Volume 7 - CH 19

The next day.

The bat shikigami, which was additionally released on the mountain, caught sight of the target.

“Oh, is that true? They said you found a hydra.”

“Yeah”

To Rurumu who asked incredulously, I answered briefly as I walked forward.

Well, maybe it’s not unreasonable to believe it.

Rurumu seems to be able to see the flow of power, but if I use a shikigami, I can explore a range far beyond that.

“I want to confirm.”

While leading everyone, I looked back with only my eyes.

“The hydra here emits a strange breath.”

“Well, the guy in the guild said that.”

It was Amiyu who answered.

She jumps over fallen trees while talking.

“It seems to be a fishy, ​​strange-smelling poison. Normally, the hydra’s breath  is supposed to be volcanic poison that smells like sulfur, but the one here seems to be completely different. It looks transparent, but just a little bit. It has a blue tint to it…it burns whatever you throw at it.”

Amiyu tells the information she had heard in the guild beforehand.

However, it was something that seemed to raise eyebrows.

“It is said that dry leaves suddenly caught fire, and the hair of people who were exposed to the breath up close suddenly started to burn. I think we should be careful about the poison itself.”

“You said that the hydra’s breath removes the color of things.”

“Ah, they said that too. The blood stains on the corpse’s clothes are fading, and the leaves are turning white… That Hydra seems to be pure white, but I wonder if it has something to do with it?”

“I don’t know if it’s related, but…”

However, I have a vague idea of ​​what it’s throwing up.

“I want to check this one more time.”

Nozuro, who was silently climbing the mountain, said slowly.

“To say  that we don’t have to worry about the hydra’s breath… is it really okay to leave it to you?”

“Yeah”

I briefly affirm.

“Don’t worry if you’re bathed in the hydra’s breath, attack it. The weak point of poison is it’s weak physical power to stop the enemy. Unlike swinging a sword or spewing fire, at that moment you can continue fighting without any problems. It will take some time before it takes effect.”

“But then, even if we defeat the enemy, we will die.”

“There is still a recovery class healer. Leave the recovery to me.”

“……all right”

After a short moment, Nozuro nods.

“In any case, it would be difficult to subdue the Hydra without you.”

Nozuro seemed to come to terms with his anxiety about me.

I smile wryly and say,

“Well, even so, try to avoid getting hit by the hydra breath as much as possible.”

To tell you the truth, it would be easiest for me to knock it out by myself. If i devote myself to support, extra hardships will increase.

However, I can’t do that, relationships between people are so difficult.

“…”

I glance at Rurumu.

The Divine Priestess seemed to be mindful of the flow of power around her, even as she struggled with her terrible footing.

Nothing has changed. She doesn’t seem to be distracted by what happened last night.

I silently return my gaze.

That’s fine. Both she and I should now focus on our future enemies.

Before long――――.

“……here”

We’ve reached our destination.

There was a cliff overlooking a narrow valley.

A torrent is flowing below. Now it’s further upstream, and it’s a terrain that seems to have been carved by a waterfall.

Amiyu looks around.

“…?”

“Under here.”

I answer while looking down at the empty valley floor from the edge of the cliff.

Amiyu walks over to me while looking puzzled.

“Under? You mean under the cliff?”

“No, it’s not, in a cave in the middle of a cliff…”

At that time, Amiyu was about to poke her head out from the edge of the cliff.

The entire valley turned pale blue.

“Geh!”

Ihurry and pull Amiyu.

Right after she lost her balance and landed on her buttocks――――A lukewarm wind blew up from under the cliff.

The weeds and tree leaves that were growing along the cliffs turned white.

“Wait, what’s going on…”

“Don’t talk. Get away from the cliff once — It’s coming.”

Pulling Amiyu’s hand to make her stand up, we retreat to the side of our party members.

At that moment――――From the bottom of the cliff, a white lizard-like head suddenly appeared.

Its snout is longer than that of a dragon, giving it a delicate impression. However, its pure white scales are stern and impenetrable to weak attacks. The head was connected to a long neck.

Blue-green eyes stare at us as if judging us.

“Oh, is that a hydra…?”

Immediately after Ifa muttered.

Two identical necks stretched out from under the cliff.

In addition, one head, and one more… a total of five heads swaying as they stare at us from the edge of the cliff.

“As expected, there was no doubt that there were five heads…”

Rurumu muttered with a grim expression.

A hydra is a monster with multiple heads, but it is said that the more heads there are, the more dangerous it becomes. Considering that there are usually three or four, this individual can be said to be a sufficiently strong enemy.

A thick claw hits the edge of the cliff.

The hydra lifted its white giant heads to the top of the cliff with a grip that was strong enough to split a rock. A strong body that looks disproportionately reflected in a thin neck, and a long, thick tail.

I see, it seems natural for it to be called the  sword-swallowing sub-dragon.

Amiyu says while widening  her eyes.

“Where was this thing hiding!?”

“Like I said  there was a cave in the middle of the cliff and it was hiding there.”

“No wonder it’s been hard to find until now.”

It was supposed to be a story of it roaming the entire mountain range and actively attacking adventurers, but… it’s possible that they were just exaggerating their terror, and that it wasn’t originally that active a monster.

Well, whatever it is, it’s fine if you can find it.

I tell everyone with a light smile.

“Come on, it’s finally the boss battle. We’ll defeat this guy and go back to Keltz.”

Before they could answer――――All five hydra heads let out a high-pitched roar, as if announcing the start of a battle.

I thought to myself as I watched the party members brace themselves from behind.

Well… I hope it ends without incident.