Hero of Darkness

Right now, all the newcomers on this floor looked at the 7-headed Elder Hydra with incredulous expressions after seeing its presence and rank.

"What the hell? Wasn't this supposed to be only a 5-headed Hydra and only at the legendary rank that was supposed to be comparable to a 3rd stage saint?

Why is it an Elder Hydra at Mythical Rank and possesses strength comparable to a 5th stage saint?" asked Legolas with a bamboozled expression.

Obviously, they had prior information about this boss because it was noted to be one of the hardest bosses and this floor was cleared only a few times in the past thousand years.

Kahn and the group also didn't know that the Hero's Party also cleared this floor few weeks ago, albeit at a great cost.

Nonetheless, the last time a group reached here was 30 years ago and back then, those people fought a 5 headed hydra, unlike the one that stood in front of them.

"When did it evolve? Is it normal for dungeon bosses to evolve?" asked Edmund, his heart filled with trepidations as he felt the immense threat because of the killing intent released by the boss.

[Boy, a supreme dungeon can indeed evolve itself and the floor bosses after centuries and over saturation of world energy as per legends.

But those are extremely rare cases and even in my time, I never heard of a supreme dungeon doing so.

There must be a big reason for it to happen.] informed Rathnaar inside Kahn's mind.

[What does it matter? Our situation isn't going to turn out any good even if we find the reason.

Should we abort and use our passes? It's been more than a month and half at this point so we are eligible to leave.] thought Kahn in his mind.

ROARR!!

Just then, the elder hydra, whose most of the body was submerged in the deep waters of this poisonous swamp lair, raised its heads a bit higher.

All of its 20-meter-tall heads had different elements and properties.

Gray head had Venom, Green head Corrosion, Red had Fire, Blue had Ice, Yellow head had Lightning, the White head possessed Light element and finally, the pitch Black head had Darkness element.

All of these elements of nature could be sensed from the 7 heads respectively.

"It's like an amalgamation of all the lethal elements. No wonder it's the boss that has been cleared only 5 times in the past thousand years." spoke Raiden as he took both Raijin and Kojin out of their sheaths.

Venom from a mythical rank creature could easily kill even a saint of the same strength levels. Thankfully, Kahn and his subordinates had Legendary rank poison and venom immunity.

The Corrosion breath would erode their armors and weapons easily. Only Rudra among their group would be unaffected by it because of his Magma element and Physique which itself had corrosive resistance after the Basilisk subordinate absorbed Bjormngandur's bloodline.

Fire was very good for AoE damage, Ice could halt the movements of the target when hit, Lightning would simply destroy everything in its way, Light element had great piercing strength and finally, the darkness element which was enough to obliterate everything no matter what it was.

[Boy, if a mythical rank Elder Hydra is just the 71st floor boss, then imagine how strong the 81st floor boss would be.

And then there are the last 2 bosses of this dungeon.] spoke Rathnaar.

[We'll think about it later. First… we need to find a way to get rid of it while preserving our mana and world energy that's in our bodies.

Physical strength alone won't be enough.

At best, I can use Dimensional Cut 6 times given my current rank and Space Force reserves. But there will still be another head left.

On top of it, it still has the terrain advantage, has a lot of range and I sense a very strong physical defense.

Even our group won't be able to one-shot this boss just with weapons and techniques alone since mana and world energy basically runs all of our fighting skills.] he said, his voice resounding in the minds of all of his subordinates.

[That's still useless, boy.

An Elder Hydra can regrow its heads very quickly. So cutting them off won't make a difference at all.] informed Rathnaar again.

[What? It's supposed to be a Hydra… not the goddamn King Ghidorah!

Looks like I didn't read enough about Hydra's abilities in my past life.

System, tell me the weaknesses of this monster.] complained and ordered Kahn.

[An Elder Hydra's only weakness is its heart.] reported the system.

[Great. If I use Phase Shift skill and pass through its internal organs, I can destroy its heart using Dimensional Cut.] thought Kahn as he came up with a battle strategy.

[The system would like to inform the host that if the heart is destroyed, at least 10 kilometers of the radius will be pulverized after its destruction.] informed the system in its usual lifeless tone.

[Then I'll just use the Dimensional Void and enter True Dimension to avoid getting killed by the explosion.] he revealed an insidious smirk.

But to throw water on his face, the system quickly informed…

[The system detects that because mana and world energy is sealed in this environment, the space is also sealed and the host would be unable to use Dimensional Domain or Dimensional Void skill.

Only the Dimensional Cut skill can be used due to Space Force stored inside the host's body.

Also, the other subordinates would be unable to use their Domains as well.] reported the system.

[Seriously… I envy those Time Regressor novel protagonists now.

Those fuckers know everything from the future and have key information on how to kill these OP bosses easily.

Wish my story was something like that.] Kahn cursed in his mind.

At this moment, the boss started moving towards their direction on its own accord.

Additionally, as if some sadistic bastard was writing Kahn's story while laughing maniacally… the system gave another bad news.

[An Elder Hydra can relocate its heart at will and its regeneration abilities are second only to Dragons and the 5 Godbeasts. If the core is left intact, it can regenerate the heart as well.] reported the system again.

[What the fuck?! Stop telling me reasons why I can't kill this boss and give me actually helpful information, would ya?!] complained Kahn, his countenance turning ugly.

[Boy, it's extremely hard to kill by normal means. But I have a plan.] said Rathnaar in a stern voice.

Compared to Kahn, Rathnaar was a war veteran who was feared by the entire world at one point.

He had been in thousands of battles and many unfavorable situations whether it was against a monster, a saint, or even the chosen Heroes with Divine Abilities.

[Did you ever fight one?] queried Kahn.

[I did. But it was only a legendary rank 5 headed Hydra. And we lost many of my capable allies back then.

On top of it… you guys are short on attack skills because the world energy is inaccessible here.

Let's not forget that the swamp itself is poisonous. It will not only restrict your movements but also kill you slowly.] he iterated in a somber voice.

[All of us have a legendary rank poison immunity and I have complete Darkness and Fire element immunity now.

So we have 3 less things to worry about.] replied Kahn instantly.

[But you can still be killed with lightning and light elemental attacks easily. Those two elements are your weaknesses, am I right?] asked the Emperor's soul to Kahn.

[Yes. We're greatly restricted on plans and approaches we can take here.

Even sacrificing some of my subordinates won't ensure a confirmed kill if I can't destroy the heart and escape at the right time.] responded Kahn.

To his words, Rathnaar spoke in a thoughtful voice.

[I guess then we can't have a battle of attrition here.

All of you will need to finish this fight as quickly as you can.

Going All-Out from the start is your only option before you lot run out of your own mana and world energy.] said Rathnaar and then revealed his plan to all of them.

Kahn himself heard it and couldn't help but approve of this strategy.

It wasn't like he couldn't come up with this plan… the problem was that he had no prior experience in fighting with a Hydra before.

This world wasn't some typical light novel where Hydra were barely 5 meters tall and could be killed by Level 10 Protagonists just because they had the almighty plot armor.

Even with the plethora of skills Kahn and his group had, there were very few tactics they could use at this moment.

[This plan could work. But the problem is…

Edmund.] thought Kahn and looked at the useless and helpless ally of theirs who didn't have any redeeming qualities that could help them in this faceoff.

[We will have to reveal many of our secrets but him being here as a witness is a huge risk.] said Kahn and made a quick decision.

Just then…

[Do it!] commanded Kahn.

Whoosh!

Just then, Ronin suddenly appeared behind Edmund and attacked the human saint's head from behind.

Bang!

He knocked down the alchemist before the saint could even sense him, making him unconscious in the next second.

Armin checked his state and confirmed that the saint was done in and wouldn't wake up for a long time.

"Alright boys… it's time." spoke Kahn as all of them revealed their full killing intent.

"To bully the Mythical Boss!"