Chương 264: Chapter 260 - Multi-faceted foes

The party sprang into action as the [Lava Hydra] loomed before them. One of its fiery heads lunged downward, flaming jaws agape, but Fynn was ready. He leaped into the air, his form wreathed in a swirling green tempest. Their clash sent a sweltering shockwave rippling through the chamber. Shin charged forward, his sword held high, its blade gleaming with an otherworldly light. Meanwhile, Allyssa's hands moved with practiced efficiency, retrieving a handful of vials from her bandolier.

The hydra's remaining heads reared back, strange guttural roars echoing off the chamber walls. Before them, tiny motes of flame coalesced, growing rapidly into pulsing orbs of fire. Rosa's music swelled just as six searing beams erupted from the hydra's maws. Shin brought his sword down in a smooth arc, unleashing a blast of argent light that collided with one of the beams. Allyssa's vials sailed through the air, exploding into shimmering curtains of ice that partially deflected two more.

Scarlett conjured three thick barriers of water, which met the remaining attacks head-on, bursting into billowing clouds of steam that momentarily obscured the battlefield.

"Rosa," Allyssa grumbled, reaching for more flasks as her crossbow now bounced securely holstered against her hip, "I'm blaming you for this." The bard's fingers danced across the keys of her klert, coaxing a blend of harmonising notes.

"When I asked for 'dramatic', I didn't mean this," she replied.

"I know the gods aren't my biggest fans, but surely they wouldn't go this far just to teach me a lesson."

"I don't know…" Allyssa's words trailed off as she hurled another vial into the air. The steam parted, dispersed by a strong gale, revealing Fynn clinging to one of the hydra's heads. Flames licked at his arms, but somehow his claws still found purchase on the creature's immaterial form. Allyssa's flask shattered beneath the beast, splintering into a rapidly expanding block of ice that Scarlett immediately set to converting into water.

Seemingly irritated by the pest on one of its heads, the [Lava Hydra] flung its neck upward. Fynn allowed the momentum to carry him, soaring dozens of meters into the air. As he plummeted back towards the boss again, three heads turned to meet him, jaws agape and brimming with flame. At the last moment, Fynn twisted in mid-air, moving and evading their attacks with impossible agility. His claws tore into one of the hydra's necks as he fell, leaving a trail of ghostly green in his wake.

The remaining heads swiveled towards Scarlett and the others. Two began charging fiery attacks again while the others lunged forward. Scarlett shaped her water around them in a protective barrier, blocking the first attacks. One of the lunging heads also aimed directly at her and Rosa, but the bard cranked her instrument and cast another charm. The air before them shimmered as a minor illusion took shape, concealing their forms as they hurried to dodge to safety.

A wave of near-blistering heat washed over them as the hydra's head slammed into the ground where they had stood moments before. Scarlett then gathered all the water at her command, shaping it into a colossal, shimmering blade. With a powerful downward sweep, she brought it crashing onto the hydra's exposed neck like a scythe. Steam shot forth as liquid met flame, and Scarlett could feel the creature's incorporeal body resist her magic. Gritting her teeth, she pushed through, cleaving the head clean off.

The wounded neck recoiled, a sound like burning brimstone filling the air. As the severed head began to lose cohesion, Scarlett seized control of the flames, funneling them towards the chamber's entrance where the Emberling stood, motionless. The fire was absorbed into its tiny form, just as it had done with the elementals before. It'd be a waste to simply let it disappear.

"Oh, you can't be serious," Allyssa's exasperated voice cut through the chaos as flames reignited along the hydra's injured neck, swiftly regenerating the lost head.

"As long as it remains in that fire lake, it will continue to regrow," Scarlett said, reforming the remaining water into a broad shield. It solidified just in time to block another blast of fire. Using her [Garments of Form], she then teleported away from another direct attack, her eyes constantly tracking her companions' positions throughout the chamber. Fynn, she knew, could handle himself. Battling foes many times his size was practically second nature to the youth by now.

He was much hardier than the rest of them, and combined with Rosa's healing, he was the least of her worries. Shin, while not quite as resilient or mobile, had his armor and Rosa's charms to rely on. He could probably manage to occupy one or two of the hydra's heads for a bit, buying them time. That technically left Scarlett to manage the rest of the heads, with Allyssa and Rosa's support. Their primary objective was to deal with the pool of fire sustaining the hydra.

She had already tried dispersing it with her pyrokinesis, but that hadn't worked, which meant they needed to try something more aggressive.

"Rosa," she called out to the bard, who stood a few meters away, furiously working her klert to maintain their protective and buffing charms while also not getting burnt to a crisp.

"I will be requiring your assistance." Rosa grimaced slightly.

"Ehm, alright. Give me a moment." She paused her music, and Scarlett felt the buffs fade. It was a necessary sacrifice, though, since maintaining them while doing this was impossible for the woman.

"Alrighty, ready when you are," Rosa announced, her grip tightening on her instrument. Scarlett nodded, deflecting another of the hydra's attacks before raising her hand. A thin blanket of deep crimson flames materialised above a portion of the fire lake where the [Lava Hydra] writhed. Soon, a fresh melody rose from Rosa's klert, rising above the din of the battle. As if responding to the music, Scarlett's flames began to shift and change.

Tiny, translucent echoes flickered into existence, trailing delicate shades of azure that danced in perfect time to Rosa's song. These ethereal echoes exploded in small bursts of light, resonating through the chamber and spreading through Scarlett's conjured fire before reaching the lake below. To Scarlett's surprise, the lake's fire showed unexpected resistance, as though it were an extension of the [Lava Hydra] itself.

While some areas succumbed to the blue echoes, which spread like gossamer threads across the fiery surface, the effect was less pronounced than she had anticipated. When the echoes reached the hydra proper, they simply flickered and died without causing any visible damage. Soon, a strained gasp from Rosa heralded the sudden extinguishment of all the blue flames. The bard stumbled, her face having turned a shade paler.

"I'm sorry, Red," Rosa managed between ragged breaths, her expression apologetic.

"That's all I've got." Scarlett's brow furrowed as she surveyed the fire lake. Maybe a third of it had been suppressed, but the results fell far short of what she'd hoped. Once more, she activated her [Garments of Form], vanishing in a swirl of mist just as another of the hydra's heads unleashed a torrent of flame where she had stood. Reappearing near Rosa and Allyssa, she conjured two more water barriers to deflect the boss' relentless assaults before glancing to the side.

[Mana: 5914/12302] She could still stomach a couple more mana potions if necessary, but even with a full mana reservoir, summoning enough water to completely extinguish the fire lake and deal with the boss seemed unlikely. Maybe if she had Arlene's [Eternal Flameweaver's Athame], she might have stood a chance of powering through the hydra's defences and dispersing all the fire, but alone, it was beyond her current capabilities.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. If it came to a battle of attrition, relying on the party to whittle down the boss while she focused on the lake might be possible, but she wasn't too keen on that approach. They needed something more potent, more immediate.

"Rosa," she called once more, stepping closer to help steady the wavering bard.

"I believe you will have to put your heart into it." The woman blinked, regarding Scarlett for a long moment.

"You sure that's okay here?"

"The fire goddess will hardly strike you down for it."

"…Alright, if you insist." Rosa's expression hardened, her grip on her klert tightening as she took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing…" The atmosphere around Rosa shifted dramatically. The whites of her eyes turned pitch black, and a soft glow penetrated through her blouse near her chest. She suddenly seemed filled with a renewed vigor as a strange energy suffused her form.

"Mind giving me a hand?" the woman asked, her voice now carrying an eerie, ringing quality.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Don't rightly know. Try something powerful. I'll figure it out from there." Scarlett shook her head at the vague instructions. One of the primary challenges with Rosa's Heartstone was that it wasn't quite as predictable as her charms.

"Watch out!" Allyssa's cry pierced the air. Scarlett reacted instinctively, pulling Rosa aside and summoning a protective sphere of water around them. Steam billowed as another of the [Lava Hydra]'s attacks struck the shield, enveloping their surroundings. Rosa's concentration wavered, the darkness in her eyes receding briefly, but she quickly regained her focus. Looking around them, she seemed to consider what remained of Scarlett's defensive barrier.

"Actually, can you create another one of these? But this time, aim for one of its heads." Scarlett studied her for a moment, then dispersed the surrounding steam with a wave of her hand. She turned her attention back to the hydra, noting how Fynn and Shin had managed to occupy six of its seven heads for the time being. Without Rosa's charms, however, they couldn't hold out for long. Especially not Fynn, who was pushing his limits as usual.

He darted between the heads' attacks with preternatural speed, but half his clothing had been reduced to smoldering tatters, exposing badly burned skin beneath that not even his high resistances were enough to prevent. Scarlett raised her hand once again, targeting the hydra head that had just attacked them. It was already preparing another blast of fire, its maw glowing with the building heat.

Gathering the remaining water in the chamber and conjuring even more with her hydrokinesis, Scarlett directed it towards the hydra. Erupting from all directions, the liquid coiled around its head like a watery vise. A significant portion vaporised as the creature unleashed its attack, but Scarlett simply replaced it. Beside her, Rosa began to play a new, haunting melody that seemed to reverberate with the very air around them.

Scarlett felt a strange force intertwine with her magic, as if a hungry void sought to seep into her power. She watched as the water under her control grew murky and thickened, transforming into a maelstrom of dark violet waves that engulfed the [Lava Hydra]'s head. Her mana also began draining at an alarming rate, but she held firm.

"Your turn, Red," Rosa said, her voice strained and brows knitted in concentration. Scarlett gave her a quick nod before focusing all her will on her magic. In an instant, the swirling, murky water contracted into a dense, violet-hued ball. It swallowed the hydra's head and part of its neck like a vacuum, leaving nothing but empty space where they had been. The hydra quailed in fury, its remaining heads spinning towards Scarlett. Most surprisingly, however, the lost head didn't regenerate as before.

Flames attempted to regrow the limb, but they lost cohesion almost immediately, the process significantly slowed. Scarlett turned to Rosa, who managed a bright, if tired, smile.

"I was thinking about naming that the 'Call of the Abyss'. What do you think?"

"…Impressive," Scarlett replied.

"But for now, you should focus on surviving the retaliation." As if on cue, three massive bursts of fire shot towards them. Scarlett summoned more water to intercept them, simultaneously reaching for a mana potion and downing it in one swift motion. The taste was bitter, with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

"Are you able to reproduce that feat for more than one head at once?" she asked, her mind formulating their next move.

"You might have to princess carry me out of here afterward, but I think the Heartstone's up for the task."

"I am sure Fynn will volunteer."

"Grouch." Scarlett's lips quirked into the ghost of a smile as she refocused her concentration. She formed spheres of water around three of the hydra's heads, fighting to maintain their integrity against the creature's searing heat. Drawing on more of the ice scattered around the chamber from more of the flasks that Allyssa had recently thrown out, she replenished her arsenal as much as possible. As before, Rosa's charm began to influence the water, transforming the spheres into churning vortexes of inky darkness.

The hydra, seeming to sense the impending threat, extended its other heads towards Scarlett. Shin and Fynn intervened, though, their weapons and claws flashing as they diverted the creature's attacks. Scarlett's dark vortexes condensed violently, severing three more of the hydra's heads in a single, devastating assault. Rosa stumbled, nearly dropping her klert. Scarlett steadied the woman, her eyes never leaving the boss. Its surviving heads appeared weakened now, flickering with more unstable flames.

"Once more," Scarlett said. Rosa pulled a face as if in protest, but she nodded, re-tightening her grip on her instrument and resuming her otherworldly melody.

"Let's go." Scarlett drained another mana potion, ignoring the first stirrings of what promised to be a monumental headache later. Pushing aside her discomfort, she launched her final assault. Her hydrokinesis enveloped the [Lava Hydra]'s last three heads in a suffocating embrace. The boss thrashed wildly, its massive body lunging from the fire lake in a desperate bid for survival. But it was too late. It couldn't disperse her attacks in time, not while she maintained her focus.

Then, with Rosa's charm bolstering her magic, Scarlett commanded the remaining heads to vanish into the abyss. The hydra froze. Its first head had started to regenerate partly, perhaps regaining a quarter of its original shape, but without the others, the hydra seemed to lose whatever elemental force held it together. Gradually, inexorably, the flames that constituted its form began to sputter and die, along with the lake of fire that had been its lair.

Scarlett, however, wasn't about to let all that power simply dissipate. With the [Lava Hydra] no longer resisting her will, she easily controlled the remaining fire in the chamber, siphoning it towards the waiting Emberling. The tiny fox absorbed what had been at least half of the hydra's body in mere seconds, yet showed no visible change. As the last flames vanished, the cracks forming the fire lake sealed themselves, restoring the chamber to its original state.

Scarlett nearly buckled as Rosa's full weight suddenly fell against her. The bard's appearance had returned to normal, but she looked utterly spent, her face pressed against Scarlett's shoulder. Though tempted to push her off—the woman was almost certainly exaggerating—Scarlett let her be, allowing the contact. Rosa had, after all, played a crucial role in their victory.

"That was incredible, Rosa!" Allyssa exclaimed, approaching them while wiping rivulets of sweat from her flushed face. Even with their fire resistance buffs, the heat had been intense. Without lifting her head, Rosa managed a weak thumbs-up, her other hand barely maintaining its grip on her beloved klert's neck. Scarlett checked her mana reserves one last time. [Mana: 2136/12302] That fight had actually proved more challenging than she had expected.

The [Lava Hydra] had effectively countered her pyrokinesis, and while hydrokinesis served as its natural enemy in some respects, it was also weak against it in others. Escape had always remained an option, but she was glad they hadn't needed to resort to that. With a small gesture, Scarlett summoned a tiny flame to beckon the Emberling over to them as the party regrouped. To her mild surprise, Rosa's exhaustion appeared entirely genuine.

The bard sank to the floor, her hands shaking as she fumbled with a flask to drink from.

"That sure was intense," Allyssa said, kneeling to inspect the Emberling.

"By the way, how come this little guy isn't changing even after absorbing all those elementals?"

"Because it is not a true elemental," Scarlett replied absentmindedly, her attention turning towards the far end of the chamber. There, the altar with its huge white flame still burned, unaffected by the battle. Beyond it loomed the massive rune-covered slab.

"That doesn't tell me much, but alright." Allyssa stood, brushing the dirt from her knees. Her gaze shifted to Shin and Fynn as they approached, concern etching into her features.

"Are you two alright?" Shin's armor bore the scars of battle, blackened and warped in places. His exposed skin was reddened, but he appeared otherwise unharmed. Fynn, on the other hand, had fared worse. Angry burns covered most of his left arm and shoulder, with large sections of his clothing reduced to ash. Despite that, the youth's face remained impassive, as if oblivious to the pain.

"I'll handle that in a minute," Rosa mumbled from her spot on the ground, raising a finger while continuing to gulp water from her flask.

"Save your mana," Scarlett said, retrieving health potions from her [Pouch of Holding]. She handed them to the two young men, earning a grateful look from Rosa before the bard collapsed fully onto her back, utterly spent. Leaving the woman to recover, Scarlett began making her way towards the altar. It was time to collect the loot and leave this place behind.