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Chapter 149- The Hydra's Revenge
🕑 Added 2024-04-30 22:59:00 +0000 UTCEver since Arthur had left the locus of power, things had gone poorly. From bad to terrible to downright catastrophic, it was like he’d been the but of some massive cosmic joke. He could only hope that the punchline had finally been served. With the ascended blood beast now named The Hydra's Revenge, he didn’t think things could get any worse.
For fuck’s sake Arthur. You just had to go and jinx it, didn’t you?
Once again thankfully his unintended flight had been brought to an end thanks to Ayesha’s chains. Who knew how far he would have gone otherwise? His chest ached something fierce, nothing broken but definitely bruised. To get past the equivalent of over 3,000 constitution, the Bloodbeast’s physical prowess was not to be underestimated. The golden chains were yanked forward and a second later, Arthur once again found himself within the confines of the protective barrier.
Ayesha had a grim look on his face, her eyes locked at their target, who seemed content to remain stationary until fully healed. Perhaps it wouldn’t come after them at all if they didn’t bother it. After all, its primary purpose was self-destruction. He didn’t think it’d be content to let them get away, though. Iris, meanwhile, was rushing around, her hands a blur of red and blue as she constructed another ritual circle. A second later, Arthur found out what it was for.
The poison affinity ether in the air, already significantly diminished from the monster’s gorging, rapidly dissipated, until five seconds later, the area was completely clear. Free from any obstructions, they finally got a good look at the beast. Surpassing even the hydra, who it had stolen its namesake from, the ascended blood beast's prodigious regeneration was the stuff of legends. In the span of seconds, it had completely recovered 385,000 health. With its final evolution, the monster had finally lost its angelic beauty. It was still beautiful, but no longer in a way that could have growing teenagers writing fanfiction. It was now deadly perfection, the stalking grace of a hunting lioness, the sleek form of a diving falcon, a killing machine packed into a small but powerful musculature.
The monster was taller than him, but not by much, around six foot seven by his estimate. It still maintained a base human form, but now the proportions were all off, with its arms extending down to its knees capped with massive hands that ended in dagger-like claws. The Hydra's revenge was covered in scales with its chest and head particularly armoured with what linked like protruding bone, almost like a helmet of sorts. The once human mouth had now been replaced by a gaping maw filled with hundreds of needle-thin teeth. It was a grotesque sight, to say the least, and Arthur vowed he wouldn’t let it get anywhere near him.
“You just had to go and kill a Hydra, didn’t you,” Ayesha muttered. “Well fuck, I guess we can be grateful it wasn’t a dragon or something. But still, where the hell did you find a Hydra? This is a tier 1 planet! Why does nothing make sense in this god-forsaken world,” she cursed, rubbing her temples.
Arthur was by no means an expert on human emotion, but he could tell the young woman was panicking. As light as she’d tried to keep her tone, he could detect the undercurrent of hysteria beneath it. Arthur didn’t blame her. Prior to its evolution, the ascended blood beast had presented a night-insurmountable obstacle to get past. Now it was just straight-up impossible. The sheer dominance its aura exerted on their surroundings was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, manifesting as a visible distortion in the air that was visible to the naked eye. It was a frankly absurd display of power, and Arthur was certain anyone with less than 300 constitution would die in mere seconds if they came into contact with it. He wasn’t sure about Iris, but Ayesha didn’t strike him as the most durable fighter around.
Arthur wracked his brain for something, anything he could do to even the odds. They were screwed if only Arthur could leave the protective barrier. The problem here was durability, the woman simply needed to be more sturdy. The answer hit him like a lightning bolt and he cursed himself for not having thought of it sooner even as he prayed things hadn’t changed since the last time he’d seen it. Source of vitality was the tier 4 title he'd gained the amount he crossed a thousand vitality and he recalled a part of it stating he could increase the recovery of designated by ten percent.
Admittedly, it wasn’t a large increase, but every little counted. Most importantly, though, was that he hadn’t checked on the title since his stat had evolved from the regular vitality into the Draconic variant. His health-to-ether conversion had increased from 5:1 to 3:1 after the evolution and subsequent title amplification. He could only hope that the title’s secondary aspects had been similarly advanced.
Arthur brought up the relevant system notification and prayed for the best. A second later, he cursed out loud. Why in the nine hells hadn’t he been using this earlier?
Source of (Draconic) Vitality-(possess 1000 points of Draconic Vitality before reaching level 100) Increases effectiveness of Draconic Vitality by 50%. May select designated individuals (one/200 Draconic vitality) Designated individuals have their health regeneration increased by 20% whilst within 10km of the host. The equivalent of 20% of a host's Draconic Vitality can be distributed between up to ten individuals. Allows the usage of health to fuel skills at a 3:1 ratio.
The title had changed significantly from its base variant. Now, the number of friendlies he could select for buffs had halved, but the regeneration boost had doubled. The more important part, however, was that he could grant up to ten people the effects of his Draconic Vitality, without diminishing his own at all. At least if he was understanding things right. Like everything else with the system, appointing people to buff was very intuitive in that he only needed to say yes to a notification that popped up when he selected Ayesha and Iris.
“What’s this, Arthur?” The seer asked, looking at him questioningly, her eyes taking on the slightly glazed look that showed she was reading a system message.
“Just select yes,” Arthur replied. “If it works how I expect, it’ll make this fight a lot more manageable for you.”
Arthur decided to take it as a compliment that they trusted him enough to follow his instructions without asking any further questions. If the situation wasn’t so dire, he would have found their rapid changes of expression amusing. First confusion, then shock and finally disbelief at what they were seeing. Arthur quickly did the maths. Twenty percent of his Draconic Vitality split between two people meant that each woman had just gained 227 each. Sadly, they didn’t have the source title boosting theirs, but it was still the equivalent of 6,816 extra health each, a sign that whilst comparatively small to his own healthpool had quite likely doubled their own.
The more important benefit, however, was that the Draconic Vitality doubled as an extra 343 constitution and solved the main problem the ascended blood beast presented with its deadly aura. Hopefully now, Ayesha would at least be able to leave the protective barrier and join the fight. “Arthur,” Iris began. “I’m flattered you trust us so much, and the situation is dire, but I advise you to keep this ability of yours close to your chest in the future. You’ve just become the second most useful insurance rich parents can buy to protect their spoilt kids that I’ve ever seen. When they’re power levelling. And I’ve seen a lot. This skill of yours will limit any experience gained at all. Did you know that?” she asked.
Arthur chucked. “I think you’re overreacting here,” he replied nervously. “It’s nothing special.”
Iris shook her head in exasperation, a faint smile on her face. “You don’t know enough to realise how absurd what you’re saying is. We don’t have time to talk about it now but this conversation isn’t over.” she turned her attention back to the monster in their midst. “I’m fresh out of grand ideas right about now,” Ayesha murmured. “How about you, Iris?”
“Nothing here. Just throw everything you’ve got at it and pray for the best. You work on controlling the battlefield with your chains and keep Arthur from getting pinned down. He’ll be our tank and main damage dealer and I’ll work on ranged attacks and see if I can cook up a ritual to salvage this shit show. Good enough for you guys?”
Arthur nodded his head. “Can’t think of anything better. Hopefully, this captain Arenica of yours can turn this around.”
“We can only hope,” Iris murmured. “The barrier will go down in the next ten seconds. Get ready to attack.”
Arthur gripped his spear and ]categorised his enemy. It was the third humanoid monster he’d ever face if he counted the Draconic Liverthion and shade. Sadly, he had very little experience to draw upon. Considering the circumstances of both of those fights and his mental state during them. The Hydra’s Revenge was a different beast altogether, and his skills were not showing him any weakness. Its throat, lower stomach and groin lacked the protective scales the rest of its body had and those present on its inner thighs seemed far thinner compared to the rest.
It wasn’t exactly a weak spot but he’d work with what he had. I need to watch out for that tail too. And those claws look like they secrete a venom of some kind. As powerful as the creature was, however, Arthur was certain he'd faced stronger in his spar against Issania, at least in the technique department if not in raw power. If only he had a concept of his own right now to bolster his power, he’d be a lot more confident. Swallowing the saliva that had pooled in his mouth, Arthur met the bloodbeast's gaze. Its eyes were distinctly reptilian and seemed to radiate a sense of rage and suffering.
The creature looked away first, its eyes darting to the size to track the golden chain that was soaring towards it. Arthur capitalised on the moment of distraction, exploding into motion. He covered the dozens of metres separating them in a fraction of a second, moving so fast he barely realised he’d left the barrier and was now under the influence of the beast's deadly aura. With his absurd durability, it only registered as a slightly discomforting sensation. The fact that it affected him at all didn’t bode well for the others. Arthur was pretty sure he could outright ignore ordinary fire right now. The monster's domain was strong. Enough that it had complained about his own dominance in the area. Had he known how to combat another domain, Arthur was fairly certain he’d come out the victor in this exchange. After all, the Homunculi's hunt was the pinnacle skill of a legendary class. It wouldn’t lose, even to an evolved ascended blood beast. With his lack of experience, unfortunately, all Arthur could do was fight with the tools he’d been gifted. His spear extended outwards, the first form of the star spear revelations, a piercing thrust. The beast's gaze met his own. Shit! Arthur realised the monster had baited him with its earlier moment of inaction. The creature was ready for him and it swiped its hands upwards in an uppercut, claws aimed at the soft flesh beneath his chin, even as it began to rotate its torso to ensure Arthur missed.
He didn’t want to find out if he was durable enough to survive getting his head ripped off. The monster's mouth widened in a horrifying mockery of a smile, its eyes smug. It was confident in its victory. Arthur returned its smile with one of his own. In what was quickly becoming his favourite move, Arthur generated a dozen water bullets at the but of his spear and shot them forward. His body jerked forward at the sudden acceleration and he saw the flash of panic cross the monster's face as it tried to scramble back a step. I win, Arthur thought as he felt his spear tip penetrate the monster's gut. The battle had just begun, and Arthur had won their first exchange.
Comments
bcd051
I hope your hand/wrist is feeling better
