Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

The fluids and venom from the Hydra sprayed everywhere, creating a mess around them.

“This stinging is driving me crazy.”

“Can you go any crazier than you already are?”

“You sure have a strange way of saying thank you.”

“Why should I thank you?”

“Never mind. I’ll accept your gratitude. You can buy the next meal at the next village.”

“You’re out of money anyway, aren’t you? Besides, that’s not just accepting gratitude!”

Crushing its head from inside a monster’s stomach? That wasn’t something that would come to an ordinary person’s mind.

“It was all part of the plan.”

‘Yeah, right.’

“…Are you not afraid of anything?”

“I left fear behind in my cradle.”

Inyakan made a frivolous comment as he looked back at the Hydra’s corpse.

“In the end, you were right. A monster like this was lurking near the village.”

“It’s not dead yet.”

“…What do you mean? I crushed its head. How could it still be alive?”

Inyakan nudged the Hydra’s body with his foot.

“It looks pretty dead to me.”

In the labyrinth during the Scala test, there was a Minotaur. It was a mid-sized monster. The Minotaur was about this size. But why is a Minotaur a mid-sized monster, while the Hydra is a large-sized one?

The answer lies in this head…

“This is not its main body.”

“The main body is elsewhere. The Hydra is not dead yet.”

Thud, thud, thud.

The ground trembled with the sound of its footsteps.

The air around them grew heavier.

Between the bushes, glimpses of snake scales could be seen.

Its belly, white and exposed.

Another snake’s head appeared, parting the branches.

Even the talkative Inyakan fell silent, watching the Hydra’s reappearance in breathless anticipation.

Kyaaah―!

Enraged by its injury, the newly appeared green snake roared.

Another head emerged from the bushes on the opposite side.

One, two, three……

The heads multiplied as if proliferating.

The last to appear was a golden head, twice as large as the others.

“That is the Hydra’s main body.”

“Utterly unbelievable.”

The main body, the golden head, quivered its scales like a crown.

As all eight heads roared, the very atmosphere seemed to groan in fear.

Binaeril and Inyakan covered their ears.

The decapitated snake at their feet began to twitch again.

A new jaw formed, then a head, and finally, eyes, nose, and mouth.

This was the power of the Hydra, a large-class monster known as a catastrophe.

“As long as we don’t kill the main body, it will keep regenerating. Inyakan, I warned you. Run away while you still can.”

The nine pairs of eyes finally fixed on them.

Contrary to Binaeril’s expectations, Inyakan did not panic even after confirming the Hydra’s true form.

He neither showed fear nor attempted to flee.

Instead, he walked over to Binaeril and pointed to the sword hanging at his waist.

“I need to borrow that.”

“This?”

He pointed to the curved blade sheathed at his side, the one he called Sikrun.

“If you’re not going to use it.”

The playful demeanor Inyakan had shown earlier was gone. With a strange intensity, Binaeril handed over Sikrun.

“Aren’t you going to run away?”

“I told you, I can’t live with debts.”

“It seems like too formidable an opponent to repay just for a meal.”

“I like to have a hearty workout after a meal.”

Inyakan swung the handed Sikrun lightly.

“This is just the right challenge.”

“Bluffing, are we?”

Though his words were curt, inwardly Binaeril was glad to have his support. A man who tore through the Hydra’s head with his bare hands, who didn’t flinch or flee in the face of a large-class monster. There was an inexplicable sense of trust emanating from his back. Binaeril had anticipated the creature’s identity, but facing the Hydra in person, he too felt overwhelmed by its presence. He wasn’t confident he could handle a large-class monster alone.

Inyakan dipped the blade of Sikrun into the pool of the Hydra’s venom.

“What are you doing? You’re going to damage the blade.”

“I once saw a viper bite its own tongue.”

“Well? Aren’t you curious? Will a snake die from its own venom?”

“…What happened?”

“What do you think happened?”

“It wouldn’t die, right? If it didn’t have immunity to its own venom, it would be at risk every time it swallowed its saliva.”

“Well, the snake died.”

Inyakan chuckled.

“It got poisoned by its own venom. Isn’t that funny?”

“You think that what happened to that snake will work on the Hydra?”

“Worth a try, don’t you think? Aren’t you curious?”

Hearing him, Binaeril couldn’t help but feel a bit curious. And right in front of them was the perfect subject for their experiment.

The Hydra’s nine heads writhed, their necks moving while their positions remained fixed. Binaeril hesitated, unsure whether to call them necks or bodies.

“The remaining heads will keep regenerating unless we kill the golden head. Therefore, we should focus our attacks on that golden head.”

“You’re quite knowledgeable. How do you know?”

“I’m from Elfenbine. I learned at the Mage Tower.”

“Alright. You make the wound, and I’ll cut with the poisoned blade.”

Kiiyaaak―!

All nine heads let out a scream in unison.

Kiiing―

Binaeril aimed his magic bullet at the open mouths of the snakes. Each of the nine heads moved independently, targeting Binaeril and Inyakan. It was difficult to aim at the swiftly moving snake heads. Nine heads, nine magic bullets. Half missed, and the other half bounced off the Hydra’s scales.

“Why are you so weak!”

Three heads shot toward Inyakan. He punched the charging snake heads. 

Bang, bang, …bang!

The two heads that got hit staggered, disoriented. For the last head charging straight at him, Inyakan slashed vertically with Sikrun.

“Kyah!”

He struck with such force that it left a gash on the Hydra’s tough scales.

“I was trying to split the head!”

But even that was a significant achievement. To wound the Hydra’s head with sheer strength and skill, without magic.

“It won’t work from the outside, it’s too tough!”

“What do you mean it won’t work from the outside?”

Binaeril spoke as he deflected the attacking Hydra heads.

“It’ll be much faster to wound it from the inside. Inyakan, like you did earlier!”

With eight heads attacking, they couldn’t launch any proper attack on the main golden head.

“So, you want me to throw myself into its mouth again?”

“I’m saying I’ll do it!”

“Fine! I’ll distract it!”

Binaeril wanted to ask how, but Inyakan acted faster.

“Look―at―me―you―damn―monster―!”

Binaeril was stunned into silence. Inyakan’s roar was louder than the combined screams of the Hydra’s nine heads. Amazingly, it contained a trace of mana.

“What are you doing? Do something!”

Inyakan scolded the dazed Binaeril.

Hissss!

The Hydra’s heads turned to Inyakan, roaring back in defiance.

Binaeril seized the opportunity.

“Piercing spikes!”

He created ice spikes that anchored themselves in three of the heads, including the main one.

Clang!

Though the spikes were sharp, the golden head crushed them with the pressure of its jaws and palate. This was why he targeted other heads too.

The spikes had an effect on the green heads, causing them to wince and scream in pain.

‘Just piercing the heads won’t buy us enough time. We need to completely sever them.’

To regenerate such large heads simultaneously, the Hydra would need time. Binaeril judged this.

He imagined a blade cutting in a circular motion.

What naturally came to mind was the image of Paladin Callisto’s Starfall.

In Binaeril’s mind, Callisto’s movements played out slowly.

Callisto didn’t swing Starfall quickly.

The slow, arcing trajectory of Starfall didn’t seem powerful.

Binaeril wasn’t a knight, so he didn’t understand the full extent of Callisto’s swordsmanship.

But what he clearly sensed was the unwavering will to ‘sever.’

It was a concept Binaeril could apply to his magic.

“Sever… it!”

Following the memory, he traced an arc that followed the Hydra’s two heads, like the trajectory of a meteor shower.

The green heads of the Hydra wore an unfamiliar expression.

Even as the heads fell from its body, they didn’t realize they had been severed.

‘It works!’

The Hydra, now missing two heads, groaned in pain.

“Inyakan! Quickly, before the Hydra regenerates!”

As Binaeril shouted, Inyakan’s feet had already left the ground.

Inyakan swung the poisoned Sikrun at the Hydra’s bleeding wound.

Black blood splashed onto him.

Sikrun’s blade drew a straight line down the Hydra’s neck.

From the wound smeared with venom, a hissing sound of flesh corroding filled the air.

The severed heads from Sikrun’s cut lay still on the ground.

The Hydra’s own venom worked against it.

“Don’t let your guard down! We’ve only dealt with two heads. The Hydra is still alive!”

Of course, Binaeril knew this. But the recent attack gave him hope.

If they could deal with the remaining heads one by one…

“Kak!”

The Hydra’s main body let out a shriek as it looked at the severed heads. Then, it began a shocking action. The creature started biting into one of its neighboring heads!

Both Binaeril and Inyakan watched in horror as the Hydra devoured the screaming head. It then moved on to the next head, tearing into it, and proceeded to consume all six remaining heads in succession. The green heads, unable to flee or resist since they were part of the same body, met their end as silent prey.

“What is this? Cannibalism?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of such behavior, not even in Elfenbine…”

Having finished its feast, the Hydra was left with only one head. From its belly to its head, golden scales began to rise one by one. It was a grotesque sight that made them instinctively grimace. With its scales standing erect like a hedgehog’s quills, the Hydra stared at the two stunned humans.

Binaeril felt a peculiar sensation. It seemed as if he saw a gleam of intelligence in the Hydra’s eyes as it looked down at them.

[Interesting prey, aren’t you? Heh, heh, heh!]

A chilling voice echoed clearly in their minds. It resembled the voice of Mimung they had heard in the Duke’s domain.

“…Hydra?”

The creature flicked its tongue before opening its mouth wide. From between its parted scales, a hissing sound similar to escaping air could be heard. Green mist began to seep out, coloring the air. It was the Hydra’s poison.

“Inyakan, it’s poison! We need to run!”