The hydra roared, thrashing its head upward, carrying Lucivar into the water. Undeterred, he tightened his grip, holding onto the massive skull as it plunged beneath the lake.
The other head, the one that had been attacking Volric, suddenly pulled back then dove straight into the lake as well.
The water trembled violently.
Now Lucivar was surrounded beneath the surface… with two hydra heads.
"You bastard… I will make you pay for what you did," the hydra hissed inside Lucivar's mind.
"I will make you pay."
Lucivar smiled despite being dragged deeper.
"Ha… ha…"
"Well then, make me pay after I rip your head off."
His crimson eyes sharpened.
"Didn't you say a little devil like me couldn't do anything to you?" Lucivar mocked.
"A little devil like me… can't do anything?"
"You!"
But then
The water around him suddenly shifted.
Something sharp formed beneath the surface.
A deadly ridge of crystal-like scales rose upward like blades, slicing through the current aiming straight for Lucivar's neck.
His eyes widened.
Shit!
He released the hydra instantly and twisted his body in the water.
The sharp scales barely missed him.
Blood streaked from his hand as the edge grazed him.
"So close…" he thought.
Lucivar swam upward, breathing heavily.
"I'm the one at the disadvantage… I don't even have a sword."
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" the hydra sneered inside his head.
"You will die here, ugly serpent!"
Lucivar forced himself upward
But then the main head appeared.
Its mouth opened wide.
It rushed toward him, ready to swallow him whole.
Lucivar's eyes narrowed.
In the split second it was about to devour him, he shifted sideways
WHOOSH!
The massive head passed, narrowly missing.
Lucivar stared at its scales in frustration.
"Damn it… I can't touch this scale."
"The main head's armor is too thick. If I strike it wrong… it'll tear me apart instantly."
But before he could think further
Another hydra head came from behind.
It slammed into him, clamping down on his arm.
CRUNCH!
Pain exploded through his body.
Blood poured into the water.
Lucivar gritted his teeth.
One of the teeth of the hydra broke… and he grabbed it.
He plunged it into the hydra's eye.
SHKRRRKK!!
The hydra screamed violently.
Lucivar drove his hand deeper, ripping the eye out. Black blood flooded the water.
The hydra released him in agony.
Lucivar didn't stop. He shoved his hand into the empty socket, smashing through the skull from the inside.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
He forced his arm deeper into its head, tearing flesh and bone.
Then
He felt it.
A pulse.
A glowing core buried behind the eye.
Lucivar smiled.
"There you are."
He clenched his fist
And crushed it.
BOOOOM!!
The hydra's core shattered from inside its own skull.
The head went limp instantly. Dead.
But the main head let out a furious roar.
The entire lake began spinning violently.
A whirlpool formed.
Lucivar was thrown around by the current.
He tried to swim upward
But his right hand was shaking uncontrollably. Venom. His arm was paralyzed.
"…Damn."
He forced himself upward using only one arm.
Then
The shadow of the main head rose beneath him.
Lucivar's eyes widened.
It surged upward like a monster from hell
And grabbed him.
Lucivar burst out of the water
Only to be thrown into the air.
The hydra opened its mouth wide.
Its head alone was massive, three times the size of an adult human.
Its body was even more terrifying.
Lucivar's body fell.
Straight toward its mouth.
"No!" Lucivar shouted.
Above the lake
Everyone screamed.
"LUCIVAR!!"
Vorian raised his swords.
"NO!!"
Volric's eyes widened.
"What the hell?!"
Jorah, still injured, struggled to move.
"…Is he dead already?"
The hydra's mouth swallowed him.
Lucivar disappeared inside.
Merilda suddenly stood up.
"I'm done healing Jorah!" she shouted.
"He'll survive… but we need to leave this floor immediately or he won't recover fully!"
Volric nodded grimly.
"That's good."
But then
The main hydra head lifted its gaze slowly toward them.
Its eyes were filled with rage.
Its voice echoed inside their minds.
"Now… who do I kill first?"
And then
It launched forward.
Vorian stepped in instantly and raised both swords.