#102.?Scoundrel

Knowing that the monster had destroyed a Duke-level labyrinth in a single day, Kim Jin-Woo knew in advance that it was no ordinary monster. However, upon seeing the monster with his own eyes, he realized it was much more ferocious than he had expected.

It had eight heads, and its body appeared to be covered in some kind of ominous black tar. Each of its scales grew upside down, looking as big and tough as a Naga’s shield, and its fleshy body was as tall as the walls of Valh?ll itself. It looked similar to a dragon, but with none of the elegance or dignity.

Behind the monster were countless creatures of various sizes clinging onto the walls of Valh?ll, cackling away.

“Hydra..”

This must have been the seven-headed Hydra the Under-Elf Rangers had seen. However, there was one more head on the Hydra than the seven heads the Rangers had reported, so Kim Jin-Woo was left feeling confused.

“The number of heads is different, isn’t it? And I’m sure the Rangers didn’t mention it having its own minions,” he muttered.

However, that feeling of curiosity was only momentary.

“Ah.”

When Mj?llnir spat a lightning strike out right onto one of its heads and crushed it with relative ease, the crushed head fell off and two new heads grew in its place.

In place of eight heads, there were nine. The head that had fallen off shattered into pieces, and those pieces became creatures big and small.

“Unbelievable.” Kim Jin-Woo frowned.

Bang!

Mj?llnir ignored those creatures and continued to strike at the large monster. Thanks to that, unlike the various spawn that were able to approach the castle wall, the Hydra couldn’t easily approach it.

But it was too early for Kim Jin-Woo to feel reassured. Mj?llnir, having expended all its energies, would soon require a recharge, and there wasn’t going to be any way to stop the monster once the Giant Slayer fell silent.

[Having activated itself without the master’s permission, Mj?llnir’s energy was limited. As a result, the power and usage time of Mj?llnir have been reduced significantly.]

[Mj?llnir will now recharge.]

It was just as expected. Having spat out countless lightning strikes, Mj?llnir turned silent, just as Kim Jin-Woo had feared. He could see the Einherjar preparing for battle atop the castle walls, but he wasn’t sure how effective they would be against the gigantic monster.

“Withdraw the Nagas,” he commanded. Having finished preparing for battle in a short time, Kim Jin-Woo withdrew the Nagas on standby and took a step forward. He commanded, “This battle will be fought only with the Einherjar and Valh?ll.”

He had tried to test out the full extent of their strength against the Heavenly Giant Lord, but he had yet to get a good grasp of their powers. He wanted to take the opportunity to see how much power Valh?ll would exert against a monster that had destroyed even a Duke-level labyrinth within a single day.

However, it was the unspoken rule of the Underworld to expect the unexpected. The monster, which had seemed to be about to crash into the walls of Valh?ll, raised its head and turned toward him.

At that moment, a murky voice entered Kim Jin-Woo’s mind.

Contrary to the monster’s abominable and wretched appearance, there was something divine about the voice that resonated in his head.

“Contrary to how you look, it seems you’ve got a bit of flair.” Kim Jin-Woo frowned upon sensing the evil spirit of the monster getting directly to his head.

It was a completely incomprehensible degree of resentment; the monster growled and flashed nine pairs of eyes filled with hatred toward him.

“What the hell are you talking about, monster?” Kim Jin-Woo retorted. The monster had been chattering for a long time.

“You don’t listen to others at all, huh,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

The Hydra seemed to have just woken up; it seemed completely incoherent and unable to carry a conversation.

However, something stood out in what the voice in Kim Jin-Woo’s head had said. He exclaimed, “What? King of Wardens?”

“How about you speak properly so I can understand what the hell you’re saying?” Kim Jin-Woo retorted. But the Hydra seemed completely disinterested in what he had to say.

The Hydra spoke incoherently and charged toward him.

“Looks like I’ll have to set the mood in order to have a proper conversation,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

He observed the Hydra’s ferociously rising energy, and slowly drew out the energy of the Evil Dragon that lay dormant deep within him. In an instant, black energy enveloped him and took the form of a gigantic black dragon, and the Gluttonyy monster showed itself in the Underworld again.

***

The Evil Dragon and the Hydra were both terrifying monsters, but there was an obvious, insurmountable gap in power between them.

The Evil Dragon was an evil spirit that existed and yet didn’t exist in this reality; the Hydra’s fangs couldn’t connect with the Evil Dragon’s physical form.

The battle that had seemed as if it would go on for a long time, in reality, ended in an instant. The Hydra’s heads, which had started off as nine, were cut off and regenerated several times; their number had now grown to forty-six.

“Compared to the impact it made in its first appearance, it’s rather weak,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked. Seeing the Hydra’s powers grow weaker as the number of its heads increased, he dispelled his Evil Dragon form.

Forty-six voices spoke at the same time, and Kim Jin-Woo’s head rang as if it were going to explode.

“Too noisy. I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.” Kim Jin-Woo casually blocked all of the Hydra’s attacks and frowned as he replied. “Why are you calling me the King of Wardens?”

Despite the battle not being over, the reason why he had dispelled the form of the Evil Dragon was because of something the Hydra had said.

In response, the Hydra narrowed its eyes and stared at Kim Jin-Woo, before suddenly breaking out in laughter.

“You only say what you want to say, huh? You’re pretty good at pissing others off,” Kim Jin-Woo complained.

He was getting worked up by the Hydra’s attitude of ignoring others and only saying what it wanted to say. But despite his rising anger and presence, the Hydra continued to rant away on its own.

“The reason I’ve kept you alive so far is because there’s something I need to hear straight from that babbling snout of yours,” Kim Jin-Woo retorted. Since the difference in power was already evident, his words carried immense weight.

But nevertheless, the Hydra giggled and mocked him.

Apparently, there was a reason for the failure of the powerful Ancient Lords to eradicate the ancient monsters.

“Is that the reason for your fearlessness?” Kim Jin-Woo replied. However, he laughed as well. Even if the Hydra had a special ability to be reborn after death, he had the power to put an end to it. It wasn't a difficult task for him, either. All he had to do was lay his hands on the Hydra’s upside-down scales.

[The power of Gluttony has been activated.]

[The unique power that devours even existence itself has begun to absorb the energy of the ancient Hydra.]

At first, the Hydra rolled all of its forty-six pairs of eyes, unsure of what was happening. But when it finally realized what was going on, it was already too late.

The forty-six heads struggled in unison, but as the power of Gluttony had already been exerted, there was nothing else they could do.

***

In the end, the Hydra wasn’t able to overcome its fear of extinction, as it confessed to everything it knew.

And when all was said and done, the Hydra requested for a clean, merciful death. However, Kim Jin-Woo grinned and activated the power of Gluttony once more.

Kim Jin-Woo responded to the fervent protests of the Hydra. “Promise? Did I ever say I’d let you live?”

Only then did the Hydra realize that it had been blinded by its fear of annihilation and had been unable to properly comprehend the situation.

With a meaningless curse, the Hydra disappeared. Its power of resurrection, which it had been so confident about, never activated once, and it faced complete annihilation without leaving a single trace.

Despite having gotten rid of the Hydra, Kim Jin-Woo didn’t have the expression of a winner. He muttered, “The One-Eyed Lord was the King of Wardens..”

The Hydra might have been an insignificant being, but the truth that had come out of its mouth was anything but. As soon as Kim Jin-Woo had heard it, a string of questions appeared in his mind.

“Don’t assume that it’s necessarily immoral to rule over the Wardens.”

He remembered what the Wailing Lord had once said. Did she know something he didn’t? The moment his doubts arose, he immediately called for Angela and went to look for Catherine.

Kim Jin-Woo found Catherine in her labyrinth, but realized that her labyrinth’s situation wasn’t good. He asked, “What happened here?”

Catherine’s labyrinth was under fierce attacks by giants, Hydras, and the Dead. Unlike Kim Jin-Woo, who had defeated the massive Hydra with relative ease thanks to Mj?llnir and Valh?ll, Catherine’s labyrinth seemed to be struggling quite a bit.

“You came looking for me at the worst time,” Catherine remarked. She seemed to be relatively relaxed despite the situation outside her labyrinth, which was complete chaos.

“Don’t you have to do something about this?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“I was just about to step in and get involved,” Catherine replied. Her previously subtle presence suddenly elevated to the level expected of a powerful Highlord. She asked, “Will you help me?”

Kim Jin-Woo nodded at her cheerful request that didn’t match her dark and heavy presence. However, he added, “But before that, I have something I want to ask.”