Chapter 164 - Headhydra V

Claire narrowed her eyes as she spotted the dungeon’s entrance from afar. The well was only a few dozen feet away, and the sounds of battle had finally grown loud enough for everyone else to have caught onto the crisis. Still, they proceeded in relative silence, with the dwarf the only one to have reacted. The look on his face was grim and he was actively fiddling with everything his hands could reach; the canteen on his waist, the stubble on his face, and the short spear on his back were all made victims of his molestation.

Boris was just as fidgety. The sentient weapon was shaking in fear, his trembling growing more intense as they got closer to the surface. When asked to explain, he would only shake its head, a desperate attempt to convey that he was far from ready for the battle to come.

Still, the group pressed forward. They climbed up the side of the well and cast their eyes on the burning, bloodied town. Not everything was destroyed. The job board was still mostly in one piece, its streets were still walkable, and only half the buildings had collapsed. All in all, the state was much better than what Claire had expected to see, given the scale of the conflict she had heard.

The well itself was unguarded, but there were dozens of adventurers and soldiers combing through the town, chasing down the various monsters that littered its streets. She knew very little about Vel’khan’s armed forces or the crests associated with the state’s nobility, but even then, she could tell that whoever the troops belonged to had at least put them through the wringer. They remained perfectly calm, even while the local adventurers ran around like headless chickens. It was almost like they were unable to see the giant lizard that served as the city’s new backdrop.

The aforementioned monster was engaged in battle with a group of airborne fighters, scyphs adapted to life outside of water. Each of the heavily armoured sentient jellyfishes was lobbing spells aplenty, but they were too weak. Even if they did hit, the magical beams and blasts dealt little to no damage; the monster was practically immune to their attacks.

“Farenlight,” muttered Claire.

They were far away from the twenty-meter-tall beast, but its presence remained immediately apparent. There was something about the magic it radiated; its energy almost seemed to pollute the surrounding air and weigh it down in a way that was impossible to miss. It was unmistakably the boss they had failed to find in the dungeon’s depths.

And surely enough, its power was incomparable to any of its underlings’. A dozen trees would find themselves shredded to bits each time it swung its tail, regardless of whether it struck them. Its breath was just as deadly; each of its roars would cut everything caught in the path to pieces. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Farenlight was an aeromancer, a sorcerer capable of conjuring blades out of thin air and weaponizing the wind itself. A fact of which its enemies were well aware.

At least half of them were specialized in earth magic. Giant pillars of stone, defensive bulwarks, erupted from the ground each time it called the wind. And though the lizard was certainly continuing to rip the forest apart, the soldiers had the situation under control. They were leading it further and further away from town whilst keeping the casualty count at zero. It had effectively been contained. There was nothing for Claire to do but grumble as she planted her feet back on solid ground.

“I’ve gotta go check my house!” The dwarf abandoned the group as soon as he escaped the well. Placing a series of previously shaved beards back on his face, he sprinted down the street at many times his previous speed and made for his place of residence.

“I suppose this is where we part ways, my lady.” Nymphetel turned to the lyrkress and dropped to one knee. “Ruzzes may be a hired hand, but he was a member of our party all the same. We cannot simply leave him be.”

“Oh Nymphetel, you silly squire.” A giggle escaped the lyrkress’ lips, even as she covered them with her fingers. “I have already told you that you are free to act however you wish. Please, go.”

“By your command.” Bowing his head again, the elf sprang to his feet, signalled for the skeleton to follow, and chased after the bearded guide. He was so much faster than the mountain spirit that he caught up with him before he turned the first corner. And soon enough, they were fighting together, warding off the monsters that got in their path. The water mage was no slower. Coating his bony feet in a layer of conjured fluid, he skated through the city’s streets and chased down his group in the blink of an eye.

“Finally.” After waiting for the trio to turn a corner, Claire heaved a sigh, brought a hand to her face, and massaged her temples. “I wanted to kill that dwarf. For suggesting that we work together.”

“Oh, come on!” jeered Sylvia. “He was just being nice and trying to help.”

“Sometimes, trying and failing is worse than not trying.”

“Oh, shush. You just need to stop being so pessimistic,” huffed the fox.

“I’m not pessimistic.”

“Uh huh. And I’m not a fox.”

Claire was tempted to point out that the fox was, in fact, not exactly a fox, but kept her mouth shut and scratched the half-elf’s chin. They were likely to get attacked if they continued raising their voices, and the last thing she wanted to do was attract more small fry. She had already killed too many on the way up, and it took a dozen of them for her experience meter to show even the slightest bit of visible progress.

“I don’t think the elf was too happy about it either,” said Lia. “She seemed to put her guard up whenever you were around.”

Claire shrugged. “Not my problem.” She scanned the town again and confirmed that nothing caught her eye. “So? What now?”

“What do you mean?” asked the cat.

“Oh, oh, I know!” Sylvia raised a paw. “She’s trying to say that she doesn’t want to be here anymore because there’s nothing worth killing, since they already have that giant lizard thingy over there under control.”

Lia focused on the monster in question before twisting her lips into a frown. “I don’t think they do.” Her pupils narrowed into slits as she continued looking into the forest, through the giant trees that towered over even Farenlight’s frame. “Their formation doesn’t look right. It feels like they’ve had to shuffle around in order to make up for their casualties. I doubt they’ll be able to hold the line for too much longer.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Claire began walking towards the giant lizard, but stopped and spun around after noting the Paunsean’s lack of motion.

“Lia?”

The catgirl gulped and nodded. She managed to put one foot forward, but that was as far as she got. Her whole body started to shake, just like Boris’. “S-sorry,” she stuttered. “I-I don’t really know what’s come over me.”

A deep breath helped her realign, but she wasn’t able to stay calm for long. She started hesitating again after another few steps, with her tail curled in and her ears twisted out.

“We can kill it,” said Claire. “It’ll be easy.”

“I know.” Lia tightened her grip on her sword and started walking again. But no matter how far she went, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong, that their confidence was misplaced, and that it would lead to their demise.

Continuing to watch the giant lizard provided little in the way of reassurance. When it next opened its mouth, it fired not only the usual blades of wind, but a blast of green flame, coloured just like its piercing slit eyes. Though it looked no different from an attack based in flame, the discharge that erupted from its mouth had none of the associated properties. It burned nothing and failed to spread to the flammables it touched. Not even the deadfall was set alight by the magical attack.

But it was not without purpose.

The plants that it touched decayed and collapsed. The earthen wall used to block it crumbled to bits. And the jellyfish standing behind it had his body melted. His flesh vanished as soon as it was touched by the corrupting flame. The half of his body that didn’t rot fell lifelessly to the ground. He was dead. In just one confirmed hit.

The remaining troops reformed their ranks in an attempt to make up for the loss of personnel, but their encirclement grew looser and their control over the creature waned. There was no telling why it refused to simply repeat the attack until all the soldiers were gone, but one thing was clear. The lizard would wind up as the last man standing.

And yet, the cat was able to press on. When she compared the lizard to Vella’s champion, she found that it was just another insignificant bug. Even the girl marching in front of her was more fearsome, perhaps precisely because she resembled him so.

Shaking her head free of the prejudiced conclusions stewing in the back of her mind, Lia followed the lyrkress into the undergrowth and continued to march. Wallowing in the past, and the fears that came from it, could wait until she dealt with the threat that loomed over the present.

“We’re here to help!” She raised her voice as soon as she arrived on the battlefield and climbed up one of the tallest trees. Once high enough, she drew her rapier, placed it in her mouth, and lunged at the beast’s rear. She knew for a fact that she was in its blind spot; its attention was focused on the soldiers in front of it. But it turned one of its eyes towards her nonetheless. Its tail followed its gaze, sweeping through the air with the catgirl as its target.

A quiet gasp escaped her throat. She knew what the creature’s conjured blades did to the trees. And what they would do to her. She quickly scanned her surroundings for a nearby branch to land on, or something else she could use to reposition, but she found nothing. The spot she had leapt from was chosen precisely because it provided a clear path.

Gritting her teeth, the cat pulled her blade back and drew a rune in the air. She would need to enrage if she wanted to survive. Or at least that was what she thought, before she was suddenly redirected. Her rapier started to move with what seemed like a mind of its own. It lurched out of the attack’s path, taking her with it.

Her sword didn’t return to normal until it set her down atop a branch outside of Farenlight’s range. It didn’t suddenly start speaking to her, nor did it glow in any sort of strange, magical way. But the message was clear. Her sister’s spirit was still with her. Lying dormant within the blade.

“You’re right, Alina.”

Pushing her glasses aside and rubbing her eyes, the runaway soldier brought the sword close to her chest and took a deep breath.

“I need to focus.”

She had almost lost her life to a lapse of judgement. It was the sort of silly mistake she had made since her early childhood, and one she couldn’t afford on the battlefield. She needed to recall her roots and fight as dictated by their teacher, to look before she leapt, and to attack only when it was safe. She couldn’t be reckless. Not like the lyrkress sprinting towards the giant lizard’s face, continuing straight ahead even with the monster’s tail sweeping towards her.

“Wait... Claire!?”

She clenched her fists and leapt back into action. But she knew she wouldn’t make it in time. There was no way for the cat to get to the creature’s rear and disrupt its attack before it launched a spell and ripped the noble lady’s body to shreds.

Lia could do nothing but grit her teeth, clench her fists, and observe her last moments. A thought that persisted until Claire’s body suddenly defied the laws of physics. Without bending her legs or going through any other sort of preparatory motion, the lyrkress shot into the air like an arrow. She changed directions a dozen times, with each just as sudden and unjustified. She darted to and fro, avoiding Farenlight’s tail and approaching its body through a barrage of windy blades. It was the same agile technique she had employed against their first klimgor tyrant. Only, she was doing it without any of the necessary terrain.

Farenlight eventually gave up on chasing with its tail and opened its mouth to increase its coverage, but that was exactly what she wanted. Claire threw her imaginary snake straight into the open maw and injected the beast’s tongue with an unhealthy dose of poison. She cycled through all the substances at her disposal, but none of them had any immediate effects. Bee venom didn’t make it flinch, soarspore poison didn’t make it sneeze, tetrodotoxin didn’t cripple it, and rocket fuel appeared completely ineffective. Not even quicksilver had managed to leave its mark—not that she expected it to. The poison was one that had yet to amount to anything but a minor inconvenience.

Frowning, she accepted the result without thinking too deeply and moved Shouldersnake onto another task. The serpent conjured a blade of ice and started to drill its way through the roof of Farenlight’s mouth. It was a tried and true method, one even effective on the eldritch frog. And surely enough, it produced results. She could see the monster’s flesh giving in as her living weapon got deeper and deeper into its head.

But another breath attack evaporated the snake in its entirety. Even though she was unaware that it could be damaged.

A wave of emotions worked their way through her head as she ducked out of the way, but long lasting, the menagerie was not. It was replaced almost entirely by mild annoyance when the immaterial serpent appeared on her shoulder again, its mouth twisted into a pout. The obnoxious ghost went on to complain about something or other, but she ignored it and focused on the battle.

There was not enough time for her to idle around. Lia and the knights had already initiated the next wave of attacks, with the catgirl slashing at the base of the monster’s tail and the soldiers firing another barrage of magic. The spells did very little as usual, but they stole the lizard’s focus nonetheless. And provided her the opportunity to strike.

With her first strategy already thrown to the winds, she was unable to immediately arrive at any obvious ways to inflict permanent damage. There was nothing in her kit that would allow for a single big hit. She would have chased after the obvious vital points that were its eyes, but attacking them involved exposing herself to the allied magical onslaught, so she settled instead for approaching its front leg.

Smashing all its stubby toes with the still trembling lizard on her back, she pressed a hand against the tree-sized limb and started draining the monster’s health and mana.

Its frame protected her from friendly fire, but its leg was too thick to grab, and the scales too slippery to serve as an anchor point. With just a bit of flailing, the beast was able to send her flying into a nearby tree. She could feel the bones in her back creaking as her spine was bent out of shape by the wood. But of those that had been attacked, she remained the one that had taken the least damage.

The breath she evaded had caught a group of soldiers and immediately robbed them of their lives; there were only four of them left. Lia’s assault had ended in failure. The cat was missing an arm, and her tail was clearly broken, bent completely out of shape and drenched in a layer of blood. Something had clearly struck her, but Claire had no idea what.

Farenlight, on the other hand, was still in the spitting image of perfect health. The monster was effectively unharmed, the gash Lia had left on its rear its only visible injury.

Defeating it was sure to be an uphill battle. But Claire had a plan. All she needed to do was wait for all the stars to align.