Chapter 26: One Slash 2
The Hydra is one of the most powerful magical beasts since ancient times. Legends say they are among the ancient divine beasts under the command of the ancient dragon god. According to legend, they have nine heads, their size enough to cover the sky, and the power to destroy the world with a single stomp. The one that appeared before Aldrian, though it only had three heads, was still a Hydra nonetheless. Its power was beyond what its cultivation level suggested.
Despite all the horror and legend surrounding the Hydra, Aldrian did not despair. Even though the Hydra in front of him was nearly ready to unleash its extraordinary attack, Aldrian closed his eyes and entered a state of deep comprehension. Inside his mind and senses, he could feel the entire energy within the domain and the power he could harness. He poured his concepts into his comprehension, focusing on the power he hoped to achieve with each attack of the technique he was creating.
"The attack must be enough to defeat the three-headed Hydra with Mid King stage cultivation. No, that's not right. The attack must be able to cut through whatever is in front of me, to bypass everything it touches, an attack infused with my will," he shaped his technique in his mind.
"There is nothing that can escape my will," he thought, pouring his mind into the technique. He touched his sword hilt and slowly began to unsheathe it. Unbeknownst to him, with each centimeter he drew his sword, phenomena began occurring throughout Balin City.
At this exact moment, Livrin was almost at Aldrian's location.
"Damn it! That Hydra is at Mid King Stage. I need to give my all if I want to contain that beast, and even then, there's no guarantee I can defeat it. Those devil bastards can summon a Hydra with that kind of power." Livrin almost wanted to scream in frustration at how the devils had this kind of trump card. If that beast were summoned inside Balin, he couldn't imagine the destruction it would cause.
He started to regret giving Aldrian the chance to face the dukes, but now was not the time for regrets, and he began to plan a contingency. Suddenly, he felt something from the sword at his waist. It started to vibrate and shake, and without his control, it unsheathed itself and floated, pointing in Aldrian's direction. He stopped moving and looked in that direction.
"This is Sword Will!" Livrin trembled. But that wasn't the end of it. He sensed a sudden huge concentration of energy and a strange aura at Aldrian's location. He looked at the World Tree as he heard the rustling sound of its leaves. The World Tree seemed joyous as energy from the entire city began pouring in one direction. The entire populous city was stunned when this strange phenomenon occurred, with all the swords in the city trembling, unsheathing themselves, and pointing toward Aldrian.
Back at Aldrian's location, he had almost fully unsheathed his sword. The Hydra, with its intelligence, sensed something wrong with this puny human. The strange energy and aura exuding from the tiny human felt intimidating. The devils who tried to return to the city also stopped to look at him. They felt the sudden pressure and couldn't move, even the duke-stage devils felt heavy.