Winter was a terrible season for life in general as it stunted or outright killed many forms of life. Only through the miracle of hibernation could plants and animals survive the harsh cold and hope to wake up when the spring thaw came, though sadly not all did. Even the land itself was stunted by means of permafrost and sheets of ice. Frozen lakes in particular could be extremely devastating on the local biosphere as it locked away a source of water and food.

Generally you had to be in a pretty freaking cold place for a lake to freeze though, as generally it was just the surface itself that did so. Surprisingly the water temperature can be pretty resilient to drastic changes with things like size, depth, wind, and even how many streams enter or exit all being contributing factors. In this particular kingdom it seemed it got cold enough for surface freezing of ice with less than one foot thickness.

The reason this all even became relevant information for me is due to a particularly strange prayer that I had revived today. There was a small town near a rather large lake in the south-eastern corner of the kingdom that had sent out their prayers en mass to me about a rather startling threat to their way of life. Something this winter had caused the stirring of monsters beneath the ice and driven it to attack anything that went out on the lake.

This was all a very new development, as of today actually. There was an incident involving a pair of fishermen who had gone out into a particularly icy are to catch some dinner. All in an instant they had been attacked by a huge serpent like sea monster that rose up from the icy water. Unfortunately one of them had been snatched up in its jaws leaving his friend stumbling around on the ice. That soon changed however as the ice began to crack and shift even more. The panicked man ran for his life and remembers seeing at least two other sea monsters fighting with the first for the remains of the man.

Of course I had teleported over as soon as I had gotten the prayer from the townspeople. The surviving fisherman had been in a state of panic so much so that he had been unable to form a prayer to me himself, so it was when he got back to town and got others involved that I finally received it. Not that most people even believed him though, the man rambling about monsters and such. It was only a dozen or so that did on account of an old legend about the lake monster.

Monsters living in lakes were pretty common around the world where I came from so it made sense that this kingdom would have one or two stories about them. In this world however it seemed they were actually real, very unlike the hoaxes I was used to. The fact there were three of them was extra cause for concern as they were clearly able to reproduce. This made it a bit of a relief too as it meant they were just animals of some kind. If I had to speculate they were probably hibernating for the winter and were woken up by... Something.

So here I stood on the icy edge of this rather large and likely deep lake. I was dressed up in my normal winter clothing even though the cold couldn't harm me at all. Figured I'd continue looking the part. Behind me stood the surviving fisherman, a human man named George, who had come back with me to verify the death of the monsters in vengeance for his friend. Understandable I suppose.

While I didn't particularly fear a family of lake monsters I had come here with as much information as I could gather, which in this case was really the description from the only eyewitness. Apparently these beasts were big enough to swallow a man in one bite which pretty typical for lake monsters. They were also like a mix between a fish and a lizard with scales of yellow, green, and white. Pretty nasty sounding customers, though no match for a goddess.

Using my goddess vision I had managed to locate nearby lifeforms and spotted a rather large one somewhere near the bottom of the lake in front of where we were standing. Down there the water would be warmest, as counter-intuitive as that sounded, so would be the most comfortable place for the creatures. At long distances my ability to detect creatures was still a bit hazy so even if this was only one of them the others would come after I activated my plan.

Any monster hunt needs bait in which to lure the target out of hiding and my plan involved the death of another poor innocent deer. Here I was on the edge of the lake with the freshly killed beast with its body floating in the water all cut open and visceral. This of course meant there was tons of blood just spilling out and staining the cold water deep red. A predatory animal just wouldn't be able to resist this and these lake monsters were exception.

George was standing a hundred feet behind me on the lake shore in his tightly wrapped fur coat. He was very frightened even though I was here. Though it could also be because I was here come to think of it. I was another monster in his eyes technically.

“A-Are you sure those monsters will come?” He asked me.

I sighed and stood up in the water, my boots and calves now soaked with freezing water. My hands were also bloodied which I took a moment to clean off in the water.

“Yes little guy.” I replied with a tone of annoyance. “You should know as a fishermen how well this method works.” I then turned my head to look at him over my shoulder. “I left my holiday preparations for this. You could at least act thankful.”

George went stiff in fear and quickly bowed down on his knees.

“T-Thank you m-my goddess!” He stammered.

Before I could turn around and roll my eyes at him for his pitiful display in the snow my goddess vision lit up with movement. At least one of these creatures was on the way and would be here imminently. It was a bit weird looking in my goddess sight actually but with my non-exposure to such a creature before seeing its soul clearly was impossible. I then shut off my special eyes and focused on the real world in front of me for this.

I raised my left hand up beside me.

“Back up. One's coming.”

Hearing this George jumped to his feet and stumbled backwards in terror. He had already seen the rising ripple in the water as the creature made its way up to the shore. The water was still pretty deep here even this close to land because of a large drop off in the lake bed. Whatever kind of serpent it was it was going to be on me in... Three. Two. One.

With a sudden ferocity a huge serpent's head burst forth from the icy water and sent several chunks of ice flying through the air. Its coloration was just as described with its fishy features indeed making it look like some monster straight out of Innsmouth. Its eyes were full of bestial hunger and were a deep shade of red. Considering how big its head was and the length of its body that rose from the water this thing had to be like sixty feet long.

The creature dove for the deer carcass and snatched it up in messy fashion. Its mouth was indeed big enough to eat a human in a single bite and had huge sharp teeth. I noted however that its movements seemed a bit sluggish though, likely due to the cold water.

I sighed as killing it would be such a waste. But really at this point it looked absolutely crazed from hunger and it was probably best to put it out of its misery. With my own deft movement I leapt up into the air in front of the creature's head and swung out my left arm. In front of me a huge blade made of razor thin ice formed and sliced through the air with an audible swish, the cut also severing the animal's head from its neck instantly.

Finishing a midair twirl I landed back in the shallow water facing George, the huge snake's body and head falling down with a splash behind me. It had lurched forward some from the movement so it lay in the shallows too, its blood spilling out and making the whole scene a grisly mess. The ice sword meanwhile had fallen down and shattered into a million tiny pieces in the water.

I lifted my hands into the air and made a pose like a ballerina.

“Tada!” I exclaimed. “One down two to go!”

My celebratory flair when unappreciated as the rushing of water behind me heralded more danger. Since I was currently facing George I got to witness the human stumbling backwards and falling on his butt as he screamed in terror, his right hand pointing to the water behind me.

With the sound of large splashes my next opponent rose from the water behind me. I whirled around to see another almost identical serpent rearing up and preparing to come down and attack me. My face turned into a grimace as I crouched down in preparation for another lead, my focus honed in for another surgical strike.

Imagine my surprise then when the third one burst forth from the ice only thirty or so feet to my other side! This one was hissing as if pissed the hell off! Completely understandable when one saw its sibling or parent dead on the beach. The third one was already in the middle of its strike too and left less than a second for its target to react.

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Lucky for me I'm a goddess and my reaction time can be as short as I need it to be. Thus dispatching these two was simple as could be. It might as well have been some cruel child cutting off the heads of some snakes found at the side of the house.

“Hi-yaaa!”

An embarrassing battle-cry escaped my mouth as I leapt into the air again. Embarrassing as I was acting like a child pretending to be some kind of hero. The tomfoolery of my attack certainly didn't subtract from its effectiveness however as this time I used both my arms to swing out before me, a pair of deadly ice blades cutting through the air and lopping off both serpent's heads at once.

In order commit to the little show I was putting off I had leapt in a way to spin me around again. I landed with bent knees on the shore proper this time, my boots sinking into the half frozen yet wet sand. Once landed I then stood up with my hands on my hips and a proud look on my face. Behind me several splashes indicated the bodies and heads of my prey falling into the water.

George was still sitting down further inland, a look of both terror and awe of his face due to what he had just witnessed. He was completely without words and just oogled both me and the serpents.

I on the other had suddenly had an extremely bad feeling wash over me. It sent a chill down my spine and my face went pale as a sudden realization came over me. There was still an animal soul behind me. My eyes went wide.

“Wait a minute...”

That feeling of overwhelming dread came over me where you really don't want to look behind you but you know you have to. Slowly I turned around to witness something truly extraordinary. There writhing about in the water and kicking up water were the beheaded necks of the serpents!

Well they weren't beheaded anymore! One after another the still bleeding necks rose up out of water as huge bulbous growths sprouted out of the ends, these bumps soon budding off into two lumps. Then in an affront to the natural order itself did two heads spurt forth in a gush of pus, the necks themselves splitting down the middle with the sound of tearing flesh! Down the whole length they split like a lizard shedding its tail until they thickened out to form their own separate necks. Three became four, then five, then six!

Both George and I watched on in with open mouths and bugged out eyes as we were now witness to six huge serpentine beasts waving in the air above us. Simultaneously to all that the ultimate reveal came in the form of the true form of this horrific monster. There rising from the water like a scaly ship came a body, a bumpy and terrible body like a humongous alligator that never stopped growing. Its scales were thick with ice and its legs girthy. This thing's enormous bulk shook the ground with each plodding step of its clawed feet.

“Holy shit!” I shouted as water sprayed around me. “A hydra!”

My voice was filled to the brim with pure unadulterated excitement and joy with not a hint of fear within it. This was an actual monster of myth! A hydra that can regrow its heads in an endless cycle, its ravenous appetite never sated as it gorges itself upon all life. The Lernaean Hydra, named so for the swamp it was located in when an ancient hero of Greece was sent by the gods in a trial. Apparently such creatures exist even in this world!

There was little time to admire the legendary creature however as it was highly pissed and on the attack. Though its movements were slowed due to the cold it was still motivated to rip its tormentor to shreds. That being me. The lake around me was suddenly filled with neck, mouth, and fang as the head collection began its assault.

It was still no effort for me to dodge its attacks, my tiny and agile body jumping between strikes and my feet using the scaly necks to leap to and fro through the air like a monkey between tree branches. Thankfully its ire was wholly focused on me which allowed the now paralyzed with fear human a short distance away to remain unharmed.

If this went on however at least one of the heads would turn its attention to George and then I would have to rescue him. Killing this monstrosity wasn't a big deal for a goddess like me as all I would have to do is cut off its heads again and sear the wounds shut with fire. However at this point it definitely was a total waste to kill this thing. As I dodged its attacks I got it in my head to keep it as a pet.

With a final leap I landed in the water behind the hydra while also growing to goddess size at the same time. My now massive boots sent water and ice flying into the air as the impact caused a small earthquake. Now at my full size this monster was almost hilariously small. It was probably around twenty feet tall and sixty feet long, but compared to me it was about the size of a cat!

Even now that I an extreme size advantage the hydra didn't stop its attacks. Its now tiny heads bit at my legs and feet with all the fury it had when I was tiny comparatively. However if it had any chance of winning at all before it didn't have even a fleeting dream's chance now. For me now it was super easy to just crouch down and scoop up all its heads in my hands like one would do when picking up a snake.

In a matter of moments all six necks were safety grasped in my left hand in a bundle, its heads still snapping as its body squirmed around. I also took the liberty of using my right hand to grab hold of its belly. Then like one would lift a cat I scooped the animal up and into my arms to pin it against my stomach. It probably was comical how absurd this looked to the tiny human down below, though I honestly was too overcome with excitement to care what he thought.

I looked down at George and grinned like a child who had just gotten a new puppy.

“Hey um... I'll be taking this little guy away now alright?” I said almost shyly.

Then I opened a portal directly to my castle and looked down at the human at my feet. The glowing light of the golden portal swirled around at goddess scale which was memorizing in itself. That in addition to the titanic little girl holding a thrashing hydra as a child would a small animal.

“Tell everyone you'll never have to worry about it again!” I said quickly. “Alright bye!”

To avoid the incoming extreme awkwardness of the situation I jumped through the portal. It almost felt wrong to leave that man sitting on the lake shore alone, but now that the danger had passed he would make it back to the town safely. But man of man! If his neighbors didn't belive his story before they really wouldn't now! Well that is if it wasn't for the earthquakes that had rocked the town and all the severed hydra heads that still littered the shoreline. They would have to believe with that evidence.

On the other side of the portal I found myself in the garden of my castle. This was the best place I could think of to actually keep the monstrosity as there wasn't a single place in the kingdom I'd feel safe having it hang around. If I was going to keep it as a pet it required someplace safe to live that would also keep the human population safe as well.

I kept the thing clutched in my arms as I walked through the small courtyard among the plants towards the little pond, in actuality a lake, that was in its center. While I walked I spoke softly to the creature.

“There there little guy.” I cooed. “You get to live with mommy Jenna now! Don't worry I'll keep you safe and warm and fed!”

My goddess domain was kept at a steady seventy degrees fahrenheit and the warmer air was already having an effect on the hydra. Its thrashing and hissing increased in ferocity as its strength began to return. This wasn't a problem for me as it just meant I had to grip it tighter, something I was being extremely careful with as to not harm it. It was still a wild animal after all and I really hoped I could tame it.

When I finally walked up to the lake pond of my garden I crouched down and carefully let the hydra go. I had to be very quick as its heads would definitely strike at me like a snake would when put down. Thankfully however once it felt its body being submerged in warm water its instinct to flee took over instead and it dove underwater in an instant with a large splash.

Once submerged it sank to the bottom and began calming down. I just stayed crouching at the water's edge and watched as it took several minutes for it to truly relax. It surely thought it was out of my sight but of course due to my goddess sight I could still clearly see its soul underwater. Now that I knew what I was looking for its outline was also much clearer.

While watching I lifted my left hand to my chin and rubbed it in thought.

“Now what to hydras eat anyway?” I asked myself aloud. “Well meat of course right? This guy will need whole lot of it. I can't end entire ecosystems to feed him.”

I could tell it was a male due to its soul which was something neat I had noticed when looking closer at it. The problem of feeding him still persisted however. In myth the hydra species was so ravenous because their huge size and healing abilities left them in a constant state of extreme hunger. They pretty much ate whatever moved and could never be satisfied. According to legend anyway.

Me being a goddess could actually produce an endless supply of food for it, like an endless chicken leg or something. Would its demeanor change if it got infinite food? Like would it eventually reach a point where its hunger could be vanquished or would it just eat forever? Either way the end result would be a mostly passive and cute little pet monster for the endlessly adorable goddess of the kingdom. He could be a mascot or something! No actually better not.

“Alright little guy.” I said to the surface of the pond. “Let me make you some tasty food ok?”

My mind didn't even register the absurdity of calling it little, thought technically to me he was. It was still a monster that tiny little humans and the like would run in fear from. That didn't change my view however as it was simply too fascinating and wonderful of a creature. Besides I was safe from it.

After thinking for a little bit I decided on its food source. An infinite giant hunk of meat was definitely possible, the magic of magic allowing it to endlessly respawn using ambient mana. However its initial creation would take an absolutely absurd amount of mana, with Sub-chan's calculations coming out to be half of my full mana bar. No problem! I constantly was getting more mana from worshipers anyway.

I closed my eyes and readjusted my feet as I crouched. Then focusing my mind I reached out my hands in front of me and began imagining the infinite meat. Creating never ending items was something I had done only a few times before and it took a lot out of me and I had never done something this big. The never ending meat chunk big enough for the hydra was going to be as big as a small house, or more like an elephant I suppose.

With the image set in my mind of a tasty raw hunk of flesh, loosely in taste to wild elk, I released my mana into the garden to form the infinite meat. After almost a full minute of focus I had succeeded. This process however did take more out of me than I had expected and though my mana was half full the strain knocked me out.

I fell over in the garden on my back with a earth shaking thud as I blacked out.