The Hydra continued its indiscriminate assault on the crowd. Unwilling to be sughtered, the soldiers gripped their spears and fought back, charging at the Hydra and thrusting repeatedly into its body. However, the Hydra's hide was extraordinarily tough — the spears could barely pierce its outer skin and could not penetrate deeper, making it impossible to inflict any effective damage.

  Between twenty and thirty fming meteors appeared in the sky, plummeting from high above and crashing into the Hydra's body, setting it abze. Fmes began to lick across the serpent's form.

  "Keep attacking." A nearby man dressed in robes and wielding a silver staff called out loudly. The three others beside him raised their silver staves high toward the Hydra — it was they who had summoned the fming meteors moments before.

  More fming meteors rained down from the sky, smming into the Hydra. Under their onsught, more and more of its body was engulfed in fire. Feeling the searing pain, the Hydra grew wild and frenzied, all nine heads thrashing madly through the air.

  Suddenly, one of the Hydra's heads gaped open its enormous maw. It drew in a deep breath, then erupted — a torrent of crimson fire dozens of meters long spewed forth from the great serpent's throat, sweeping toward the nearby crowd. Many people were engulfed by the fmes and caught fire.

  Immediately after, the Hydra's other heads also began spewing fire, incinerating the crowd. The range of the fmes was extraordinarily wide, even catching the four combat mages wielding silver staves in its path.

  "Use a storm to hold back the fmes!" the lead mage shouted. The four combat mages combined their power to summon a fierce gale that swirled around them, and under the protection of the powerful whirlwind, the Hydra's fire failed to reach them and caused no harm.

  By now, those near the Hydra were either dead or fleeing — only the four combat mages still stood their ground. The Hydra spotted them and began crawling in their direction. Five of its heads swung to face the mages: two of the great heads bsted them with torrents of red-and-yellow fire, while the other three spewed a stream of murky yellow liquid at the four.

  The mages hastily summoned whirling winds around themselves for protection. The fmes were repelled and left them unharmed, but the murky liquid could not be entirely blocked by the storm. Some of it spshed onto one of the mages — wherever the liquid touched him, white smoke instantly began to rise. His clothing and skin began to decay at a visible rate. He colpsed to the ground, writhing and screaming in agony.

  "Watch out — that liquid is highly corrosive!" one of the combat mages realized, shouting the warning aloud. The Hydra rapidly closed in on the four, and one of its heads lunged down at the fallen mage. Weakened and unable to dodge, he was seized in the Hydra's jaws and swallowed whole. The remaining three combat mages, desperate to avoid the same fate, turned and fled in panic — there was nothing they could do but watch helplessly as their companion was killed.

  "Retreat! Everyone abandon the fight and withdraw to the southeast!" the Suzaku Guard Captain bellowed. The crowd erupted in terrified screams and surged toward Euphemia's carriage. The Hydra gave chase, relentlessly pursuing the fleeing mass and continuing its assault without pause.

  At this moment, Rulu, Nana, and the others were also swept along with the crowd, fleeing into the distance. In the chaos, Rulu managed to secure an empty carriage drawn by giant deer. They boarded it and rode away. Nana looked back from the carriage at the Hydra rampaging through the crowd in the distance, her expression filled with panic. "What do we do now?" she said.

  Rulu's expression was grave. "We do nothing. A monster that size is beyond anything we can handle. We need to get away from here as fast as possible and find somewhere safe."

  "What about the others?" Nana said.

  Rulu's expression was cold. "Most of them will die here."

  Just as Rulu had said, the Hydra bore down relentlessly on the crowd — lunging with its jaws, shing out with fire — and every st person who fell behind or fled too slowly was killed and devoured without exception. People screamed in terror, scrambling over one another to escape, each desperately afraid they would be next.

  "Help — someone please help me!" Suddenly, amid the chaos, Rulu heard a familiar voice. He immediately brought the carriage to a halt and looked toward the sound — and a familiar figure came into view.

  The scene was in utter disorder. People fled with fear written across their faces. In the confusion, a young woman with long orange-yellow hair had stumbled and fallen to the ground. She struggled frantically to get up, and had barely risen when a panicked passerby crashed into her and knocked her back down.

  She had apparently twisted her ankle. She sat on the ground clutching her ankle with both hands, her face contorted in pain. She tried to stand, but the moment she got up, the searing pain in her foot sent her crashing back down again. Sitting on the ground, she cried out desperately for help, pleading with anyone nearby.

  But people had only their own survival in mind. No one came to her aid. Those around her seemed not to see her at all, streaming past her on all sides without pause. The woman stared at the Hydra drawing ever closer, and the terror on her face gave way to despair.

  "Shari, why are you sitting on the ground?!" A familiar male voice rang out nearby. The orange-haired woman turned her head — and there beside her stood a young man with dark, sallow skin. It was Rulu.

  "Rulu, I can't get up — save me, please!" The despair on Shari's face instantly transformed into joyful relief as she cried out to him.

  Rulu rushed to Shari's side, slipped one arm around her waist and the other beneath her thighs, and lifted her up from the ground. Shari threw both arms tightly around Rulu's neck. She nestled against his chest, gazing up at his face with adoring eyes.