novelBiased Audience with a Hydra Elder
| ← Ch.648 | Ch.650 → |
Countless eyes spotted the party, namely Lunara, as they swam overhead for the city populace to see. The few faces that they could make out from afar were filled with shock and disbelief, but some also showed a demeaning glare.
Lina was silent but the serene beauty of the city was dulled somewhat by the stares she felt from her own species. Everything was beyond her expectations. The stunning reef defied description and imagination, yet the stares of the hydras grew less friendly the closer they got to the center of the reef. Lina didn't know what to feel at the moment.
Finally, they halted their charge outside one of the most central and grand buildings. It looked like a giant manor constructed from ice, sized for the giant hydras with many courtyards and smaller buildings connected to the main manor.
One of the hydras at Lunara's side, the highest leveled one at lv. 88, came forward and telepathically shouted, 'Elder Hindrad, we've brought a returning hydra who seeks an immediate audience!'
'Proceed!'
The six escorts moved again, leading Lunara to enter the giant manor. They landed in a courtyard and walked the rest of the way, taking their time and remaining silent with occasional glares back at Lunara and the two smaller figures on her back. Lunara ducked her heads at the entrance and followed without a word.
They traveled through a few hallways of ice with ceilings adorned in bioluminescent purple moss to give the manor a regal glow. The intricate of the manor's walls showed how carefully the building was made, also showing Jack how stuck up the owner was.
When they reached a giant archway, the two escorts at the front moved aside. The same hydra that spoke outside the manor ordered, 'Enter. Make haste and don't waste any more time of the elder. '
Jack wanted to say something but he remained silent as Lunara obliged immediately and descended a flight of stairs into what looked like an icy courtroom.
The escorts moved to the side and joined a few rows of fellow hydra guards. While Lunara stood at the lowest and centermost position of the room, hydras lined both sides of them at the same height as the usual ground. Before Lunara was a raised platform where three hydras lounged and glared at her, one being the focus with the largest and most vibrant cushion as well a band of glowing ice around his head.
'State your case and cause for my audience, ' snarled that lead hydra, getting right to business.
Cordially, Lunara bowed her nine heads and stated, 'I seek an audience with the Hydra Head, as we've come to visit Glacier Keep. '
'Preposterous!' the hydra elder exclaimed with a chuckle. 'Such an ugly hydra seeks to visit Glacier Keep? Is that the only reason you invoked your right to an audience with me?'
'This is of utmost importance, Elder, that I can assure you. '
'Begone! And don't bother wasting any more of our time!'
'Elder, I'm sorry but we can't take no for an answer. I must speak with the Hydra Head. '
'Impossible! I should run you back out of the trench, but that would only offer you another attempt at an audience!' laughed the elder. 'Good luck finding a home in the slums. '
'Elder, you--'
'However, those two creatures on your back must either be slain or removed from the trench, ' continued the elder. 'Shall I have them escorted or executed? Take your pick. '
'I OBJECT!'
Jack's resounding telepathic shout startled the entire crowd and gained the disdain of the elder. 'You have no right! I've decided, you'll be slain!'
A couple of hydra guards rushed downward, ready to attack. At the same time, Jack smiled and sighed. But Lunara immediately shouted, 'WAIT!'
'Hmm? What? Do you defy an elder?' asked the old hydra from the comfort of his cushion. He had lifted one of his webbed claws, getting the guards to stop their charge just out of reach of the nine-headed hydra and those on her back. 'Do you understand the offense that you've committed?'
'I implore you, Elder. We must see the Hydra Head immediately. If not--'
'Speaking back against an elder's official ruling is punishable with exile, ' the hydra elder stated without a care in the world. 'As such, you'll be forced beyond the trench and will forever lose the right to enter. Should you attempt it, the guards will slay you on the spot. '
'Elder, we must--'
'That's final. Now, kill those two pests and escort her to where she belongs!'
'Sorry, Mom... '
Unable to stop Jack any longer, Lunara accepted Jack's apology and hoped for the best.
'WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?!?!'
The elder's sudden shouts perplexed the entire room, at least until they noticed a small figure holding a weapon to the elder's throat. Those that were charged with slaying the creature were the most startled of all, as they only saw a strange flash of purple light before the creature was gone.
'You're no hydra... ' Jack mocked the elder with a laugh. 'You're merely a frog lurking at the bottom of the deepest well... Do I need to broaden your horizons, or will you allow us to meet the Hydra Head?'
'Empty threats! Such a worthless, disgusting--'
The elder's words ended with a sharp humming sound, followed by the plop of something large hitting the icy floor.
All hydras present were shocked speechless. They all felt they were no longer in reality.
To shut up the elder, Jack had simply lowered his rapier and cast spatial slash, instantly beheading the lv. 89 hydra elder. It was an immediate wake-up call for all hydras present.
'Jack... Please?' Lunara sighed and begged Jack as the only one unsurprised apart from Lina.
'Fiiine... '
As if he was completely the most difficult of chores, Jack teleported to the lowered ground and picked up the hydra head before teleporting back to the elder's seat. Jack carelessly placed the head back onto the motionless corpse and flooded the dead body with holy energy, resealing the severed neck.
| ← Ch. 648 | Ch. 650 → |