Within the walls of Orma

Two figures, facing, studied each other.

Vlad was the portrait of a divinity; his scarlet hair had lengthened to his waist and a thick, sanguine Aura danced around his pale skin.

Comodo looked like a beast, his body deformed and his eyes haunted, his breath deep and panting. He did not feel in control of himself at that moment. An otherworldly and transcendental force was attempting to throw his consciousness into oblivion.

He threw his hands behind his neck, turning an eardrum-splitting scream skyward. The gruesome shriek made Comodo himself shiver, having completely lost control of his body.

The creature within his blood was slowly eroding his consciousness. It was clear that she would not stop unless it gained total control of its host.

A terror beyond all limits of rationality assaulted the throat of the Goblin, still burning from the screams.

For a few moments, as his enemy's Aura grew, Comodo deluded himself that he could suppress the creature that had taken possession of his body.

Still, the reality was much harder to accept.

The more he tried to move according to his will, the more tightly the creature clung to his nerves. Suddenly, the muscles also gave in to the grip and relaxed. His arms began to swing smoothly and a stupid but involuntary smile dissolved on his face.

"How bitter to be able just smile at my end."

"If you had already given up, small and insignificant mortal, you would have your revenge," noted a hoarse voice coming from the depths of his Soul. “By continuing to fight against me, you are only weakening yourself. You show openings to your enemies every time you steal my right to possess this body.”

A cold shiver and a poisonous feeling was transmitted to him from his own marrow.

Comodo's consciousness suddenly found itself in darkness, as if he were standing in a universe made of oblivion. His eyes could find nothing but darkness and darkness. There was dead silence in that place, and there didn't seem to be any hint of life.

But, immediately after looking around, he noticed a presence behind him. When he turned he found a gargantuan being with a multitude of heads protruding from the base of his body.

"What the fuck are you, damn it!" cursed Comodo.

He couldn't keep his cool. He knew that losing control would help the monster, but what reaction should he have?

The bright red eyes of the heads stared at him, while their pupils moved at high speed over every single part of his body. The central head seemed to have twisted its mouth into a cruel smile.

"Silence! Whether you like it or not, this vessel was nearly destroyed to allow my powers to be awakened. It is already amazing how you could have survived contact with my Legacy."

Comodo had never trusted the words of Hades, who had repeatedly described the legendary figure of the Hydra; but Comodo had always been wary of his words on the subject, because he didn't think that a little boy could know such details about a creature that had lived countless millennia ago.

And instead, now that he found it before him, Comodo could see that the Human was right. and he could tell by the numerous heads and glassy eyes that covered the whole body of the monster.

Before him was the dreaded Hydra,

which proved that no one had the right to question the authority of that extravagant Human.

The Hydra rolled its eyes, reading the fear in Comodo's soul. “Not even that stupid Human you fear so much will be able to do anything to you once you give me this faulty vessel. The origin of my power is very different from other Legacies of Immortals. I need to survive to get my revenge on that cuisine-loving bastard."

The last statement had left the Goblin more than perplexed, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He wasn't there to ask questions that he wouldn't get any answers to; he had to try to figure out how to regain possession of his own body, even if only temporarily.

How could he have known that two legendary creatures were already discussing his fate?

...

Inside Helial's Soul

"So you killed one of the most feared and dangerous creatures in the universe because it broke a set of plates while eating in your palace?" Alexander said, trying in every way not to burst out laughing.

“No one was allowed to roam my house indiscriminately. The Hydra believed it was exempt from this rule and, in fact, was punished. Even in its human form it is very clumsy and animalistic. So I eliminated it."

Bucephalus was doing everything he could not to explode, but when Alexander, with shining eyes, met his gaze, he could no longer restrain himself.

“AHAHAHAH”, Bucephalus and Alexander fell to the ground and began to roll on the lawn as if they were not two of the most powerful creatures in the universe.

Wrapped in solitude for millennia, forced to keep each other company to avoid attracting unwanted attention, the two had a unique bond. A glance was enough to read one's mind, without the need for further words. Perhaps all that time had made them more childish and less of a bulwark of dignity.

"Band of idiots," Iblis snorted as he blew on a hot cup of tea. But he continued to explain: “The Hydra understood that it was nearing its end and separated its Soul into several parts. Unlike the normal method that the Immortals use to leave Legacies, the fragments of his Soul are similar to parasites. They have part of the host's consciousness in a dormant state. Once they find the right carrier, they awaken and resume cultivating and leveling up. When it decided to do this it hoped that by doing so it would have its revenge. "

Unfortunately for it, even before it could even think of getting the vengeance it so longed for, I condemned myself. Iblis no longer exists as it remembers him. Would Alexander and his hateful horse laugh alike, if they knew that the reason for the death-defying fight between Amaterasu and me is not much more significant than the one with the Hydra?

"And why didn't you destroy all the fragments of Soul of the 'Hydra?" Bucephalus said, dusting off his tunic and adjusting his glasses on his nose. He had interrupted Iblis's flow of thoughts.

"Although only Amaterasu was worthy to face me, the Hydra used all its vitality to divide its Soul and its blood and send each fragment to distant and remote corners of the universe."

That monster had never wanted to have disciples, but naive warriors to parasitize.

"So I think it is possible for us to intervene ..." ALexander commented briefly. “The Hydra is too powerful and, if it takes complete control of Comodo, there is no chance for Helial to win. It is an entity on our level, if we cannot intervene, why should it?”

Iblis took a deep breath. He had allowed Alexander to unlock the Perfect Foundations of Lumia, he had indulged him in awakening the potential of Snowflake and Vlad, he had ignored the fifteen Immortals who were gone. He rubbed his temples, growing tired and irritable.

What a frustration to be forced to admit that this time too Alexander was not completely wrong.

Alexander saw the Devil nod slightly and glanced at Bucephalus. The horse in human form raised a thumb in response and disappeared into thin air.

...

Inside Comodo's Soul

Comodo waited for the Hydra to continue talking, but silence was deafening.

The Goblin realized he was in complete control of his body again.

The Hydra was gone.

Not bad. All his powers were still there, in Comodo's blood, and an unprecedented force ran through his blood vessels.

He didn't really care that much that the monster was gone.

...

Inside Helial's Soul

Bucephalus threw an old hag with raven hair and a wrinkled face in front of Iblis's coffee table, risking to make her hit the Devil's beloved new dishes.

"Let's try not to break other tableware, thank you," Iblis said with severe irony, stinging Bucephalus with his eyes. Then he turned to the Hydra: “Not only were you a beast without respect in life, but now you are also involved in parasitizing young warriors. The disgust I feel towards you will not subside even after I have annihilated your being in all its forms. But, since you're here, we'll play a game."

Iblis made the cup of tea in his hands disappear and pushed the chair away from the table, standing up.

The old hag was slowly retreating on all fours. She was trembling like a leaf, convinced that she had just been thrown into a nightmare.

A Devil over three meters tall and with a terrifying wingspan appeared in front of her.

"Now. Start by telling me where the remaining fragments of your Soul are. As soon as I have some time, I will not only go and destroy them one by one, but I will erase all traces of your name from history.”

The old woman had not even opened her mouth. Her index finger trembled terribly as she pointed to the monster in front of her. This approached her and punched her nose, creating a huge crater on the ground, with a diameter of tens of meters.

Despite being in soul form, they were all far more powerful than any normal Immortal.

“You filthy bitch,” Iblis said, punching her in the stomach as the Hydra tried desperately to return to its original form. But Iblis didn't seem willing to give her a breather. Each time she was about to transform back, a punch hit her in the stomach, blocking the Mana she was gathering.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The mystical space created within the Soul of the unsuspecting Helial was the stage for a terrifying struggle. Or rather, terrifying only for one of the two sides.

It was not difficult to break the monster's neck and torture its body. But Iblis calmed down and resumed his child form only when he had incinerated every shred of the Hydra's body.

Alexander and Bucephalus, who were used to scenes of cruelty, had never seen in anyone so much coldness when killing an equal. They had definitely underestimated Iblis. They laid their eyes on the dining table on the other side of the hill, making a mental note to never dare to break a Devil's plate, not even as a joke.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" whispered Alessandro to Bucephalus.

"Paper plates for the future?" Bucephalus said stealthily.

"Paper plates."