"We.. we're alive…!" Chiyome panted.
"Thank God I got the shield out in time." I sighed after making sure my arms and legs were still attached.
"You… You just shielded us from an attack that would topple a castle… Who are you, Astolfo?" Chiyome asked in shock.
"Just a wandering knight~! This shield was gifted to me by a powerful friend, is all~!" I giggled, looking around for Ariane.
Chiyome and I flinched as we felt a cold shiver go down our spines. Ariane was looking over the edge of the hill we landed on, her aura clearly telling us that she was furious.
"I've been conscious this whole time. My body just couldn't move after getting those illusions cast on me… but, I heard everything he's said and everything he's done."
She looked back at me, her eyes fierce and cold. Though it's directed at Fumba, her gaze made me sweat in nervousness. It was also pretty hot.
"Let's go and find him, 'Stolfo. And when we do, I'll make him regret his entire existence."
"R-Right!" I stood up straight and held my shield in front of my groin, trying to hide my growing boner. This scary side of her is activating some sort of fear-arousal in me.
'Goddamn this horny body of mine…!'
Chiyome looked at the Hydra and put a hand to her chin. "Here's what I think… The Hydra probably believes us to be dead, and is heading towards the town. It would be suicide to fight it head-on, so we'll take out its master while it's distracted. Once the master is dead, the monster wouldn't see us as a threat anymore and we can then focus on saving anyone we can."
"We don't have time for any other plan, so let's go with that!" Ariane agreed.
"Hold on." I shook my head
This plan doesn't sit right with me. "Are we just going to let that Hydra go on a rampage in town? It'll kill hundreds of people!"
"We have no other choice, Astolfo. The Hydra is capable of destroying an entire country. I feel bad about the people in town, but we'd need an army to face that thing."
Ariane also didn't speak up, looking away sadly. It's understandable, a Hydra is a monster of immense power.
But, I also have immense power…
And this body of mine… Clearly, it's affected my soul, because I want to save them. All the innocent lives in the city. How many kids like Marca and her sister are in that town?
They will be killed if I don't do anything to stop the Hydra directly.
"If you need the power of an army… Then I've got all the power we need." I claimed.
"W-Wait, what? 'Stolfo, you think you can defeat that thing by yourself?!" Ariane vehemently disagreed, clearly worried and doubtful about my claims.
"Aria…" I approached her and held her cheeks in my hands, bringing her face closer to mine.
"You don't have to worry about me at all. You should know about the strength I've shown. Trust me when I say I have more to show."
Ariane stared into my eyes for a few moments before smiling, placing a hand over mine. "I see."
I let her go and step back to the edge of the cliff. I raised my hand and focused. "Hippogriff… Answer my call and come to me!"
After a few moments, a small dot at the center of the moon became bigger and bigger until we could see the fast-arriving object's shape.
"Kraaawwwwwh!"
The Hippogriff, a half Eagle and Horse mythical creature spread its wings wide and came to an immediate halt in the air in front of me.
It landed and prodded my cheek with its head playfully.
"Hahaha~! Hey, Griffy! You're as majestic as ever, huh?"
For some reason, I felt a deep connection to the creature, even going so far as to call it a nickname on our first meeting.
"Kyuu!! Kyukyuu~!"
"Kraa? Kraah..!"
Looks like Inari had taken a liking to Griffy, as they seemed to have a conversation all on their own.
"Go with Ariane, Inari. Griffy and I are gonna deal with that big Hydra, okay?"
"Kyu!" Inari obeyed and jumped onto Ariane's shoulder.
"Looks like you pulled another powerful thing out from under your sleeve… 'Stolfo, just… just don't get hurt." Ariane said.
I nodded with a confident smile and jumped on the back of Griffy, then readied my Shield and Lance.
As soon as I got on the hippogriff, my clothes and armor changed slightly with a sparkling aura, becoming a mix of my Rider and Saber Astolfo forms.
I could feel the power of both types mixing, but it didn't feel like I could handle the mixture for very long.
"Let's do this, Griffy~!"
"Kwaaaarh!!"
The hippogriff launched into the air at incredible speeds, but I could handle it just fine, as if I had become one with Griffy.
"Since that big idiot hasn't noticed us, let's start with our strongest charge!" I pointed my lance and raised my shield.
Griffy roared in agreement and we swept down on an angle, aiming for the base of the necks of the multi-headed monster.
With a powerful impact that shattered the ground beneath it, Griffy struck the Hydra with a devastating pulverizing attack, leaving the monster stunned and hurt.
"Shhhaaaaah!!"
One of the heads turned to me and readied another one of those high-pressure water magic blasts. I was ready this time, though.
"Casseur de Logistille! Let this book block the magic and focus on dodging physical attacks, Griffy!"
"Kwar!"
Griffy acknowledged my order and dived straight towards the attacking head. The water magic shot out, but as soon as it reached me, the book's pages glowed and canceled the magic before it could touch me.
Seeing as I wasn't affected, another head pounced at me, but Griffy did his job and activated his innate trait, phasing.
We disappeared just as the Hydra's teeth closed on us, reappearing a second later behind the head that shot out magic.
This time, I charged in with my lance, The Trap of Argalia, and rammed the tip into its neck.
It didn't do much damage at all, but that isn't what the lance is for.
As if the monster slipped on a banana, its entire body flipped.
"Hahaha~! Now that looks ridiculous!" I laughed out loud at the absurdity of a Hydra tripping and falling.
As the lance causes whoever gets struck to fall continuously until their luck catches up with them, the Hydra fell again as soon as it got its balance back. Right now, it's repeatedly going through a 'luck check', so to speak.
Before its luck could catch up, though, I undummon the lance and wield my whip-sword and cut off two of its heads.
"We have to finish this fast, Griffy! It has high regenerative powers!"
"Kwa! Kwaaar!"The hippogriff roared in agreement and threaded through the tangle of necks.
I slashed and swung my whip-sword, cutting and severing any part of the Hydra that I could see.
Soon, the Hydra recovered and stood steady. The two heads left aimed a shot of water magic, but with my anti-magic book, their attacks were dispelled as soon as they got close to me.
"Looks like you aren't the type of Hydra to regrow heads, huh! You big fraud of a reptile!" I taunted the monster as it tried to bite at me to no avail, since Griffy just phased us through it.
I whipped my sword after appearing at the monster's flank and severing another head. The last head roared in pain.
Instead of continuing to fight me, it turned and tried to escape.
"Trying to run away, huh? That's too bad."
Griffy swooped down at the Hydra. I jumped off as he activated his pulverizing charge attack and broke the Hydra's middle spine.
"Shhhaaaah…!" It screeched in pain as the back of its legs buckled and refused to move.
"Hraaah!" I spin myself vertically incredibly fast; the whip sword and I essentially became a Beyblade.
I saw through so fast, I served the last head along with a part of its upper body, the ground splitting in front of me slightly as I landed covered in Hydra blood.
"Ouch…! Is it's blood acidic or something?" I watch in curiosity as the blood covering me steamed up and scalded my skin slightly.
It hurt, but definitely not to the point that it'll leave any marks on my skin.
"Kweh?" Griffy tilted its head and licked my blood-covered cheek.
"Haha~! That tickled! Griffy, you like the taste of Hydra?" I look at the steaming carcass of the monster and back to the hippogriff.
"You wanna bring this thing back to your home to eat?"
The hippogriff enthusiastically nodded its head and pranced around me in circles. "Well, why not? It's not like I need any of its parts, and if I take its core, it'll just bring me unwanted attention. Go ahead and bring it with you!"
Griffy chirped in happiness and put his beak against the corpse, immediately turning himself and the Hydra into rainbow colored light and disappearing back to its own dimension.
"He sure got a big meal outta this, huh? I'm feeling a bit hungry myself now… Ugh…" I felt a sudden wave of fatigue and a headache as my clothes shone in a sparkling light, turning back into my Saber form.
The blood remained on me, and it started becoming stinky.
"…'Stolfo! 'Stolfo!!" I heard Ariane call out, worry dripping from her tone.
I turn my head in the direction of her voice and spot her looking around before spotting me. "'Stolfo!!"
She jumped on me, my face buried in between her breasts. "Oh, thank goodness! I saw that light and the Hydra disappearing and I thought you got caught in some trap that Bastard set up!"
"Mhphm… Mhmhphm!" I tried to speak, but Ariane's boobs were too soft and full for my voice to escape. I was trying to tell her to let go since I'm getting hard, so I just instinctively grabbed her ass.
"Kyaa!" Ariane yelled and her face turned red, but it got her to let go of me.
"Phew…! I nearly died by boob-suffocation!" I joked.
"Don't just do that while we're outside…!" Ariane complained as she used her eyes to tell me Chiyome was behind her.
"Fufufu~ Embarrassed that I'm openly showing my affection~?" I softly giggled as I felt my eyes getting heavy from the combination of fatigue and the blood rushing from my head to my groin.
"Of course it's…—!! 'Stolfo, are you okay?!"
I heard Ariane's worried voice before sleep took me.