Conquering The Novel

Even though the Hydra was able to easily defeat the enormous army of skeletons that stood in its way as it approached Ares, it ran into difficulties due to the skeletons' sheer numbers, as they kept resurfacing.

Of course, the skeleton's soldiers' only purpose was to divert the hydra's attention so they could plan their next course of action to confront it.

And soon after, as the deadly poisonous fog began to clear, Ares covered himself in electricity and charged toward the four-headed hydra from its blind spot.

Swish!—

—

He dashed forward, leaving only a blue trail behind him, and jumped toward one of the Hydra's heads, he then stabbed both of its eyes with his both katanas, completely blinding one of the hydra's heads.

shik!

Kheooooong!—

Blood poured like rainfall from the blinded eyes of the hydra head that had been stabbed, causing it to scream in pain and draw the attention of the other heads to Ares.

Meanwhile, Ares instantly pulled out his katanas from the hydras' eyes and leaped into the air, leaving himself vulnerable and easy prey for the other heads to chew off.

The second hydra head, as predicted, moved its head in the direction of Ares, who was hovering, and then opened his mouth wide to chew him off.

Ares just observed the Hydra head move in his direction with a huge grin on his face.

"Blood Manipulation!" A loud chant was heard from the surroundings.

And as the second hydra-head with its mouth wide open approached Ares, who was still hovering in midair, massive spears made of blood appeared out of nowhere and pierced its mouth, leaving a large gaping hole.

Kheoooong!—

It was without a doubt Livia's blood manipulation ability!

And Ares wasting no time, used his skill Location swap to quickly switch places with a skeleton soldier who was moving toward the third head of the Hydra.

Swap!

!?

He then immediately used his skill, "Atomic Slash," slashing the third head repeatedly without completely dismembering it.

—Slash—Slash—Slash

Kheoooong!—

And after using his skill Ares landed on the ground and fixed his gaze on the Bloodied Hydra which was screaming in excruciating pain and rushed back, as if to regenerate.

Nonetheless, even as it retreated, the rapid regeneration of its wounds was observable.

Monsters fleeing battles was not uncommon. Even golems as hard as diamonds, otters the size of mountains, and creatures hundreds of meters long could retreat between battles to recover.

As a result, Ares was ready when the Hydra, with its three wounded heads, turned around and began to flee.

There were methods for stopping monsters from escaping.

"It will try to escape into the water," Ares said to Irethiel telepathically.

He had, of course, planned for this exact moment.

To prevent anyone from pursuing it as it fled, the Hydra released a poisonous fog in its trail.

"Alright, Irethiel, I'll leave him in your capable hands," Ares declared.

"...."

"...How could he have anticipated this moment so accurately?" Irethiel was puzzled as she watched the Hydra rush toward the water.

The army of Skeleton Soldiers blocked the Hydra's route, but it sped through them, obliterating everything in its path without difficulty or even bothering to attack it.

The Hydra quickly moved until it encountered the enormous piles of corpses that were lying on the ground after trampling the Skeleton Soldiers.

!?

That was the moment it happened, even before he could react.

"Corpse Explosion!" Irethiel made a low, muttering sound.

Booooom!

And immediately after that, all the bodies surrounding the Hydra erupted in massive explosions.

Boooooom!

—

When the Hydra was subjected to such a vicious attack, and all the corpses surrounding it began to blow up, the hydra's extremely resilient skin began to bleed. However, that fatal wound was not the only factor; as some of its body was also engulfed in fire, which was now constantly burning it.

The Hydra, which had just been fleeing outrageously, was now writhing on the ground, its mouth opened in a menacing position.

It would have never thought that the bodies it had been moving through could detonate like mines.

Naturally, the Hydra didn't find the skeletons to be threatening and decided to trample them on its way.

However, it lacked the intelligence to recognize that the bodies on the ground were a trap.

The Hydra's fourth head which was slightly less wounded compared to its other head growled menacingly at Ares as he approached it slowly, but it could be seen that its body was still slowly regenerating.

Nevertheless, Ares moved close to it and aimed his arrow at the Hydra.

He then used his "Static Electricity" skill to completely engulf the arrow in electricity.

Swish!

—

Without saying a word or giving it any time to recover from the prior attack, he shot the electrically charged arrow at the immobile Hydra from a close range, which increased the attack's potency.

Booooom!

—

The Hydra's entire body exploded into pieces including all of its heads as soon as the arrow struck it, causing an explosion.

—Shiiiiiiik—Shiiiiik

And as the smoke from the explosion dissipated, only the sound waves of electricity could be noticed, and the darkened scorched body parts of Hydra could be seen dropping from the sky.

[Phase 3 has been completed!]

[The Boss Monster Hydra has been slain.]

[Congratulations On Finishing The Gate's Trial!]

***

Outside The Gate At The Same Time

—Knock—Knock

[Come in!]

[Did you call me Ma'am?] As she entered the room, a woman in a black suit inquired.

[Yes, What's the update on that mysterious dark gates that have appeared all over the continent? Has anyone cleared it yet?] A white-haired woman with an eye patch sat in her office, holding her head as if she had a headache, and questioned a woman in a black suit who appears to be her secretary.

[...A total of twelve mysterious dark gates have appeared across the continent, and only people with A-Rank or lower power levels have been able to enter them.

And the first mysterious dark gate that appeared in the kingdom of Aloctona near the monster exhibition three days ago which also vanished as soon as the adventures entered it has yet to reappear.

whereas the gates that appeared after that and were entered by other adventurers reappeared after a day but with no survivors, and there's an unusual number 4 written on top of the gate.] The secretary read the report that she was carrying.

"...."

'...Hmm, does the number 4 represent the fact that we still have four chances to clear that gate?' The white-haired woman thought to herself while repeatedly tapping her finger on the table in front of her.

[...I believe the adventurers who entered the gate that appeared in the Aloctona Kingdom are still alive.

That's the only explanation for why the gate hasn't reappeared yet!] As she stood up by pushing the table in front of her, the white-haired woman stated.

She then took up her coat, which was hanging on her seat, and began to walk away while wearing it.

[Madam Jessica, where do you want to go? You have an important meeting in a few hours.] The secretary hurriedly said and trailed after the white-haired woman who appears to be the Hero Association's president Jessica.

But she was ignored, and Jessica instead raised a question.

[...Wasn't Ares among those who entered the gate that appeared in the kingdom of Aloctona?] Jessica inquired.

!?

[Y-Yes, Ares and his ex-fiancee Silvia Ursula have also entered the gate...

However, if he fails to clear that gate as well, given his current popularity, the entire continent will be in an uproar.] The secretary responded uneasily as she trailed behind Jessica.

"...."

'...Perhaps they'll be able to clear that gate!' Jessica thought to herself inwardly.

***