Jonathan’s capacity to manipulate his element had also grown with Limit Breaker, allowing him to draw upon many times more energy than he ever had been able to before. A veritable sea of purple washed out in every direction, evaporating everything that it touched. Jonathan was like the eye of the storm, unfazed by the destruction around him.

  “Enough!” came the muffled voice of the Hydra. A squelching, tearing noise came from all around Jonathan as the monster split apart. The light of the sun shone directly into Jonathan’s eyes as the Hydra split down the middle, opening up to the outside world.

  A titanic force flushed Jonathan out of the wound as a wave of blood crashed down on him. He managed to evaporate it before it could poison him, but the momentum was impossible to ignore. Trailing a dense cloud of Void energy, Jonathan popped out of the side of the Hydra like a cork from a wine bottle. A deluge of elemental energy followed, the monster washing out the remnants of Jonathan’s Void techniques.

  The hulking monster loomed over him like a mountain, ancient and implacable. Its heads waved around like a forest in the wind, glowing eyes glaring out from beneath the armor.

  Jonathan landed on his feet, skidding to a halt a few hundred yards beyond his landing point. The hole in the monster’s side had already closed over. It was quite disconcerting how little damage Jonathan was able to do, even with the help of his element. While he had no doubt that some of the internal damage had remained, a lot of the latent Void energy had been flushed out alongside him.

  At that moment he realized that he was alone in the battle. The others had retreated, and Jonathan could just about see them racing across the swamps. It looked as though at least one of them was seriously injured.

  Jonathan sighed. In the end, this battle had been intended for him and him alone. He wouldn’t have the aid of his allies during the battle with Eventide, or at least, if he did, they could easily be removed from the battle by the Circle Lord, much in the way that Slothari had sent Arkanon away when she realized that she was losing the battle.

  Coating himself in Wrath of the Void once more, Jonathan drew deeper upon his element. With the effects of Limit Breaker still active, he was able to boost himself to a much greater extent than usual. A single step sent a tidal wave of mud rushing across the swamp as he closed the gap, arriving at the base of the Abyssal Hydra’s feet. He cocked back his fist and punched with everything he had, driving a telephone pole sized spear of elemental energy into the monster’s flesh.

  The skin broke beneath the assault, unable to withstand Jonathan’s strength. His fist struck home right after the Void spear, obliterating a good portion of the Hydra’s leg. The creature stumbled, and Jonathan capitalized on the momentary weakness. He struck again, this time using even more elemental energy. When he punched, the Void itself punched with him.

  A column of flesh simply evaporated as he hit home, carving a tunnel all the way through the Abyssal Hydra’s leg. The limb caved in on itself under the immense weight, sending the creature to one knee. Jonathan leaped up, and slammed into the base of its necks, delivering a mighty uppercut that tore off three of the heads at their roots. A sheath of Void energy ensured that they wouldn’t grow back.

  The Hydra let out a rumbling growl, and to Jonathan’s astonishment, started to shrink.

  “I adopted this form to better hunt, but I was not always this size,” the Hydra explained. “Nevertheless, I was always this powerful.”

  With a sharp pop, the air collapsed as the monster rapidly shrunk, eventually stopping at about the size of a two storey house. Its necks were much thinner, looking more like pythons than anything else.

  The concentrated aura of power surrounding the monster was far more intimidating than ever before, as all of the strength and presence that had held sway over the swamplands was now compressed down to a size requisite to the Hydra itself.

  Jonathan almost stumbled under the pressure, unable to breathe for a moment, Then he pushed through and attacked, his fist speeding towards his foe. The Hydra reacted with blinding speed, intercepting the strike with a quick slap of a neck. Jonathan’s wrist almost snapped from the impact, but he was just about durable enough to remain uninjured.

  The forest of heads snapped out, moving in unpredictable patterns. With their much higher degree of flexibility, they were almost too fast to see at times, forcing Jonathan to rely upon his Third Eye. He hadn’t been expecting to have to draw upon his foresight against the Hydra, but it was proving to be a far trickier opponent than he had been expecting.

  A series of snaps and pops rang out as the monster broke the sound barrier again and again, its heads blending together in Jonathan’s sight. He realized a fatal flaw in the Limit Breaker skill at that point. While it brought his strength up to a level to match his enemies, if they then grew in turn after the skill ran out, he wouldn’t gain anything else from it. He had a bit under five minutes to finish the fight before he was completely overwhelmed. The Hydra certainly wasn’t going to make that easy for him.

  Unfortunately for Jonathan, the Third Eye of Exal’drin was proving to be of limited use in this fight. While he was able to dodge attacks, he barely managed it, and in many cases was unable to do so. On the other hand, he had only landed a few hits on the Abyssal Hydra, dealing minimal damage. It was a lot more durable now than it had been at the beginning of the fight.

  Eventually, Jonathan had a lucky break. A head came in at just the right angle for him to grab it. He pulled the Hydra towards himself, easily lifting it off the ground. A barrage of strikes slammed into him from the armor plated heads, breaking bones and crushing organs, but he ignored it. This was his chance to inflict lasting damage.

  Roaring in rage and pain, Jonathan compressed his available reserves of Void energy and mana into a tiny speck of power within his right fist. A purple glow shone out from between his fingers, hinting at the power from within.

  As the Hydra’s chest approached him, almost appearing to do so in slow motion, Jonathan punched. It was a perfect punch, using every iota of mastery he had gained in his time in the Infinite Hells. His weapon domain surrounded the fist as it struck, further amplifying the strike.

  The Hydra tried to escape, thrashing around in Jonathan’s grip. It dug its heads into the ground, trying to anchor itself. All that did was let Jonathan exert even more force, catapulting both himself and the Hydra towards one another.

  Jonathan’s fist landed with such force that the air for a few hundred in every direction vanished, pushed away by the punch. The Hydra buckled under the strike, its body coming apart at the seams. Armor cracked and bones snapped one by one, flesh crushed beneath the blow. Jonathan drove his punch through, a moment of resistance quickly broken by his strength. The Hydra seemed to explode as it left his fist, a spray of dark blood and bone fragments shooting out in every direction.

  Knowing that this was far from enough to finish the fight, Jonathan bounded after the monster, reaching it before it struck the ground. His body was a minefield of pain, new heights reached every time he moved. Jonathan simply forced himself to do so, knowing that if he failed to kill the Hydra when he had the chance, he was a dead man walking.

  Just before the Hydra reached the ground, Jonathan shoulder checked it, sending it back up into the air. With every one of his energy reserves, save the Void, almost completely depleted, Jonathan called upon his element to save him.

  As the Hydra came down, tumbling through the air, Jonathan drove the most powerful uppercut he could muster directly towards its underbelly. His knuckles nearly touched the ground as he swung, his fist landing like a cannonball.

  The Hydra had already begun to regenerate at this point, but it was far too late. It burst like a rotten fruit, a spray of viscera landing everywhere. Jonathan shielded himself with the Void, not wanting to get any more of the toxic fluid on him. In the Hydra’s smaller form, the blood was likely far more deadly than it had been before.

  Jonathan let Limit Breaker drop away, and he collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Without the infusion of power from the skill, he was basically just a sack of broken bones and blood.

  Essence came streaming in from the Abyssal Hydra, bringing him up fourteen whole levels. It was a good consolation for the damage he had taken from the battle. That had been one of his most difficult fights so far, and would have been entirely impossible had he not possessed Limit Breaker.

  It took him almost ten minutes to heal enough to get to his feet. A constant current of pain ran up and down the length of his body, the aftereffects of Limit Breaker. It hadn’t really said anything about the backlash in the skill description, only that possible soul damage could occur if it was misused. It looked like using it in general had some sort of negative effect as well.

  By the time Jonathan could stand, he spotted a few specks on the horizon, that upon focusing, he recognized as the other members of his party. Arkanon was carrying Edgar, who appeared to be unconscious.

  Jonathan noticed something else at that moment, a twinkling gemstone laying on the ground, in the midst of the gore left behind by the Hydra’s demise. He lifted it up with a hand of elemental energy, carrying it over. It would serve as proof of his feat to the Elders of Cantasia.

  Jonathan waited where he was, not wanting to further stress his body. The threshold for recovery had increased, his normal regeneration needing to cover the gaps. If he had learned anything from this battle it was that Limit Breaker was only ever intended to be used as a finisher. It was like how Smite used to be, before Jonathan had further acclimated to his Divinity. In the Ash Heaps, Smite had been a last resort, a skill that almost killed him every time he used it. Now it was almost commonplace, basically a constant buff that he never had to worry about running out.

  By the time the others arrived, Jonathan was moving about a bit more, stretching to facilitate better recovery. The Hydra’s toxic blood had sent poison seeping deep into his muscles and organs, with it needing to be purged before he could make a full recovery.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Arkanon touched down first, gently laying Edgar beside Jonathan. His face was filled with shame. “Yet again we were useless in that battle. How can I consider myself a warrior with this sort of track record? I always end up too weak to do anything that needs to be done.”

  Jonathan waved a hand. “It’s fine-”

  “It isn’t fine!” Arkanon snapped, before lowering his head. “Apologies. I simply have been getting tired of feeling useless. It has nothing to do with you, Jonathan. Simply the caliber of foe that you must face. I cannot help but feel that everyone except for you will die soon while facing something beyond their ability to fight.”

  Jonathan stood there for a moment, not able to come up with a response. He felt completely helpless to do anything. If he could have divided up some of his power amongst his closest followers, he would have done so. However, that wasn’t possible.

  He frowned. Wait, is it? I used the Runes to overcome mana suppression before.

  “What are you thinking about?” Eliza asked. “I recognize that look in your eyes. You’re considering something.”

  “I was wondering if I could use my Runes to help you all keep up. I already gave you all mana gathering arrays. If I can develop my Runecrafting to a higher degree, perhaps I can do something more.”

  “Really? How would that even work? I doubt your Runes can bridge the chasm between us.”

  “Well, not right now,” Jonathan admitted. “In the future, after dealing with some more of the Circle Lords, I’ll put some time aside to train. If I can get my mastery to Grandmaster, I should be able to whip something up.”

  Arkanon nodded. “Alright. I appreciate the offer. I hope I didn’t come off as rude.”

  Jonathan laughed. “No, I completely understand. I would be a bit put off if one of my friends always seemed to be a step ahead. I’ll do whatever I can within reason to help remedy that.”

  “That’s all I could ever ask for,” Arkanon said happily. “Now, if I’m not mistaken, we have some Elders to meet with.”

  ***

  It took some time to find the original entrance into the dungeon. Of course, there was no portal there. Jonathan wasn’t actually that sure how they were supposed to get out of the dungeon. The Elder had never mentioned it. They had simply opened the door to the dungeon and invited Jonathan and his party to head in.

  “Well, what are we supposed to do here?” Eliza said, visibly annoyed. ‘Why didn’t you ask them how we were supposed to get out?”

  Jonathan sighed. “I was a bit too eager to get into the dungeon. I got a little distracted. It’s my fault.”

  “I don’t care who’s fault it is,” Eliza replied. “I just want to know how we are supposed to get out.”

  Over the next few minutes, Jonathan and the others tried to get any sort of response from the other side. Whether it came in the form of shouting at the top of their lungs, or casting various skills off at the surrounding landscape, none of it was especially successful.

  Eventually, Jonathan started to peel back the layers of reality with his elemental sight, looking for some sort of trace energy left behind by the portal. Perhaps he would be able to brute force it and open the portal by way of the Void. It wasn’t really something he had ever done before, but it was worth a shot.

  It took a few seconds, but Jonathan did end up finding something. A long crack in reality, made out of Darkness elemental energy. It looked like a scar, a remnant of something that had once been there but was there no longer.

  Experimentally, Jonathan reached out and touched it with a hand wreathed in purple flame. The crack lit up slightly, pulsating under his touch. It started to open a bit, but stopped after about a second, jamming against some unseen obstacle.

  Jonathan frowned and dug his fingers into the crack, trying to pull it apart with brute force. He used his element like a lever to extend his reach into the portal, forcing it to keep opening.

  Inch by inch, the portal expanded until it was large enough to fit someone’s head through. Then it suddenly snapped all the way open, and Jonathan nearly fell through. The Elders’ room was revealed on the other side, one of them standing in front of the portal, her hand held out to open it. Jonathan hadn’t gotten her name before, but she was the Elder corresponding to Darkness, as far as he could tell. It made sense given her role in opening the portal.

  “Who is it-” she said before taking a step backwards, astonished. “You survived! I mean… you made it out. It’s good to see you.”

  Jonathan narrowed his eyes at her, simply pushing through the portal. He was beginning to see why it hadn’t been easy to open. He lifted up the gem the Hydra had left behind, flicking it into the center of the room with his finger and thumb.

  “It’s done,” he said with all the finality of a coffin lid slamming into place.

  “As I expected,” Exandra said warmly, the Death mage the only one of the Elders openly happy to see Jonathan. She had been the one to sponsor his mission in the first place.

  Meanwhile, Agni, her rival, had an expression not unlike someone taking a whiff of raw sewage. The belligerent Fire mage was by far the least happy to see Jonathan and the others. He didn’t say anything, just glaring their direction.

  “May I ask why we weren’t given any instructions on how to leave?” Jonathan asked. “I know I rushed ahead, but you could have said something during our conversation.”

  “They thought you would not make it,” Exandra said drily. “I was more hopeful, but I lack the authority to overrule the council in its totality. We neglected the keep the portal open because it was a waste of energy for someone we fully expected to die.”

  “Exandra!” the Order Elder snapped. “Do not be so blunt!”

  “I can hardly think of something blunter than what you said after Jonathan went through the portal,” Exandra fired back. “Should I share it with him, Xavier?”

  Xavier curled his lip, but shook his head. “No. There is little need.”

  “What exactly did he say?” Jonathan asked, taking a threatening step forwards. A tiny spark of electricity danced over Xavier’s knuckles for a moment before he got himself under control.

  Exandra smiled. “He said “that man won’t make it five minutes against the Hydra, let alone Zandrus. He is hardly worth the power it takes to keep the portal open even that long.”

  “Lies!” Xavier said, his face reddening.

  “I see how it is,” Jonathan said. “Now that I accomplished my mission, you actually take me seriously. Is that right, Xavier?”

  Xavier got to his feet, slamming his staff against the ground. “I will not be disrespected in my own hall! I admit, you surprised me. However, how exactly was I supposed to believe you? I could sense your strength, but it hardly felt sufficient to slay the Abyssal Hydra!”

  “I will overlook it for now,” Jonathan said. “However, if we’ll be working together going forward, things need to change. We’re not enemies, are we?”

  “No, but-” Xavier blustered.

  “Good. You’re acting a lot like one right now, and you don’t want to find out what I do to my enemies. Just a friendly tip.” A wave of Jonathan’s aura, this time imbued with as much power as he could muster swept across the room. Xavier’s eyes widened and he sat down as quickly as he could.

  Exandra laughed, shaking her head at the interaction. “Perhaps it is time another one of us headed the council. It has been a century since the last election. It seems Xavier is becoming a bit too hot headed to lead the council.”

  Xavier snarled. “There will be no need for that, Exandra. I hold the majority support in the council. An election would simply deliver the position to myself or an ally.”

  “Enough with the politicking!” Jonathan snapped. “We have a job to do here. You gave me a task and I did it. The only thing we should be accomplishing with this time is planning how to take out Eventide.”

  Slightly mollified, Xavier nodded. “On that we can agree. But-”

  “Then how about we fucking do something about it?” Jonathan shouted. “No buts. No committees. You people have been stuck in this damn city for far too long. Have you even engaged with the wider realm in your lives? Has a single one of you even seen Eventide for yourself?”

  “Well,” Xavier began.

  “No,” Exandra admitted. “We have lived up here since we were born. We will occupy this position until we die. There is little point to it. The city runs itself at this point. There are no criminals because everyone here is held together by the common fear of Eventide. The original position of the Elders was as a final defense against the Circle Lord, but he has never shown any interest in any of the cloud cities.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Jonathan scoffed. “That’s why you weren't able to tell that I actually had what it took to back up my claims. The only experience you have fighting is in that dungeon. Not against other people or anything more intelligent than a monster.”

  “I agree,” Exandra said cordially. “Now we have an opportunity to change all that. I for one am excited to finally set foot on the land of Hollow Dream.”

  A vein pulsed in Xavier’s forehead as he listened to all this. Eventually, he spoke. “If you truly believe your ideas to be superior to our own, that your brutish strategies are better, then explain to us how you intend to defeat Eventide.”

  “That’s a good question,” Jonathan replied. “Like I said earlier, I will do that the same way I killed every other Circle Lord from the Ash Heaps to Bloodspill. I want your help, but I do not need it. I’ve found that including the people of a Circle in the battle against the Lord helps in creating a better society afterwards. If we win, you will all be tasked with repairing the realm, and reclaiming the surface.”

  “That is not a plan,” Xavier countered. “You expect us to put all our trust in a mere assurance? The legions of the cloud cities haven’t marched in millenia. What makes you think that you are fit to lead them?”

  Jonathan sighed. “I think you’re missing the point. I’ll say it again. I don’t need you. I am strong enough to do this on my own. I just would prefer to include you in the fight for the world you call home. If that is impossible, I’ll go now and kill Eventide myself.”

  “I will come with you,” Exandra said, rising from her chair. “This council bores me. I have sat upon it for far too long. I yearn to explore the realm. Jonathan makes that possible.”

  “Fine,” Xavier said through gritted teeth. “There’s no need for the theatrics. We will support you. As there are no strategic outposts or cities to conquer, and no soldiers under the service of Eventide, we will join you when you actually engage Eventide in battle. There is no point in marching across a world that is actively hostile to our existence. If you truly possess the strength to match Eventide, that should not be a problem for you.”

  “Alright. I’m glad we could come to a consensus.” Jonathan started towards the door. “Let’s head out. We have a Circle Lord to kill.”

  “Wait a moment,” Xavier called out. “You will need a map of the realm to find Eventide. His resting place is quite hard to reach.”

  Jonathan turned, just in time to catch a scroll that Xavier had tossed his way. He nodded once in thanks, before tucking the scroll away.

  As he left the building, he muttered, “Damn it. He ruined my exit.”