Chapter 132. The Hydras Break Out
The man had only one thought in his mind: he had to lift the seal and release the magic serpent clan as quickly as possible.
If that happened, his father’s position as Marquis would be completely secure, and he himself would rise right along with it.
He clenched the magic item hidden in his sleeve, his pace growing faster and faster until he was almost running through the camp.
At the mine entrance, Keli and Irene were working together to reinforce the seal. Pale golden magic light flowed across the mouth of the cave, struggling against the dark aura faintly seeping up from underground.
They were so focused on pouring their magic into it that they failed to notice a young nobleman in a soldier’s uniform quietly slipping through the gaps in the patrols and approaching the mine.
A vicious glint flashed through the noble youth’s eyes. Seizing the instant their attention wavered, he rushed to the edge of the mine, pulled a black magic item from his robes, and slamd it viciously against the sealing barrier.
“Stop!”
Keli’s furious shout exploded like thunder.
The noble youth’s entire body stiffened, and he did not even have ti to react.
Keli had already appeared in front of him like a ghost. The magic gathered in her palm carried enough force to split mountains and crack stone as she struck him across the crown of the head.
The youth did not even manage a groan before his body went limp and collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless.
And then the situation changed in an instant.
From three other directions in the camp, several figures burst out at the sa ti. All of them were death-sworn warriors wearing disguises.
“You’re courting death.”
Irene shouted in fury. Blazing flas erupted around her in an instant, and a wide-area fire spell swept outward like a prairie fire.
Those death-sworn warriors mixed in among the soldiers, along with the soldiers dragged into the chaos, were devoured by the flas before they could even scream. In the blink of an eye, the camp turned into a sea of fire.
But they were still one step too late.
At the very mont the flas rose, an earth-shaking explosion erupted from deep within the mine. The ground shook violently, as though so colossal beast were about to burst out from below.
Imdiately afterward, countless roars filled with savagery and fury rose from underground. They were the roars of awakening Hydras, and the murderous aura they carried was enough to freeze the blood as it spread in all directions.
Keli stared at the violently trembling mine entrance, her face deathly pale. Cracks like a spiderweb had already spread across the sealing barrier.
She knew the thing she had feared most had finally happened.
“Irene, quickly, tell everyone to retreat!”
Keli roared as she tried to repair the seal with the last of her magic.
“They’re coming out!”
The roars from below drew nearer and nearer. The cracks in the earth widened without end, and scorching air gushed upward from them.
As Irene looked at the air warping and twisting ahead of her, despair appeared in her eyes for the first ti. This was not a matter of a few Hydras. This was an entire awakened clan, a disaster capable of swallowing an entire kingdom.
Deep within the mine, the first head covered in dark purple scales smashed through the rock wall. Its crimson vertical pupil locked onto the living beings on the surface, and its abyss-like ferocity instantly engulfed the entire camp.
In the allied army’s main command tent outside the fortress, Prince Miller stood atop a watchtower, staring toward Magic Serpent Fortress as enormous Hydra heads continued to rise in the distance.
Those heads, covered in dark purple scales, reflected a cold gleam beneath the setting sun. Suddenly, he burst into wild laughter.
“It worked! It finally worked!”
He spun around sharply and barked at the ssenger behind him.
“Pass down my order. Prepare the whole army. As soon as the Hydras break through the fortress, flank them from the sides at once and wipe out the remnants of Kroll’s forces in one stroke!”
Yet Reinhardt Prince beside him kept staring in the direction of Magic Serpent Fortress, his face turning paler and paler.
As he looked at the serpent heads continuously pouring out, several of the figures with fleshy wings growing from their backs gave off a pressure so overwhelming that even he, a Legendary powerhouse, felt his soul tremble.
“Didn’t you say... there were only Legendary-level Hydras inside?”
Reinhardt Prince's voice shook as he turned abruptly to look at Prince Miller, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror.
The smile on Prince Miller’s face froze, but then he smugly lifted his chin.
“That’s right. The people we sent in reported that at most there were only a few Sky-level ones. The rest were all Legendary. Why?”
“Why?”
Reinhardt Prince suddenly flew into a rage and slapped Prince Miller hard across the face. The sharp crack startled even the guards outside the tent.
“You idiot! That’s Domain-level aura. There are at least five Domain-level Hydras. Silver Oakleaf has caused a catastrophe.”
He pointed at those especially massive serpent shadows in the distance, their auras as heavy and deep as an abyss, and even his voice was trembling.
“Those are Domain-level Hydras. Forget the Kroll Kingdom—even our nations will be dragged into this.”
Prince Miller was stunned by the slap. Covering his face, he stared at those serpent heads, and only then did he belatedly feel that suffocating pressure. Cold sweat instantly soaked through his back.
“n! Quickly, n!”
Reinhardt Prince roared toward the outside of the tent, his voice warped by fear.
“The whole army is to retreat imdiately. Leave all supplies and tents behind. Quickly! Withdraw at once!”
The guards had never seen the Prince so shaken, and they imdiately sprinted off to deliver the order.
The allied camp instantly fell into chaos. Soldiers threw down their weapons and luggage and fled madly toward the rear. The neighing of warhorses and the clash of weapons mixed together, turning the entire scene into utter disorder.
Prince Miller collapsed to the ground and stared at the ever-increasing number of serpent heads in the distance. Only now did he truly understand just how enormous a disaster he had caused.
Those awakened Hydras were not sothing they could control at all. Even Silver Oakleaf’s Ancestor was only at the Domain level.
Outside the fortress, Irene carried the unconscious Keli and ran with all her strength toward Komoro Fortress.
In order to delay the Hydras from bursting out, Keli had exhausted all her magic trying to forcibly repair the seal. In the end, the backlash had knocked her unconscious, and her little face was now as pale as paper.
Irene did not dare look back. The roars and screams coming from behind clung to her like parasites gnawing at the bone.
Every sound tore at her nerves. As she ran, she sent a magical ssage to Kroll II, reporting word for word that the seal at Magic Serpent Fortress had shattered and that Domain-level Hydras had appeared.
Inside the fortress, it had already beco a living hell.
The Royal Legion soldiers who had not managed to evacuate in ti beca the first and most imdiate prey of the awakened Hydras.
Dark purple serpent shadows darted through the streets and alleys. Each ti those enormous jaws opened and closed, the screams were cut off abruptly. Dark red blood quickly soaked the ground, and a heavy, sickly-sweet stench filled the air.
The middle-aged nobleman who had been ordered to detonate the seal was frantically sprinkling Serpent Breath Potion over himself and the mbers of the Knight Order at his side.
According to Prince Miller’s promise, this potion would make the Hydras treat them as their own kind.
But when the last drop of potion fell to the ground, every Hydra in the fortress suddenly stopped feeding. Hundreds of scarlet vertical pupils turned toward him in perfect unison, filled with naked greed and desire.
“How could this...”
The nobleman’s expression changed drastically. As he watched those rapidly approaching serpent shadows, a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
Only then did he understand that he had been deceived. This so-called Serpent Breath Potion was not a protective charm at all. It was very likely bait ant to lure the Hydras.
“Silver Oakleaf, you pack of liars! I won’t let you off even as a ghost!”
He cursed at the top of his lungs, his voice full of despair.
But the only answer he received was a foul-slling giant maw.
Accompanied by the crisp sound of shattering bones, the man and his Knight Order were instantly swallowed up by the mass of serpents. Even their screams did not last for long.
After devouring this batch of prey that had delivered itself right to their door, the Hydras seed to cast off all restraint. Their enormous bodies smashed through the fortress walls and spread out across the wilderness beyond.
Their targets were no longer limited to the fortress, but any place where the breath of life could be found.
They had slept for too long.
They were starving.
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