Lucy POV
"Bernard, with me!"
"Got it! Hehe, this is what I've been waiting for!"
"I'll provide support from here."
Facing the large monster that barely fits within this room, Arthur and Bernard waste no time. They dash out of Miss Julia's shield and begin their attack. Hina is also ready, throwing out several magical crystals that quickly transform into blades of wind, ice shards or large rocks.
"Graah!"
"Stick to our strategy and don't overdo it. Pull back to my shield after you're done attacking."
The hydra lets out a loud roar in response and lunges at Hina with one of its heads, but it just collides with Miss Julia's shield, its attack completely blocked. It tries to use more of its heads, but then Bernard slams into its body, quickly followed by Arthur's attacks.
In the meantime, I'm still tending to Hugh's wounds while running through all the details from the game in my mind.
The shadow hydra was a late-game secret boss, with a low chance of appearing while exploring the deepest layers of the dungeons. So needless to say, it's quite a powerful enemy, though not that difficult to take down if you follow the fight gimmick.
Just like the myth, you need to cut off the hydra's heads and quickly burn the wounds, otherwise two new heads will take the place of a severed head. Naturally Hugh was the best pick for this encounter since his swordsmanship skill is pretty high and he also has the fire attribute, so he fits all the requirements.
I glance down at Hugh in front of me. I finally managed to patch up the large wound on his arm and shoulder, though the large gash in his clothes is still there, blood staining the fabric.
"Thank you, Lucy. Now I can also keep fighting."
"W-wait, what are you saying?"
After Hugh's confident declaration, I quickly reach out and pull him back before he can step out of Miss Julia's shield.
"What is it?"
He asks, his right hand still faintly shaking around the sword and his breathing is also noticeably uneven.
"Even though I healed your wound, you still lost a lot of blood. You aren't in any condition to fight."
This encounter would be easier with Hugh involved, but the hit he took before is not to be underestimated. The hydra's sneak attack might not have been a full power hit, since it wanted to go unnoticed, but Hugh still blocked it with pure strength, without any mana. So it was an impressive feat and now he just wants to go straight into fighting it… There's no way I can allow that.
Even though we don't have too many options, I refuse to put anyone at risk so I just need to come up with a different approach quickly.
"We don't have time for that. I should-"
"No, it's fine. Trust me, I have a plan."
Or at least a concept of a plan, though I don't say that part out loud.
"If you really want to, you can support from the back, but nothing more."
"But-"
"Listen to Lucy."
"..."
Hugh still wants to argue, but Miss Julia's calm and authoritative voice makes him quiet down. With that settled, I turn to her and ask:
"Miss Julia, how long do you think you'd be able to withstand that monster's attacks?"
"With its full attention, I don't know. A few minutes maybe?"
"Okay, that should be fine."
Crack!
"Ugh! What is this guy made of?"
"Hey, look out!"
While I'm talking with Miss Julia, a loud thud rings out, followed by the distinct sound of a shield spell breaking. Bernard used his standard move once more, but this time his shield is the first to break when he slams into the monster again. Ugh, we really are underleveled for this fight…
Though his attack seems to do quite a bit of damage as the hydra cries out in pain and then focuses four of its five heads at him and bites down towards him.
"Pull back!"
Hina shouts and a number of small magic stones fly through the air and they suddenly expand into a thick ice wall. Even though that only slows its attack for a moment before it breaks through the wall, but it gives Arthur just enough time to swoop in and pull Bernard towards Miss Julia's shield.
"Take a moment to rest, I'll head back out."
"Ugh…"
"Ah, Arthur. Wait!"
After bringing Bernard in, he seems ready to keep going, but it won't work like this. We need to get a real plan, so I quickly reach out and grab him. Although I see a hint of hesitation in his eyes, Arthur stops immediately after my request.
"Miss Julia."
So with him here as well, I quickly turn to Miss Julia, both asking for permission to share my plan and also to signal her that it's time to strengthen her shield.
"Lucy is in charge now so listen to everything she says."
"Thank you. Ahem, this monster is a shadow hydra. It's very powerful but there is a way to make it easier to take down."
"Graa! Screech!"
After getting Miss Julia's support I quickly get to the point and begin talking, but the hydra doesn't sit idle either. With all of us within the shield spell, it focuses all of its attention on the transparent barrier. But Miss Julia holds out, though she won't be able to keep it up for long so I hurry up.
"It has very strong regenerative abilities, but if all five of its heads are cut off, it will die. However when a head is cut off the wound needs to be cauterized quickly with fire or two new heads will grow."
Now the problem is who will cut off the heads. Bernard might seem like a good choice, but his usual technique is more of a blunt-force attack, it would be difficult for him to cut through a head like that, and he will need to fill a different role anyway.
Hugh would be a good option too like in the game, but after his injury I don't want to put him in danger. As for Hina… she'll be our last resort.
So that leaves Arthur.
"Could you do it? Cut them off one head at a time?" I ask him. He thinks for a moment and then gives his answer:
"...Probably. But I would need to be able to focus entirely on my attacks."
Well, I can't really argue with that. Since he has the lowest attack power among the capture targets and instead relies on exploiting weak points, I know I'm already asking a lot of him just by expecting him to make the cuts.
But that also means someone else has to pose enough of a threat to make the hydra focus entirely on them and allow Arthur to do his job. So this time I turn to Bernard.
"What? Oh, should I distract it? Well, I can try my best, but like you just saw, its body is really tough. I tried hitting it hard enough to make it pay attention to me, but all that did was get my shield broken."
"If you had a more powerful shield, would you be able to keep it up?"
"Um, I guess? What do you have in mind?"
"If I got on your back, would that slow you down? I can strengthen your shield with mine."
This is the best method I could come up with so quickly. A combo move that had a number of unlock requirements in the game, so I don't know if skipping all those steps will affect it in any way, but right now, it's our best bet.
"Hahaha! That sounds really fun! Ah, I mean, that could really work."
"But Lucy-"
"Hina, you should keep supporting from the back. And if anything goes wrong, it's all in your hands. Don't hold back."
"..."
Bernard really likes the idea I brought up, but Hina tries to speak up. I already know that she thinks it's a bad idea since it puts me right at the front of the battle, so I quickly interrupt her and tell her what I need her to do. I look into her eyes as I speak in a serious tone, and although she doesn't seem to like my plan, she slowly nods.
"Hugh, keep an eye on the monster and Arthur. The moment he cuts off a head, use a fire spell to seal the wound."
"...I got it."
"Then the plan is done. Everyone get ready."
And it seems to be just in time too, as faint cracks are already appearing on Miss Julia's shield and it's clear she wouldn't have been able to hold out much longer.
We even got through the planning part much faster than I expected, since everyone went along with me and trusted me. Ugh, this team really is the best, isn't it? So I have to make sure to do my part well too.
"Um, is it okay like this?"
Bernard asks as he bends down with his back toward me.
"Hm."
"Ah, Lucy."
"Yes?"
Just as I'm about to get on Bernard's back, Hina suddenly calls out to me. After a moment of hesitation she finally says:
"Just… be careful."
"You too."
I say and then get into position.
"Haha, let's do this!"
Bernard says as he gathers his shield around us. I reach out my right hand, letting my mana flow out and intertwine with his, further reinforcing his shield.
"Uwah!"
The next moment I feel myself get dragged away by a powerful force so I tighten my hold around Bernard's neck with my left arm, trying to hold on even as I'm hit with much more force than I expected.
"Ugh."
Then I feel the impact as Bernard crashes into something head-on, which almost throws me off Bernard's back again, but I force myself to hold on and another force hits me once more soon after.
I get thrown around like that for a while and my vision begins to swim as my eyes struggle to keep up with the speed, but I keep my mana flow steady, making sure we can keep the plan going even if I can't see anything.
"Shing!"
But even in such a state, I still hear that distinct cutting sound and turn my head towards that large black shape.
"Screech!"
It lets out a pained wail as one of its heads begins to fall down and a moment later, large red flames engulf its neck. Its cries become even more anguished and I can't help but recall some of my own memories upon seeing this scene.
Well, the moment I recognised this monster as the shadow hydra from the game, I knew this outcome was inevitable. If it was a few years later we might have been able to beat it without relying on the fight gimmick, but at our current level, this was the only realistic way to do it.
I quickly close my eyes and try to shut out everything around me and keep my focus solely on strengthening Bernard's shield.
When I chose this position for myself, I also took into account that using fire was unavoidable so I made sure I wouldn't have to do much thinking. All I need to do here is mindlessly supply mana to Bernard as long as I can.
"Ugh."
Certain scenes keep replaying in my mind, and it feels like my limbs are slowly being burned again, but I do my best to push those thoughts back down.
I knew my mental resistance to fire had weakened considerably after my duel with Hugh, but I didn't think it was this bad. I didn't even try to improve it again after that. I knew that the real Lucy would be coming back soon, so there wouldn't be any point in it. And also because… I'm afraid to face all those memories again…
But even as I hang near the edge of being overwhelmed by those memories, I shut everything out and focus solely on supplying my mana.
I hear one, and then another cut, but soon all the sounds around me start to merge into one. A low, constant crackle…
So I slowly get up from my bed and reach out towards my door…
Ah, no that's not real!
I quickly shake my head and try to keep strengthening Bernard's shield, but it's too late. With the next impact I hear the sound of his shield breaking and the two of us suddenly get thrown back.
My eyes open in surprise and I see the hydra still standing tall before us with two of its heads still intact. And it seems like it's not waiting for the two of us to hit the ground as its heads are already closing in towards us.
Ah… it seems like I couldn't see my plan through after all. I'm sorry, the rest is up to you…
As the two heads approach, suddenly a whirlwind of flames cuts straight through the heads and then the entire body of the monster gets enveloped by a huge pillar of flame.
Expecting Hina to deal with all five heads would have put way too much pressure on her, so I wanted to do as much as I could while I had the chance and it seems like this opportunity was perfect for her to finish the hydra off.
I knew she could do it.
I think with a faint smile on my face, but as I see the swirling flames, I can no longer hold onto my consciousness. The last thing I see is Seraphina standing in the middle of those raging flames, her red hair billowing in the heat.