It was a hydra. But it was not any ordinary hydra. It was known as the Unkillable Hydra of Tertia.

It had been the creation of the previous Overlord of Tertia— before Tiara came to power— Overlord Thoran himself. He had always been fascinated with all kinds of strange creatures. So he had experimented with a plethora of different creatures, altering their biology and physiology, until he could create what was the so-called perfect specimen.

That was why his title as an Overlord had been revoked. Because he began experimenting on people, earning the ire of his own world. As such, the rest of the Overlords could not allow him to continue governing Tertia.

And he had been executed.

But that was not the point. The point was that the Unkillable Hydra was meant to be an immortal beast that even the other Overlords hadn’t been able to kill. So they sealed it away for eternity.

Until Bronz came along.

It was on a whim. He wanted to know whether he could kill something that was supposed to be unkillable. After all, if he succeeded in doing so, he would be able to summon its likeness.

Unfortunately, when he freed the Unkillable Hydra, it went on a rampage, and it couldn’t be killed. So it terrorized Tertia for the better part of a decade, even fending off the newly-appointed Overlord Tiara at the time whenever she showed up.

And Bronz took his failure to kill it as a challenge, so he sought for a way to kill what was immortal. That was when he found out about the Lance of Longinus. An artifact that was said to have predated the existence of the System in Tertia.

With some help, Bronz eventually found the weapon, and wielding it was what enabled him to kill what was supposed to be unkillable. Unfortunately, it was also what got him into trouble with the System.

Which was how he became an Inquisitor today.

But it didn’t matter to him anymore. All that mattered was he killed this annoying human who was humiliating him. So Bronz laughed as the ethereal form of the Unkillable Hydra descended from the sky, its many serpentine heads coiling down towards Damien.

“Behold and despair in the face of death!” Bronz cackled wildly as he spread his arms wide.

All the while, dark clouds eddied overhead, and purple streaks of lightning filled the sky. And Damien just stood there, staring wide-eyed at the oncoming beast.

***

Damien gritted his teeth as he watched the monster make its approach to him. It was strong. He could sense that it was powerful. Even if it was an apparition— a copy of what was once a ferocious beast— its strength was otherworldly.

It almost reminded Damien of facing down a hidden boss for the first time. Back then, he remembered the exhilaration— the thrill of being faced with an insurmountable challenge. So he should have felt the same feeling as back then. After all, the scenario felt the same.

However, right now, he still felt nothing.

Damien leapt into the air and flew straight at the monster before it could even fully finish forming.

“[Greater Haste],” he said as his figure blurred.

The Unkillable Hydra opened one of its mouths, sending a blast of purple lightning down at him. But it completely missed as he reached the side of its head. And he raised a hand.

“[A Hundred Blows]!” Damien bellowed.

And in that instant, he battered the foremost head of the hydra with a hundred of his strongest punches at once. It was like he was punching at full intensity with each swing. Every single punch was the perfect strike.

Even Bronz had to avoid this attack. But despite that, the Unkillable Hydra barely even recoiled from the full force of his swing.

Damien blinked as it unhinged the jaw to the mouth he just punched. Electricity crackled around its maw, and he cursed.

“[Disengage].”

Damien vanished as the blast of purple lightning shot out. He landed back on the ground as he narrowed his eyes, watching as the attack evaporated a large section of the forest with ease. All the while, a storm continued to gather overhead as the Unkillable Hydra continued to manifest.

Not only was it able to withstand Damien’s attacks like it was nothing, but it was also capable of killing him. He was certain of it. If he had been struck by that lightning, he would have been left at the cusp of death.

So he clenched his fists as he made a decision. He needed to end this battle early— because the hydra could finish forming. Otherwise, he would have a real problem.

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Dashing forward, he avoided even more lightning strikes with his still-active [Greater Haste]. Slowly, his body was lit ablaze by a golden flame. And his fists shone brightly as he leapt into the air, flying straight back at the Unkillable Hydra.

“[Supernova Strike]!” he shouted as his voice echoed.

It was his strongest attack, and he unleashed it immediately. Even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to use it again anytime soon if he used it now. He had to.

To end the battle as soon as possible.

Damien’s attack struck true, before the Unkillable Hydra could even fully descend into the earth. A golden pulse washed across the landscape, shaking the nearby trees like it was a green ocean rocking with waves.

The sheer force of his punch completely dissipated the lightning blasts that were shooting down from the sky. The impact itself rocked the monster back. But that was not all.

A flaming shockwave rippled across the body of the Unkillable Hydra as it let out a screech. The entirety of its body combusted into the same golden flames as it was caught in a powerful implosion. Its many heads were blown apart, and a gaping hole was left in the middle of its body.

The storm that was gathering dispersed, and the spell circle almost seemed to fade away.

Damien landed back into the ground as he watched the bloodied chunks of the Unkillable Hydra’s broken and burning body rain around him. Despite its incredible strength, it wasn’t able to survive Damien’s most powerful Skill.

After all, his [Supernova Strike] allowed him to quite literally punch far above his level.

For the entirety of the moment the Skill was active— which was not long— he received an incredibly massive boost to all his Stats. He estimated he was close to a hundred levels stronger than he actually was when he used [Supernova Strike].

That was why he was able to overcome the Unkillable Hydra, despite the level difference between them.

Or so Damien thought. But as he straightened and the golden flames flickered off his body, he quickly learned why the Unkillable Hydra had its name.

His brows snapped together, watching as the fallen corpse of the hydra that had crashed before him began to regenerate. It moved and twitched and began to regrow its head. Just like a hydra was supposed to.

Even though its body had been lit aflame by the [Supernova Strike]— even though it was left charred from the implosion. That was not enough to put it down. Its flesh healed like it had just drank down a gallon of a Potion of Regeneration, the flames that were burning its body slowly snuffing out because of some incomprehensible magic.

The Unkillable Hydra picked itself up as Damien clicked his tongue, watching this scene.

And before he could even prepare himself for the monster to fully revive, his eyes flickered. He watched as a purple beam shot straight at him from the side.

Damien moved out of the way, only for the purple beam to twist in the air and give chase after him. Blinking, he watched as this attack gave chase to him wherever he went.

It was unlike the previous purple beams that Bronz had fired Damien’s way. It tracked him, even if he darted through the trees. Knowing that he couldn’t escape, he planted his feet down onto the ground and raised both his arms.

[Aura Creation], he focused as a golden shield came into existence.

Created by his aura.

The purple beam clashed into the golden shield he had created as he staggered back. There was a flash of light as his aura and Bronz’s magic collided for a long moment. Before the shield gave out.

There was a small explosion as the shield cracked and shattered from the force of the beam.

Damien staggered back in the middle of a small crater as the blast cleared, and he looked down at his arms. He was bleeding from the shoulder. The first injury he had received in a long time.

And landing right in front of him was the gloating winged figure of Bronz, raising his pitchfork in the air.

“You cannot kill the Unkillable Hydra— it’s in the name! It’s immortal!” Bronz spread his arms wide as the silhouette of Unkillable Hydra rose from the ground behind him. There was a flash of lightning as the storm began to return, more bolts of lightning falling from the sky. “You will die here, human!”

That was right. It was foolish for Damien to have thought he could defeat a boss monster just like that. Never before had he ever been able one shot a boss monster that was stronger than him.

Even the ones that always had a glaring weakness— there was always a catch.

So this battle would take much longer to win than this.

And Damien closed his eyes as he considered this. It had been so long since he had last felt his own blood trickling down his body. He had almost forgotten what it felt like. The strange warmth. The numbing pain. It had all been so familiar to him at one point.

He had craved to feel it again. To be faced with a challenge he couldn’t overcome.

Here it was now, facing him down.

Raising his head, Damien stared at the rising figure of the Unkillable Hydra as lightning blasted behind it. He saw the sneering devil-like face of Bronz, before he looked back down at himself.

And he realized why he felt no joy in this moment.

Back during the tutorial, he had overcome all the challenges he faced alone. All the killers he met were only after his life— and of course, he developed a disdain for them as such. But all the while, it was all about himself.

A challenge for himself to face and overcome.

Every threat was treated the same. Whether it was one he willingly walked into, or one he was forced to fight. But this was not the same situation any longer. This threat was different.

Because this was no longer just about him. It was about the people he cared about too.

Damien knew that if he fell here, then so would Aria and Lena. And even though they weren’t related to him by blood, he enjoyed the time he spent with them. He considered them his family.

That was why he didn’t enjoy this challenge. It was no longer just his life in the line, which he never cared much about in the first place. The lives at stake were people who he truly cared about.

So Damien rose to his feet as he flexed his arm, stopping the blood from flowing out of his wounds.

“You’re right,” Damien said as he looked towards the Unkillable Hydra in the distance. “I can’t kill this monster. But I can kill you.”

“Oh?” Bronz blinked.

And Damien’s eyes flickered, before flashing red.

“[Berserk Mode],” he whispered.

Then all Damien saw was red as Bronz’s eyes went wide.