CHAPTER 80: BOSS FIGHTS III

"Nice—don’t let it heal!" Rhys shouted.

He rushed in, chaining his skills together—Swift Cut → Vertical Slash → Whirlwind Slash. His sword carved long, deep wounds across the Alpha’s chest.

The Alpha stumbled back, but it wasn’t beaten yet. It growled, fangs bared, as black energy gathered inside its jaws.

[Blood Art – Crimson Howl.]

A wave of blood-red power blasted out, throwing Rhys, Puddle, and Bounce back. The bloody mist grew thicker, making it hard to see.

Bounce rolled against Rhys, steadying him with his shell. Puddle floated mid-air, glowing faintly with pale light.

Ancient Wind Magic – Zephyr Barrier.

A dome of cutting winds whirled out, pushing away the choking mist and clearing the area around them.

The Alpha panted hard, its chest ripped open, bleeding, and scorched where fire had burned its healing flesh. It tried to recover—but the blood it needed had already been burned away by Puddle’s flames.

Rhys’s eyes narrowed. His blade shone with elemental energy.

"End it."

They moved as one—Bounce charged low, Puddle fired a cyclone upward, and Rhys dove from above. His sword, wrapped in fire and wind, cleaved down just as Bounce’s impact threw the wolf off balance.

The Alpha roared one last time before collapsing, the blood mist shattering like broken glass.

[Boss Defeated: Dreadfang Alpha]

[EXP Gained — Level Up → 172]

[Drop Acquired: Crimson Fang Relic – Rare Weapon Material]

[Drop Acquired: Tome of Bloodrend Howl (Rare Beast Art)]

[Drop Acquired: Alpha’s Pelt – Rare Armor Material]

The mist cleared completely, showing a new path deeper into the forest. The trail was lined with glowing red stones.

Rhys exhaled, resting his sword on his shoulder. "Blood magic beasts now... this forest really is a nest of bosses."

Puddle bobbed happily with a bright kuyuu!, flickering between fire and wind.

Bounce chimed in with a cheerful pyuu!, tapping his shell against a stone like a gong.

Rhys smirked. "Come on. If corrupted beast lords are showing up already... I want to see what’s waiting deeper in."

The red-stone path looked deliberate, almost like it was built to guide challengers further inside. Every step carried a faint vibration, as if the earth itself still remembered the bosses that had died here.

"Feels like we’re walking straight into something’s lair," Rhys muttered, though he didn’t slow his pace. Puddle floated near him, shifting between flame and breeze, while Bounce’s heavy shell thudded calmly behind them.

The path suddenly widened, opening into a crater-like valley. At the center was a huge stagnant pool glowing faintly green. Sickly black vines crawled at its edges, pulsing like veins.

[Area Entered: Mire of Decay.]

Warning: Corruption density rising. Mana recovery reduced by 20%.

"Great," Rhys sighed. "So much for steady regen."

Puddle pulsed with a faint green light, his Ancient Life Magic easing part of the drain. The heavy pressure lessened, letting Rhys breathe easier.

Then the water rippled once. Twice.

From beneath the swamp, a massive figure rose.

[Boss Spawned: Veyrith, Swamp Tyrant Hydra]

— An ancient, many-headed serpent steeped in rot and decay. Each head channels a corrupted element.

Seven heads burst from the water, each glowing a different sickly shade—oozing acid, dripping tar, spewing poisonous fog.

The ground shook as Veyrith’s seven voices merged into one roaring hiss.

"Hydra..." Rhys muttered, rolling his shoulders. "Of course."

One head lunged, spewing corrosive bile. Rhys darted aside, the liquid melting stone where he had stood.

Bounce slammed into another head, shell-first, the impact booming like thunder. The hydra reeled, but a second head lunged down toward him.

"Kuyuu!"

Puddle spun in mid-air, unleashing—

Ancient Fire Magic – Flame Nova.

A fiery wave burst outward, scorching the swamp and forcing the lunging head back, scales burning black.

But two more heads rose at once—one pouring out toxic gas, the other vomiting tar-like water.

Rhys’s sword blazed with water mana.

Water Blade – Twin Current Strike.

Two arcs of water slashed out, cutting through the poison cloud and blowing it apart. The tar wave still fell, but Bounce braced himself, his shining shell taking the hit. The sludge splattered uselessly off.

"Nice block!" Rhys grinned, before leaping forward. His blade flared with lightning mana—Arc Surge Slash. He cut across a neck, spraying blood as the head screamed.

But when it dropped limp—two more sprouted from the stump, hissing violently.

[Hydra Passive: Endless Regrowth – Severed heads regenerate unless burned with elemental fire.]

"Tch... figures." Rhys glanced at Puddle. "Burn them before they grow again!"

Puddle’s glow flared, channeling his dual power—

Ancient Fire + Wind Magic – Inferno Gale.

A roaring storm of fire ripped across the stump, burning it to ash before new heads could form.

The Hydra thrashed, swamp water erupting, vines cracking across the battlefield.

Rhys gritted his teeth, gripping his sword. "This will take a while."

Bounce cried pyuu!, stomping forward with determination.

Puddle blazed brighter, his fire reflecting in Rhys’s blade.

The Hydra’s seven heads lashed at once, spewing acid, tar, and deadly mist. The swamp shook with venom and rot.

Rhys sprinted through the muck, dodging as a head swept acid across the ground. He rolled over slick stone, sprang upward, and slashed—

Whirlwind Slash.

A storm of sword-light tore through a neck, spraying rotten ichor.

"Kuyuuu!"

Puddle glowed with three colors—green for life, red for fire, white for wind. His aura burst outward—

Ancient Life Magic – Verdant Bloom.

Glowing vines rose from the earth, wrapping Rhys and Bounce. Wounds sealed, mana flowed fresh, and Bounce’s cracked shell gleamed restored.

The Hydra struck back—one head vomiting tar, another lunging for Puddle.

"Bounce!" Rhys shouted.

The turtle’s shell mark glowed silver.

Skill – Moonlight Aegis!

A dome of moonlight appeared, blocking the sludge. The tar dissolved harmlessly against it.

Bounce’s eyes shone. He tucked into his shell—

Skill – Lunar Impact!

He spun like a meteor, smashing into the lunging head. Bones snapped, the serpent reeled with a sickening crack.

Rhys dashed in, his sword burning crimson.

Hybrid Technique – Flameburst Edge!

A fiery slash severed a writhing neck, and Puddle’s Inferno Gale scorched the stump to ash.

The Hydra shrieked, three heads rising together—acid, plague mist, molten sludge mixing into one giant attack.

Rhys grit his teeth. "Not giving us a moment, huh..."

But Puddle was ready. His body flared with all three elements together.

Tri-Element Fusion – Solar Bloom Tempest!

A blazing cyclone filled with fiery petals surged down, burning away acid, shredding mist, boiling sludge into steam. The Hydra’s scales blistered under the radiant storm.

Bounce landed with a crash, silver light sparking from his shell.

"Pyyuuu!"

Moonlight rained down as he unleashed his strongest skill—

Skill – Divine Moonfall.

Silvery beams fell from the sky, pounding the Hydra’s body. Each strike burned with divine power, forcing the monster into a frenzy of pain.

Rhys smirked, gripping the Verdant Scholar Sword. "Perfect. Now we end it."

All seven heads lunged at once, jaws crashing down like falling mountains.

But Rhys surged forward, blade blazing with mana. Puddle shone like a radiant sun. Bounce roared with divine light as moonbeams rained down.

Sword, fire, wind, life, and moonlight clashed with rotting flesh in a blast that shook the forest.

The Hydra spasmed, swamp boiling as its main head glowed crimson. The other heads snapped—but the central maw devoured them in a crunch of bone and scale.

Its body swelled, scales hardening, veins glowing molten red. A single massive head rose, crowned in flame and venom.

[ Boss Transformation – Crimson Abyss Hydra ]

Rhys tightened his grip on the Verdant Scholar Sword, sweat dripping down his face.

"Knew it... a second phase."

The Hydra roared, crimson fire poisoning the air.

"Kuyuuuu!" Puddle floated forward, shimmering with overlapping halos of water, light, and shadow.

Ancient Light Magic – Light Bullets!

Dozens of shining orbs blasted across the Hydra, leaving burning craters on its scales.

Ancient Dark Magic – Abyssal Grasp!

Dark tendrils lashed up, wrapping around the Hydra’s body and neck, pulling it down.

Bounce glowed silver, divine power blazing.

Divine Skill – Lunar Aegis!

A bright shield covered Rhys and Puddle, blocking the crimson flames harmlessly.

Then Bounce leapt high, crashing down with—

Divine Skill – Moonfall Crash!

The swamp floor split as he struck, shockwaves shattering the Hydra’s balance.

Rhys advanced, the Verdant Scholar Sword blazing. Through their bond he felt Puddle’s mana and Bounce’s divine strength surging into him like twin rivers joining his core.

Magic Sword Technique – Vertical Slash!

A silver arc tore across the Hydra’s neck, splitting scales like brittle stone.

Magic Sword Technique – Whirlwind Slash!

Blades of mana spiraled outward as Rhys spun through, ripping deep gouges and forcing the beast backward.

The Hydra bellowed, hurling a torrent of crimson fire that lit the swamp like a second sun.

"Not happening." Rhys thrust his palm forward.

Magic – Mana Shield!

A radiant barrier snapped to life, bolstered by Bounce’s shimmering Aegis. The inferno slammed into it, breaking apart in a storm of sparks that rained across the mire.

"Kuyuuu!"

Puddle answered with a triple weave—

Ancient Water Magic – Water Jet!

Ancient Light Magic – Light Bullets!

Ancient Dark Magic – Shadow Tendrils!

Water pressure, radiant bursts, and coiling shadows hammered into the Hydra at once, ripping open its burning hide and dragging its body low.