wavenovel Chapter 72 Enemy of the Gods: First Hydra
Chapter 72 Enemy of the Gods: First Hydra
At 6:00 a.m. sharp, the advance team of thirty people completed their final equipment check in front of the light screen at the entrance of the "Lost Temple".
Barbossa's ghostly fleet cleaved a path through the fog. The bows of the ships cut through the waves; the seawater wasn't blue, but a murky, rusty dark red.
There was no smell of salt in the air; instead, there was a strong smell of sulfur mixed with incense.
The voyage lasted approximately twenty minutes.
The moment the fog lifted, everyone stopped what they were doing.
A stone building rose from the sea, far exceeding the height of any man-made structure they had ever seen in any secret realm.
The rough stone pillars are covered with ancient characters whose names are unknown. Golden liquid seeping from the cracks in the stone flows down the pillars and drips into the sea, creating golden-red ripples.
"This scale..." Lei Zhan gripped his shield, unable to utter a word.
He had been playing the dungeons for seven years, and Eden was the largest scene he had ever seen. The steps of the temple before him were too high for even the gates of Eden.
The ghost ship docked at a massive stone pier. Barbossa stood on the ship's side, staring at the building with one eye, his face unusually devoid of a smile.
"Same as always, we're here." He waved his hand. "Go down. Once you're through that door, I can't help you."
Lu Yan jumped onto the dock, and the stone bricks beneath his feet trembled slightly.
A message about the secret realm popped up on the personal terminal.
[S-Rank Team Dungeon: Lost Temple]
[Difficulty: S]
[Recommendation Level: 50]
[Number of recommendations: 30]
[Secret Realm Description: The Trial Temple left behind by the Sea God in the deep sea. The gods are dead, but the guardians live on.]
Wen Yue read it aloud, "This is written quite frighteningly."
"Enough talk, let's go." Zhao Leiguang, carrying his two shields, was the first to step onto the stone steps leading to the main gate of the temple.
The stone steps are wide enough for ten people to walk side by side, and each step is up to the knee of an adult male.
Thirty people climbed the steps like a line of ants ascending a giant's dining table.
After climbing more than two hundred steps, everyone was panting.
These steps are not just physically high; once you step on them, an invisible pressure rises from the soles of your feet, making each step feel like carrying ten pounds of sandbags on your back.
We finally reached the top.
The main entrance to the temple is less of a door and more of a wall carved through the mountainside.
The door frame is about fifty meters high and a little over twenty meters wide. The reliefs above the door frame have been eroded by time and are now blurred. Only some human figures and intertwined snakes can be vaguely discerned.
The door was open.
Inside the doorway, it was pitch black. Nothing could be seen.
But everyone heard the sound.
Breathing sounds.
The slow, heavy breathing, with each inhale and exhale, stirred the air along the entire stone staircase until it became slightly hot.
"There's something inside," Xiao Qianyu said in a low voice.
"It's right at the door."
As soon as he finished speaking, light shone in the darkness.
Not one bunch. Nine pairs. Eighteen in total.
Eighteen vertical pupils opened simultaneously in the darkness, each the size of a truck tire, emitting a murky golden light.
The arrangement is irregular, with varying heights and positions; some are at the top of doorways, while others are close to the ground, making it look as if some madman had randomly nailed a bunch of giant light bulbs to the wall.
A massive body emerged from the darkness.
Nine thick snake necks extend from a hill-like body, each ending in a snake head of varying size.
The scales are dark blue, covered with a thick layer of seaweed and shellfish parasites, and some parts even have coral growing on them.
[100 Hydra Songs]
[Quality: Legendary - Gatekeeper]
[Level: 55]
"A hundred poems?" Zhao Leiguang tilted his head and counted, "One, two, three... nine. Where did this hundred come from?"
"Exaggeration." Wen Yue drew the bowstring taut, aiming the arrow at the nearest snake head. "It's like telling you you have immense strength."
"I am indeed incredibly strong—"
Before he could finish speaking, the Hydra moved.
The nine snake heads raised simultaneously, their gaping mouths revealing layers of barbed fangs, emitting nine different roars.
On Lu Yan's terminal, the BOSS's detailed attribute panel popped up.
What truly changed his expression was the last item in the skill bar.
【Enemy of the Gods (Passive)】: Every time Hydra loses 10% of its health, it will actively sever one of its own heads.
The head will transform into a separate boss, possessing combat power equal to its peak, and randomly carrying one legendary skill and a random resistance. After the head separates, the main body enters a 3-second invincible state.
Nine heads, one head is lost for every 10% of health lost.
In other words, from the moment you bring it to full health to the moment you kill it, you have to deal with nine additional legendary-level independent bosses in between.
Moreover, it is "the same fighting power as at its peak", not a scaled-down version or a weakened version.
Each head represents a complete legendary boss.
Add the main body.
This battle is equivalent to fighting ten legendary bosses.
"Pay attention to its passive mechanism—it will sever one of its heads every time it loses 10% of its health. That head will become an independent legendary boss with its own skills and attributes, and the way to fight it is random. The main body is invincible for three seconds when its head is severed."
There was a brief silence on the channel.
"So that means..." Lei Zhan counted on his fingers, "we have to fight ten legendary bosses in a row?"
"Yes, and we can't fight too fast either, because if we fight too fast we have to face them all at once."
"..."
He quickly gave instructions in the channel: "After each head becomes an independent boss, its skills and resistances are randomized. This means we can't plan ahead and can only adapt on the spot. The good news is—each head, when it comes out alone, is just a regular legendary boss, without any synergy."
Xiao Qianyu immediately grasped the key point: "The core issue is rhythm control. If you attack the main body too quickly, the clones will swarm out, and the pressure will increase exponentially. If you attack too slowly, the healers won't have enough mana."
"So the strategy is very simple." Lu Yan's tactical plan had already been finalized on the terminal, and he shared it directly with everyone. "It's divided into three phases. In the first phase, Xiao Qianyu and Shen Xinglin will lower their output intensity and slowly whittle down the main body's health. Stop attacking every 10% drop. Once the decapitated clone appears, the whole team will focus fire on the clone to kill it, confirm the kill, and then continue whittling down the main body. Take it one at a time, no rush."
"In the second phase, once the main body's health drops below 50% or 30%, the remaining heads may trigger certain mechanisms, causing the decapitation speed to become uncontrollable. At this time, Zhao Leiguang and Lei Zhan, the two tanks, will hold the main body back, while Lin Chuxue and Wen Yue will be responsible for switching firepower to the clones as soon as possible. Su Yunqing will keep the shield up the whole time, and will heal anyone whose health drops."
"The third stage - harvesting."
Lei Zhan listened attentively, reviewing the tactical plan twice, finding no fault with it. The core idea of this strategy can be summed up in four words: defeat them one by one.
Instead of fighting ten monsters in a group, break it down into ten one-on-one battles.
"Here's the problem," Wen Yue raised her hand, "The clones' skills are random. What if they get physical immunity? What if they get a full-screen AOE attack? We don't know what each head will become."
"So the biggest variable in this battle is not our output, but luck." Lu Yan did not avoid the question. "But when thirty people fight a legendary BOSS, no matter how outrageous its skills are, as long as it is not a bug-level mechanism that can kill the whole team in one hit, there is room to deal with it."
He glanced at Su Yunqing.
Su Yunqing waved the Gift of Yao Guang in her hand: "Don't worry, I brought forty bottles of blue medicine."
That's enough.
Lu Yan put away his terminal and walked to the front of the group.
Hydra's nine eyes remained fixed on them, but it did not launch an attack. As a gatekeeper, its AI logic was most likely triggered passively—it would only attack if someone entered its territory.
"One last thing." Lu Yan stopped, turning his back to the group, "This boss is legendary, so the loot it drops... might be quite exciting. You can look forward to it."
A single, understated sentence.
But everyone who knew the inside story felt their heart skip a beat.
A legendary boss, plus three mandatory upgrades—
That's...
"Stop thinking about it." Lu Yan interrupted everyone's reverie. "Let's win first."
Zhao Leiguang swung his double shields and slammed them down twice, producing a dull metallic clang like war drums.
"Alright!"
He stepped into the territory of Hydra.
The nine snake heads all lowered, locking onto the clueless steel can.