It was an actual Hydra—a beast of legend that was thought to be virtually unkillable due to its unnatural regenerative abilities.
According to the legends, every time one of its heads was cut off, another two would grow in its place!
Right now, everyone secretly hoped that the Hydra before them did not stay true to the legends; otherwise, how were they supposed to defeat something that could regenerate infinitely?
"So this is a World Class beast of the crusade." Niflheim internalized as his gaze met with the Hydra's.
Niflheim employed his Maw of the Devouring Beast, targetting the Hydra's middle head, and swiftly followed up with Assimilate.
After he used Assimilate, the shield in Niflheim's hand transformed into a thin silver circular disc approximately 45 centimeters in diameter. In addition, two more silver discs appeared. One of the discs hovered at his right side and the other to his left.
"This is..." Niflheim was a little taken aback by the flimsy appearance of his shield. Also, it was the first time two extra shields formed as a result of Assimilate.
At first, Niflheim had no idea how to even begin controlling the floating silver discs. However, after quickly glancing over its information, Niflheim soon realized that both silver discs responded directly to his will. In other words, all he had to do was think of the action he wanted them to carry out, and they would do it!
Nevertheless, Niflheim knew that it would take some time to get used to. But, it was time that they did not have to spare. Fortunately, Niflheim was confident in his ability to adapt.
In Niflheim's mind, his primary task remained unchanged—to protect his party members at all costs! This was the fundamental goal of every tank.
"I don't know why it's sealed, but it can only be a good thing for us! Still, even if, for some reason, it's unable to unleash the full extent of its power, that doesn't change the fact that it's one of the strongest creatures in RML! So stay on your toes!" Niflheim shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.
Woosh!
Suddenly, the Hydra's middle head shot down towards Niflheim like a serpent striking out at its prey!
Niflheim swiftly lifted his shield and willed the other two silver discs to the front of him, positioning them into a triangle.
BANG!
«Blocked»
-25,010
47,826/72,836 [Niflheim's HP Remaining]
Niflheim slid back a couple of meters from the impact of the Hydra's attack.
"?!" Niflheim was shocked by the Hydra's monstrous damage output from simply lashing out with brute strength.
Gram's resistance buffs were still in place, so Niflheim's physical resistance was maxed out at a staggering 90%.
Niflheim thought that the Headless Horseman's physical attack was ridiculous, but it paled in comparison to the Hydra's that dealt ten times more damage!
Luckily, the Hydra did not seem to have a weird ability like Gan Ceann's True Cuts that further added to the pain and slipped past Niflheim's defenses. But, this was the only bright side Niflheim could find.
In the end, there were four other heads to deal with! If all of them attacked at once, even if he pulled out all his lifesaving skills with Gram's buffs active, he would not last more than thirty seconds against that kind of damage.
However, to Niflheim's surprise, as the Hydra's middle head withdrew, none of the other heads moved to strike.
As the middle head retreated, Niflheim activated Taunting Pressure. Simultaneously, he used an AOE taunt-type skill called Guardian's Field.
Guardian's Field made it so that all enemies within thirty meters of Niflheim would have their threat level increased by 100%. Furthermore, as long as enemies stayed within the range of Guardian's Field, all damage Niflheim received would be reduced by 25%!
"Hey! Is the threat level established?!" Colorful Nimbus asked.
"You're all set!" Niflheim acknowledged.
"Then, leave it to me!" Colorful Nimbus lowered his stance and pulled his arms to his side as a green aura encompassed his fists.
"Soaring Fists of Invigoration: Fifty Marks!"
The next moment, Colorful Nimbus' launched a series of punches at speeds that should not have been possible for a healer-type class.
With every punch, a ball of green aura left Colorful Nimbus' fists and flew towards the Hydra.
Swoosh! Tssst...
Upon making contact with the Hydra's scales, the green aura was instantly dispersed. Then, less than a second later, a light-green magic symbol would form in the exact spot the aura vanished.
The skill itself did not seem to inflict any direct damage to the Hydra; however, that was never Colorful Nimbus' aim.
Once he threw his final punch and the 50th symbol appeared on the Hydra, Colorful Nimbus dashed over to Niflheim, and without stopping, lightly tapped Niflheim's shoulder as a glowing white magic symbol materialized where his hand touched.
"Hey, Phantom Queen! I'm going to light up four of those symbols! Think you can hit them?! The power of the attack doesn't matter!" Colorful Nimbus yelled as he wasted no time retreating from the edge of the lake.
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As he fell back to a safer distance, four of the fifty magic symbols on the Hydra's body lit up.
"A simple request." Morrighan lightly waved the wand in her hand in a small arc as four points of purple light emerged.
"Multi-Casting x4: Magic Missile."
Suddenly, the four purple lights streaked ahead, moving unpredictably in the Hydra's direction.
It did not take long for the magic missiles to reach the Hydra as each of them struck one of the light-green magic symbols left behind by Colorful Nimbus' attack.
The moment Morrighan's magic missiles hit the four magic symbols, they shattered as the fragments were pulled to the magic symbol on Niflheim's shoulder.
+7,392
+7,392
+7,392
+7,392
72,836/72,836 [Niflheim's HP Remaining]
In the blink of an eye, Niflheim's returned to full HP thanks to Colorful Nimbus and Morrighan's timely follow-up.
"Izroth, I'm leaving the two right heads to you! Morrighan, the two left heads are all ours! Nimbus—we'll take care of the one in the middle! Sacred Blade and Gram, you two will provide support wherever it's needed!" Niflheim commanded as he blocked another strike from the Hydra's middle head.
After seeing what Morrighan was capable of during the first stage, Niflheim decided to place his trust in her abilities.
As for Izroth, there was nothing to be said regarding his skills as far as Niflheim was concerned.
Gram's damage was virtually nonexistent, and so, his main job was managing his buffs, debuffs, and crowd control.
Against a monster of the Hydra's level, debuffs and crowd control would lose a huge portion of their effectiveness. That's why it was important Gram concentrated on his timing and made the most of every situation.
Sacred Blade's class specialized in facing multiple enemies at once; therefore, Niflheim concluded it was best to let him do as he pleased, given the abundance of targets before them.
And, when it came to Colorful Nimbus, his ranged attacks were limited. However, at the moment, the middle head seemed to be the only one moving into melee strike range; hence, Colorful Nimbus had no choice but to attack whenever the opportunity presented itself. Until then, Colorful Nimbus would have to coordinate with Morrighan and the others to activate the healing marks he placed all over the Hydra's heads.
Swoosh!
Izroth was the first to make his move as he kicked off the ground and soared into the air using Sky Steps!
Almost right after Izroth took to the skies, Morrighan's feet left the earth as she moved freely in the air. It was not a typical levitate spell where one could only slowly lift off the ground—but the legendary S-ranked skill every player dreamed of getting their hands on, Flight!
"What the- They can fly?! I'm dying with jealousy down here..!" Colorful Nimbus g.r.o.a.n.e.d.
"So cool..." Gram muttered to himself.
Izroth approached the Hydra's outer right and right heads as their piercing gazes locked onto him.
'Oh? That Flight skill is the real deal. She's surely full of surprises.'
Izroth's Soul Avatar, Empyrean, also possessed the S-ranked Flight skill, and while Morrighan's movements were somewhat unstable, Izroth recognized it as the same skill.
Since flying came naturally to Empyrean, like breathing or walking, it only made sense that he had a much more refined control of his movements in the sky.
'Hm?'
Suddenly, the outer right and right heads of the Hydra lashed out at Izroth! However, their attacks did not land as he skillfully maneuvered mid-air utilizing Sky Steps.
When Niflheim noticed that the Hydra heads attacked Izroth, he was puzzled.
Without a doubt, he secured the aggro on all five heads. So, why were two of them attacking others but not him?
"Could it be that the other heads ignore threat levels in general? Or, is it when they're attacked?" Niflheim thought to himself.
He was trying to piece things together, but there was just not enough information to go on.
"If it becomes too much to handle, retreat at once!" Niflheim cautioned over the party's voice chat to make certain Izroth and Morrighan heard him.
If it were a conventional raid or dungeon with typical players, Niflheim would have ordered them to retreat. However, everyone present was listed within the top 50 on the event leaderboards. If he played it safe and failed to take full advantage of their strength, how could he be worthy of leading such a skilled group of players?!
After evading the Hydra's strikes, an overbearing and destructive force gathered around Izroth's Sword of The Storm, accompanied by a frightening penetrative energy.
'Let's find out just how tough that head of yours truly is.'