Gilgamesh felt no fear at the sudden appearance of the giant serpent, instead, he burst into laughter.
"The Hydra," Gilgamesh stated, "It seems this Caster is an interesting fellow."
"The Hydra?" Bai Ye pondered, "The terrifying beast from Hercules' twelve labors? Said to possess venom so potent that mere touch means death, and to regrow heads instantly even when severed. The Hydra."
Gilgamesh nodded, "The Hydra's poison is indeed no trifling matter. Stand aside, and let this King..."
Before Gilgamesh could finish, he saw Bai Ye bolt forward as if playing.
Gilgamesh was left with a bewildered expression.
What was he doing?
Did he have some secret trick to deal with the Hydra?
Then...
Gilgamesh watched as the Hydra opened its cavernous maw, lunged forward, and swallowed Bai Ye whole.
Gilgamesh: "..."
What happened to the secret trick?
Gilgamesh's gaze instantly turned grim as he waved his hand forward, "Spit him out!"
In an instant, the golden screen behind Gilgamesh erupted with blinding radiance, countless weapons reappearing and then hurtling towards the massive serpent's head. xxs
Gilgamesh didn't care about Bai Ye's life or death.
However, if Bai Ye died, it would mean the end of Bai Ye's Holy Grail War journey.
This was something Gilgamesh could not accept!
Could the great King of Heroes, himself, fail to obtain the Holy Grail? Could he actually lose?
This was absolutely unforgivable!
Boom!
Accompanied by the impact of the weapons, a deafening explosion occurred.
Under Gilgamesh's barrage of attacks, the colossal Hydra was forced to list to one side, nearly falling from the hotel's exterior wall.
Countless debris rained down, striking the ground and kicking up vast clouds of dust.
However, soon, the Hydra regained its balance, its massive maw once again facing Gilgamesh.
"Mongrel, are you provoking me?" Gilgamesh reached to the side, "Gram!"
From the golden screen of the Gate of Babylon, a spiraled knight's sword slowly materialized and fell into Gilgamesh's hand.
Gram, a demonic sword from Celtic mythology, forged by the elves of the divine realm, imbued with the mighty power of the sky god's thunder!
The next instant, with Gram in hand, Gilgamesh raised his sword and slashed forward.
Sizzle!
An ear-splitting crackle of surging electricity erupted, followed by countless azure currents shooting forward as Gilgamesh swung his sword, striking the Hydra's head with immense force.
Boom!
The moment the current hit the Hydra, it exploded, countless arcs of electricity coiling around the serpent's body.
In the next instant, the Hydra reared its head and then toppled downwards.
Its massive body crashed from the hotel's exterior wall towards the ground, and then...
The ground collapsed!
Almost instantaneously, the ground beneath the hotel erupted, countless massive stones surging upwards, and then a vast area rapidly caved in.
Surrounding vehicles were crushed into scrap metal by the falling debris, windows in nearby buildings shattered continuously, and streetlights and utility poles toppled, piling up in a tangled mess.
Torn cables crackled and sparked with intermittent flashes of electricity!
Gilgamesh approached the edge of the fractured wall and looked down, his eyes filled with immense fury.
Because the Hydra was still not dead!
After suffering heavy blows, the Hydra continued to writhe on the ground.
Gilgamesh took a step forward, then descended from the air, plummeting directly to the ground.
Boom!
The moment he landed, the ground beneath him exploded, shattering into a deep crater.
After steadying himself, Gilgamesh pressed forward with his sword, a multitude of weapons reappearing within the golden screen behind him.
"Die, reptile!"
Gilgamesh raised Gram high, preparing to strike the Hydra again, but at that moment...
*Pfft!*
A massive gash suddenly appeared on the Hydra's back.
In the next instant...
"I was suffocating!"
Bai Ye crawled out of the rift and slid onto the ground.
Gilgamesh looked at Bai Ye with some surprise, "You're not dead?"
"Nonsense," Bai Ye replied, "If I died, wouldn't you disappear?"
This time, it was Gilgamesh's turn to be speechless. His words held so much truth that they were irrefutable.
Gilgamesh asked, "Humans die from poisoning if they touch the Hydra. Why are you unharmed?"
"That's naturally because I'm immune to poison," Bai Ye said, shaking off the slime from his body, "I suppose we can't go back to the hotel to wash up now, can we?"
Gilgamesh responded, "What do you think?"
The hotel building continued to collapse, with debris constantly crashing down.
Several floors were engulfed in flames, thick black smoke billowing outwards.
Bai Ye sighed, "It seems we'll have to find another place to wash and sleep."
"No!" Gilgamesh's expression suddenly turned solemn as he looked ahead, "Tonight, we might not be able to sleep."
"Hm?"
Bai Ye blinked and followed Gilgamesh's gaze forward.
The street was empty and long, with no one around.
The collapsed hotel deterred any approach.
On both sides were countless piles of rubble, and toppled streetlights flickered intermittently.
Gilgamesh was the most brilliant existence on this street.
Golden, incredibly dazzling.
And on the other side of the street, someone was hidden in the darkness.
An extremely powerful aura.
A figure slowly emerged.
It was a woman.
Tall and slender, with long, dark purplish-red hair and red eyes.
Occasionally, the wind would blow, causing her long hair to fly.
The woman wore a form-fitting black outfit that accentuated her curvaceous and alluring figure.
But more dangerous than the woman's physique...
Was her spear!
In her hand, she held a blood-red, spiraled spear, held downwards. The woman gripped the spear by its tail, dragging its tip along the ground.
As the woman walked slowly forward, her spear tip scraped against the ground, igniting golden sparks.
Gilgamesh tightened his grip on Gram.
The golden screen behind him blazed even brighter.
Few in this world could make the King of Heroes take them seriously.
The woman before him was likely one of them.
After a moment, Gilgamesh spoke, "Queen of the Underworld, realm of the dead and spirits, a queen cursed for stepping into the divine realm in human form, do you intend to declare war upon me?"
...