Chapter 101: The Approach of Calamity — When the Legends’ Eyes Met

The mortal world was no longer the same.

Ever since Azrael’s roar had echoed across the continents, everything had changed.

Wars were no longer what occupied the kingdoms.

Empires were no longer what frightened the rulers.

And armies were no longer the greatest power people spoke of.

Something else had appeared.

Something that had forced even the strongest beings in the world to reconsider everything.

An ancient Hydra.

And a Supreme Ruler.

Everyone knew that their meeting was no longer a possibility.

It had become only a matter of time.

In the Central Continent...

The Hydra continued its advance.

One step.

Then another.

Each step shook the earth across enormous distances.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A distant city trembled.

Several towers collapsed.

People poured into the streets in panic.

Then came another step.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The earth shook once more.

One of the city's inhabitants raised his head toward the horizon.

He could not see the Hydra's entire body.

Even from this distance, all he could see was one of its nine necks piercing through the clouds.

"It's getting closer..."

A man beside him screamed:

"Evacuate the city!"

The gates opened.

People rushed out of their homes.

Families carried their children.

Soldiers desperately tried to organize the evacuation.

But everyone knew the truth.

Where could they run?

The Central Continent was vast.

But the creature crossing it was not something that could easily be hidden from.

Elsewhere on the continent...

A group of experts watched the Hydra from a safe distance using a spiritual transmission device.

"It has covered an enormous distance in a very short time."

Another replied:

"Considering its size, that's not particularly fast."

Everyone looked at him.

He continued:

"But its speed isn't the problem."

He pointed toward the screen.

"It isn't trying to destroy the cities."

"It isn't attacking the humans."

"And it isn't searching for territory."

Someone asked:

"Then what does it want?"

The expert fell silent.

Then said:

"It's following the scent of blood."

A map of the continent appeared on the screen.

A red line traced the Hydra's path.

It was moving steadily eastward.

Toward the heart of the continent.

One of them asked:

"Could it be sensing something else?"

The expert replied:

"Perhaps."

"What?"

He looked at the data.

Then said:

"Azrael's roar."

Silence descended.

Ever since Azrael had answered the Hydra's challenge...

This was no longer merely a beast searching for blood.

There was now another target.

At the far reaches of the Central Continent...

The great powers began to move.

Some kingdoms dispatched scouting parties.

Several sects sent their experts.

Even powers that had remained uninvolved in the previous wars began gathering information.

No one wanted to approach too closely.

But everyone wanted to know one thing:

Who was stronger?

The Hydra?

Or Azrael?

No one knew the answer.

But simply asking the question was enough to spread terror.

In the Eastern Continent...

The war had temporarily come to a halt.

It was not because of an agreement between the Council and the Sea Tribes.

It was simply the natural consequence of what had happened.

Council soldiers stood along the shoreline.

On the opposite side stood the forces of the three Sea Tribes.

No one raised a weapon anymore.

Everyone was staring westward.

One Council soldier said:

"Did you hear that roar?"

One of his comrades answered:

"Everyone heard it."

"Do you think the Lord will actually fight that monster?"

The soldier gave him a brief smile.

"He accepted its challenge before the entire world."

One of the generals shouted:

"Prepare yourselves!"

The soldiers turned toward him.

"The war isn't over."

Then he looked toward the horizon.

"But no one moves until we receive new orders."

On the other side...

The leaders of the three Sea Tribes watched the situation.

One of them said:

"The Council's army has stopped."

The other replied:

"Temporarily."

Then he looked toward the sea.

"When Azrael and the Hydra begin fighting..."

He paused.

"The world will never be the same again."

In the North...

The Great Barbarian King stood atop an icy peak.

Behind him, the barbarian banners fluttered violently in the wind.

Before him, a transmission device displayed the Hydra's path.

One of the commanders said:

"It has passed beyond the western region."

The king asked:

"Where is it heading?"

"Toward the heart of the continent."

The king fell silent.

Then asked:

"What about Azrael?"

The commander replied:

"He is moving toward it."

The king's expression changed.

"Then the time is near."

He looked toward the distant battlefield.

"Stop the advance."

The commanders were stunned.

"Your Majesty?"

The king said:

"I will not send our men to meaningless deaths while the world is on the verge of witnessing such a confrontation."

Then he looked toward the sky.

"Watch Azrael."

"Watch the Hydra."

"I want to know which one will emerge from that confrontation."

In the South...

The Lord of the Bandits was doing the same.

One of his commanders asked:

"Should we halt the attack?"

"Yes."

"But we're at war with the Council."

"I know."

He then looked at the transmission device.

The Hydra's image filled the screen.

"But if Azrael begins fighting that thing, the balance of the world could change within moments."

Then he added:

"I don't want to waste our forces now."

He paused.

"We may need them more than we expect."

As for the Central Empire...

Titania watched the reports in silence.

The Hydra's image appeared before her.

But she wasn't looking at it.

She was looking in another direction.

Toward where Azrael was moving.

"He is going toward it."

One of the guards answered:

"Yes, Your Majesty."

She asked:

"Do we know his location?"

"The last report says he is approaching from the east."

Titania lowered her eyes.

"Then no one will escape this confrontation."

She raised her gaze toward the Hydra's image.

"But I don't know which of them is more dangerous..."

In the Foyd Family's palace...

Everyone was gathered once again before the transmission device.

The image showed the Hydra moving across the continent.

Alex folded his arms across his chest.

"It doesn't stop."

Miranda replied:

"Why would it?"

Alex said:

"Because it doesn't even know what awaits it."

Miranda looked at him.

"Perhaps it does."

Silence.

Selina asked:

"What do you mean?"

Miranda answered:

"Perhaps the Hydra can sense Azrael."

Everyone looked at the screen.

The nine heads were all facing east.

Lunaria said:

"And Azrael can sense it too."

Lilian remained silent.

Then she asked:

"Will he fight it?"

Valer answered:

"He already accepted its challenge."

Then he added:

"The question isn't whether he will fight it."

He looked at everyone.

"The question is how the confrontation will end."

Leon continued staring at the image.

Then said:

"I hope he comes back."

Lilian raised her eyes toward him.

She gave no answer.

High above the Central Continent...

Azrael was moving through the sky.

His black-and-purple draconic body tore through the clouds.

He was not using his full speed.

He moved calmly.

With every passing moment...

The aura he sensed grew stronger.

It was distant.

Yet it was becoming clearer.

A primordial pressure.

A savage power.

An ancient aura unlike anything he had felt in a very long time.

Azrael stopped in the sky.

He looked westward.

Then closed his eyes for a moment.

He sensed the Hydra's presence.

Nine sources of power.

Nine interconnected souls.

But there was something else.

Something strange.

He opened his eyes.

"This isn't merely a beast."

His eyes narrowed.

"There's something within its origin..."

He stopped.

He could not continue.

He did not have enough information.

But his instincts were clear.

The Hydra was not merely a creature that had lived for an extremely long time.

There was something older within it.

Something he could not identify.

Azrael smiled.

"Even better."

Then he continued forward.

On the other side...

The Hydra stopped.

For the first time since emerging from the ocean...

It stopped moving.

All nine heads rose simultaneously.

They began sensing something.

It wasn't the scent of blood.

And it wasn't the scent of a human.

It was power.

An immense power.

A power that was approaching.

The central head raised its head.

Then said in a low voice:

"He is here..."

Another head moved.

"The dragon..."

A third head opened its eyes completely.

"The one who answered our roar."

The remaining heads said nothing.

But all nine eyes turned toward the sky.

Far away...

Azrael stopped once again.

He expanded his senses.

Then he felt it.

It was no longer merely a distant aura.

It was close.

Very close.

He raised his head.

On the horizon...

Nine enormous black necks pierced through the clouds.

The Hydra had reached a vast region of the Central Continent.

The distance between them was still enormous.

But it was no longer enough to conceal either one's presence from the other.

The Hydra stopped.

Azrael stopped.

For several moments...

Neither moved.

The wind passed between them.

The clouds drifted overhead.

And the entire world waited.

Then the Hydra raised all nine of its heads.

One of them released a low sound.

It wasn't a roar.

It was more like a question.

Azrael answered with a cold smile.

"So..."

Energy spread around his body.

"I've finally found you."

At that moment...

The Hydra's nine eyes opened completely.

Azrael's purple eyes began to glow.

For the first time in countless ages...

The Hydra had encountered a being toward whom it felt no hunger.

It felt something else.

Challenge.

And Azrael felt the same.

There was now only a vast distance separating two legends.

The entire world was watching.

And the Central Continent stood beneath their shadows.

But the battle had not yet begun.

Because both of them...

were waiting for the right moment.

And that moment...

was drawing near.