Chapter 74 - The Nine-Headed Monster Meets an Ancient Relic

The melted walls gave off the same smell they had encountered in the cave, suggesting that the hydra had attacked this place. Shan ordered the rest of the hunting party to wait, then took an antidote along with several knights and explored the city.

The small city, which must once have housed anywhere from several hundred to a thousand people, was so silent that not even insects could be heard.

"No survivors after all, then."

"Whew..."

What appeared to be the residents lay heaped in the town square, all their flesh dissolved away, leaving only white bones. The hydra had probably used its nine heads to dissolve the people who had collapsed unconscious, sucking up their flesh one by one before regurgitating their bones here.

They had known they were pursuing a monster more than capable of annihilating a city. But knowing that in their heads and seeing it with their own eyes were worlds apart.

When Shan and the knights left the city and told those waiting outside what they had found, they too recoiled in horror.

"Why would it come all the way here and destroy a city?"

"Indeed. According to our theory, it should be wandering around the swamps."

The knights grimaced, feeling that the pursuit of the hydra might take longer than expected. Everyone in the hunting party agreed that they wanted to spend as little time as possible in this unpleasant swamp.

Then a soldier watching the perimeter called out in a low voice.

"Something's coming!"

Having already encountered the local monsters several times while wandering through the swamp, the soldiers readied themselves with practiced ease. For some reason, however, the approaching creatures, which appeared to walk on two legs, stopped short rather than coming straight toward them, displaying the same wariness.

A moment later, someone on the other side waved, revealing who they were.

"They're people!"

"And here I thought..."

The figures slowly approaching through the fog were warriors dressed in clothing that looked suited to traveling through the swamps. There were roughly thirty of them.

A young man who seemed to be their leader called out in a low but clear voice.

"These lands are governed by Viscount Treva, lord of the wetlands! Who are you, and why have you invaded with an armed force without permission?"

"We are an army serving Princess Sherin, Duchess of Rainel and daughter of the King of Pendia. We came after receiving word that an enormous hydra had appeared in this area."

Shan stepped forward, reciting the greeting prepared in advance. Although it was broad daylight, the fog dimmed their surroundings enough for his eyes to glow faintly.

"Those glowing eyes..."

"Shan Barendil of the green eyes?"

"He's the Witch Princess's knight!"

Shan glanced at the man who had called her the Witch Princess. The man flinched and retreated several steps.

Turning his gaze to their apparent leader, Shan asked, "This is fortunate. I needed to consult Viscount Treva, the lord of these lands, in any case. Are you in his service?"

"I am Viscount Treva."

Surprisingly, it was the young man who had called out earlier who answered. Perhaps in his late teens or early twenties, he looked about Roden's age—quite young for a titled noble.

Noticing Shan's doubtful gaze, the young man explained, "The previous viscount passed away fighting monsters not long ago. As his eldest son, I inherited the title."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Viscount. I am Shan Barendil, Lord Guardian to the Duchess of Rainel."

"Lord Guardian..."

Viscount Treva looked somewhat surprised by Shan's rank, then bowed politely and introduced himself again. A mere chief knight would have been one thing, but a Lord Guardian had to be treated almost as a titled noble.

"You have attained an illustrious office without my knowing. I am Niron Kiyes, Viscount Treva."

"My condolences on the passing of your father."

"With condolences from so renowned a knight, his journey to the Goddess will be a little less lonely. Thank you."

* * *

After exchanging greetings, the two groups made a temporary resting place in a clearing where the ground was reasonably dry. Once they were seated opposite each other, Shan asked the first question.

"Have you seen the hydra that attacked this place yourself?"

"No. My father... the previous viscount heard that a hydra had appeared near the western fortress and went with his knights to slay it. He never returned. Some soldiers survived, at least, so we were able to hear of his death."

Apparently, they called the small city Shan had just seen the western fortress.

The viscount repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists, perhaps trying to swallow his grief at losing his father, then abruptly asked a question.

"But how did news of the hydra's appearance reach Pales so quickly? It only rampaged through here a few weeks ago."

For such news to reach Pales, it would have to travel south along the Blade Mountains to the west, circle around the north of the Shedil region, and then head north again.

It was a reasonable question, and Shan promptly explained.

"There is a cave in the Blade Mountains connecting Pales to these wetlands. The creature lived there for a long time before emerging. We followed its trail here."

"I see..."

Sherin had told Shan beforehand to say no more than this if they encountered the people of the wetlands, allowing him to give a relatively smooth account. After all, the idea that Pales's alchemical waste had drawn the hydra out remained only a likely hypothesis.

Even that much was enough to infer some of what had happened, however. One of the viscount's knights muttered resentfully, "So you failed to kill the hydra near your own domain and drove it here, leaving our lands devastated."

Before the knights from Pales could even show their displeasure, the viscount turned and thundered at him.

"Watch your tongue, sir! Whatever the reason, it is a lord's duty to slay monsters that enter his domain. Have you no shame, whining because someone else failed to do it for us?"

"But, young master, if what he says is true..."

"As I have told you before, I am not your young master!"

"My apologies, my lord."

The knight who had made the sarcastic remark bowed and stepped back. Though newly installed, the young viscount apparently possessed a measure of authority as the previous viscount's eldest son.

"Forgive us. Many here have lost family and loved ones, making it difficult to judge matters rationally. I ask for your understanding."

"I understand."

Since the viscount had already rebuked the man, it would have been strange for Shan to add anything further. He simply nodded. It occurred to him that perhaps the viscount had lost his temper first for precisely that reason.

"So you have come to slay the hydra?"

"Yes."

"I don't know the details, but I heard you were in the middle of a war."

"That is precisely why we intend to finish the hunt and return as quickly as possible. Might we ask for your cooperation?"

"What would you need us to do?"

"We have made ample preparations otherwise. We would only like to ask for guides. Traveling through the swamps has proved harder than expected."

In a monster hunt, one's share of the spoils generally depended on one's contribution. Asking for little assistance meant that the reward would likewise be small.

"We lacked the courage to face the hydra and came only to recover the remains of its victims. We ought to help at least that much. Please allow us to lend our strength."

Viscount Treva agreed without hesitation. Unless Pales hunted down the hydra for them, they were utterly helpless. The previous viscount and many of the domain's accomplished knights were already dead. The knights accompanying him now were either far too old or fledglings only recently knighted.

In short, if these people abandoned the hunt and withdrew, the viscount would have to beg them to stay.

"We appreciate your help."

With those words, Shan clasped the viscount's hand. Humanity joining forces against a powerful enemy was a common occurrence in this harsh land.

* * *

After pledging their cooperation, Viscount Treva's men first searched the ruined fortress for the bodies of the former viscount and his knights. Having brought ample antidotes, Shan personally gave them several doses.

But after searching the fortress for a long while, they withdrew, admitting that there was no way to tell the bodies apart. Even the armor they had worn had dissolved completely. With nothing left but bones, identifying anyone was impossible.

"To think we cannot recover our former lord's remains..."

"How are we to hold his funeral now?"

The late Viscount Treva must have been well loved, for some of the older knights even had tears in their eyes. The young viscount, who had seemed quite resolute, repeatedly wiped his own eyes, evidently finding the situation difficult to bear.

After spending a little time mourning the dead, they set off along the trail of the hydra that had destroyed the city.

Here, the viscount's soldiers proved useful.

"Here, weave these vines around some branches, bend them into shape, and tie them to your shoes."

"Oh..."

Using only vines and branches growing nearby, they easily fashioned aids that kept their feet from sinking into the mire. Once Shan and everyone else from Pales put them on, their pace increased noticeably.

Moreover, an unusually large number of the viscount's companions were priests. Fully fifteen of the thirty were priests, allowing them to request blessings of vitality for the soldiers and priests with relatively poor stamina.

From what they heard, these wetlands were known for producing more priests than other regions.

"There are many dangerous things here that carry poison, monsters included. Without the help of priests, it is hard to live a long life."

"I see..."

As it happened, skilled priests were among the people Pales particularly lacked. The land was so peaceful that there had never been much demand for them.

While Shan was wondering whether there might be some way to make use of this, the scout at the front spoke.

"Found it. I can hear footsteps ahead!"

"Quiet, everyone."

At Shan's command, everyone who had been chatting fell silent at once. They continued steadily onward, and before long, just as the scout had said, slow, thudding footsteps reached their ears.

"Everyone, take your antidotes. Priests, grant us protection against poison."

His order was followed by the sounds of people taking something from their pouches and swallowing it, accompanied by murmured prayers. Shan also ordered them to remove their makeshift marsh shoes. They might be convenient for walking, but they would likely hinder quick movements in battle.

With every precaution taken, they advanced. Before long, the hydra's enormous outline emerged through the fog.

"That beast...!"

At the sight of his father's killer, the viscount's face displayed a strange mixture of rage and terror.

The nine-headed serpent had blackish-brown scales and sharp teeth protruding from its jaws. As its footprints and the furrow left by its dragging body had suggested, it was more than twice the size of an ordinary hydra. It truly resembled a walking fortress.

Shan had once heard that elephants on the southern continent were as big as mountains, but this creature truly deserved that description. Neither the cockatrice nor even the ogre he had seen before could compare to its bulk.

One thing was peculiar, however: strange patterns were inscribed all over its body, glowing. Just like ancient Altoan relics.

"What is that...?"

Frowning, Shan asked the mage accompanying them, "Do hydras normally have patterns like those?"

"Certainly not. I have never heard of such a thing."

The mage seemed equally puzzled. Their eyes shone with curiosity, as though a scholar's characteristic thirst for knowledge had awakened, but this was no time to dwell on it. One of the nine heads tangled together had spotted them.

"All noncombatants, fall back!"

At Shan's command, the priests, the mage, and their soldier escorts immediately withdrew. Viscount Treva and his followers did likewise.

Only the knights and the squires who were to support them remained facing the hydra. Realizing that humans had pursued it, the ancient monster let out a roar in a strange voice.

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It was unlike the roar of an ordinary large monster: shrill and sharp, like scales scraping against each other. Yet it retained the characteristic effect of oppressing both mind and body, and the knights roused their spirit to withstand it.

'Hmm?'

At that moment, Shan frowned at an odd sensation. For some reason, A Thousand Forms, which he had shaped into a bracelet, had begun to vibrate faintly.

Unfortunately, the situation was too urgent to pay it any attention.

With its roar, the hydra charged at the knights, its four legs, thicker than logs, pounding the ground. Its movements looked lumbering at first glance, but its sheer size made it faster than a galloping horse.

"Dodge!"

Fortunately, the knights evaded the charge with considerable agility. Anyone unable to read a movement that was merely fast, straight, and lacking in maneuverability would never have been knighted.

But as they all knew, charging with its enormous body was far from the hydra's only weapon.

"Ugh!"

Each of its nine heads opened its jaws wide at the knights surrounding it. Purple venom poured out.

They might have gained resistance to poison, but that merely kept them from passing out after inhaling its vapor. Alarmed, the knights scrambled to keep the venom from splashing onto them.

While everyone else retreated, however, one person advanced.

'This way... '

With his senses heightened to their utmost, Shan could clearly see every individual droplet of purple venom splashing around him. Drawing on the strength in his legs, enhanced further by his armor, he slipped through the venom and closed within striking range.

The damp ground gave way underfoot, preventing him from moving as fast as he could on firm earth, but this was enough.

He thrust the Lance of Blazing Fire with all his strength. It pierced the scales, buried itself in the thick belly, and exploded with a bang.

"Wooo!"

"Sir Shan landed a hit!"

"Don't fall behind!"

Perhaps its sense of pain was dulled, as befitted a monster with powerful regeneration. Even with an explosion erupting inside its belly, the hydra attacked Shan rather than writhing in agony.

Three heads rushed him at once. Shan leaned backward, barely dodging one, then climbed onto it and leaped away from the other two. A nearby knight gasped at his positively monkeylike athleticism.

"My turn!"

Meanwhile, Ravana, who had been watching for an opening from the opposite side, rushed in and aimed at one of the hydra's immensely thick legs. Her axe blade, laden with spirit, struck the knee joint precisely and sank halfway through.

"Ugh—"

"Heave-ho!"

Ravana had expected to sever it with one blow. In the instant she faltered in surprise, Roden, beside her, swung his war flail with all his strength into the back of her axe.

Like kicking through a log after chopping halfway into it, the added force drove the axe deeper.

"Yes!"

Their delight was short-lived. A shadow fell over them, and Ravana's rabbit ears pricked up at the danger. She grabbed Roden, who was exhausted from expending too much spirit, and retreated with him in her arms.

"Look out!"

Fortunately, as another head spat venom at the pair, two nearby shield-bearing squires divided the work precisely between them and blocked it.

"Ugh...!"

"This stuff's damned potent!"

Knowing they faced a hydra, they had deliberately chosen shields enchanted against corrosion. Even so, the outer surfaces visibly oxidized with a sizzling sound.

Both had the same thought: an ordinary shield would probably have melted away, along with the arm behind it.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Shan, who had driven in his lance moments earlier, drew Guardian of the East as his second weapon and cut off one of the hydra's heads. As its equally poisonous blood sprayed upward, he leaned slightly aside to avoid it and shouted urgently behind him.

"Tavera! Fire!"

"Yes!"

At Shan's shout, Tavera, who had stayed back, quickly threw the torch he was holding. It spun through the air, and its handle landed squarely in Shan's grasp.

In the meantime, the severed head had begun to regrow at a truly unreal speed. Guardian of the East was a treasure preserved for generations by Count Shedil's house, but unfortunately, it had no ability to inhibit regeneration.

"Not happening."

But when Shan touched the torch to the top of the regenerating neck, it burst into flames. The sticky liquid coating the torch's tip smeared across the severed surface, keeping the fire burning as it cooked the flesh.

It was an alchemical liquid well suited for use against monsters of this kind, though not on par with the Old Faith's vaunted Purifying flame. Its eye-wateringly high price, however, meant it was seldom used against trolls.

'Still, something feels strange... '

Having successfully disabled one head, Shan stepped back, frowning at the peculiar sensation. The vibrations in A Thousand Forms, which had begun a short while ago, grew stronger the closer he came to the hydra, as though it were resonating with the creature.

The problem was that he had no idea what to do about it. If only Sherin were nearby, he could ask her after the hunt, but she was at Pales Castle, hundreds of kilometers away.

While he hung back briefly, lost in thought and conserving his depleted strength, the battle continued.

Two knights worked together with spear and sword to sever a head. Another knight took a blow from the tail, breaking his leg, and limped off the battlefield. A squire drenched in blood spraying from the severed head let out a terrible scream.

"Aaaaagh!"

"Stay still, Kandal! I'll put neutralizer on it!"

Another squire beside him shouted urgently, pulled the neutralizer from inside his clothes, and sprinkled it over the bloodstained areas. Foam rose from the dissolving wounds.

"Fall back and have the priests treat him!"

"Understood!"

Quickly answering their knight's command, the squire lifted his companion into his arms and left the battlefield.

Reminded that he was in the middle of a fierce battle, Shan clicked his tongue and glared at the hydra.

'All right. I'll try it just once.'

He could not begin to guess what the attempt would bring, but ignoring it left him uneasy. He had an ominous feeling that if he disregarded this reaction and let the hydra die, he would miss something...

Shan circled toward the hydra's flank, then leaped onto its body—more precisely, onto its rump, where the tail joined the torso.

"Huh...?"

"That's dangerous, Sir Shan!"

Even for Shan, it was far too dangerous a position, and several knights cried out in alarm.

It might have been different with an ordinary monster, but climbing onto a creature with nine heads—though several had now been severed—and a long, flexible tail was not a good choice. That was why the other knights had confined themselves to fending off the heads trying to bite them, then swiftly cutting them down.

Shan nevertheless accepted the risk to keep out of the others' sight. He trusted that his reflexes and agility would allow him to dodge every attack even up there.

As he conveyed his will, A Thousand Forms, which had been a bracelet on his left wrist, slipped out through the armor's wrist joint and transformed into a sword. Holding it in his left hand so no one would notice, Shan drove it straight into the scales shimmering with magical patterns.

Pure white light poured forth, engulfing Shan's sight and all his other senses.