King Hydra

Chapter 5: King Hydra

Hydra is a serpent-like creature which has distinct features like a snake. It lives near the entrance of the Underworld. Similar to its sibling Cerberus, it is multi-headed. This one has 9 heads with a terrifying length of 20 meters with each of them weighing several tons. Swinging one of its head could smash a small hill with a single strike!

Its body is covered with tough and slippery scale. Hard to land a solid punch on and strong as metals. The scales covered almost all the part of its body which could be controlled independently. Furthermore, it could spit and breath out deadly poison from its mouth. Even a single drop of its blood is deadly enough to kill an elephant.

Its whole existence is a cheat. A final boss would not be as hard as this! It's like a special extra boss that you could meet after beating the final boss of a game. No wonder Kim is down on his knee, with no will to live anymore.

"I guess no matter how high your potential is, heaven's luck is another factor, if only I'm free maybe I would help you.. but.. hah... you did well kid"

A sound of regret could be heard from its voice. Hydra didn't stop its movement and continued to get closer to Kim until they were only centimetres apart from each other. One of its head then open its mouth and purple fumes can be seen coming out of it. The smell was extremely pungent and would sting the nose who smell it. It lowered its head and dropped a ball of acid that could fit dozens of people. Without stopping, the acid instantly devours Kim through to the bone. The acid dissolve into the ground and formed a hole. Nearby plants start to deteriorate, and the ground is slowly diminishing. Whoever accidentally steps on nearby vicinity would suffer extreme poisoning and could die in seconds.

The Hydra stand still in its place looking into the hole. The reason was, within the dead ground, it could sense a presence of life. Although weak, his heart was still beating. Kim was still alive. However, if someone sees him right now, no one would think he was far from being alive. The bottom part of his body was all gone. Bones and inner part could be seen clearly, and the damage was thoroughly severe. The only limb he has was his left hand which parts of it has already been dissolved by the acid. Even though only half of his face remains, he was still distinguishable. Almost. A bit. He is now just a piece of meat waiting for its death.

Despite with all the despair he faced, Kim did not give up on living. Instead, a new kind of will suddenly lit up within his soul. It was the feeling of hatred. Hatred to the beast that suddenly appeared and destroyed everything, killing his friends and left him alone. Hatred to the world for letting him die without him even achieved anything. Hatred to himself for being weak, not be able to protect the one he loved.

He cursed himself, and the world. The only thing in his mind now was revenge. He keeps on thinking on how to crush the snake in front of him. He wanted to make it suffer for toying around with him and Nas. The image of him pulling its scale on by one and slowly smash its head to pieces make him want to live more.

"aaaa.. aaaaa … aaa.." Kim couldn't even mutter a proper word due to his injury.

"aaaahhh.. aaarrghh. Aaaa.." He continued to spout more things with no proper meaning. Hydra just stands there watching. As it likes to play with its victim, wanting to see Kim struggle for more just to be eaten afterwards.

The voice who help Kim just now become silent. He felt respect for Kim. At such a young age he had enough tenancy to struggle on living even though there was no hope. He felt regret for not having the chance to help Kim.

"Stop kid, if I could, I will definitely help you. You did enough just rest."

He cut off his sense as he could not bear to see a young kid in so much pain struggling to live.

"Am... gon.. il.." He heard a voice. The voice of a boy. Since others have died there could be no one else.

"Kid?" He tried to see what's happening even though he was reluctant to do so. Still, he felt something that makes his heart beating rapidly. Although part of him says that Kim won't be able to survive, after living for only heaven knows for how long he had seen many miracles happening over and over and again. And he might see one now.

"I'm going to kill you!!!!"

A loud deafening voice came out from the ground which shook even the ferocious hydra. It instinctively retreated backwards due to the killing intent coming from Kim. Suddenly a faint light gathered around Kim which covered its entire body. Slowly, his body and limbs were constructed to its original constitution. Kim is now laying on the ground naked as his cloth was already dissolved.

"It couldn't be. Since he could gather that amount of mana he should be a manipulator. But then, the way he strengthens himself to such degree I might be mistaken and thought that he's an enchanter instead. But with his body that he just made now... no, it's too real for it to be conjured.

The voice keeps talking to himself as if he was trying to fit in the missing piece of the puzzle. Little that he knew, he unconsciously channelling his thought to Kim at the same time. Even though he was still in pain, Kim clearly heard him and felt a bit annoyed. He will definitely make it spill out everything after he's done.

The problem now is the hydra. The moment he recovered, Kim was instantly thought about how to kill the annoying snake. He could not rely on a miracle just like the time he killed Cerberus. Before anything, there was one thing he wanted to make sure of. Kim stands up and without hesitation, hydra breath out devilish purple gas. It melted the whole area and cleaned out everything until the place becomes an empty wasteland. Even the trees nearby gave up and started to wither considerably. After the smoke cleared out Kim was gone.

"The heck, that snake doesn't even hold back. At least I found out what I want"

Kim was in the hole where the previous acid had dissolved. While he was hiding, he deliberately let out one of his fingers into the smoke to test out his theory. And he was on point. His finger was still intact, and he didn't even feel a single pain. He even tried to breathe in the purple smoke and he felt like breathing normal air. He is now immune to hydra's poison. He still doesn't know until how much degree, but he could use this to surprise attack hydra next time if it would breath out another poisonous gas. Kim then thought about what happened with him and Cerberus. He might be immune to Cerberus flame as well.

"Well, there's no way to find out that other than jumping into a sea of flame. Or maybe I should jump into a volcano and see what would happen."

It seems that the terrible near-death experiences he faced have changed him without the person himself notice it.

Kim then sits down and tried to focus on the energy he felt before. Although it was a short while since he did this, his proficiency increased several times than before. Hydra didn't waste it times and start to slither through the terrain closing in towards Kim.

"RUN!" A voice ring loudly to his mind.

Kim stops concentrating and opened his eyes. He looked upward from within the hole and saw that hydra was already within his eyesight. He instantly jumped out as being in a hole would prove many disadvantages towards him. Hydra saw this and pummeled Kim with one of its head. Kim could not possibly change his direction and got hit in mid-air. He tried to block with his left arm and leg and was sent flying several meters away. His left arm is now in the urge of breaking. He rolled several times on the ground before he slowed himself down by using his other hand and legs.

As he stops getting pushed away by the powerful force he instantly stands up, but hydra is already closing in to pummel him to the ground. Kim rolls to the side and dodges the head with a near miss. It did not give any chance for Kim to recover and continued to give a barrage of multiple attacks with seven of its head. While the other two are preparing for a massive fireball. It was similar to the one Cerberus did but a bit smaller and is purple in colour.

Even though Kim manage to continuously avoid hydra's heads, he still sustained some damage. The barrage was too fast and each of its strike could instantly break a bone in Kim's body. Even a slight graze could cause an immense sharp pain due to its scale cutting through Kim's flesh. Kim slightly steps backwards for every hit he's blocking while dodging to increase the gap between them.

As he gets further, more time is needed for hydra head to reach him which make it easier for him to dodge. However, the distance between them was still close. An ordinary person would get crush within the first few hits.

Whether if one was fast enough to see hydra attack, he still needs to maintain high concentration at all time trying to avoid all seven attack at the same time. It's like fighting seven professional boxers who could smash a watermelon with one hit. Very fast, accurate and a strong solid punch!

Kim restlessly dodges the attacks not letting Hydra to land a fatal blow. The hydra finally stops, but Kim could not rest as it unleashed giant purple fireball towards Kim. Poisonous and destructive! It may have thought that Kim could withstand its poison so destructive power was added for a sure kill.

"This sneaky snake! I won't let you get away"

Usually, people would run away or try to block the fireballs as best as he can to reduce the damage. However, as Kim saw how hydra tried to retreat after it shoots out the fireballs Kim slip through and climb up to its scale. Even though the scales were poisonous, Kim resistance has increased so much that it did not threaten him a tiny bit. But the scales are sharp, so his hands bleed while holding onto them. The hydra was caught off-guard.

It planned to take Kim away even if its body would sustain damage as well. In the end, the attack backfired. Hydra didn't just get damaged from the explosion, but it also protected Kim at the same time. It gets mad and started attacking Kim who was clinging to its body. Hydra could not care less of what would happen to its body. All it wanted now was to devour Kim for making a fool out of itself. Kim didn't rest and started to climb hydra's body.

Albeit the sharp pain he felt every single time he climbed from one scale to another and blood keeps dripping down from his palm, he didn't reduce his speed as hydra keep attacking non-stop. Some of its scales have already been broken and cracks can be seen in some parts of its body. It then stopped attacking and started to wildly move around in furious hoping that Kim would let go.

Instead of letting go he focused some energy to his right hand and punched through the thick scale of hydra. He continued to punch again and again creating one hole after another at the snake body. Unable to bear the pain as blood started to pour out of its body, it finally stopped.

"Damn snake! Stop moving! Its cold down there with the wind blowing!"

All this time one being was watching the whole scene without believing what he is seeing.

"This kid is fighting King Hydra wearing his birthday suit!"