SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will - Chapter 435 The Hydra

The hydra saw them too late.

The first head tried to intercept the left wolf with a pressurized jet. The wolf swerved beneath it and kept coming. The second head spat a water disc at the right wolf. It dodged laterally, the disc sailing past into the fog.

Both wolves struck at the same moment.

The first hit the base of the second neck where it met the body. The second struck the joint between the third and fourth necks. Purple lightning detonated across the hydra’s upper body in a beautiful explosion that turned the mist white.

The shriek that followed was unlike anything Moon had heard from the Hydra before this moment .

The scream bypassed his ears entirely, rattling his skull, shaking his vision, making his teeth vibrate in their sockets. Blood trickled from both ears and ran down his jaw. He cast Minor Mend immediately, the pain subsiding, slowly repairing the damage.

“Damn it…what was that scream…its more like an attack.” Moon ground his teeth in pain.

Still, the hydra’s pain was greater than his own. It thrashed, twisting in the shallows, its four heads whipping in every direction, smashing through dead trees, sending waves crashing across the shore. The lake churned into a frenzy, water splashing Moon’s body.

In immense pain, and in need of protection until it could regain its momentum, the Hydra tried to lower itself back into the water. Spotting the hydra’s body slowly sink back into the surface of the lake, Moon frowned.

The water swirled around the Hydra as it attempted to retreat into the depths where it could heal.

“In your dreams…” Moon immediately leapt into the air, launching himself higher with every step his foot landed on.

Three platforms of solidified air carried him higher, higher, until he was directly above the thrashing creature. The hydra’s body was half-submerged, its four heads flailing beneath him, their movements uncoordinated and desperate.

Moon’s sword appeared in his right hand. He coated it with purple lightning that surged along the blade, so dense the steel disappeared entirely beneath a sheath of violet light. The crackling was almost deafening.

Then, the platform beneath Moon’s foot collapsed under his will.

Thwack!

Moon landed on the creature’s back, plunging his sword in between the base of the second and third necks. The Hydra shrieked even louder, thrashing in an attempt to dislodge him of its body. But Moon held on to his sword that was nearly a meter into the beast.

The four heads tried to twist around him, but Moon activated [Bird Dance].

His hands began to move faster than he could think.

The first slash came from above, carving a deep line through the scales at the base of the nearest neck. The blade cut through the charred, weakened flesh where the Raiju had already done its work, and purple lightning flooded the wound.

The second slash came from the left, a spinning strike that opened a gash across the adjacent neck before it could coil back to defend.

The third came from below, Moon’s body inverting mid-motion, the blade arcing upward through the soft tissue beneath the jaw of the third head.

Each strike flowed into the next without pause. The rhythm accelerated with every swing, Moon’s body shifting direction mid-air, changing angles between cuts in patterns that no head could predict. His feet found purchase on scales, on the ridges of the spine, on hardened slabs of air that formed and dissolved beneath him as he moved.

The purple lightning coating his blade left burning trails across every wound. The regeneration couldn’t keep up with his attacks. Not to mention, the soul-scarring current hit deeper with every hit, eroding the creature’s will to fight.

The hydra bucked and rolled beneath him. One head managed to twist around and snap at his legs. Moon vaulted over the jaws and brought his sword down on the top of its skull, the blade punching through scale and bone. Purple lightning poured into the wound and the head went limp, dropping into the water with a heavy splash.

Three heads left.

Moon didn’t stop. [Bird Dance] carried him across the creature’s body like a storm, his blade rising and falling in a relentless sequence that grew faster and more powerful with every passing second. The combo built on itself, each strike feeding momentum into the next, until Moon’s movements were a blur of violet light and flashing steel.

Moon felt his stamina and mana plummet. Even his monstrous mana regeneration rate couldn’t keep up with the sustained output of two Epic skills running simultaneously for such an extended amount of time. A sensation of burning began to spread through his arms, every swing of the blade cost more than the last.

But he didn’t stop.

For three full minutes, Moon remained on top of the hydra. His sword rose and fell without pause, [Bird Dance] carrying his body through an unbroken chain of strikes while purple lightning poured into every wound he opened. The creature thrashed, bucked, and screamed beneath him, but Moon rode its movements like a sailor riding a storm, adjusting his footing with every shift of the massive body.

He had multiple chances to deliver a killing blow. The third neck was exposed twice. The second head presented its throat for a clean cut at least once. Moon ignored multiple openings would have ended the fight.

‘Not yet…’

The hydra sank beneath the surface, dragging Moon into the black water. He held his breath and kept cutting. The lake churned around them, dark and freezing, visibility reduced to nearly nothing. Moon fought half-blind, guided by the vibrations of the creature’s body beneath his feet and the crackling feedback of his lightning against its flesh.

When the hydra stopped thrashing, Moon knew it was time. Not because it was dead. Because it had given up.

Above the surface, Mirage waited calmly. He wasn’t worried about his master, his rider had reassured him a few times through their mental link.

‘A Second Star beast as a subordinate…doesn’t sound too bad.’ Moon thought, grinning internally.