An epic battle was happening between Leon and the massive hydra, their battle shaking the very ground beneath them.

SLASH! DODGE! STRIKE! ROAR!

Leon quickly discovered the creature's devastating abilities through direct combat. Each of its three heads possessed different elemental breath attacks—the left spewed corrosive acid that melted stone, the center released superheated flames, and the right head exhaled toxic miasma that killed anything organic it touched.

HISSS! FWOOSH! SPRAY!

But what truly made this monster dangerous was its insane regeneration capability. Every wound Leon inflicted—deep slashes, severed limbs, punctured organs—healed within seconds, the flesh knitting back together before his eyes.

This beast has insane regeneration.

SHIMMER! HEAL! RESTORE!

After several exchanges, Leon finally identified the source: the right head, the one breathing poison. It was also internally channeling Life elemental energy constantly throughout the entire body.

He was only able to determine this so quickly because of his strong connection to the life element.

That head controls the regeneration. I need to eliminate it first.

However, Leon began noticing something encouraging. The wounds caused by his Holy-energy-infused blade seemed significantly harder for the creature to heal. The divine power interfered with its regeneration, leaving burns and scars that persisted.

The healing isn't as quick as that Coreborn I fought before, despite this hydra having way, way more total mana. My Holy energy is working against it.

Using this advantage systematically, Leon began targeting specific heads with concentrated strikes.

SLASH! SEVER! CUT!

After intense combat, he successfully severed two heads completely—the left acid-spitter and the right Life-controller—leaving only the central fire-breathing head remaining.

THUD! THUD!

The massive heads hit the ground, still twitching.

The hydra's body was also covered in numerous other deep cuts that refused to close properly, constantly leaking dark blood.

Almost done. One more strike.

Leon prepared to deal the final killing blow and finish the beast, which was now covered entirely in its own blood, struggling weakly and growling pitifully.

GROWL... WHIMPER...

As he fought, Leon could sense distantly that all the other battles across the city were now concluding as well. The noise and power fluctuations from Archon Vyrra's engagement were absolutely astounding—even from this distance, he felt the shockwaves.

I would have loved to witness her fighting at full power. But I had my own opponent to handle.

Leon raised his glowing sword high, preparing to sever the final head and put this creature out of its misery—

Suddenly, before he could execute the strike, a massive burst of deadly miasma erupted from the hydra's severed head along with a high-pitched, ear-splitting shriek from the reaming head.

SHREEEEEEK!

Its remaining jaws stretched impossibly wide.

This miasma was completely different from before—this time, it was utterly black, like liquid shadow given physical form, and it radiated wrongness.

WHOOOOSH! SPREAD!

Leon immediately escaped backward using his superior speed, despite knowing intellectually that poison typically had no effect on his holy energy.

But this feels different somehow. Don't take chances.

He maintained a safe distance, watching carefully.

What is it doing? This isn't a normal attack.

Leon detected a huge, wasteful concentration of mana being mixed recklessly with the spreading miasma—far more power than necessary for any breath attack.

That's... that's suicide-level mana expenditure. What is the purpose?

However, in the very next second, accompanied by another heart-wrenching shriek, the monster did something completely unexpected.

SHREEEEEEK!

It absorbed all the expelled miasma back into its body almost instantaneously, sucking the black cloud inward through every pore.

WHOOOOSH! ABSORB!

The creature released absolutely agonized, heart-wrenching screams that made it clear the hydra was experiencing unimaginable suffering.

SCREEEAM! ROAR! SHRIEK!

That wasn't all.

Its entire remaining body—along with the two severed heads lying on the ground—began glowing intensely with sickly green-black light, pulsing in rhythm with the tortured screams.

GLOW! PULSE! INTENSIFY!

Shit!

Leon immediately backed off much farther, retreating almost a full kilometer away from the convulsing monster, where Ira had been waiting at a safe distance.

He asked urgently:

"Is it self-destructing? Preparing to explode?"

Ira nodded from beside him, her expression grim:

"I think so too. We should retreat further—"

Leon prepared defensive barriers, waiting for the inevitable massive explosion along with Ira.

It's not really that close to the main city. And there are many strong fighters to protect the population, including the Archon and even me if needed.

However, in the next instant, Leon witnessed something completely unexpected.

Archon Vyrra suddenly appeared directly in front of the glowing, screaming monster, standing calmly within the deadly miasma cloud.

WHOOSH! APPEAR!

What?! Why? Can she really stop the explosion?

Above her materializing form, a gigantic red sword constructed from pure condensed energy took shape, covered in glowing runic symbols that Leon could see clearly even from a kilometer away.

SHIMMER! FORM! MANIFEST!

The blade was easily thirty meters long.

WHOOOOOM!

It descended with devastating force directly before Leon's shocked eyes as he instinctively moved closer using his speed, leaving a brilliant Holy energy trail behind him.

WHOOSH! TRAIL!

The massive energy blade severed the hydra's entire body cleanly in half lengthwise.

SLASH! SPLIT! CRUMBLE!

The intense glow immediately vanished, snuffed out like a candle.

The bisected hydra crashed heavily to the blood-soaked ground, completely motionless.

THUD! CRASH!

However, one disturbing detail Leon noticed immediately: there were more than three heads now. Two additional grotesque, half-formed heads had sprouted from the neck stumps—incomplete and disturbing to look at.

So my earlier assumption about self-destruction was completely wrong. It was attempting something else entirely.

The creature was definitely fully dead now—no movement, no breathing, no life signs whatsoever.

Archon Vyrra's voice reached Leon as she flew casually over to hover beside him, her expression relieved:

"It's fortunate my own battle concluded before this transformation was completed. Otherwise, this situation could have been absolutely disastrous for everyone."

Leon questioned her immediately, confused:

"What exactly was it doing? I genuinely thought it was self-destructing—that's precisely why I retreated to a safe distance."

Vyrra looked directly into his eyes with an understanding expression:

"I don't blame you at all for not understanding what was happening. If I hadn't personally witnessed this exact phenomenon occurring with a different beast species five hundred years ago, I would likely have assumed the same thing you did."

She continued with a detailed explanation, seeing the intensely curious look on his face:

"Only when very specific conditions are precisely met will a beast attempt this desperate measure. It must be extremely close to advancing to the next cultivation rank—literally on the threshold."

Her voice became more serious.

"Just before you were about to deliver the killing blow, this hydra made a critical decision: sacrifice its entire future potential in exchange for forcefully attempting to reach level 71 immediately."

Leon's eyes widened with realization.

"Which means Archon rank, basically, in terms of raw power output."

Vyrra nodded grimly.

"Exactly. If the forced evolution had succeeded, it would have become as strong as a genuine Archon-rank entity. However, its core would have been permanently damaged in the process, preventing any further advancement beyond that point."

She emphasized the danger:

"Its strength would have increased by tens of times instantly. That outcome would have been absolutely disastrous for our defensive lines."

Oh shit.

Leon's thought process raced.

Was it attempting emergency evolution?! That would have surely been catastrophic. Tens of times stronger, is the gap really that big?

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