Kapitel 386: Don't Step on a Crack
'A seventh head!'
Instead of a normal tail like any other nightmare creature, the Hydra had to go and have an extra head attached to its rear.
Of course, there was a seventh head…why have six when seven will do the trick…
Noble's assumption almost cost herself and the Saint their lives. It was only the sudden surge of rage from the Hyrdra's back end that had alerted Noble to the danger in time.
Noble dropped them both so low that they were forced to fight against a Fallen abomination on the ground.
Raising the Zenith, Noble stabbed at the golden back of the adder. But the blade scraped against the rough skin and slid aside. The snake wrapped around Noble's waist, ready to crush the warrior before she could fly away.
Noble braced herself. A chill filled the air and Jet's deadly scythe swept through the serpent's neck without hammering its skin. The snake went limp.
The sudden pressure around Noble was released, and she lifted into the air with Jet in tow.
"Thank you."
There was no time for more. They had a Titan to catch.
Chasing after the hydra, Noble calculated how long it would take for the creature to reach the citadel's wall.
'There's not enough time.'
Jet gripped her weapon. 'Then we make some.'
The only way Noble could make time was to slow the Titan down. But she and Jet were flies compared to the massive creature.
Their strength was not enough. Even the minions on the ground were nothing compared to the might of their master. If one got in the way, it was smashed and left for dead.
Fallen Monsters were crushed and discarded at the hydra's unbreakable will.
The only thing holding up against the Titan was the ground, and even that was only barely.
The earth.
Moonriver Plain and its surrounding areas were made of canyons that water rushed through without notice. The rocks were unstable. There was one reason that the wall was constructed on the same spot where it had fallen before-- the ground there was solid.
But out here in the open field, the rocks were untested by such a crushing force. She remembered how the Lord of the Mountain had eventually been partially swallowed by the caves below the surface.
If she could find the right spot, then...
Noble used her second sight to scan the ground. This wasn't what it was meant for, but the former Queen had learned this skill when they believed Nickel had been crushed.
Since much of the earth below them was solid, it didn't give a very clear picture of what lurked below their feet.
But she wasn't looking for a cross-section of the rock patterns. Noble was looking for a cavern.
She quickly found one.
A hundred meters forward and to the monster's left, a thin layer of ground gave way to a significant crevice. Already, the adders had worn ruts over the top layer of dirt, cracking it open like a tilled field.
'We have to get it to take a step to the left, and quickly.'
There was no time to explain. The distance would be closed in barely a moment. Thankfully Jet didn't ask any questions. Even if she had, Noble wasn't sure if she could answer if the hole formed would be big enough or deep enough to make a difference.
But any plan was better than none.
Jet Nodded. 'Put me down there. I'll handle it.'
Noble was reluctant to release her hold on the Saint, but the professor had to admit that Soul Reaper wasn't doing much good hovering in the air when the enemy was on the ground.
She let Jet go gently, lowering her to the Titan's right side.
'Now what?'
The Saint grinned fiercely. 'Have you ever herded sheep?'
Soul Reaper's pale skin turned translucent as her body took on an ethereal form. She took the Bec De Corbin, wielding it with measured precision. The three prongs of the end of the pole--a hammer, a dagger, and a modified scythe–flashed as they sailed through the sky toward the battlefield.
First, the hammered end smashed into the horde, clearing a path for the Saint to fight. In a motion that was too fast even for Noble's eye, Jet shifted the direction of the shaft.
The dagger instantly impaled three of the smaller adders, before the scythe made its own slashing arc to the side.
The instant carnage was so great that it took Noble a moment to register what was happening. The dead serpents were flung before the Titan in a heap, like a sickening sacrifice. Or a warning.
But Noble realized they were neither. She jumped in to help. A band formed around Noble's armor on her right ankle. A small charm shone in the specially made jewelry.
She needed extra speed, and the [Hummingbird's Wings] was exactly the Memory for the job.
Noble flitted forward in a blur.
The Zenith was sharp, and the floating warrior sliced through a dozen of the swarm in one fluid motion. Before the action was complete, Noble was already lifting the bodies to dump in the forming heap.
They were making a barrier, but not for the Titan. That would have been an impossible task. Instead, they were making an obstacle for the hydra's minions.
After the first swath of corruption was cleared by the saint, the snakes around her shifted course. The more powerful ones lunged for her, while the lesser beings avoided her at all costs.
That suited Soul Reaper just fine. The bigger the enemy, the higher the wall she could quickly make.
The bodies piled up at frightening speed, so fast that the Spell's voice was now constantly ringing in Noble's ears. She ignored it, pressing even more into the task with murderous intent.
It worked. The tide of creatures shifted. Some tried to climb the wall of carnage only to be buried in it while the rest shifted away, charting a new course.
That course... was in the path of the unrelenting hydra. The clawed feet crushed hundreds of its minions, but many more leapt onto the Titan's scaly skin. They slithered on their master's body in search of safety and a pathway forward.
One or two of the adders would have been easily missed, but thousands flooded up the right leg of the abomination. It was a weight not even the Titan could ignore.
Hissing, with six of its heads, the hydra slowed and raised its leg, shaking it while bringing the fourteen free arms and legs to rip apart the freeloaders.
The tide of creatures shifted again. The wraith and her flying friend were preferable to the terrible wrath of the Titan.
Those fleeing the Titan and those avoiding the wall of death collided. The mass of Nightmare Creatures roiled and grew, with neither side gaining the advantage.
Unable to contain the weight, the earth buckled, causing a small earthquake. Many of the monsters fell into the shallow rift.
Cracks shot out in every direction. The Hydra dropped to one side onto two more of its legs, making its body look more like that of a canine.
The sideways shift was all that was needed. As the new set of claws dug into the earth, the Hydra let out a bestial roar. The earthquake gained intensity and what was once solid stone split open to wide chasm.
Wide enough for the hydra to slip into. It fell into the hole, its shadow slipping from the landscape as it plummeted.
Noble took a deep breath, happy that the maneuver had worked. But her relief was short-lived.
The chasm would stall the Hydra for a while, but not forever.
Perhaps it would be long enough to evacuate the citadels and abandon them. They would lose two of the government strongholds, but at least they would live to fight another day.
Sadly, that was not an option, at least not a viable one.
If they fled, the Titan would move on to attack other parts of the Dream Realm next. It needed to be dealt with now.
But how...
In answer to the silent question, Jet broke through with two words. 'Throw me.'
'What?' Noble raised her eyebrows.
Jet began to run forward toward the breach in the ground.
'Get me on his back. Throw me. Now!'
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein