Chapter 67

“Selena, we’re going ahead. Dolrig, speed up and Sofia to the gate.” If they are going to help, they have no time to waste. The fight has been going on for quite some time, casualties were inevitable.

Selena leaped from the still moving wagon, racing on all four toward the fight. She was several times faster than the wagon.

“Holy!” Dolrig screamed as he saw her rush ahead, “She’s almost as fast as a horse!” He had seen his fair share of adventures, but she was a first!

“I’ll borrow one.” Cain gracefully jumped past Dolrig, landing on the front right horse. Quickly untying the belts, the last one of them didn’t want to open. This was so common than Cain had expected it, things always tend to malfunction at the most critical moment.

Slash! With one of his daggers, he cut the stuck belt. People are dying, a few-coppers-worth belt was expendable in his book.

After freeing the horse, Cain rode it at top speed without even a saddle, just hanging it to its mane.

“He can ride horses without a saddle?” It was hard enough trying to ride a horse normally, doing it without the saddle was several folds harder.

***

On the other side, at the fight.

“Keep it away from the gate!” A soldier shouted from atop the stone, pale-grey walls. Shooting arrow through the machicolations, Trying to hit the unfazed monstrosity underneath.

The monster lifted one of its many heads, breathing a stream of awful-smelling flames upward. The flames swelled from the machicolations’ gapes, forcing the man to jump backward and evade being cooked alive.

The man mumbled curses under his breath, not at the monster but at the adventurer below. “Those lowly ruffians, leading this thing to the wall like this. we ain’t opening the gates for the like of them.” As the man looked forward, their precious arrow barrel was on fire.

Being alarmed, he quickly jerked back to life, grabbing a bucket of water to put out the flames. “Bring more water!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, “We’re losing arrow here!” He shouted again. After a few seconds, a man came in rushing with two buckets full of water to help put the flames.

Very few of the arrows survived the fire, yet it was better than having them all burn. “A few over a hundred arrows were burned, make sure to add to their bill!”

The monster underneath is a six-headed Hydra, a monster known for its voracity and stubbornness. This morning, a group of adventures who went to slay the beast thought it was a good idea to lead to the walls and use them to kill it. That was bad on many levels, to the point the guards were considering dropping burning oil on the adventure alongside the Hydra.

To get the Hydra to the walls, they had to lead it through the farmlands. Burning fields upon fields of crops and resulting in the death of two farmers. Those crops were important for surviving the coming winter, most likely this was going to result in many people dying of cold and starvation in the winter.

The walls were severely damaged by the Hydra’s fire breath, not counting the many injured soldiers and guards. What was now more dangerous, is that the Hydra is aiming to break the City gate.

The city gate resembles that of a castle, with two massive flanking towers and a gate room in between. Having two portcullises made of steel, the room between them was filled with murder holes. The last part was a large, two doors wooden gate.

The gate was designed to withstand human and small monster attacks, this elephant-sized Hydra was not counted in the ‘Small monster’ and the guards weren’t going to sit and test the gate’s strength. If the monster got past it a lot of people are going to die.

“A carriage has been spotted in the distance, two unidentified people are approaching!” The soldier standing at the watchtower shouted, “One running on all four and the other is riding a horse! Hold up, The carriage is speeding as well toward us!” He couldn’t tell more details due to the distance.

“Probably traveling adventurers seeking fame and glory, signal them to stay away.” No matter how much the guard wanted to burn the adventurers who brought the beast, they didn’t want innocent people to suffer.

Selena didn’t even bother looking at their signal, ignoring it as funny lights. Cain understood that they were telling them to stay away, and he isn’t going to listen.

***

The adventures side.

“Open the gates, you cowards!” One of the adventures who brought the hydra shouted at the guards, “We can’t hold it longer!”

Instead of listening, the guards kept focusing on shooting the hydra, they didn’t try to avoid friendly fire. The adventures were having to rely on their armor and dodging skills to avoid the rain of arrows.

“Leader, they are ignoring us, should we retreat?” He shouted in agony, dodging the Hydra’s unending stream of bites. His sword slash didn’t seem to be able to leave a dent on the beast’s jade-like scales.

“Don’t look at me, My shield is breaking, at this rate, I’m going to fall first!” The leader shouted as he blocked the Hydra’s fire breath, “Heal!” He cried for help.

“I’m almost out of MP, this might be the last Heal I can put!” The woman wearing a black, nun-like dress screamed, Casting her magic on the wounded Tank.

An old man was lying unconscious to the side, their mage seem to have already run out of steam. Only his luck kept him from getting stomped to death.

“Another breath!” The swordsman shouted as he noticed the swelling in one of the Hydra’s necks, he quickly backed down to avoid being roasted. It didn’t matter how good his armor was, as long as it has gaps, fire is going to get him.

With a loud barfing sound, an almost endless stream of flames sprouted. As the leader tried to tank it with his massive shield, the Hydra used that opportunity to attack the woman behind.

From the wall of flames, one of the Hydra’s heads emerged, sneaking a bite at the priestess’s torso. “BLuh!” She vomited blood as her insides were crushed, The Hydra lifted her to the sky as its neck whipped like a snake.

“LIRA!” The leader screamed as the priestess’s blood spilled on his face, he bashed the Hydra with his shield, hoping she will droop their friend.

***

Selena was rushing Ahead, seeing the woman get killed by the Hydra, her movements got sharper as she aimed at the head carrying the priestess.

Thud! Thud! Thud! She rushed, without slowing down. Climbing the Hydra’s back through its long tail and taking a bite of its neck.

The Hydra’s neck was larger than what Selena could bite so she resorted to biting the airway, the Hydra’s Adam’s apple. Using her claws to stay latched, Selena tore a chunk of the Hydra’s neck.

The priestess’s life-less body dropped, just to be caught by the party leader. No matter how much he screamed her name, she wasn’t going to speak with her ribs poking out.

Whoosh! Fast like a snake, one of the Hydra’s heads tried to bite Selena, she quickly retracted her claw. As she dropped down, Selena ran between the Hydra’s legs to avoid the heads and the possible breath.

Cain’s horse was getting scared, It was to be expected as it wasn’t a warhorse. “Thanks for your courage, I will make sure you get a doubled meal.” Cain patted the horse before jumping out.

[Swiftness], [Lesser empowerment] Cain rushed as fast as he could, quickly reaching the Hydra. Taking out a dagger on his left and the sword on his right. By crossing them together, [Firelance], [Enchanting] [Enchanting] A mimicked [Fire burst] raced at the Hydra.

Seeing the Giant blue fireball, Selena rushed out away from the Hydra to not get burned as well. The monster growled as it was hit by the fiery explosion. Even though the Hydra could breathe fire, it wasn’t immune to it.

Feeling the pain, The Hydra swang the tip of Its tail toward Cain at high speed. The tail was fairly long and sturdy as well as flexible, making it like a natural whip. The tip has accelerated into blinding speed, a single strike can even slice a man in half.

VROOOOM! Cain just lifted his sword by his side, the tail was sliced as it met the rumbling edge. The tip flew at extreme speed and crashed onto a nearby barn, making the cows moo in fear.

“GAW!” Selena screamed as she punched the distracted Hydra’s side in full strength, aiming to break one of its ribs. This strategy was common with large monsters, hoping that the broken rib will puncture the lung and make it harder for the monster to breathe.

Not being satisfied, Selena punched another rib before seeing one of the Hydra’s heads coming for her.

“Selena! This thing Can regenerate, to kill it we need to slice the six heads or tear its heart out!” Cain shouted what he knew.