The Owner's eyes glint at Lucian's group. Numerous years pass and not once that he stopped searching for the Jewel. And the time that he could almost grasp it, taste the sweet nectar of eternal youth, a beast and another group hindered his way.
The Owner was about to return to gather some troops, and that was when Lucian's group appeared. The Owner was afraid that if he left, Lucian and the others would acquire the Jewel first, and that was when he formulated a plan.
At first glance, the Owner was sure that Lucian's group was strong. Ryu in their group was his luck at work, and he knew that the Princess was not far. She might be one of those women. She might have changed her appearance. And he was right.
He used the debt to make Lucian and the orders do his bedding. He just needed Rank-A's to hold the Rank-S beast, and he would use his trump card to seal the beast even if it was just for a few hours.
Lucian and the other's timing was impeccable!
The Owner couldn't help a smile twisting his face. Dark electricity scattered on the scrolls in his hand as he chanted a lost spell of the Gods.
[Scrolls of Chronus]
It was a set of scrolls that he acquired in years of trading in the black market. It was four powerful scrolls that contained the lost spell from the ancient Gods who once ruled Septverden.
It took time to chant, and one wrong word would cause a calamity but the price. .. he could stop his opponent's time for four hours depending on his enemy's strength.
For the Ancient Hydra, he deducted that the scrolls could stop its time for two hours enough for them to search the cave for the lost Jewel.
The scrolls glowed darker, and the sparks of electricity enveloping it grew intense as the Owner was nearing the end of the chant.
Sensing the power of the scrolls, the Ancient Hydra's four heads snapped in the direction of the dense trees. Rank-S beasts were intelligent creatures, and he already knew before that the Owner was hiding behind the shadow of those trees.
But instead of attacking the Owner, the Ancient Hydra slithered his tongue and looked over the sky like he remembered something, and for a moment, its slit eyes turned rounder like that of a man.
"Now! Attack it with all you've got!" Lucian shouted. He didn't know what happened, but the Ancient Hydra stopped attacking and even had the audacity to look away like they were nothing more than insignificant humans.
"You'll pay for that!" Lucian roared and unleashed his skill. Massive force coiled on his sword. The space distorted around him, and he unleashed its might at the Hydra.
[Distortion Blade]
Cecily's fingers crossed her blade while phoenix wings sprouted from her back. Her body burned in flames, and all the fire crawled to her sword before it shot forth in an explosive blast.
[Phoenix Feathers]
"I'll show you the power of magic!" Rosa's voice echoed, and with it came a gust of wind hurling towards her staff. The wind shot forth from her staff, and as it zoomed on the Hydra, it sucked in the surrounding air like a vacuum, becoming bigger and bigger until it formed into a tornado.
[Circle of Gale]
"Damn, everyone is showing off." Kai grinned despite the overwhelming exhaustion he felt when his mana almost emptied when he unleashed his skill.
Multiple blue pentagrams appeared, and swords peeked from its front. His scimitars revolved around Kai, all imbued in ice. The air sizzled, and the vapors around it condensed into droplets of crystals. With a whoosh, the scimitars shot forth like bullets into the Ancient Hydra's direction while swords continuously poured out from the pentagrams and rained on the massive Hydra.
[Swords of Retribution]
Ferris was worried about Ryu, but she had to defeat this Hydra first if she wanted to go after him. "I have no time playing with you! Die!"
The daggers in Ferris's hands multiply into thousands, each holding a dark aura's that cut the very spaces around them, and with a snapped of her hands, all these daggers zoomed towards the Ancient Hydra.
Athen and Athena stood together and held hands. Sparks of electricity rattled the ground around them. Pebbles and rock rose in the air as the electricity grew erratic. As they raised their hands, thunder came crashing down upon them with a loud bam!
Charging an enormous amount of thunder in their body, they released its destructive might onto the Ancient Hydra.
[God's Thunder]
A collection of skills and spells merged into one mighty blow, and it blasted straight into the Ancient Hydra's head.
BOOOMMM!!
A loud ear-shattering blast quaked the earth, and the force toppled the tress and everything within hundreds of meters. More than half of the island was gone in a single strike, replaced by barren lands and dry burning soil.
Ferris huffed and caught her breath. Her body was heavy, and her eyelids were heavier. Ryu. .. she looked over at the cave, but Ryu was nowhere to be found. She didn't know what happened and tried as she might, she couldn't get in. Something or someone was blocking the entrance.
Damn it! Ferris's knees gave way, and she almost lost consciousness if not for Kai, who appeared by her side and grabbed her arm.
"Hey. You okay?! This is not the time to fall asleep. The Hydra is still alive!"
Go away! Ferris wanted to say but was too weak to even move. She focused her gazed over the Ancient Hydra who lost two of its head. But within seconds, new flesh and bones crawled to its severed neck, and it only took a few blinks, and the Ancient Hydra's head was good as new.
But to their horror, the Ancient Hydra had no grown another pair instead of four, and the head was now six.
"W-wha. .. what is this thing?" Lucian couldn't believe his eyes.
"How do we even defeat that?" Cecily murmured in despair and looked over at Lucian. Maybe Raphael could do something about it.
"It's no longer just an ordinary Hydra." Raphael communicated in Lucian's mind. "I think it's a beast from the times of the Gods. A Legendary Beast Hydra with multiple heads."
"Can we defeat it if you join in?" Lucian asked.
".. . We could try." Raphael was not sure too. He was only a four-winged Angel. He never did once battle a legendary beast before.
Raphael was about to appear when the Owner's voice rang in everyone's ears.
"Stand back!"
Lucian and the others all looked over at Owner when he appeared out of nowhere, and with him came along numerous gigantic pentagrams at his back. Everything was basked in the pentagrams' warm golden light as the pentagrams revolved around like clocks.
The Owner's face warped in a grin that was made sinister by the shadows from the golden pentagrams.
"Receive thy punishment from the Gods!" This is for hindering me and the eternity of youth!
The Owner cast the last word of the spell, and all the giant golden pentagrams hovered above the Ancient Hydra.
However, the Ancient Hydra's six head just stared at the glowing pentagrams like it was mesmerized. And like it was at peace, it closed its eyes, and the Scrolls of Chronus froze its time.