Chapter 286
Talos sprinted forward with all its might, both arms colliding with Hydra’s massive body, sending it skidding back hundreds of meters. No, it wasn’t just skidding—it was still being pushed back, further and further.
The ground was torn apart beneath them, rocks and hills crumbling in their path as Talos relentlessly drove Hydra away. It was as if the sole goal was to push the beast so far that it would never be able to return to the battlefield. Hydra, watching this seemingly futile effort, narrowed its eyes in amusement.
This was its nature. To mock those who challenged it. To ridicule those who struggled against fate. It had been the same when it let its severed heads regenerate, reveling in the despair of its enemies. It was a monster that only the great hero Heracles had ever truly vanquished. And once again, it sought to indulge in its cruel pastime.
Perhaps that was why it hadn’t realized the truth earlier. If it still had more than one head remaining, it might have taken a moment to observe its surroundings instead of indulging in the pleasure of toying with its prey.
And so, Hydra failed to notice the trap. It wasn’t until the very last moment that it realized where Talos was pushing it—downward toward the abyss that cut through the very heart of the Underworld.
According to Olympian myths, the deepest part of the Underworld was known as Tartarus, a place so inescapable that even the gods could not freely leave once they set foot inside. Poseidon himself had once sealed a portion of this abyss, constructing impenetrable walls and gates around it.
Of course, Hades had yet to fully recover his divinity, so this was not the Underworld’s true Tartarus or the prison of the gods. But that didn’t matter, because this abyss still existed.
Talos drove Hydra straight into it. Hydra, eager to mock its opponent’s final struggle, suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath it. It realized too late that it was no longer simply being pushed back—it was falling.
It wasn’t just gravity affecting it. Some force of law was pulling Hydra down as if it had grabbed Hydra’s ankles.
—■■?! ■■■!!? ■■■■■...!?!
As both Hydra and Talos plummeted together, Drake recalled an old text he had once read in the archives of the Order of the White Dragon.