The how is not as crucial as it the now. Darren has located the core. Listen attentively to what I’m about to say, for it determines our survival.

Octus’s words revibrated in my mind but he didn’t give me time to voice my concern.

Darren has managed to locate the core. But the issue is the core is divided into four different and distinguished parts, each of the heads having one. As a result, regardless of how many times we slice off the heads individually, it would do jack shit to the beast. Perhaps it might run out of strength at one point but it would be decades after we are done. That means the only way for us to defeat it is by cutting off all four heads simultaneously.

I continued looking at Octus while he talked inside my head. Although his words took me by surprise, I knew it wasn’t the time to ask him about this now. As long as survived I’d have enough opportunities to figure things out.

I understand. But did you tell Sirius about this? I asked.

No.

Why?

I assumed it would take longer for me to explain things to you. But you accepted things faster than I’d initially presumed.

You have a lot to explain Octus, I thought back.

His words confirmed that others also knew about this ‘telepathy’ power of his. That meant this was probably not the thing Basak was talking about…

A burst of energy from inside the cage that Hydra has put up around Sirius brought me out of my reverie. With a sharp swing of his spear, Sirius shattered the wall and walked outside. He turned to Octus for a moment, his face expressionless. Then, he looked at me and gave a nod.

Confused, I looked at Octus with a questioning gaze.

Sirius will take the front and three of us will kill the hydra as fast as possible. None of us has much strength left to drag the fight. As such we have to aim for a swift victory. And Darren won’t be any help in a head-to-head combat. So he will maintain distance.

As if Octus's explanation served as the cue, Sirius surged forward with his spear. His speed intensified with each passing second, and soon he was locked in combat with the hydra. This time the beast unleashed a relentless barrage of ice projectiles at Sirius, simultaneously attempting to strike him with its razor-sharp fangs.

Octus and I also began to move.

The massive heads of the hydra turned towards us, dozens of black eyes glaring menacingly in our direction

I held its gaze as the ambient bondor quaked, the hydra and my presence crashing against each other like tidal waves.

Without breaking my gaze, I skybursted instantly, finding myself in the air before the beast. Grinning, I raised my arm, infusing bondor into my arm and then into the sword. My arm bulged with strength, and my grip tightened. However, before I could bring down my sword of death upon the beast, my eyes caught the movement of bondor before me, spreading evenly into a thin and hard invisible wall.

I snapped my soul vision close and saw ice manifesting before me. Not wanting to miss such an opportunity, I pushed my intent out.

A feeling of authority overlapped my mind, and I commanded, “Disappear.”

Just as my words left my mouth, I witnessed the wall shattering into minute pieces before me. Propelled by gravity and momentum, I swung my blade with as much strength as I could muster, and the blade passed through the thick skin with ease. Landing on my feet, I sensed something fast approaching me and instinctively I raised my arms to guard against the incoming blow.

It felt like something soft embraced me around the torso, and then the impact of the attack hit as I felt my body flung back. Despite the force, I managed to keep my feet grounded as the soil scraped the sole of my boot.

Boy, that stung!

It surprised me. The fact I wasn’t injured. A little inspection of my body told me, except for a little pain there were no broken bones whatsoever. I suppose awakening also strengthened my body way more than I’d previously expected. However, it couldn’t stop a blade from slicing me into pieces.

I was about to leap into action once more but I noticed something odd. The soil was softer and slippery. It wasn’t as dry as I remembered it to be. Almost as if something had tweaked it.

I snapped my head toward where Octus was. He was running forward and the soil before him was slippery as well. Before I could say anything, his balance wobbled and he lost his center of balance, barely catching himself from falling.

The hydra snarled as small dots appeared in the air around Octus. They slowly surrounded Octus from all directions leaving no room for breaking out.

Unlike the white ice projectiles from before, these small needles were transparent. A massive wind blew, forcing me to close my eyes. When I opened them again, I found Octus injured, one of his knees bent. He maintained his balance with his blade, and his bare back was bloodied as the red liquid trickled down. It wasn’t difficult to tell that he was only able to defend his front with his flame.

I didn’t remember to use my soul vision so when I did, I noticed a fluctuation of bondor as something shot up from the ground, impaling a head. It was black.

Octus forced himself up to his feet and took a stance. It was different from all the stances I’d seen him use before. He bent his right knee forward while the left remained to balance his weight. Sheathing his sword into the halberd on his waist, he released a soft breath.

I will cut off **the head that’s engaging against Sirius. The rest is on you, zareth.

I heard Octus’s voice in my head.

What?!

I turned my head to where Sirius was. He was still fighting against the hydra although he was being severely pushed back, barely defending himself. But then again, he was the most injured among us all and I could easily tell he was out of energy.

Octus although better than Sirius, wasn’t in the best condition possible. He had his back turned on me but I could practically feel his panting—the quick rise and fall of his chest.

Then there was me. A freshly awakened Mystery Weaver if I were to take Darren’s word on the name. To be honest, I found the name to be quite interesting and even fascinating in some aspects. Although I still didn’t have a full grasp on all my powers, the name seemed to suit me pretty well.

Even so, finishing off the hydra was no easy task.

When I turned to look at the beast again, I found something different. Although there was no blood, the hydra was still missing the head that I sliced off. I’d first thought regenerating its flesh was slower but that wasn’t the case. Perhaps the hydra was out of energy? Or just conserving it?

Regardless of the reason, it was a golden opportunity.

Octus bent his knees, and the next moment, he was no longer there. His entire body vanished, and I felt like time had truly slowed down. Nothing happened for some time. Then, I saw a blur behind the hydra as Octus appeared there. His sword wasn’t in his hand but beside him. He first fell to his knees and then onto his front.

It happened fast, faster than I’d ever seen Octus move.

The head, which was about to attack Sirius, stopped mid-air and then fell to the ground with a thud.

One remains…

I looked down at my hand and noticed it tremble. It wasn’t because I was afraid but my lack of strength. Oddly enough, there was no longer any fear gripping my heart. All I could tell was that we were going to make it out alive. And I was going to kill the hydra.

Taking a deep breath, I settled into a determined stance.

In my mind, I calculated the distance between the hydra and me. It was a little farther than what my usual skyburst could cover. But it was now or never. I would just have to push myself further.

“Skyburst,” I said deeply and the world shifted.

When the color returned, I felt my body weightless in the air, looking down at the beast. It was staring at me with all its eyes. There was no fear in them. Maybe a monster did not have any fear, to begin with, or it just didn’t understand its position.

I pushed my bondor-enhanced sword down as I sliced through the creature in half, blood spilling everywhere.

Blood continued gushing out like a fountain but I kept my head down as vertigo struck me like a truck. My stomach churned and I felt I was about to pass out any time.

I guess fighting after awakening was not the best idea. Not that I’d any other choice.

Truth be told, I didn’t move for another reason. It was a thought that my attack might have failed or the hydra wasn’t dead yet. And it was going to attack me soon. But that attack never came.

Instead, I felt a warm arm wrap around my shoulder.

I turned to meet Sirius's unmoving gaze. Although there wasn’t any change in his eyes, I could see a small smile tugging on his lips.

“The hydra is dead,” He claimed in a soft voice.