Chapter 248 – Hydra

The end of the forest was a mile away before Yuki felt a tug at her sleeve. It was Yuna trying to get her attention. A look of worry had set on her face.

“What is it?” Yuki asked, her voice low.

“The feeling is getting stronger,” she replied. Yuki frowned. There was only one thing that Yuna could be referring too. “I can’t quite locate the direction, but it’s behind us.”

“How long have you been feeling it?” Yuki said as she glanced behind herself. 

“You mean how long have I felt the feeling get stronger?” Yuna asked. Yuki nodded. “Just for about a minute. I didn’t say anything yet since I wasn’t sure if it was just my head playing tricks on me.”

“I see. You should tell the corporal,” Yuki said. “There’s not much we can do to speed up our pace, but at least she won’t be taken by surprise if the hydra appears.”

“Understood. I’ll tell her. What are you going to do?”

“I’ll just keep an eye out. The problem is that I can’t really feel the hydra at all,” Yuki frowned. “Its mana signature is faint. It’s almost like it can’t completely hide its mana. But it can hide it just enough to make it hard to find. Maybe it’s a scare tactic?”

The idea intrigued Yuki who began to theorize about the behavior of the hydra. Yuna went to speak with the corporal who was leading the pace. 

‘Since it’s a rank S, maybe it’s warning other monsters? I know monsters are more sensitive than elves and dwarves on average,’ Yuki thought. ‘But it should know that this group is mainly elves, though, to be fair, it didn’t see the group.’

The thought gave Yuki some hope. If the hydra preferred to scare rather than confront, then that meant them heading toward the exit of the forest should give it some pause if it ever decided to attack.

‘Of course. It might think we’re going too slow and attack anyway. Or it isn’t trying to scare us and is just trying to make itself look weaker or launch a sneak attack.’

Regardless, it was necessary to prepare for an attack. Yuki readjusted her grip on her daggers and tightened her fingers around the hilts of her blades. There was some hope, but her mind and her instincts were telling her to ignore that hope. All signs were pointing toward a confrontation.

She connected herself to the earth, creating a perimeter around the group. There were no hints of a giant seven headed serpent near them in a half mile radius. Yuki didn’t dare go further than that. The last time she touched the hydra with mana, she woke it up. Another touch would only attract it towards them like a boat with a lighthouse. 

Yuna returned a minute later, her worries still evident on her face. The pace of the group remained the same, but looking closely at Carol’s expression, Yuki found it just a tad tighter. 

“Ma—I mean the corporal said that there isn’t much we can do,” Yuna said with a small shrug. “Just be wary.”

“I thought as much. Might want to take your sword out then,” Yuki replied.

“Can you sense anything?” Yuna asked as she drew her blade. “Not with mana, but the ground?”

“I’m looking, but so far nothing of note. I didn’t make the radius far though and I can’t always be watching. I can only send out pulses at intervals.”

“I see. The monster is closer,” Yuna said. “I think it’s out pacing us.”

“Then we’ll find it soon. The forest ends in about a mile. There’s a chance that we can make it.”

Then Yuki sent out a pulse through the ground, scanning the area once more. A shudder came back to her, coming from the edge of her detection zone. Something massive had touched the ground, much larger than any animal or monster could be save for a giant. And it was only a few hundred meters away.

Yuki locked onto the location, throwing every sense she had toward it. She used the air to feel around the area while tracking every shudder through the earth. The winds touched against a scaly surface, like that of a snake. And from the weight on the ground, a massive one.

“It’s here,” Yuki whispered. 

Yuna took a sharp breath and looked in the general direction of where the hydra was approaching. It was still too far for anyone to see through the dense forest and the thick foliage that blotted out the sun. But soon it would be much too close not to sense.

“Tell Carol,” Yuki said. “We need to either push the pace or drop a few back to distract the hydra. Got it?”

“Got it,” Yuna nodded before hurrying toward the front of the group again.

Yuki focused on the hydra that was slithering its way toward them, its path winding but its pace faster than theirs. With a few calculations, she predicted the monster would catch up with them within five minutes.

“I need two in the back with me!” Carol’s voice shouted. She was marching toward the rear of the group where Yuki was. “The rest continue forward. There’s a monster approaching us. We’ll distract it. No questions. Who’s staying?”

“I can help,” Yuki replied, raising two fingers. Carol gave her a nod and looked around for another volunteer. Akira raised her own hand.

“Alright. Me and the two temporary team members will be staying back. The rest of you, go. Now. That’s an order.”

The soldiers acknowledged the command and began picking up the pace as they hurried toward the end of the forest. The couple that hesitated were treated with a stern glare from the corporal.

Erica locked eyes with Yuki, the question she had evident in them. She was asking what she should do. Yuki tilted her head toward the group of soldiers marching away and mouthed a word. Protect. Erica nodded and followed the soldiers.

When they finally cleared out, Carol turned to Yuki and Akira.

“So. Do you have a plan?” Carol asked. “Otherwise, I’m going to go with the whack it and lead it away as much as I can route.”

“That’s a good plan,” Yuki replied. “I’ll support you. Autumn here will be tag teaming with you.”

“You’re a supporter?” 

“That’s my main role,” Yuki nodded. “I’ll make sure you won’t die.”

“Thanks. Autumn, you’re a swordswoman right?” Carol asked. Akira nodded. “Me too. I prefer the right side.”

“Then I’ll take left. I won’t get in your way,” Akira said.

Carol seemed pleased with that response. She drew her sword and did a few practice swings with it as she stared into the forest. Yuki stared as well, but her mind was following the hydra and every step it made. Then she could feel it. The mana that radiated out from the monster. It was close enough now that it couldn’t mask its full strength. 

“It’s coming,” Carol said as she held her blade in front of her, taking a stance. “Best of luck to the both of you.”

“Thanks,” Yuki replied. “I hope we don’t need it.”

The sound of trees crashing to the ground reached them, the ground shuddering under the impact. Then a shadow began rising into the sky, looming over them as it replaced the trees. The hydra stopped before them, staring down at the three with its seven pairs of eyes. Each pair was a different hue. The colors looked familiar, but Yuki couldn’t quite put her finger on it. 

Pushing the feeling aside, she channeled her mana into her hands and spread her arms apart, a magic circle flaring up underneath her feet. At her word, a golden brown aura surrounded Akira and Carol as she covered herself in a barrier. Her job right now was to just support.

Carol and Akira waited, watching the hydra’s every move while the hydra did the same to them. They stared at each other, locked in a battle of chicken, waiting for the other to strike first. 

The hydra was the one that complied. Three of its heads reared back while two went to strike at the two standing before it. The other two heads held back and simply watched.

‘It has tactics. That’s bad.

Akira and Carol hopped away from each other, their speed enhanced by Yuki’s spell. Not missing a beat, Akira leaped toward the hydra, drawing the attention of a head with her. Carol did the same on the other side.

The three heads that reared back made an odd sound that attracted Yuki’s attention. It sounded like a retch, as if the hydra was throwing up. An odd steam was pouring out from the mouths of three heads.

Then they spat whatever they had in their mouths. Yuki’s eyes narrowed as she threw up barriers around Akira and Carol. Two of the heads had aimed at them while the third aimed at Yuki. The two swordswomen dodged the attack with ease. Yuki let the attack hit her shield. 

The projectile splattered against Yuki’s barrier and began to let off steam. She could feel the liquid eating away at the barrier, slowly dissolving it.

‘Corrosive. I don’t think we want to be touching that anytime soon.’

Yuki reinforced the barrier, shedding away the top layer to stop the acid. 

“It has acid projectiles,” Yuki called out. “Watch out.”

“Got it,” Carol replied, still dodging the attacks of one of the heads. Akira didn’t say anything, but Yuki knew she heard. 

The two swordswomen and Yuki continued their attempts to distract the hydra who seemed happy to comply. Both Carol and Akira landed a few attacks against the hydra, but the scales of the seven headed serpent proved to be difficult to pierce. Full strength blows only made cuts against the monster.

The entire time, Yuki observed the hydra. She watched its every move, trying to find some pattern in its attacks. But something told her that the hydra wasn’t trying its hardest. Maybe it was the way it always reused the same attacks. Or the way it barely moved its body.

When things seemed to be at a stalemate, Yuki noticed that Akira had disappeared behind the hydra. What she was going to do there, Yuki wasn’t sure. Her curiosity was answered by a prompt screech from the hydra followed by a whipping of its tail that crushed trees.

‘Akira, what did you do?’ Yuki asked.

[I stabbed it at a sensitive point I think,] she replied. [I think I made it angry.]

‘I think so too,’ Yuki said as she watched the hydra’s nostrils flare.

A switch had been flipped in the hydra. Yuki could see it in its eyes. Two heads had reared back, their eyes glowing, one an icy blue and the other a fiery red. Mana began to concentrate rapidly within the hydra at two points. 

‘This is bad.’

“Group up with me!” Yuki said as she began pooling her own mana around herself. “Right now!”

Akira and the corporal didn’t question her and sprinted towards her, sliding to a stop beside her. The moment they reached her, she threw her arms forward, a barrier forming in front of them. A earthen wall erupted from the ground at the same time as the earth underneath them gave way. They fell down into a pit just as the hydra roared.

A blast of mana shattered the wall and struck against the barrier, Yuki’s jaw clenching as she fought to keep the barrier up.

“Close the top!” she growled as she poured mana into her shield. 

When the sunlight was shut away, Yuki flattened the barrier and layered it over the top of the hole. Her teeth gritted as she pushed back against the attack, the blast unrelenting in its assault. Then at last it dissipated, the hydra satisfied. Yuki dropped the barrier and took a seat in the dark earthen pit.

In the pit, all she could hear were the breaths of the other two occupants and her own heart as it raced. The ground shuddered as the hydra on top took a step. Another shudder. Then another. A deep rumble followed. Yuki closed her eyes as she tried to calm her heart, taking in slow, deep breaths. 

At last, the hydra began to amble away, heading back into the forest. Yuki waited until the shudders it created had lessened until they were nothing before she gave Akira’s thigh a tap.

The top of the pit opened up, letting sunlight pour in. Yuki squinted for a moment as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change before she climbed out. Akira popped out after and she helped Carol get out as well.

“I think we’re going to need a few more people to take care of that thing,” Carol said, looking at the wreckage around them.

“We do,” Yuki replied. “With a lot of mages.”

She thought back to that blast. That elemental blast. Now she understood why she thought the eye color of the hydra was familiar. They reminded her of a few certain jewels.

“A lot of mages,” she repeated.

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