Ren watched in horror as the traitorous rock rolled down the bowl, the sound amplified by the crystalline formation. Each bounce was louder than the previous one, creating a cascade of echoes that filled the tunnel.
The Assassin turned instantly toward the noise and froze for a moment.
The hydra awoke.
Its two heads rose in perfect synchronization, transparent scales gleaming as it uncoiled. For a moment it seemed confused, as if not understanding what had awakened it.
Then it noticed the egg’s absence.
The roar that followed made the Assassin instinctively back away. The hydra rose completely, its two heads moving in search patterns while the crystallized mana in its scales began pulsing with contained power.
‘Run,’ Ren’s mind screamed. ‘RUN.’
♢♢♢♢
The hydra turned both heads directly toward Ren, its eyes glowing as it recognized him as the egg thief.
This was no longer a stealthy escape… the beast had seen him.
Stealth no longer mattered.
Ren ran like never before, each step resonating in the tunnels while the hydra’s roar made the walls tremble.
Knowledge flowed: silver rank 3 hydras could shoot power rays, concentrated beams of light. This one, at gold rank, probably had even more lethal capabilities, but knowledge didn’t reach that far.
A strong vibration shook the tunnels.
The hydra had begun moving, its massive body crushing rock while following its prey.
Fortunately it wasn’t shooting, it needed to conserve energy. With its feeding from that small vein, each use of power meant minutes of recovery.
‘Thirty minutes,’ Ren calculated while running. ‘It will need to feed after thirty minutes of intense activity with so little mana.’
The first obstacle appeared: the natural bridge he had crossed before. The structure trembled with each impact of the hydra digging behind.
Ren didn’t even hesitate, he used the momentum from running to jump and grabbed the thread, the eggs bouncing on his back as he landed on the other side.
A group of deep worms emerged from a side tunnel, their massive bodies momentarily blocking the path. At the hydra’s next roar, the beasts writhed in panic harder and fled in the opposite direction, crushing each other in their rush to escape.
The deep Assassin passed by him like a shadow, but didn’t even stop to look at him. The beast ran on pure survival instinct, its prey forgotten before a much greater threat.
Behind, the sound of rock being pulverized echoed in the tunnels. The hydra wasn’t bothering to follow the passages, it was creating its own direct path toward Ren.
Ren ran down the now cleared path, following his steps.
The potion’s effects were beginning to fade and Ren could feel energy accumulating in his system. His legs burned with the effort of climbing, each step heavier than the last.
The Living Tunnel he had seen earlier now blocked the path, its body occupying the entire gallery. Ren stopped abruptly, trapped between the beetle and the approaching hydra.
Ren wanted to scream in frustration, but it would be dangerous if the beetle confused him with a bug for a moment and stomped on him so he had to position himself and strike hard with his feet in a unique rhythm of the living tunnel species that suggests danger.
But Ren was light so the vibration didn’t convey enough urgency.
The beast turned slowly.
The sound of pulverized rock approached. One of the hydra’s heads appeared in the tunnel, its scales gleaming threateningly.
The beetle finally sensed the danger and began turning quickly.
But it was too late, the hydra was too close.
Ren could see mana concentrating in its throat, it was considering using a ray.
The Living Tunnel moved faster to back away, creating a small opening. Ren lunged for the space, but his foot slipped.
He fell to his knees just as the hydra fired.
The ray passed over his head, impacting the Living Tunnel. The beast collapsed split in two, its shell smoking. The hydra paused for a moment, its breathing heavier, that attack had cost valuable energy.
Maybe it had lost about 10 minutes of energy.
Ren crawled to the other side of the tunnel through the small gap, then got up and continued running. The hydra roared in frustration but didn’t fire again. Instead, it approached the fallen Living Tunnel and began devouring it, recovering some of the spent energy.
Each head could consume one of the huge beetle halves in an instant.
‘Damn that will give it about 5 more minutes of energy… It could do that all the way up,’ Ren thought. ‘Consuming beasts to maintain the pursuit.’
At 275 meters. The air was more breathable but the mana was still dense.
Another group of worms emerged from a side tunnel. The beasts froze upon sensing Ren, but the sound of the approaching hydra sent them into panic.
Ren was trapped in the middle of the fleeing worms. Their massive bodies pushed him against the walls while they writhed desperately.
The hydra’s roar resonated closer.
In desperation, Ren pushed between two worms, the space so tight he felt crushed. Just as he emerged from the other side, he saw the hydra catch one of the lagging worms.
One of the heads caught it with lethal precision, its jaws tearing flesh. But the other head kept the body moving while the first ate, its eyes never stopped following Ren.
At 250 meters, the tunnel narrowed. Ren could feel mana saturating his system, the potion was losing effect. His legs trembled from the effort while he crawled through a narrow passage.
A section of the tunnel had partially collapsed, probably from the hydra’s vibrations.
Ren crawled through the debris.
Behind, the sound of destruction approached.
A deep Assassin appeared before Ren in the narrow tunnel. The beast hesitated, caught between its hunting instinct and its fleeing instinct.
The narrow cave entrance vibrated intensely. Ren worried about another collapse. But he was lucky.
The Assassin completely forgot about Ren and decided to flee.
Ren crawled to the cave’s exit while the hydra dug behind. His lungs burned. Mana saturated his body now that the potion no longer had effect. Each meter was a battle against exhaustion and energy overload.
Ren finally emerged from the tunnel at 200 meters.
A worm colony panicked upon feeling the vibrations, their bodies filling the tunnel in a chaotic mass. Ren had to jump over them, his feet finding small spaces between the writhing bodies.
Behind the hydra finally broke through the wall.
The beast was panting now, the chase’s effort beginning to take its toll.
Ren took advantage to gain ground.
He knew this area, turned and climbed up a not-so-light slope that led to the conventional cave entrance.
150 meters. The first guard checkpoint.
The air was lighter now but his legs felt like lead. The backpack on his back seemed to weigh a ton. His hidden tunnel offered an alternative route, so he wouldn’t have to explain…
‘No,’ Ren thought while continuing to climb. No time for detours. The hydra was getting closer and closer.
The checkpoint appeared before Ren, the mana lamps’ light shining through the entrance. Three guards moved hurriedly, alerted by the vibrations shaking the tunnels.
“Halt!” one shouted when he saw Ren climbing the slope. “What the hell…?”
“It’s the lucky mushroom boy!” another guard recognized him, his expression transforming from surprise to anger. “Why were you prowling in the lower levels. This time you really…!”
The wall behind Ren exploded.
The hydra emerged from the dust like a nightmare made real, its two heads covered in blood from the beasts it had devoured along the way.