Gunfire echoed like rolling thunder through the chamber, drowning out all else as three humans and their elven ally carved a bloody path through the undead Mercenary Gang. Their miniguns roared and spewed molten death that shredded anything in their way. The floor was slick with blood, turning it into a grotesque battlefield, while the undead screamed in desperation as their numbers dwindled.

Polities fired with cold calculated precision as he shouted. "Keep pushing forward! No one gets out alive!"

Belinski grinned maniacally as he laid waste to another group. "These alien scums thought they could stand against us? Pathetic!"

"Focus fire on the ones near the exits!" Mason barked. "No reinforcements!"

In the middle of the slaughter, the distant rumble of explosions and the unmistakable clash of steel echoed from another part of the building, hinting that Price, Woods, and Riley were embroiled in their own battle elsewhere in the building.

Meanwhile, Scyllary slammed her fist against the barrier encasing her. Her amber eyes burned with rage as she turned on her white-masked guard and spoke venomously.

"Why aren't you out there? Fenrir and the Head of Destruction fear you, yet you stand here useless! You could have ended this in seconds!"

The guard remained motionless before speaking calmly. "My task is to protect you, nothing more. However, I did provide you with a solution."

Scyllary's fox ears twitched. "The artifact?"

"Yes," The guard nodded his head. "The Transcendent Tier 3 artifact I gave you. Within it lies the soul of a powerful magic beast from the First Civilization Zone. Use it, and you will gain power far beyond your enemies."

Hesitation and caution was seen in her eyes but was quickly swallowed by greed. She pulled the artifact from her belt, an orb glowing with an unnatural light.

"This better work," she hissed and channeled every ounce of mana she possessed into the artifact.

The orb shuddered violently and its light intensified as Scyllary convulsed. As if her very soul was being violated, a scream ripped from her throat, only to be drowned out by the artifact's overwhelming power. Her form twisted grotesquely, and her kitsune features warped into a monstrous visage.

Six feral heads burst forth from her shoulders, each roaring with primal fury. Her body grew and shattered the barrier as she transformed into a towering abomination.

The white-masked guard took a step back, feeling unfazed by the transformation, but a faint trace of amusement was visible within the white mask he wore.

"Just as I predicted. Her soul is laughably weak to even compare to their level."

------------------------

BOOOM!!

The entire building quaked violently as an explosion tore through its foundation and sent shockwaves that rattled every wall. Mason groaned, coughing as dust and debris choked the air. His ears rang mercilessly, but he managed to shake it off and push himself upright. The hallway where he'd stood moments ago was now a chaotic mess of shattered concrete and twisted metal.

Around him, the rest of his team scrambled to their feet and collected themselves, while Ronald and Mara exchanged uneasy glances as they looked into their wrecked surroundings.

"What the hell just happened?" Mara asked with a mix of confusion and fear in her trembling voice.

Mason's mind raced, piecing together fragmented memories of the moments before the blast. Then, his stomach sank as it hit him.

"Shit... it's that damn fox bitch! She's using some kind of magic to transform into... something," he spat with panic. "We need to get out of here. Now!"

"What did she do?" Tavish growled, hefting his minigun as if preparing for a fight.

"I saw it," Ronald interjected. "She must've used a magic artifact, something powerful."

Before anyone could respond, the floor trembled beneath their boots. From the direction of the obliterated chamber, a low rumble rose, like the growl of a beast stirring from slumber.

"That... does not sound good," Polities muttered with a pale face.

"BACK!" Mason barked, the sharp authority in his voice snapping everyone into motion. The team turned heel and bolted down the hallway as the building started to shake madly around them.

Mason risked a glance over his shoulder, just in time to cause a glimpse of a dark hulking shadow spilling forth from the rubble, and his blood ran cold.

"RUN!"

[Mason, this is Woods. What the hell is going on up there?] Mason's comms came alive with Woods' voice echoed in the other end.

Mason's words came in a frantic shout. "Woods, Code Black! Repeat, Code Black!"

[Code Black? What the hell is that?]

"Large Magicule Readings!" Mason yelled back, ragging his breath as he sprinted alongside the group. "It means we're dealing with something catastrophic, a high-level Transcendent Tier 2, a Disaster Class entity, or worse!"

The building shook harder with dust and debris cascading from the ceiling as the oppressive weight of magical energy thickened the air. Mason's instincts screamed at him to keep running, even as the primal fear clawed at his chest. The sheer density of the power radiating from behind them made his hair stand on end and every nerve in his body alive with dread.

"I don't know what that bitch summoned, but it's fucking tearing this place apart!" Mason snarled as he glanced back at his team and the two VIPs they were escorting. "Move! Faster!"

They barreled down a stairwell and found many Mercenary Gang members and Slave Union employees flooded the corridors with their faces pale with terror and confusion as the building trembled violently. Most were too consumed by their own panic to notice Tempest Scions pushing through, but a few unfortunate stragglers were shoved aside without mercy.

Ignoring those who likewise ignored them and only thought of their own safety, they met up with Woods and Cottonball on the ground floor.

A sudden loud crack ripped through the air, followed by the sound of breaking concrete could be heard while the entire structure underwent another massive earthquake as though it would collapse at any moment, sending dust and debris cascading from above.

"Out of our way!" Belinski yelled out, clearing the path by force as they neared the building's main doors.

Bursting out into the open, a disorganized throng of Tempest Scions, Mercenary Gang members, and Slave Union employees spilled onto the courtyard. All thoughts of allegiance vanished in the face of survival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUKHF47ALP0

(Skip to 1:30)

Unfortunately for everyone, they barely had time to catch their breath before the scene behind them stopped everyone in their tracks. Mason and the others turned back and their eyes widened in stunned disbelief at the monstrous spectacle happening within the ruins of the palace.

Five colossal writhing shadows could be seen against the sky. They seemed to swallow away the light from the flames of the burning city and the illumination spells from the magic dome above.

It had the body of a Sauropod Dinosaur, or more like an Argentinosaurus, the biggest land dinosaur to be discovered on Earth, but several times larger, while their massive eel-like heads twisted and stretched as they coiled around the crumbling remnants of the palace, as if claiming it as their lair.



But the sixth head froze the blood in their veins. Unlike the others, it bore a woman's face, grotesquely human yet reembled a certain kitsune.



"What in the thirteen hells is that?"

Everyone stared in horror at the creatures that appeared towering over the Palace.

"Is that a fucking Hydra?" Woods said to no one in particular, while unable to tear his gaze away as his voice grew louder with disbelief. "Fuck... That thing's got to be at least a hundred meters long!"

"W-What are we going to do?" A Slave Union asked in fear.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" Mason shouted as his voice sliced through the paralyzing fear.

The command jolted everyone into motion, Tempest Scions, Mercenary Gang members, Slave Union workers, all scrambled down the grand staircase of the palace as they screamed in terror at the horrors they just witnessed.

Behind them, the creature's monstrous heads moved in eerie synchronization and began devouring countless lives in each gulp.

Screams echoed the air and the ground trembled violently, as though even the earth itself recoiled from the abomination that had been unleashed.

------------------------

Meanwhile, outside the palace, Riley's newly formed wings of death pierced Fenrir's massive frame. The werewolf staggered back with blood dripping from his maw and labored his breaths.

"Do you finally understand the gap between us?" Riley asked coldly as the grave.

"S-screw you..." Fenrir growled with defiance flashing in his eyes despite his weakened state.

Riley tilted his head with a faint smirk curling his lips. "Hm. I suppose this little experiment is over. I've tested my limits enough, and let arrogance be my teacher this time. Goodbye."

Riley raised his hand and prepared to deliver the tear Fenrir into pieces, but before he could, the earth beneath them heaved violently and the ground splitted with a deafening rumble.

"Hm?" Riley's eyes narrowed, his focus breaking as he glanced toward the source of the disturbance.

Fenrir seized the moment. With a guttural snarl, he mustered every ounce of strength to tear Riley's wings from his body and stumble backward, panting but alive. He crouched, ready to charge again, but then froze mid-step.

A wave of dread washed over both combatants as their gazes turned to the palace. From its ruins emerged Scyllary's monstrous form that burst out of the building, a grotesque amalgamation of rage and power.

"ROOOOAAAARRRRRRRRR!!"

The unholy cry of power ripped through the air, a sound so visceral and raw that it forced both fighters to cover their ears. The shockwave alone made the ground quake violently and splintered it further.

Scyllary, or the beast she had become, was no longer sentient. She had now lost her mind and reasoning, reduced to a rageful abomination that bent reality itself. The air around her rippled with unrestrained mana and chaotic whirlwinds tearing through the remains of the palace. The very fabric of space seemed to ripple at her presence, while the unstable mana carved fissures into the earth.

If not for the barrier dome encasing the estate, the devastation would have leveled the entire city and everything for miles. Even within the dome, the ground heaved as a massive earthquake rocked the area with the magnitude level enough to collapse entire cities, and the barrier itself flickered and groaned under the immense strain of Scyllary's power.

She had become a mindless force of destruction, no longer had the capacity to differentiate friend from foe. Her only drive was to destroy everything in sight.

Even Riley, with all his strength, froze momentarily. "What... the hell is that?"

The barrier dome surrounding the palace barely held as the creature's presence warped reality itself. Scyllary, or what was left of her, let out another deafening roar, and the entire battlefield fell silent in awe and terror.

The rest of the Tempest Scions regrouped while staring at the monstrous hydra. Even Price, in his dragon form, felt the weight of hopelessness.

"I think we're screwed," he muttered grimly as his claws digged into the ground.

Woods stared at the monstrous figure in disbelief. "How... do we even fight that?"

They watched as the hydra's five monstrous heads moved independently, each radiating an otherworldly fury that twisted the surrounding air. The sixth head, its face grotesquely human yet eerily kitsune, let out another roar, and the very foundation of the barrier dome shook and fell into an oppressive silence.

Fenrir knelt on shattered ground with blood pouring from the deep wounds inflicted by Riley's deadly wings. Beside him stood his remaining members of the Mercenary Gang, Enry and Ladon, both injured from their earlier battles.

Despite his immense size and wolfish ferocity, Fenrir's once-mighty form seemed insignificant before the monstrous hydra before him. Fenrir's ragged breath filled the tense silence as he forced himself to rise, while his golden eyes, usually fierce and unyielding, were wide with something rare for him... fear.

"Scyllary... how the hell did she summon that thing?" Enry whispered with a trembling voice. Even in her Dark Phoenix form, her dark feathers dimmed as fear and dread overtook her.

The sight of the hydra, an unholy titan born of unimaginable power, sent chills through the trio. This wasn't a foe they could fight. It wasn't something they could survive. Even the Heads of Destruction, feared across the Third Civilization Zone, knew this creature was beyond their combined might.

Fenrir's gaze dropped to the [Totem of Chaos] hanging heavily around his neck. The ancient artifact pulsed faintly with its dark energy calling to him like a sinister whisper.

For a moment, he hesitated. Memories flashed before his eyes of thousands of loyal men who had followed him, of battles fought and won through sheer force of will. They had trusted him, believed in him despite his brutal nature.

He growled low and bared his bloodied fangs. "I swore I'd never use the second ability again..."

The hydra let out another bone-rattling roar of rage that shook him out of his thoughts. The ground beneath him cracked as the beast took a step forward as its many heads scanned for prey to annihilate. Fenrir tightened his grip on the totem and his claws dug into the earth.

"If I don't stop this thing now... there won't be anything left to conquer," he muttered.

Hearing his words, Enry turned to him and her eyes widened as she knew what he was about to do.

"Lord Fenrir, no... do not-!!"

But it was too late. Fenrir's claws wrapped tightly around the totem, and he channeled every ounce of mana he had left into it to activate its second ability.

The artifact responded instantly. Black and crimson energy erupted from the totem and spiraled upward in a violent torrent of chaos that enveloped Fenrir's entire body in a dark writhing shroud.

The air around Fenrir grew suffocatingly heavy as reality itself seemed to twist and recoil from the raw malevolent power.

Fenrir threw back his head and howled in agony as his body began to change. Muscles bulged grotesquely, his fur darkening into an inky black void that shimmered like liquid shadow. His golden eyes turned to a sickly glowing crimson as his already massive body grew larger and more monstrous.

Spines of jagged obsidian-like bone erupted along his back, and his claws elongated into razor-sharp weapons that radiated an unnatural chaotic energy. The transformation was complete within moments, and the black tornado dissipated, leaving the battlefield in an eerie stunned silence.

Standing in the middle of the wreckage was Fenrir, now over 30 meters tall in his Chaos Beast Form. His new body radiated a violent oppressive energy that distorted the space around him and warped the very air into shimmering waves. His fur, now darker than the void, seemed to writhe as if alive, and his fangs glinted with malevolent power.



200,000

*

*

*

*

*

*

300,000

"RAAWWWWWRRRRRRR!!!"

His roar shattered the silence.

The sound was loud and primal. It wasn't the roar of a man or even a beast, it was chaos made manifest.

The sound was a symphony of rage and chaos, reverberating through the battlefield. The ground splintered beneath his massive paws, and the atmosphere seemed to shudder with his presence.

Even the hydra seemed to pause as its six heads swiveled in unison to focus on this new threat.

Fenrir turned his glowing crimson eyes toward the hydra and spoke in a voice that is now guttural and devoid of reason.

"Destroy... everything..."

------------------------

"What the hell did he just do?" Woods whispered in shock.

"He activated the totem's second ability..." Riley mutters while his wings are twitching involuntarily as if reacting to the overwhelming pressure radiating from Fenrir's new form. "But that's not Fenrir anymore. He's completely lost it."

Price's violet draconic eyes narrowed and locked onto the towering Chaos Beast. "He's going straight for the hydra."

"Good," Woods replied, though his voice lacked conviction. "Let him handle it. Maybe they'll kill each other and save us the trouble."

Riley nodded. "You might be correct, Woods. But even if he does kill the hydra, Fenrir won't stop. He's lost all reason. I even figured out why he never use it against me, it's because he is well aware that he'll destroy the hydra, us, even his own allies, and everything else in his path."

As if to emphasize his point, Fenrir's massive form lunged forward and his colossal paws cracked the earth beneath him. He charged with the force of a natural disaster and let out a bone-rattling roar that sent debris flying into the air.

With a leap that shattered the ground where he'd stood, Fenrir slammed into the hydra and his claws tore into its scaled hide. The collision shook the battlefield and the impact echoed like thunder. His roar split the air, a feral cry of chaos and fury that seemed to ripple through reality itself.

Despite the risk, Ladon and Enry rushed forward to aid their captain. They flanked the hydra and launched their own attacks, even though they knew Fenrir's current state might turn him against them. Loyalty outweighed fear.

But their efforts were futile.

Faster than a bolt of lightning, or the blink of an eye, or any other means of sensory function that any living entity could possibly achieve, one of the Hydra's heads snapped forward.

What happened after that was a blur, even for the Apex Predator himself.

One of the hydra's heads clamped Fenrir around its jaws, trapping the enormous Chaos Beast like a predator toying with its prey. Even though Fenrir was as large as Richmond Castle, he seemed pitifully small compared to the hydra's overwhelming size and presence, like a small puppy.

And like a small puppy, it struggled and whimpered as one, attempting to escape from the jaws of a bigger dog.

"[G-Greater-!]"

Before the Apex Predator could utter a word, or Skill, or whatever attempt at resistance that was supposed to preserve his life, the Hydra's other heads struck as one and closed their jaws around Fenrir's writhing body from every single part.

CRUNCH!

The sound of his flesh tearing echoed in the air, like a 'pop' that exploded within the fraction of a second.

After that-

SPLOOSH!

His blood burst out of his torn body, with every drop oozing out of the torn flesh and innards. The jellies from his eyes mixed in with the mucus, sweat, drool, and tears, all of them merging with the blood to create a disgusting blend of gore.

The once-mighty Chaos Beast's energy, so fierce and overwhelming, vanished in the blink of an eye. What remained was nothing more than a faint wisp of smoke dissipating into the air as the last trace of a being consumed by its own hubris.

Silence fell over the battlefield, broken only by the soft crackle of distant flames and the creaking of the damaged barrier. The hydra let out a low menacing growl as it turned its attention to its next prey.

The putrid smell of Fenrir's spilled entrails had yet to fully spread into the air, but those who were closest to him could already feel its vile presence creeping into their senses.

Some of the pieces of their captain's mangled flesh and shattered bones had landed on them already, clinging to their armor and skin, and yet they stood frozen, unable to fully comprehend the horrific reality unraveling before their eyes.

"A-ahh..."

Their eyes only began to slowly widen once the remains of their leader's corpse slammed into the ground with a sickening squelch, splashing in the filth of its own entrails.

Ladon's blurry vision focused first, then soon he recognized the horrifying image of the bloodied disfigured corpse belonging to the lord he had served all his life.

His body quaked uncontrollably, and once he had reached the precipice of what he could possibly handle, his mouth opened wide as a scream was clawing its way out of his throat.

"AAAARRRR-!!!"

SQUISH!

The sound was cut short, replaced by the sickening crunch of Ladon's body being obliterated under the hydra's massive foot without any regard or hesitation from the Beast.

He didn't even have time to finish his scream before his life was extinguished, reduced to little more than a smear beneath the beast.

"U-uarghhh!" Enry screamed the instant she was able to process the brutal deaths of her two comrades.

Instinct overtook reason, and she powerfully flapped her wings with all her strength, launching herself into the air at mach speed in a desperate attempt to escape.

But she didn't get far.

"Ack!"

One of the hydra's massive claws snatched her wing mid-flight quite easily, its grip effortless against her frantic struggle.

"E-eek!"

The beast brought her closer with its enormous hands holding her fragile form like a bird being held by a child.

Enry thrashed wildly, but it was futile.

Before the Black Magician could resist, or could even cry out for mercy, the central head of the hydra, the one bearing Scyllary's face, opened its maw wide, revealing rows of jagged glistening teeth.

"S-Spare m-!"



CRUNCH!

The hydra's jaws snapped shut and decapitated Enry, sending the rest of her lifeless body limp as blood gushed from her severed neck and splattered onto the ruined ground below as she died.

The hydra threw her remains aside, where they landed and joined the mangled bodies of Ladon and Fenrir in gory harmony.

Death... a masterpiece painting of death was created before them, crafted by the Hydra as its brilliant architect and the victims' corpses as its canvas.

"Huuu..."

Steamy breaths escaped her bloody maw as the crimson stains on its teeth and scales seemed to evaporate or purified instantly, turning into white crusts of dust that crumbled and faded away into the air that very moment.

In mere seconds, it was over. The Apex Predator, the Black Magician, and the Obsidian Blade, beings feared across the Third Civilization Zone, had been annihilated and their lives snuffed out within such a short span of time as if they were nothing.

"Haaa..."

The Magic Beast, its magnificent body glistening under the brilliant sunlight, as well as the incorporeal dome that spanned at least a mile from where it stood, leaked out a steamy sigh.

The brutal deaths of the last Heads of Destruction had left the surviving fighters frozen in stunned silence.

What else would exist after the sight that had just been force-fed to the people who had just watched such a horror take place?

The sheer speed and savagery of the massacre played over and over in their minds with their breaths shallow as they stared very frighteningly at the monstrosity before them, who had easily destroyed their enemies for them.

There was, however, one question on their mind after seeing this.

'Are we next?'

As if hearing their unspoken fear, the Hydra's many heads turned toward them with its cold predatory gaze sweeping over the humans and elves as though deciding their fates.

The silence shattered with Mason's sharp snarl. "We can't just stay still and die like them! Get your minis and switch to Magic Incendiary rounds!"

He, Tavish, Belinski, Woods, and Polities scrambled into position and dragged their massive Gau-10 "Dragon's Breath" Gatling Guns into place. The barrels, faintly glowing with residual heat, were built to tear through the toughest magical barriers and armor. But as they stared down the towering Hydra, the weapon felt like little more than a desperate gamble.

"Light it up!"

The Gatling gun spun to life and unleashed a storm of mana-infused mithril-tipped incendiary rounds. Tracers streaked through the air like meteors and slammed into the beast like burning comets, causing explosions to ripple across the Hydra's scales as the rounds detonated on impact with blue flames licking at its massive form.

But it wasn't enough.

The Hydra's anti-magic scales absorbed most of the magical and physical damage against its impenetrable hide. The creature barely flinched with its heads remaining eerily still even as the explosive rounds raked across its body.

One of the heads turned toward the team with its serpentine eyes narrowing with dangerous intent.

"She's targeting us!" Tavish shouted.

Before they could react, the Hydra lunged, but Mason shoved Tavish aside, narrowly avoiding the crushing force as the massive head slammed into the ground, sending debris flying in all directions.

Polities stepped forward and quickly chanted an incantation. Intricate blue glyphs materialized around him as he summoned a storm of lightning bolts. The storm crackled through the air, each bolt striking the Hydra's heads with a thunderous roar.

But the Hydra's anti-magic scales rendered the attack useless as the bolts fizzled out upon contact and dissipated like harmless sparks.

"Her scales have a high resistance to magic!" Polities cursed and abandoned his spellwork to raise his Gatling gun again.

Suddenly, a warning flashed across Mason's HUD.

[Magicule Level: 800,000]

Mason's eyes widened as he read the reading. His chest tightened with a wave of fear and hopelessness, but he quickly swallowed it down. There was no time for despair, no space for surrender.

He let out a sharp breath and locked his gaze on the towering beast. Determination hardened his expression as he roared.

"Then keep firing!"

The Gatling gun spun again and unleashed another barrage. Once again, the battlefield erupted with the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and the Hydra's guttural roars blending into a nightmarish symphony of war.

Above them, Price roared as he launched himself at the Hydra in his 30-meter-tall dragon form. His wings flared wide and his body shimmered with an aura of dark magic, as he breathed a massive pillar of dark energy from his maw. The searing blast struck the Hydra's scaled body, leaving behind a deep scorch mark and a crater in its flesh.

Two of the beast's heads snapped toward him and parted their jaws to release streams of crackling lightning and biting ice. Price dodged with a fluid beat of his wings and countered with a vicious swipe of his claws. The razor-sharp talons tore through one of the Hydra's necks and sprayed dark ichor into the air.

The Hydra hissed in fury and pain, but it was far from beaten. Another head lashed out with stunning speed, catching Price mid-air and slamming him into the ground with a force that shook the earth.

Nearby, Woods took aim with the AF-3 "Magekiller", and fired shot after shot at the Hydra's eyes, hoping to blind it. Unfortunately, the bullets were ricocheting off its thick scales but distracting it long enough for his familiar, Cottonball, to act.

A blur of fur and motion, Cottonball moved around the Hydra with supernatural speed. The small but fierce creature leapt onto one of the Hydra's necks and bashed into the beast repeatedly, causing it to stagger under the assault as its heads whipped about in disarray.

"That's it! Keep her off balance!" Woods shouted as he reloaded his rifle with sweat dripping from his brow.

Despite the damage inflicted, the Hydra's regenerative abilities began to take hold and its wounds sealed almost as quickly as they were made. Its heads thrashed violently, struggling to shake off Cottonball as it attempted to dislodge the familiar.

At the edge of the battlefield, Riley stood motionless with his wings of Chaos Energy unfurled behind him like an otherworldly tapestry. Unlike the others, he wielded no conventional weapons or spells as his power lay in his ability to manipulate the very essence of mana in the air, bending them to his will.

But as he observed the battle, his eyes narrowed in realization. The Hydra's anti-magic aura rendered his techniques ineffective. Clenching his fists, he muttered under his breath with frustration into his face.

"Mana's useless here... and its body is filled with some kind of unknown energy I can't control. I'd need time, seconds, minutes, maybe more, to unravel how it works," he murmured. Then his gaze shifted to the chaotic energy coursing through his wings. "But what if this energy could?"

Without hesitation, Riley launched himself skyward as his wings propelled him like a missile. The Hydra's central head lunged toward him with its fanged maw gaping wide. Twisting mid-air, Riley slashed with his wings, and the chaotic energy carved through the beast's armored scales and drew a deafening roar of pain.

"Finally," Riley growled as he landed on top of one of the Hydra's necks and plunged his wings into the creature's flesh before twisting the energy to maximize the damage.

The Hydra thrashed wildly and its massive body tried to dislodge him in desperation. One of its heads rushed toward Riley in retaliation, but his second-layer filter activated the moment it made contact with him, forcing him to reposition.

"She's regenerating too fast," Riley muttered as he watched the wound he inflicted knit itself together almost instantly. "We need to find a way to stop her healing."

He knew the odds were stacked against them. Defeating the Hydra wasn't just difficult, it bordered on impossible. Earlier, he'd attempted to touch it and manipulate its mana reserves, hoping to disrupt the flow of energy fueling the beast or even utilized it to destroy its body from the inside. But the Hydra's mana was unlike anything he'd encountered before, which felt foreign and chaotic that resisted his control entirely.

Even if he could analyze its properties, it would take precious seconds to decipher how to bend them to his will, seconds the Hydra would never allow.

Not only was the creature faster and stronger than their entire team combined, but its scales were imbued with anti-magic properties, nullifying most of their efforts. Its dense impenetrable armor and seemingly invincible flesh left them with only one option, which is that they had to finish it in a single devastating blow.

But how?

Riley's mind raced, analyzing every possible strategy. 'Nothing I can do right now will bypass its defenses and deal fatal damage at the same time,' he thought as his frustration mounted.

Then, it was during this intense brainstorming session that Riley was finally able to see the light!

His mind expanded beyond the normal trail of thought, and he found himself gazing at a specific part of the Hydra he was facing.

The massive buttocks of the beast!

'Its tail is in the way, but if I can get rid of it, I should be able to... ah, yes!' At this point, his eyes were already beaming and a wide smile formed on his face as the pieces of his plan fell into place.

'Penetrating it should do the trick!'

Even if that thing had the perfect external defenses, surely it would be vulnerable from the inside.

It was the same with humans. No matter how tough a creature's skin or scales were, their internal organs had to be soft and weaker.

For optimal penetration, he would need an incredible amount of energy, so he was ready to burn through even more of his power in order to achieve his goals.

And so, he turned to Mason, his old friend and trusted ally, who was methodically reloading his massive Gatling gun.

"Mason, you still have that magic dark sword you brought from that Magic Artifact store?"

"Yeah," Mason replied as he glanced up. "Why?"

"There's a weak spot." Riley hesitated for a moment, then added, "It's... complicated to explain, but I need that sword for the plan I have in mind."

Mason didn't question him. He pulled the magic dark sword from his Spatial Ring and handed it over. "Godspeed, Captain. Just don't get yourself killed like that furry gay stripper earlier."

Riley smirked and gripped the hilt of the weapon. "Sure. I'll be aiming for the rear."

Mason chuckled as he slammed a fresh belt of ammunition into his gun. "Then we'll keep her attention up front."

Riley nodded and his wings of Chaos Energy glowed brighter as he ascended above the battlefield. "You guys keep her distracted! I'll hit the weak point!"

The group launched their final assault and coordinated their attacks with great precision. Price unleashed another searing beam of darkness, but the Hydra responded in kind with a torrent of elemental breaths from its six heads. Mason, Tavish, and Belinski opened fire on its chest but their bullets sparked off its tough scales. Polities conjured a magic barrier and shielded the team from the Hydra's retaliatory strikes, while Woods and Cottonball focused on harrying its heads, keeping the monstrous creature off balance.

Riley, meanwhile, had reached his target.

The Hydra's tail writhed, revealing the vulnerable opening he'd been aiming for.

The beast's buttocks.

"This is... definitely the weirdest shit I've ever done," he muttered under his breath as he gripped the hilt of the magic dark sword tighter. "Especially my first time using a sword. Great."

After seeing his enemy's pinkish butthole spread in front of him, Riley channeled every ounce of his strength to strengthened his muscles to the fullest, causing veins to appear all over the flesh in his arms and shoulders.

"Here goes nothing!"

With a battle cry that echoed across the battlefield, Riley propelled his entire body forward and thrust the large dark blade with every ounce of his might.

"RAAAHHH!!"

All the accumulated energy instantly converged in one single point, allowing for optimal penetration in his glorious charge.

SQUELCH!

The Big Black Blade pierced through with a wet visceral sound, successfully lodged itself into the Hydra's butthole.

"ROOOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!" The Hydra's six heads roared out in a twisted expression of pain.

He must have done considerable damage to their lower regions, and the mere fact that they spasmed in shock and agony proved that.

But Riley wasn't finished.

'Not enough! This isn't enough!' Riley gritted his teeth and tightened his grip, hardening his muscles even further as he went on to pull the blade out a little, but the friction caused the mighty beast to beg for mercy, completely helpless under the attack of the mighty blade.

Sweat poured down Riley's face as he began to gather mana and channeled it into the blade, causing the surrounding energy converging into a concentrated destructive force. The weapon glowed with an intense light, and the blade's size expanded massively with the power within threatening to tear apart anything it touched.

But even as the energy built and the blade enlarged, Riley realized its limitations. The blade's linear form wouldn't spread the destruction throughout the Hydra's massive body. It would cause immense localized damage, but that wouldn't be enough to finish the beast.

He needed more. He needed something that would completely destroy its insides.

And so, with beads of sweat dripping from his face, and a fierce expression of resolve, he chose to channel even more mana into the magic sword until the weapon couldn't contain it any longer.

And just like that...

VWUUUUUUSSSHHH!

A tempest of raw power exploded from the black sword as Riley thrust it inside the Hydra with unrelenting force.

"RAHHHHHH!!!" he roared, unleashing every ounce of fury and the last vestiges of his strength to devastate everything within the Hydra.

His intention was to gather all the gathered ambient mana and into the blade, which already contained a vast amount of mana, but by pouring more mana in a certain amount is enough to detonate the sword's accumulated power and scatter its devastating energy all around the area like a catastrophic bomb.

It poured out white energy, scattering its contents into everything that surrounded it.

The power filled up the area it occupied, instantly coursing through everything it had access to, until anything and everything was engulfed in its nature.

As such, when Riley thrust his Big Black Sword into Scyllary, lodging its full length into her ass, the pure white energy within the blade burst out in all directions, scattering energy into all of her body in a single instant.

"GUAARRRCCKK!"

All the openings in the Hydra's body leaked out white fluids.

From every opening, its nostrils, eyes, and mouth, even its butthole, white energy and fluids burst forth in violent streams. Everything exploded with what should have been blood was now tainted with the brilliant white explosion that Riley wrought.

The internal explosion reached its climax.

BOOOOOOOM!

In a descent of destruction, the mighty Hydra's enormous body powerlessly crashed into the earth with a deafening impact and created a massive crater that shook the ground. Dust and debris filled the air, and for a moment, the battlefield was silent.

The man had stood above her, completely conquering and dominating the fearsome creature with his mask cracked.

Slowly, he dislodged his black blade from her buttocks and raised it high into the air.

Leftover white residual fluids and energy sparks dripped from both of the weapon and the creature's butthole, but Riley paid them no mind.

He was bathed in it all, the glory of victory as he turned to his comrades with a smile on his face.

"We did it," he declared with a rare victorious smile breaking across his now revealed face.

"We won!"

------------------------

'Uuu...'

Scyllary felt pain unlike anything she had ever experienced in the past.

Every torment she had faced, her grueling training at the academy and in the military during her younger years in her home country, faded into insignificance compared to this single excruciating moment.

It felt like her entire body was on fire, especially the butthole that now spread wide open, bleeding white fluids instead of blood. Saliva, mixed with the white blood that burst from her lips littered the ground underneath her along with five of the other heads, and she was forced to drown in it all.

She could hardly move her body after that attack.

'I can't move...' Her thoughts were sluggish, scattered, as her body lay sprawled, unmoving, and utterly defeated. 'My nerves... my mana... everything has been disturbed.'

Never in her wildest imaginings had she foreseen such a humiliating fate that would befall her. And all of it traced back to that cursed artifact.

According to her guard, it is a powerful magic artifact that contains the soul of a powerful beast that was once defeated millenia ago and was prisoned in this artifact. When activated, she had merged with the beast's soul, transforming into its body and gaining its unparalleled might.

But the process had a cost, one she hadn't even realized until now.

During the merging process, dominance was determined by the strength of the two merging souls. A weaker soul would be subsumed entirely, the stronger one taking full control. For those of equal strength, a true merger would occur, a seamless unity of two beings.

But Scyllary, a mere Level 2, barely even put up a fight against the ancient Beast's indomitable spirit. Her body and soul had been overwhelmed, leaving her as little more than a passive observer trapped within the beast's rampaging form.

Still, she had witnessed in the chaos. As the Hydra, she had delighted in the futile struggles of her foes, watching them flail and falter before her overwhelming power.

Even as she witnessed the deaths of Fenrir and the other members of the Deadly Three, she felt nothing. To her, they had been tools, unworthy of her sympathy.

Even if she wasn't the one who controlled the body, she felt like she was a Goddess, an unstoppable monster that no one could beat.

But in her hubris, she had forgotten a critical detail, which is that she could still feel everything the Hydra experienced.

And now...

'I got violated like this... by a human.'

Tears welled in her moist eyes, spilling over and mixing with the fluids staining the ground beneath her. She cast a blurry shame-filled gaze at the surviving humans and elves, seeing their figures mere shadows in her fading vision.

Even through the disguise most of them wore, her heightened senses in her new body of the Hydra could detect the distinct scent of humans. It clawed at her pride, a reminder of her ultimate disgrace.

Worse still, in an unexpected turn of victory, these manaless monkeighs had bested her. Despite being far weaker than she was, they had outmaneuvered her, disrupting her skills, analyzing her attacks, devising countermeasures, and, against all odds, bringing her down.

'We shouldn't have underestimated them... these humans...'

But it was too late. Scyllary and the mighty Hydra had fallen into the hands of the primitive and weak humans with her pride now completely shattered.

Immobilized, unable to activate her skills or muster any strength, she could only wait, powerless, for what came next.

And yet, in her despair, a faint glimmer of hope emerged when the Hydra's body, though ravaged, was still able to move.

"ROAAARRRRRRRR!!!"

With its six monstrous heads and unstoppable mass, the Hydra stood over the battlefield once more with a unpredictable level of rage in each of them.

In pure rage, it moved with terrifying grace and crushed everything in its path, all the while white fluids leaking out of its body.

Despite its slow limping gait, it covered dozens of meters in a single step as it moved with an unrelenting determination, as though pain were irrelevant or was overwhelmed by the insane amount of anger within their mind and soul.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Travish muttered. "It's still moving! What the hell does it take to stop this thing?"

Riley's jaw clenched as the Hydra unleashed another deafening roar, the force of it shaking the air within the magic dome that encased them. The beast's six heads writhed and twisted, each glowing faintly with elemental energy, fire, ice, lightning, and more, crackling ominously.

They didn't have much time. Everyone was exhausted, their guns nearly depleted of ammunition, and Riley hadn't even had a chance to fully analyze the properties of the strange energy coursing through the beast.

They were out of options, and the weight of that reality pressed heavily on him.

"Riley," Price grunted as he limped forward in his half-dragon. His wings drooped, and his usually fearsome presence now seemed strained. "What's the plan? We're running on empty here."

Riley glanced at his comrades and saw their bloodied desperate faces. His eyes dropped to the glowing Spatial Ring on his finger and clenched his fists tightly as the decision he was about to make settled in his mind like lead.

He hated it, it was reckless, dangerous, and left no room for error which could even affect the invasion force. But it was their only shot.

"We're not stopping her with brute force," Riley said coldly. "Polities, get ready to cast a Timer Spell."

Polities frowned in confusion. "A Timer Spell? For what purpose-"

"I know what I'm asking," Riley cut him off sharply. "We don't have time to argue. Set it to draw mana from the air and activate an artifact we'll leave behind."

Polities hesitated, then gave a grim nod. "Understood. But casting it take a lot out of me. I'll need cover."

"Belinski, Travish, Mason," Riley ordered, "you're on him. Protect Polities while he sets it up." His gaze shifted to Price and Woods. "You're with me. We'll keep that thing distracted as we buy them as much time as we can."

Without waiting for confirmation, Riley turned toward the advancing Hydra. Polities began weaving the intricate Timer Spell, glowing glyphs spinning in the air like clockwork gears, while Belinski and the others formed a protective perimeter around him.

But before he could rush towards the Hydra, Riley turned to face Ronald and Mara, who still have surprise expressions on Riley's true face.

Earlier in the battle, his Orichalcum mask had shattered which now revealed the Man in Darkness' true face and race to the world.

"I know what you are all thinking, but right now, we should focus on escaping from this beast first. You can ask a million questions about me being a human later."

Trying to hide his surprise, Ronald nodded silently. Mara followed suit as they watched Riley approach the monster that caused massive earthquakes with each step.

And like that, Riley, Price, and Woods charged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pks9BYkOgRU

Price let out a feral roar and slashed his claws at the Hydra's nearest neck, but his talons scraped uselessly against its impenetrable scales which sent sparks flying but doing little damage.

"Come on, you overgrown freak!" he shouted as he tried to draw its attention.

Woods dashed from side to side like a blur while firing his AF-3 "Magekiller" shot after shot at the Hydra's eyes while his familiar used [Replicate] to add nine more of her to bashed against the Hydra like hypersonic missiles.

"I swear, if we make it out of this alive, I'm never fighting anything with more than one head again!" he yelled.

"Focus, Woods!" Riley shouted as his chaos wings flaring behind him and launched himself at the Hydra. The dark energy of his wings carved into the beast's scales, leaving deep gaping wounds that caused black ichor gushing forth, but the Hydra's regenerative abilities activated almost immediately and the injuries sealed themselves as if nothing had happened.

The three fighters, thirteen if counting the ten fluffy magic beasts, pushed themselves to the brink with their combined attack unleashed against the beast, but the Hydra showed no signs of faltering. It was a race against time, and they were running out of it.

As Polities completed the spell, his trembling hands steadied as the glowing glyphs coalesced into a massive clock on the ground.

"It's done!" he called out.

Riley turned sharply toward the team. "Belinski, put your Spatial Ring on the glyph!"

"What you do..." Belinski froze and his eyes widened in realization. "No, do you mean...? Riley, are you insane? We'll all-"

"Remember the protocols, Belinski! We don't have time for doubts!" Riley snapped. "Do it and get everyone out of here. NOW!"

Belinski hesitated for a moment longer, then gritted his teeth and pulled the Spatial Ring from his finger. With a heavy heart, he placed it onto the glowing circle and the glyphs flared brighter the moment the artifact was placed.

Remembering that Enry had died, Polities knew the anti-teleportation field she cast would be gone upon her death and wasted no time activating a teleportation magic artifact. The intricate runes on the device flared to life as he barked out orders.

"Get Ronald and Mara here! We're leaving!"

The Hydra's six heads roared in unison. Like synchronized predators, the heads lunged toward the group and their elemental energy crackled ominously, preparing to breathe out its power.

A power that terrified nations and one that every dragon holds.

At the tip of their tongues, the Hydra released the name of that power unto the world.

""""""[Dragon's Breath].""""""

In an instant, the world before the Hydra withered and fell at the edge of six different elemental powers that combined into one devastating attack.

But if it wasn't for the magic dome in which they fought, half of Aquarius City would've been completely vaporized.

But fortunately for our heroes, Riley, Price, and the ten Cottonballs stood their ground with their combined attacks barely holding the monstrous creature's powerful attack and saved everyone and their surrounding area from being instantly vaporized to dust.

Claws, magic, chaos energy, and a fluffy object that traveled at Mach 10 clashed against unyielding scales and destructive natural force of the beast in a desperate attempt to buy time.

"GO!!!"

Polities activated the teleportation artifact, and a radiant light enveloped the whole group and vanished in a flash of mana.

Seeing their prey escape, the Hydra angrily roared out in anger with such power that it could demolish entire cities.

But then, the beast paused its heads tilting curiously at the artifact now glowing faintly on the ground. Its primal instincts drove it closer with their massive nostrils flaring as they sniffed at the mysterious object, and sensed something... strange within it.

Slowly, one of its heads lowered and plucked the ring from the ground with its massive jaws.

And then, the Timer Spell reached its point. The glyph pulsed with collected mana and activated the Spatial Ring.

Inside the ring's pocket dimension, a metallic object, cold, dormant, and brimming with destructive potential, hovered within the void of space.

Due to the Spatial Ring's pocket dimension designed to freeze time that helped many things such as preventing food from being rotten, the metallic object has frozen stasis in time.

That object was a Nuclear Bomb.

As the gathered mana activated the ring and pulled the metallic object out into the physical world, the stasis broke, which caused the flow of time of the bomb to return and triggered the automatic release mechanism.

00:00:03

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00:00:02

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00:00:01

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00:00:00

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

In an instant, the entire world was consumed by a blinding flash of light as the nuclear explosion, with the power equivalent to 10 Megatons of TNT, erupted with unparalleled ferocity and the fireball seared its way outward.

The confined space of the magic dome surrounding Scyllary's palace magnified the explosion's intensity, compressing the energy into a devastating inferno.

The Hydra's massive body stood no chance against the sheer force of the blast. Flesh disintegrated, scales shattered, and the beast's roars were silenced in the blink of an eye.

Outside the magic dome, the fireball lit up the heavens like a second sun, casting a brilliant glow over hundreds of kilometers. The shockwave rippled outward and shook the very foundations of Aquarius City. Buildings trembled, and waves crashed violently against the shores as the explosion's resonance echoed across the land.

The people of Aquarius City, along with the invading Austronesian Empire forces, stood frozen in shock as their gazes fixed on the fiery monument of destruction now burning at the heart of the dome.

------------------------

Miles away, aboard the battle carrier of the Austronesian Liberation Navy, the bridge was filled with a tense silence as the officers, commanders, and the Admiral himself stared in stunned disbelief at the blinding light on the horizon.

"What the hell just happened? When did we authorize a goddamn nuke?" the Admiral muttered with a mix of awe and dread in his voice.

Across the seas, the elven reinforcement fleet of the Tarxan Coalition came to an abrupt halt as their captains and crews gazed at the unnatural glow piercing the sky with an unspoken unease settled over them.

In the nearby mountains, a pair of dwarven scouts in their hulking mech suits froze mid-step. The pilots exchanged uneasy glances through their reinforced visors with the eerie radiance reflected in their polished armor.

Even the approaching Orc fleet, a chaotic assembly of crude yet heavily armed warships, slowed their advance. Their leaders, hardened by countless battles, found themselves transfixed by the distant explosion with its fiery light casting long shadows across their decks.

The entire Third Civilization Zone seemed to hold its breath, unified for a fleeting moment by the shared sight of unimaginable destruction.