— "It's clear that something important must be on the other side," — Paul murmured, guided more by his intuition than by any concrete evidence.
— "What do we do, Paul?" — Gisu asked. — "We're still fairly fresh, but we could also head back now before going in."
As the group leader, the final decision rested with Paul. Arthur and the rest of the team remained silent, waiting for his response. Paul stayed pensive for a few seconds. Then, he spoke firmly:
— "We keep moving. Check your equipment."
Upon hearing his decision, everyone began to prepare. They sat in front of the magic circle, tightening straps, checking weapons, and reviewing provisions. Arthur sat apart and checked the contents of his backpack. What he had consumed the most was food; after prolonged combat, hunger always arrived faster than expected.
He sighed.
"It seems I made the right choice in not bringing Fenrir back into the labyrinth."
Even though it was a monster, fighting in a closed space against creatures of a similar or even superior rank would have been disastrous. That's why it was better for him to stay at the base with Lilia and the others.
"I wonder if he isn't causing trouble..." — Arthur thought.
— "Do you have enough scrolls?" — Roxy asked, approaching and pulling him out of his thoughts.
Arthur raised his head and responded calmly:
— "As you can see, I only carry light scrolls, so I don't need them."
Roxy hesitated for a moment.
— "Are you sure? Don't you want... healing scrolls?"
Arthur smiled and shook his head.
— "I think you'll need them more."
He stood up, ready to continue. Hearing his words, Roxy gripped her staff tightly. She didn't know why, but looking at the magic circle, an unpleasant sensation ran down her spine. Elinalise, after handing a magic crystal to Rudeus, threw two more toward Roxy and Arthur.
— "If you run out of mana, don't hesitate to use them," — she spoke with a seriousness uncharacteristic of her.
Both nodded, storing the crystals in silence.
— "It's about time. Are you ready, guys?" — Paul spoke from the side, making the others stand up with serious faces.
— "Rudy," — Paul called.
— "What is it, Dad?"
— "Even though I don't think this is the moment... I want you to know that..."
— "If it's a bad moment, better save it for now," — Rudeus interrupted him, his heart racing with the concern that those words were a farewell. — "Tell me when we get out of here."
Paul nodded, a bit discouraged, but regained his composure immediately. Arthur, by his side, could only agree in secret.
"Those phrases are what trigger death flags... better for him to stay quiet for now."
Paul gave the group one last look.
— "Alright, let's go!"
...
The room they appeared in was a gigantic space, similar to an ancient temple or a forgotten mausoleum. It was rectangular, the size of a palace entrance. Colossal columns rose parallel to the end of the room, with a ceiling so high it forced you to strain your neck to see it in the dimness. The floor was made of perfectly fitted geometric tiles.
— "Oh...!?" — the sigh of amazement was general.
At the end of the row of columns stood a single monster. Its size was massive. Even from hundreds of meters away, emerald-green scales were visible. Its chest was strangely wide to support the mass of heads sprouting from it.
"It's that monster..." — Arthur gripped the hilt of his sword and swallowed hard. Seeing it in person was terrifying. — "I feel like I'm forgetting something crucial about this beast."
— "It's a Hydra... tell me it's a joke... it's the first time in my life I've seen one..." — Gisu's voice was the only thing echoing in the sepulchral silence.
Before them stood a Manatite Hydra with nine heads. But the gaze of Paul and Arthur went beyond the monster. On the farthest wall, behind the beast, glowed a massive magic crystal of the same emerald tone. And inside... was a woman. Blonde hair, features that reminded one of Norn. It was her.
— "ZENITH!!" — Paul's cry tore through the air.
Without waiting for anything, Paul lunged toward the Hydra, sword in hand. The group was stunned, but Arthur did not hesitate and ran after him, covering his back.
— "YOU IDIOTS!! DON'T JUST CHARGE IN LIKE THAT!" — Gisu screamed in desperation.
Elinalise and Talhand ran after them to prevent them from being annihilated immediately.
— "I'll cover you!" — Roxy shouted, beginning to chant alongside Rudeus.
A massive ice spike flew over Paul and Arthur, striking the Hydra's body directly... but the result was zero. The ice simply evaporated upon contact with the scales.
"What happened? Why didn't it do anything?"— Arthur thought, alarmed.
Rudeus launched another attack, but the magic dissolved before touching the monster's skin. Arthur then remembered the forgotten detail: Manatite. Its scales negated magic.
— "OAAAAAAA!!!" — Paul's battle cry echoed as one of the heads lunged at him like a snake.
With a minuscule movement, Paul dodged the attack, and in a blink, that same head went flying through the air, severed by a perfect slash. Arthur was not far behind. He leaped, dodging a lateral bite, spun in the air while reinforcing his sword with Touki, and cleanly cut the neck of another head. As he fell, a third head with bared fangs lunged frantically from the side toward the falling Arthur. He tried to use wind magic to boost himself, but the spell vanished before taking effect.
"Dammit, magic is useless near her!" — Using only the momentum of his body, Arthur spun vertically, slicing the beast's snout and escaping the bite's range by millimeters.
In a nearly instantaneous clash, Paul and Arthur had severed four of the nine heads. However, the Hydra did not seem weakened.
— "Shaaa...!" — a collective hiss erupted from the stumps.
Paul, in the center, began to be surrounded. Arthur tried to regroup with him, but the remaining heads separated them, besieging them relentlessly. It seemed the Hydra was beginning to predict their movements.
— "Paul!!" — Elinalise shouted, arriving just in time to block an impact with her shield. She tried to activate the shockwave of her sword, but again a metallic tinkle was heard: Tji~n!
The magic of Elinalise's sword was absorbed by the scales. The Hydra continued its advance as if nothing had happened. Arthur was being attacked by three heads simultaneously. He infused more Touki into his legs, gaining the speed necessary to escape the siege. He looked toward Paul just as a wall of water—created by Rudeus from a distance—hit him laterally, dragging him back to pull him away from the monster's jaws. Elinalise also retreated, protecting the withdrawal.
Arthur landed beside them in a single leap, his breathing heavy and his eyes fixed on the monster that seemed to mock their efforts.
— "Don't launch any more magic!" — he shouted with authority, his voice echoing over the chaos. — "You won't hurt that thing; its body is made of **Manatite**. It's absorbing every bit of mana we throw at it."
Hearing this, Talhand interrupted his spell immediately. Rudeus and Roxy, who had read the book, paled as they realized: they were fighting an enemy that negated their greatest advantage. But the horror didn't end there. Arthur looked at the severed necks of the Hydra and felt his blood run cold.
— "Paul... look at the necks..." — Arthur whispered.
Where there were once clean cuts, the flesh bubbled and writhed. The heads were regenerating at an absurd speed, emerging again with a victorious hiss.
— "Retreat!" — Roxy shouted, realizing the situation was suicidal.
However, Paul didn't hear her. Ignoring that the Hydra was healing and that magic was useless, he grit his teeth and prepared to charge again, eyes bloodshot. Before Elinalise or Gisu could do anything, Arthur planted himself in front of him, blocking his path.
— "Get out of the way, Arthur! Let me go... I have to save Zenith!" — Paul roared frantically, trying to push him aside.
— "Don't act like a child!" — Arthur retorted, standing firm as a rock. — "Don't you see? Magic doesn't affect it and it can even regenerate. If you go now, you'll only die in vain."
— "I don't care!! I have to go!!"
— "Forgive me, Mr. Paul."
Arthur moved with a speed no one could predict. He took a short step and landed a punch directly on Paul's jaw. The impact sent Paul backward, where Rudeus and Roxy caught him so he wouldn't hit the ground.
— "Let's go, now!" — Arthur ordered, looking at Talhand.
The dwarf reacted instantly and threw an object on the ground that exploded, creating a thick, bitter smoke cloud in front of the Hydra. Gisu and Talhand wasted no time and ran back toward the magic circle.
To cover the escape, Arthur and Rudeus joined forces, creating a massive fog curtain that completely blinded the Hydra while it tried to advance with slow but heavy steps.
One by one, they crossed the crimson portal and appeared back in the safety of the previous room. Arthur was the last to cross. He let out a long sigh, feeling the adrenaline begin to drop, giving way to profound exhaustion.
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Roxy, agitated and with evident concern etched on her face, searching for him.
Seeing him, she let out a genuine sigh of relief.
— "I thought... I thought it had caught you," — she murmured, stepping closer as if needing to check that he was whole.
Arthur gave her a tired smile, trying to transmit calm.
— "I'm fine, don't worry," — he responded in a low voice, placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. The contact lasted only a second, but it was enough for her to calm down.
Arthur shifted his gaze to the rest of the group. The panorama was bleak. Gisu and Talhand were visibly exhausted, leaning against the wall. Paul, for his part, remained sitting on the floor, touching his face where Arthur had hit him, while watching the magic circle with a look of pure hatred.
Rudeus finished healing Elinalise, who had suffered some injuries during the melee. Once the elf's wounds closed, Rudeus approached his father cautiously.
— "Dad... are you okay?"
— "Ah... yeah. Forgive me, Rudy," — Paul responded, though his voice sounded strained. — "I'm calm now."
Arthur, watching from a distance, narrowed his eyes.
"Liar... his aura radiates a hatred and frustration that he can't hide even with a thousand apologies."
He decided to step away a bit to give them space; he knew that was a conversation father and son needed to have. He sat in a corner and began to meditate, closing his eyes to try and force his memory. He needed to remember every detail of the canon, every weakness of the Manatite Hydra that he might have forgotten due to the tension of the moment.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the group grew thick. Paul began to reproach Rudeus for his apparent calm upon seeing Zenith trapped in that crystal, mistaking his son's pragmatism for a lack of affection. Gisu and Elinalise intervened immediately, lecturing Paul to regain his sanity.
— "Paul, look at me! If we hadn't retreated now, everyone would be dead, including her!" — Elinalise shouted.
Roxy watched the dispute nervously, unsure if she should intervene in such an intimate family conflict. It was then that Arthur stood up with an expression of renewed determination.
— "There is no need to worry about Zenith," — Arthur declared, his voice cutting through the argument like a knife. — "Without a doubt, she is still alive."
Paul stopped in his tracks, looking at him with a spark of desperate hope in his eyes.
— "Are you serious, Arthur?"
Roxy, catching Arthur's intention to calm their spirits, decided to support him with what she knew.
— "Arthur is right," — she added, adjusting her hat. — "Occasionally, magic objects and even living beings have been trapped inside mana crystals in labyrinths. Once the Guardian is defeated, the crystal shatters and its contents are deposited on the ground, generally intact."
Elinalise nodded firmly, reinforcing the theory.
— "I've heard stories about that too... I know a person who went through something similar to Zenith and, to this day, lives a completely normal life."
Calming Paul.....
To be continued.