My legs trembled before the magnificent specimen of a final boss.
Three feathered serpent heads: one red, with crimson scales; one green, shining like emerald; and one yellow as dazzling as gold.
All three connected to an almost mechanical stump and to a long, thick tail that moved like hair, a very dense one unified across several meters.
Trying to calculate the size of the beast was ridiculous. It was not as large as the giraffe that literally reached the ceiling, but that did not mean it imposed any less; in fact, I was afraid.
Its size, its presence, and those metallic aspects across its body made me recall the mechanical nightmares I have faced more than once.
—Damn it…
I waited for Frost's response, but it seemed he also knew that before me stood a rival worthy of his edge.
He gleamed with a certain urgency. He wished to savor the organic parts of the vipers. The event had not yet begun; it was as if the creature were being introduced. I could almost imagine a soundtrack worthy of this moment, while its boss name appeared before me.
Without paying me much attention, it devoured the corpses of both the hares and the giraffe, leaving the field clean for our confrontation. Finally, it turned toward me; its tail, which moved like hairy centipede legs, twisted with anxiety.
At last, the gong sounded.
"Let the third round begin."
.................................…
—What kind of joke is this! —Rachel shouted indignantly from the stands.—This is too much. That creature is from the fifth ring —Jean proclaimed, standing up beside Rachel.—You're organizing this, aren't you? —Rachel wasted no time. Before Jean realized it, she had already run toward the pair of pirates who were hyping the bets.
—Easy, girl —before she could reach the frightened girls, a stout man, yet heavily muscled, stepped in her way. His thick black beard, reaching down to his abdomen, proclaimed his identity to anyone who saw him.
—Teach —Rachel spat, almost in disgust.
—Dear Ricard…
A heavy blow fell upon the pirate. Rachel had not hesitated for a second to shut the bearded man's mouth, who raised his hands in peace.
—You were saying?
—Forgive me, Lady Rachel, but this is not the organization's doing, I swear it. We're going to lose money on this as well.
—Then… it's the axolotl's doing.
—Unfortunately, yes. He is the one who chooses the enemies, but for some reason he ignored the second ring and now the fourth.
—This is unfair.
—Tell me about it, I bet in favor of the boy.
Frustrated, Rachel knew she could do nothing but return to her seat.
—If you want —Jean spoke—, we can forget about the bet.
.................................…
The first attack did not take long. It was mine.
I ran at full speed toward the creature. This was the last round. I had to win to reach the credits I needed. I could not allow myself to be overwhelmed…
Or that was what I wanted to think.
Search was actually running at full throttle. Every tiny hair that acted like a leg of this hydra chased me like scythes. Dodging them was not an option. For the first time, Search marked a huge X at the end of my escape routes.
The only plausible exit was to jump, reach its back, and confront the heads.
Or that is what I would say if three enormous and persistent X's were not twisting above. Jumping would be a death sentence.
As I ran and rolled across the ground, I pressed against the hydra, beginning the scan. I could not use Frostmagmar's wind for the moment. I trusted the edge of my axe and my independent strength, but the problem was finding an opening.
The legs gave me no rest, and even less when the golden head did not hesitate to lunge at me. Its large jaws, with only four long fangs almost as thin as a finger, launched toward me.
"Could I get inside?"
That cartoonish thought vanished when the information flashed in my mind.
"Poison."
I was simply screwed.
With all my strength, without thinking much, I struck at the head with the blade of my weapon, but it was smarter. It did not hesitate to close its mouth and retreat, evading my slash, while the legs kept stepping on my heels.
It was almost as if they wandered randomly across the stage just to ruin my day.
I could not counterattack. I could not gain distance. I could not strike the heads, and I did not even know why I could not jump onto them.
Now it was the green head that lunged at me. Like an arrow in a straight line, it struck my abdomen. I was not ready. I could only place my axe in front of me and receive it. Even so, it sent me flying.
Forcing out the little air I still had in my lungs.
—Damn…
My back burned. As if I had been clawed, I felt how my entire back had been scraped by the large legs that dragged painfully across my sack. If it were not for its great defensive quality, I would no longer have a back.
In fact, although the sack remained completely intact, I could clearly feel beneath it threads of blood sliding and burning intensely.
The head only wanted to throw me there, and as soon as I regained mobility I pushed myself uselessly, for one of the legs managed to graze my leg. The pain quickly spread through my entire body, from my foot to my spine.
Search gave me an exit, an almost useless one: jump for my life.
With everything I had, I made a great leap forward, though the red head awaited that moment, lunging in front of me wide open. I knew it: if I did not use my trump cards, I would simply die. Therefore, I painfully slid the word…
—[Fast]
My body became completely light. Everything slowed down instantly. It was not like Pause, which froze everything. A large red bar began to decrease with every passing instant.
The viper's attack was lethal, but I had time on my side.
I raised my axe with all my strength from above my head and connected.
The first axe strike took the red head.
But this was not over. This is a hydra.
If not for the slowed speed, I would not have had the chance to react. Extracting one point of Nex from what I had left, I extended my axe over the half-severed snout, suturing the red head with cold, which simply stopped moving, falling inert.
Meanwhile, with my final seconds, I leaped onto the red neck of the viper, praying that in my last moment I would manage to reach the creature's back.
—Just a little more!
The great red bar came to an end.
My legs and arms froze instantly and I could only let myself fall onto the creature's back, which desperately began to writhe.
—I see we're not finished yet…