorns due to the deadly scales covering them. Now, eight necks acting as makeshift whips followed the movement of the main neck in a massive sweep.
— "RUDYYYYYY!!" — Paul screamed, giving him a kick to shove him away.
Time seemed to stop. Arthur saw the scene: Paul sacrificing himself, the cracked sword in his hand, and the Hydra about to claim its tragedy.
"Not this time! I promised no one would die!"
Arthur forced his Touki beyond its limits. His muscles roared, and the crack in his sword glowed with a white intensity. He didn't run; he became a blur of pure speed.
Just as the Hydra's necks were millimeters from impacting Paul's chest, Arthur appeared in the middle.
He didn't block. Instead, he performed a centrifugal upward spin, concentrating all his mana and physical strength into a single point.
— "¡¡VOID SLASH: DAWN EMPEROR STYLE!!"
A blinding flash of light filled the room. The sound wasn't a crash, but a sonic hiss. Arthur's sword fragmented into a thousand pieces under the strain, but the energy released was so devastating that it not only intercepted the eight necks but cut them off at the root in a single circular sweep.
Arthur landed on his knees in front of a shocked Paul, with only the broken hilt of his sword in his hand. Behind them, the eight necks of the Hydra hit the floor like heavy logs, and the main head hung in the air, decapitated by the shockwave before it could even realize what had happened.
The Manatite Hydra collapsed, making the labyrinth floor tremble. Silence returned, broken only by Arthur's ragged breathing.
Paul looked at Arthur, then at Rudeus, and finally at the beast's carcass. They were alive. Everyone was alive.
— "I told you..." — Arthur whispered, dropping the broken hilt and spitting a thread of blood with a triumphant smile — "...that you would see your wife again."
His feet gave way, his consciousness darkened, and he finally hit the ground with a heavy thud.
At that same moment, the crystal holding Zenith shattered instantly, leaving the woman on the floor.
....
End of Chapter