Eyes of the Hydra
On a distant ridge, far removed from where Nix lurked.
Leysia quietly drew back her bowstring.
Nix's massive bulk was so enormous that there was no need for precise aiming.
For someone of her caliber, it was a target so gigantic that even a rough shot would hit every time.
Of course, that didn't mean Leysia would ever aim carelessly.
As always, she released the bowstring with meticulous care, crouching low and swiveling only her eyes to watch Nix searching for her.
'Hydra.'
It wasn't a monster you saw every day.
Typically appearing only as the dungeon boss—or labyrinth lord—of mid-to-large labyrinths, this was Leysia's first time seeing one in person.
Yet she knew quite a bit about hydras.
After all, one had destroyed Chongqing in China and killed Wang Feng.
And just recently, she'd personally mobilized for the cleanup.
She couldn't not know.
But.
'...The same individual?'
The publicly released media only had blurry photos taken from afar and short video clips, but someone in Leysia's position could access clearer images and footage.
That's why she felt a twinge of bewilderment.
The features from the painstakingly restored nearby CCTV footage and satellite photos matched exactly with the hydra before her eyes.
"Why is the monster from China's Chongqing here?"
Truth be told, it wasn't so much why as how that puzzled her more.
Furrowing her brow in thought for a moment, Leysia nocked another arrow as Nix began to shift slyly.
A pure white arrow of light formed on her bow.
'Not the time to worry about that.'
What mattered was that the beast was here, and she had to stop it.
Carefully, but swiftly.
As she released the string, Leysia watched the arrow streak straight ahead, then pulled a blue potion from her belt and downed it.
A mana recovery potion—precious, though not quite on the level of an elixir.
No wound-healing properties, but it restored a portion of expended mana, making it invaluable in its own way.
She tossed the empty vial over her shoulder with a flick—already her severalth one.
'Mana consumption is higher than expected.'
Passive skills like detection or stealth barely drained any, but each shot guzzled a hefty chunk, weighing on her heavily.
'Can't pierce that tough hide without mana, though.'
In the end, like it or not, Leysia had no choice but to keep burning through it.
'The silver lining is that it must be burning mana on regeneration too.'
Assuming it was the same individual from Chongqing, she had plenty of intel on it.
Nine heads wielding different elemental magics, plus magic eyes.
Supplementing mana by devouring other creatures.
And above all, a deadly venom so potent even Wang Feng hadn't lasted long against it.
'If a close-quarters brawler with sky-high durability and resistances couldn't hold out, I wouldn't last a second.'
She wasn't hopeless in melee, but with her status window skewed toward ranged combat, tangling up close with that was a hard pass.
She had confidence in agility and evasion to last a bit, but...
'Not even ten minutes, probably.'
Ten minutes was generous; throwing pride aside, she might not even manage that.
Twaaaang—
Having loosed hundreds—nay, thousands—of arrows already, Leysia suddenly sensed something off.
'Ah. It noticed.'
She'd been subtly warping trajectories with mana to mask her position, but that trick had run its course.
She'd locked eyes with it perfectly, after all—its pupils rolling while the rest hunkered low.
Shoooo—
A low, eerie cry sent a chill down her neck; she rubbed it absently.
Those blood-red eyes were uncannily creepy.
"Even if you've spotted me, I won't let you close in easily."
She'd considered relocating.
She could slip away to another sniping spot, evading its gaze.
But the problem was what it might do in that brief window.
For whatever reason, it was heading toward the opposite plateau, where the subjugation was in full swing.
What if it showed up there, amid the chaos of battling magma wyverns?
Forget halting the raid—the hunters might get wiped out entirely.
'Can't allow that.'
Murmuring softly, Leysia drew another arrow from her quiver slung over her shoulder.
Time to get serious.
"No skimping on mana. Let's see how long you last, monster."
Swift, agile, precise—the arrow hurtled toward Nix with a vicious whistle.
Nix, already fixated here, should have dodged such an attack easily, yet Leysia's shot was unavoidable even with foreknowledge.
Boom—
Not a mere impact, but an explosion rang out.
Nix's left head burst apart with pathetic ease.
With mana and stored energy still ample, regeneration should have kicked in as usual—but the left head regenerated slower than expected.
Not impossible, but laced with an effect that hampered regen.
Squelch-squelch— As the left head sluggishly reformed, the right head bellowed in alarm.
"Raaaaah—!!!"
Crimson fireballs came flying.
Dozens of them, not just one.
At closer range, even Leysia might have been in real danger, but at this distance? Useless.
Fast, but not her arrow-fast; she casually shifted position as they approached.
Kaboom—
The fireballs detonated harmlessly where she'd been.
Then lightning bolts rained down in succession.
Faster than the fireballs, but Leysia evaded effortlessly.
"Saying it's your turn now?"
Dodging bolts and gales mid-leap, she drew her bow in the air.
The fully bent bow snapped twang back to shape.
Twaaaang—
The arrow exploded the ninth head.
"Sorry, but it's still my turn."
Landing lightly, Leysia swept back her disheveled hair.
She downed another mana potion from her item bag and nocked again.
A one-sided barrage commenced.
Twaaaang—
Aim, nock, draw.
Release.
Motions she'd performed millions of times flowed seamlessly, yet Leysia felt a faint unease.
'Trajectory... warped a bit.'
A subtle shift no ordinary hunter would notice.
Dismissing it as nothing would've been easy, but Leysia urgently scanned for the cause.
And spotted it.
The eighth head, third eye blazing on its forehead.
'Magic Eye.'
She knew each of the nine heads wielded different magics—and eyes with varied powers.
But she hadn't cataloged them all yet.
'Warping my arrow's path. What kind? What's the effect?'
Brain whirring, she kept firing relentlessly.
Target: that problematic eighth head's third eye.
Her arrow flashed toward its brow.
And—
Halt—
The arrow froze midair for an instant.
A split-second pause, but enough for the eighth head to slip from its path.
Twaaaang—
The arrow resumed, whizzing harmlessly past where the head had been.
Glancing over, Leysia's eyes flicked.
Now the fifth head's eye gleamed.
Probably...
"A power to halt objects?"
Absurdly overpowered.
Letting out a dry chuckle, she loosed another.
The trajectory twisted precariously again.
"Eighth head bends paths—refraction? Curvature? Something like that."
Thankfully, it drained too much to sustain; the eye soon closed.
But its mere existence was a growing burden.
Especially since that wasn't all it had.
'Confirmed so far: instant death, petrification, charm. Now halt and bend—five abilities.'
'Scariest part? Four more to go.'
The first five were already ridiculous; four unknowns remained.
They might be weaker, but based on patterns, probably not.
Leysia could only pray.
'This is plenty overwhelming already.'
Far too much for one monster.
Had the labyrinth finally birthed this abomination to wipe out humanity?
With a bitter smile, she ducked behind a boulder.
A wave of deathly aura swept over her former spot.
The central head's third eye now stared silently.
'Hard to aim directly.'
Not just instant death—petrification or charm eyes were deadly too.
Without resistance skills, mere eye contact could be fatal for her.
Peeking from cover, she aimed at empty sky.
Shwooo—
The arrow arced in a gentle curve toward Nix.
One head turned toward the shot from the crevice: the eighth.
Its third eye quietly opened.
Trajectory warped.
'One down.'
Calmly murmuring, she fired three more.
Each veered on unique paths toward Nix.
"Shiii—"
Fifth and right heads turned.
Halt and petrification neutralized two arrows.
One left.
The fourth head reared, unleashing a gale that twisted the last arrow's path.
A rapid chain in seconds, yet Nix blocked effortlessly.
Expected, but bittersweet; Leysia smiled wryly.
'Fine. This was the real target.'
Seizing the moment most heads looked away, she burst from cover.
Feeling the central head's persistent gaze, she drew.
Her true mark from the start: one.
Mana surged differently, forging a new arrow.
Aiming at nothing, she released.
An invisible, formless, silent arrow streaked toward the central brow.
'No sound, no shape, no form. Even you—can you dodge this?'
A skill demanding heavy mana investment.
Landing lightly, Leysia fixed her gaze on the central head.
A blink's worth of time.
Her arrow should be arriving now.
Soon, it'd pierce that head.
Not fatal, but it'd buy a gap.
Already plotting her follow-up, Leysia's eyes widened suddenly.
Invisible to most, but as a skill user, she saw it.
The central head barely twisting aside from the trajectory.
"It... dodged that...?"
—Impossible.
Sighing in disbelief, Leysia hadn't noticed.
The ninth head's central eye had quietly opened.
Its power: fragmentary future sight, letting it read and evade the path in advance.
"Shiii—"
Nix's nine heads glared at Leysia, eyes flashing.