The Bounty Hunter

Chapter 59: Into the Woods

March 6th, 2089

FINALLY, WERE HERE!  That was the thought that echoed repeatedly in my head as I looked to this beautiful meadow dotted with trees and flowers.  In the center of this place stood a swamp with an altar made from a plethora of plants at its heart.  It grew right out of the swamp and on the top of the altar, a shape of a cup could be seen.  It has been a 2-day journey straight from hell to get to this point. 

1 day after the meeting with the Queen, the expedition was already at the Fey Woods.  It would have normally been a week long journey, but its amazing how fast a Pegasus can travel.  I had Rin mimic me being ill to cover up my absence at home for the next few days.  Ill have to spoil Rin when I get back though, since shes been getting a little annoyed at being left behind repeatedly. 

The party consisted of 4 Queensguard, 2 Court Wizards, myself, Feneris and Erilom as discussed.  Since I was the guide, I also acted as the scout which allowed me to stealthily eliminate the majority of the creatures we came across before anyone else noticed.  This helped us pick up the pace.  My relief at arriving at our destination came mostly from the fact that I would no longer have to deal with Erilom. 

Feneris was the typical spoiled ojou-sama, so although she was a pain to deal with it was not too problematic.  But Erilom has gotten to the point where I fear for my safety.  I have not slept since we started the expedition.  Although that has yet to become a problem thanks to my augmentation, the stress is killing me.  She has definitely transitioned from aggressive to yandere level behavior.  Haaa, Ive already decided to leave immediately after the Oath Mark fades.  Screw the return trip, I do not want to risk it. 

Our group is approaching the swamp where the altar is located wait, why is it a swamp?  Its been a couple years since I have been here but I am certain that it was clear pond surrounding the altar not a swamp.  Feneris eagerly outpaced her guards as she headed towards the altar with the bottle of Tearful Maiden Spring Water in her hand, but just as she reached the edge a serpent like head rose out of the water.  It was followed shortly after by another 12 heads.  HYDRA!!! one of the Queensguard yelled as everyone sprang into action. 

I sprinted forward and grabbed Feneris just in time as the hydra let out a hiss and spat out a toxic breath that melted the ground where she was standing.  I have rated hydras as a threat level 12 in the past due to their insane magic based regeneration that is second only to a troll and their highly toxic bodies. 

They have the body of a serpent with up to 13 heads and two powerful front legs on their body for added mobility.  Their scales are a purplish grey and they are known to have a horrible temper.  Throw in their massive size comparable to a 3-story building and large number of heads to deal with and most people give them a wide berth.  I ran towards Erilom as the wizards launched several fireballs towards the hydra, creating a series of explosions.  The smoke faded and there was some damage done to it, which made go into a rage. 

I quickly dropped off Feneris next to Erilom, who was still acting rather care free.  Wow, I didnt expect to see a fully grown hydra here. She said casually.  You seem rather relaxed considering the situation. I responded to Erilom as I drew my rhomphaia and waited.  The 4 queensguard and the two wizards were working well together and managing to push back the hydra.  As expected of the most elite forces in the queendom.  For right now I can wait in reserve. 

Erilom shrugged at my comment Hydras are powerful, but we have two wizards here to deal with it. at her words one of the wizards went down after getting sprayed with the hydras venom Okay, we have one wizard here to deal with it.  The other wizard just got tail whipped into a bloody red pulp.  The guards can still manage.  On cue with her words, one of the queensguard got careless and was promptly devoured by the 3 story tall hydra.  The other 3 were now steadily being pushed back.   Its okay!  I have the 5 Chains of Adligo, although I am not a fighter I can still handle any one on one fight!  And theres only one monster! 

I heard an unearthly roar echo right after Erilom spoke and looked up to see a Skeletal Dragon flying towards us.  A dragon must have starved to death after getting lost in the Fey Woods and reanimated.  The uproar due to the hydra must have attracted its attention.  Erilom now has lost her composure and was about to continue Its okay, at least  I quickly put my hand to her mouth before she could make the situation any worse.  Deal with it. 

Without waiting for Erilom to respond I grabbed her by her chains and flung her into the air towards the dragon.  I myself lunged forward to decapitate a head of the hydra before it could devour another one of the guards.  The hydra roared in pain as a new head started growing.  Go protect the princess!  I yelled towards the exhausted dark elves, who eagerly followed my instructions as they retreated towards Feneris. 

The hydra finished re-growing its head, and all 26 of its eyes locked onto me.  I sprinted around the swamp as the beast lunged its heads at me, but I kept barely staying ahead of it.  The hydra then swung 2 of its heads like a whip towards me.  I cut off the first head to reach me and then jumped onto the other head.  The hydra roared in pain, but became confused as it lost sight of me.  When I stabbed my rhomphaia into the head I was riding, it found me again. 

4 heads lunged at me as I jumped onto a different head and stabbed it just like before.  I continued this process of jumping and stabbing like I was in a platforming game.  After placing a large hole in each of the 13 heads I jumped off the hydra, dodging the toxic breath that it was spitting by tumbling through the air like a gymnast.  I stuck a perfect landing and looked towards the bloodied hydra.  It was fuming mad and lost its composure. 

It placed all of its 13 heads in an even-level semi-circle facing me, took a very deep breath, and spat out all of its reserves of toxins.  Gotcha!  I activated my rhomphaias enchantment and swung out a line of cutting light that cleanly bisected through the toxic cloud, dispersing it away from me.  My attack continued towards the hydra and caused major damage.  Since it had grouped all of its heads close together for its breath attack, my counterattack was able to decapitate all of its heads but one. 

Tch, it is unfortunate I couldnt get that last head.  If a hydra has all of its heads decapitated at any point or its heart is destroyed it will die instantly.  Its regeneration is dependent on there being the heart and at least one head intact.  This is unlike the regeneration of a troll, which is basically immortal until its fat reserves run out.  I promptly switched to my ninjato to go for the kill while the hydra was still crippled.  The magic on my ninjato activated and lines of text appeared on the blades.  They read:  With many strikes, even the toughest of foes shall fall. 

The body of the hydra thrashed about as it tried to ward me off so it could regenerate its heads.  I easily avoided its efforts and swung my ninjato at the place where its heart should be.  The last head was intentionally keeping its distance, so I was forced to aim at a different vital point.  After my first swing, a small scratch appeared on the hydras scales.  Then my ninjato glowed as the magic activated. 

Suddenly, the scratch became a deep cut, as if I had already sliced at that exact spot another 20 times.  With this multiplicative effect I quickly reached the hydras heart after only a few swings of my ninjato.  My augmented body was able to resist the toxic blood spurting from the wound so I attacked without restraint.  I stabbed the heart, creating a small hole that quickly expanded and the hydra collapsed. 

Phew, that was kind of difficult.  I looked back to see the situation with the skeletal dragon and as expected there was merely a pile of bone dust left behind.  Erilom was lying next to it, sweating heavily and covered in grime.  She obviously doesnt train much or else the fight would have been over much more quickly.  No matter how efficient and powerful a magic artifact is its full potential will be limited if the user is weak. 

I ignored her and led Feneris to the altar, where she placed the offering and ended up successfully contracting with a dryad.  My oath was fulfilled and my oath mark faded.  Erilom was too exhausted to use the 5 Chains and there were no remaining wizards to stop me.  I promptly vanished from the other world for the last time.  Will the expedition find their way home?  Not my problem.  They have the map; they can figure it out.

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