WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom
Chapter 236 - 236: Fighting The Hydra

They leapt in opposite directions just in time. The fire scorched the arena stone, leaving a bubbling trench of molten glass.

Craze landed hard, coughing, smoke stinging his lungs. "It evolved?!"

The Ashborn slammed his heel into the ground to stay upright, his molten fists raised.

The hydra moved. All six heads snapped forward like serpents, jaws wide, teeth flashing.

One went for Craze's torso, he rolled beneath it, barely dodging the crushing bite. Another slammed down at the Ashborn, only for his fist to meet it mid-air.

BANG!

The head recoiled, scales cracked, but two more come past in its place.

Craze kicked off the wall, grabbed his axe mid-spin, and cleaved into the nearest head. Blood sprayed. The hydra hissed in fury, but this time, the wound didn't linger. A new head grew in second.

The Ashborn's molten arms blurred. He struck a head clean across the jaw with a backhand, spun, then drove a fiery knee into its throat, burning scales to slag. But before he could press the advantage, the fire-breathing head reared again.

FWOOOOOSH!

A pillar of fire erupted across the arena, searing through stone and steel. Craze leapt high, landing on the beast's back. He stabbed his axe down, trying to anchor himself as the hydra thrashed.

"Hold it still!" he roared.

"Working on it!" the Ashborn snapped, grabbing one head by the jaw and ripping it sideways, the bones cracking like splintered wood.

The head twisted violently, its fangs sinking into another of its own necks. For a second, the hydra tangled itself.

Craze took the opening. With both hands, he drove his axe into the spine below the sixth head.

CRACK!

The fire-breathing head screamed, the sound like a furnace exploding. It blasted fire in all directions, even as its throat burned from within.

But then, the other five heads screamed back. Mana surged in pulses. The beast's body bulked up. The scales shimmered between red and violet.

Ben's eyes narrowed. "It's entering a second phase…?"

Elvira replied. "No. It's drawing from mana from the atmosphere!"

Back below, the hydra reared on its hind legs, towering, and all six heads roared.

"ROARRR!!!"

A tail sweep caught Craze full-force, sending him skidding across the stone. He bounced, tumbled, and finally rolled to a stop, coughing blood.

The Ashborn, too, was smashed into a wall. The impact cracked the barrier behind him. He dragged himself out of the rubble, half his face burned, and growled.

"…We end this now," he snarled.

Craze, still breathing hard, stood with one hand bracing his ribs. "Then what are you waiting for?"

The two warriors locked eyes. No more hesitation. Together, they charged.

Craze flanked left, his axe spinning. The Ashborn flanked right, both fists glowing bright as suns. The hydra struck with all six heads, biting, burning, crushing.

But this time, they didn't dodge. They dove in.

Craze vaulted off a snapped fang and drove his axe straight through one eye. He didn't stop, he leapt to the next, embedding the blade between the snout and cheek, severing nerves.

The Ashborn, glowing now with pure internal flame, grabbed a neck and ignited, his entire body became a bomb of molten force, detonating across the central spine.

The hydra buckled. Roared.It tried to retaliate, flames, bites, tail, but the two of them moved like demons.

Craze hacked through muscle and bone. The Ashborn tore open its gut with a heated punch, then ripped one heart from the writhing mess inside.

And finally, Together, they stood at either end of the beast's body.

"Now!" Craze bellowed. With a joint charge, they struck.

CRACK!

The axe from above. The flaming fist from below. The hydra's chest caved in.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The entire body erupted in a burst of flame and blood.

Smoke billowed. Chunks of flesh splattered across the arena walls.

The stench of burnt flesh and scorched bone filled the air. For a moment, just a heartbeat, it looked like the battle was over.

Then. A low rumble echoed from the hydra's remains. The meat twitched. The bones reassembled. The blackened heart reformed with a disgusting wet pulse.

"MOVE!" the Ashborn shouted, but too late.

SHHHHHRRRRRAAAAHHH!!!

A seventh head burst from the smoking remains, larger, crowned with sharp bone spikes, its mouth opening unnaturally wide. Craze turned just in time to see it

BAM!!!

The massive head slammed into him, sending Craze flying. He smashed into the arena wall with a bone-snapping crunch.

"COUGH!!!" Craze coughed blood, his vision flashing white. His limbs refused to move. His axe tumbled from his grip, clattering far from reach.

The hydra's body regenerated completely, muscles surging, scales reforging into sharper plates. All seven heads roared together, the sound splitting the very air.

The Ashborn gritted his teeth, fire rising around him like a storm. "You want more, freak? Then BURN WITH ME!"

He charged in a blaze of molten fury, striking the beast's flank with a rolling uppercut that vaporized flesh, but it healed just as fast.

Two heads come at him, he ducked one, grabbed the second by the teeth, and twisted until bone cracked. He turned it into a whip and slammed it into another head.

Still not enough. One of the heads spewed black flame, corrosive fire. The Ashborn raised his molten arm to block, but it hissed and sizzled against his skin.

Across the arena, Craze forced himself up. His bones screamed, but he didn't stop. He stumbled forward, blood trickling from his mouth.

'Dammit!!!'

IF he know this is what he will face, he will just bailed and escaped. Not even velmora worth facing this monster.

The hydra saw him, three heads turned.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

It stomped toward him, jaws gnashing. One head moved. Craze caught it.

With broken arms, trembling legs, and sheer stubborn rage, he held it off, roaring in its face.

"YOU WANT A FIGHT, TAKE ME THEN!!"

With burst of strength, he headbutted the beast. The impact stunned the hydra for half a second, just enough.

The Ashborn seized the moment. His body exploded into molten energy, he leapt, forming a spiral of fire in the air, and dived straight down.

BOOM!!!

He collided with the hydra's spine, blowing off two heads in a burst of flame. Craze reached out, his axe flying back into his hand with a magnetic pull.

The ground hissed with smoke and gore. The hydra, now down to five heads, snarled as charred stumps throbbed and writhed, already regrowing.

Its seven-headed regeneration had slowed, but not stopped.

Craze tightened his grip on the axe, one eye swollen shut, his body trembling with exhaustion. The Ashborn beside him didn't speak, flames leaking from the cracks in his charred skin.

Across the arena, on the viewing platform, the hunched hooded man let out a dry chuckle.

"Kekeke… your warriors aren't that impressive after all."

The Nephirid prince's eyes narrowed, jaw clenched. His smile was thin, strained.

Inside, he cursed. 'Scammer.'

'They're the ones who limited the strength of the warriors we were allowed to field. And now they throw this abomination at us like it's fair?'

The prince's hands curled into fists beneath his robe. 'I should've known better than to trust their kind…'

Back in the pit, the hydra's new seventh head burst free, this one slimmer, crowned with crimson frills that glowed. Its throat bulged,

FWOOOOSH!

A torrent of fire roared toward the two warriors.

"MOVE!" the Ashborn shouted.

Craze dove sideways, rolling as the firestorm scorched the sand into glass. The Ashborn dashed through the flames, his body absorbing the heat, his molten fists cracking with power as he sprinted low,

He slammed into one of the hydra's legs, shattering the joint. The beast stumbled.

Craze jumped back in, leaping high, axe spinning,

SHHHHHRACK!

Another head fell. But the hydra twisted in rage, tail lashing,

BAM!

Craze was thrown like a missile into the coliseum wall, the stone cracking behind him. Blood sprayed from his mouth.

The Ashborn caught a head between his arms, screaming as it tried to crush him. His flames surged, setting the entire neck ablaze,

But the hydra bit down with another head, clamping onto his side. Bone cracked.

"RAAARGHH, !"

He reached out with his free hand, conjuring a burst of internal fire. BOOM! The biting head exploded in a geyser of gore.

Both men were barely standing now. Burned. Bleeding. Battered.

The hydra reared back, its remaining five heads rising high, elemental auras flaring, one head dripping acid, another crackling with black lightning.

Craze limped toward the center of the arena, dragging his axe. The Ashborn forced himself up beside him.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Craze muttered.

The Ashborn coughed blood. "Probably. But yours is probably dumber."

Craze grinned through broken teeth. "Then it'll work."

Together, they surged forward again, madmen in a storm of claws and fire. And above, the hooded man watched with gleaming eyes.

"Kekeke… maybe they'll die in the next minute. Or maybe… just maybe…"

He leaned forward slightly, grin widening.

"…this will be fun after all."

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