The Hydra never anticipated this turn of events.


    At such a critical moment, Jormungandr—once a fellow monster—was now aiding the humans.


    Its fury was unmatched, but a creeping fear also took root in its heart.


    Jormungandr''s abilities were perfectly suited to counter its immortal body, meaning she could kill it right here and now.


    Roar!!!


    The Hydra opened its massive jaws, unleashing a storm of blood-red mes in an attempt to block Jormungandr''s approach.


    But Jormungandr''s form was almost ethereal; these attacks passed right through her, doing no harm whatsoever.


    The mes simply phased through her body, leaving herpletely untouched.


    "Ha! You think a mere mirror image can stop me?" Jormungandr sneered with disdain.


    The Hydra raged even more, but there was nothing it could do.


    It could only watch helplessly as Jormungandr, without haste, slithered directly into its head.


    In an instant, the Hydra''s massive body stiffened, and even the healing of its wounds abruptly ceased.


    "What''s going on?" Ryan and the others were stunned as they saw the Hydra suddenly freeze in ce. They had no idea what had changed.


    Regardless, this was the opportunity they couldn''t afford to miss!


    Ryan''s voice cut through the silence. "Attack now! Don''t let it recover!"


    Lucia and the rest nodded in agreement. Their auras surged once again, and theyunched another round of devastating attacks on the Hydra.


    Lightning crackled, sword light zed, and waves of blood-red energy surged as powerful skills bombarded the Hydra from all sides.


    In the blink of an eye, the Hydra was engulfed in a dazzling array of multicolored attacks.


    Boom! Boom!


    The earth trembled, explosions echoed, and shockwaves radiated outward, scattering the clouds in the sky.


    Under the relentless barrage of attacks, the Hydra was quickly overpowered.


    When the dust and smoke finally cleared, the core area of the Beast Forest was left inplete ruin.


    Where the Hydra had once stood, there was now a massive crater, hundreds of meters deep.


    Its bodyy in tatters, its flesh and blood staining the surroundingndscape crimson.


    Yet, even after all that, the Hydra still clung to life!


    Roar!!!


    The mangled creature''s body twitched, and its remaining head let out a hoarse, guttural roar that made everyone''s skin crawl.


    This thing was impossibly hard to kill!


    Before anyone couldnd the final blow, the Hydra''s eyes suddenly went vacant.


    In stunned silence, the group watched as a small white snake forcefully burrowed its way out of the Hydra''s skull.


    Jormungandr was no longer a mere phantom—she now had a physical body. Slowly, she slithered out from the Hydra''s head, her snow-white form stained with blood, her tongue flicking in and out as she surveyed the battlefield.Everyone was left speechless by the sight.


    "What… what is this thing?" Bayou''s eyes were wide in disbelief, his beard trembling.


    The Hydra hadn''t even been fully dealt with, and now another creature had emerged?


    Because the previous fiery barrier had blocked their view, none of them had seen Jormungandr enter the Hydra''s body earlier.


    Ryan and the others, unsure of what had just transpired, remained on high alert, ready for any further surprises.


    Jormungandr internally scoffed at their reaction.


    Her form could shift between ethereal and solid, allowing her to slip into the dream world at will. Even with her strength severely diminished, it would be a fool''s errand for even a Superss warriorto kill her—let alone these people.


    What annoyed her, though, was that Hydra''s wounds were too severe. Even after devouring its soul, she had only recovered a portion of her power. Who knew how long it would take for her to return to her peak?


    Meanwhile, after Hydra was defeated, a series of game notifications popped up in front of Luca.


    [Ding! Jormungandr has in the Hydra (Mirror Image). You have gained 150,000 experience points!]


    [Your level has increased to lv22, and you have unlocked the new skill "Magic Runes Infusion"!]


    [Congrattions, you havepleted the quest "Defeat the Hydra" with a "Perfect" rating!]


    [Rewards received: Shapeshifting Mask (Purple-Gold), Wings of the Wind (High-Tier), 10,000 Gold!]


    [The "Riverfall City Siege" event has concluded. Congrattions on achieving the highest contribution rank!]


    [Rewards received: Tear of the Elves (High-Tier), Spectral Bracelet (Gold-Tier), 3000 Reputation!]


    …


    A flurry of notifications left Luca momentarily overwhelmed, but excitement quickly flooded his mind.


    He had hit the jackpot! Not only had hepleted two quests, earning a ton of equipment and items, but his level had shot up to 22, saving him an enormous amount of grinding time.


    Suppressing his excitement, Luca checked out his new skills from the level-up and quest rewards.


    [Magic Runes Infusion lv1:ss Skill. As a Demonic Rune Mage, you can infuse magic runes into your body, increasing damage by 100%. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 12 hours.]


    [Wings of the Wind lv1:High-tier skill. Usable by mage sses. Grants the user wind-element wings capable of free flight. Increases speed by 30%. Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 6 hours.]


    The Magic Runes Infusionwas one of the core skills of the Demonic Rune Magess.


    With this skill, Luca could unleash devastating damage in a short amount of time, making it one of the most powerful offensive abilities in his arsenal.


    Wings of the Windwas an auxiliary skill, one of the rare flight abilities in the game. It perfectly addressed one of Luca''s weaknesses—mobility. With it, he wouldn''t be helpless anymore against flying enemies, whether they were yers or monsters.


    Afterward, Luca inspected the two pieces of equipment he had received as quest rewards.


    [Shapeshifting Mask:Diamond-level special equipment. No usage restrictions. Grants +180 to all yer attributes, reduces skill cooldowns by 15%, and increases damage by 10%. Skill: "Shapeshift"—allows the yer to change their appearance for 1 hour. Cooldown: 3 hours.]


    [Spectral Bracelet:Gold-grade equipment. No usage restrictions. Grants +120 to spirit, reduces skill cooldowns by 5%, and increases mana by 1000. Skill: "Spectral Form"—allows the yer to temporarily transform into a specter, bing immune to physical and magical damage. However, spirit-based attacks deal double damage. Duration: 3 minutes.


    Cooldown: 24 hours.]


    Both pieces of equipment had no level restrictions and came with powerful skills.


    The Shapeshiftability from the Shapeshifting Mask and the Spectral Formfrom the Spectral Bracelet were both highly practical, offering significant utility in battle.


    With these two items, Luca''s overall strength was set to skyrocket!


    In addition to the gear, he had also gained some high-tier materials, 10,000 gold coins, and 3,000 reputation points.


    "This really is a windfall!" Luca grinned as he pulled out his previously earned Mithril Staffand equipped all three new items.


    Next, he opened his character stats to check his current attributes.


    [Name:Luca]


    [Level:lv22]


    [Talent:The Person Favored (SSS-level)]


    [ss:Demonic Rune Mage (Silver-grade)]


    [Health:6,421]


    [Mana:14,308]


    [Attack:2,891-2,977]


    [Attributes:Strength 418, Spirit 1,080, Endurance 457, Agility 483]


    [Special Attributes:Charisma 100, Perception 100, Aptitude 100, Luck 100]


    [Titles:Unrivaled in Elegance and Charm, Peerless Appearance, Dangerous Perception, The Son of Luck]


    …


    Luca''s stats had nearly doubledpared to before, with massive boosts to both damage and attributes.


    With the addition of his new hidden ss, Dreamweaver, and the powerful skills he had unlocked, lower-tier opponents didn''t stand a chance. Even against mid-tier enemies, Luca now had a solid chance of taking them down.


    In Luca''s previous life, it had taken him at least half a year to reach this level of damage. But now, after just a week since his rebirth, he had already surpassed that point by a wide margin. It felt almost surreal.


    After calming down from the excitement, a faint white light flickered in the air, and suddenly, a silver snake-shaped bracelet appeared on his wrist.


    Jormungandr''s voice echoed in Luca''s ear, her tone haughty. "Kid, I''vepletely drained the power from Hydra''s mirror image. It''s useless now. Next time there''s a job like this, don''t forget to call me."


    Absorbing the Hydra''s power had clearly strengthened Jormungandr. Luca could sense that her strength had increased several timespared to before.


    While this level of power was insignificant for a Transcendent-level King-ss monster, it still ced her at the peak of mid-tier strength.


    For Luca, this was a good thing—it meant he now had another powerful ace up his sleeve.


    However, he wasn''t fond of Jormungandr''s attitude.


    "You should address me as ''master,''" Luca said calmly, his eyes glowing with a faint red light.


    Immediately, the snake-shaped bracelet on his wrist began to tremble violently.


    "Stop! Please… stop! M-Master! I''m sorry, I was wrong!" Jormungandr''s voice screeched in agony. The pain of the soul contract directly affected her very essence, and not even a King-level monster could withstand it.


    The red glow in Luca''s eyes slowly faded as he spoke coldly, "If you work well for me, you might have a chance at freedom. But if you show even the slightest hint of rebellion, I won''t hesitate to find out what a Transcendent-level monstertastes like."


    Through the contract, Luca could sense Jormungandr''s thoughts.


    Just moments ago, he had felt a brief surge of murderous intent from her—subtle, but unmistakable. This beast was still harboring thoughts of betrayal, so Luca had decided to teach her a painful lesson.


    Jormungandr remained silent, though asional pained groans let him know she was still alive.


    Meanwhile, with the Hydra defeated, all the yers and Iron Mountain soldiers received in-game notifications.


    Cheers erupted from the crowd.


    "Hahaha! After pulling all-nighters for days, we finally won!"


    "I just got a Bronze-Gradepiece of equipment! This reward is awesome!"


    "Finally hit level 10! Now I canplete my profession change and be an official knight!"


    "Snowfall Guildis recruiting! Our guild master just got enough reputation points. Firste, first served!"


    ...