Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

Very soon, there were only four herbs left on the collection list for Cyanide and Ragnar: Odium, Anastasia, Farma-whatever-it's-called, and Moonflower.

Of them, Odium was probably the most pain to get. This was because they were found in the swampy areas of the rainforest, which coincidentally was also the most dangerous area. The snakes they'd encountered when they first arrived in the rainforest were nothing compared to the massive basilisks that resided in the swamps, not to mention the crocodiles and alligators that lay hidden, waiting for their prey.

But naturally, Ragnar and his hatred of snakes prompted them to head there first.

"This place stinks," he spat, sniffing the air.

"Have you tried not smelling the air?" Cyanide asked casually.

"Not smelling the- what the fuck are you? How do you want me to just 'not smell' the air?"

Cyanide shrugged. "It doesn't bother me for a reason."

"… You're one weird dude, Prince Charming. Are you even human anymore?"

Cyanide ignored that question and instead focused on locating the Odium. According to the list, it was a disgusting purple herb that reeks foul odor. Life around the herb is scarce due to the high amount of airborne pollen particle, meaning it would be a place with less life around.

"This swamp is too big," Cyanide concluded after looking at his system map (not the one Envy gave them). "We're splitting up."

"Sounds good to me," Ragnar said with a chuckle. "I'll leave the herbs to you, then, assassin. I'm gonna do some slaughtering. I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU JUST YET, YOU LEGLESS NOODLES!"

With a roar, he disappeared into the left side of the swamp, followed by various shrieks from the poor reptiles residing there. They had no idea what was coming for them—170 kilograms of pure physical aggression.

Cyanide watched him go, blinked, then activated his [Radar] and stuck to his original mission: finding the Odium.

*****

After a while of walking and taking out decently strong mutants here and there, Cyanide had hit Level 34 and put 10 CP into AGI. The 20 CP from the previous level-ups after fighting the Blood Baron were used on STR and INT respectively, 10 each. After all, those three stats were the only ones he really needed. The rest were all secondary priorities, especially since he has a meat shield now (cough, ahem, Ragnar). He had 3 SP to use, but now wasn't the time to sit down and decide on what to spend to them on.

With stats of now 110 STR, 110 AGI, and 65 INT, he ventured deeper into the swamp. At Level 36, these Level 30 to 32 creatures didn't stand much of a chance. One level meant a lot in Endzone, and could make the difference between life and death.

Strangely, however, even as he went to areas in the swamp without too many creatures around that he could sense with his aura detection techniques learned from Kirika, he was unable to find any of these… purple plants. Their odor was what gave birth to the stench in this entire swamp, so Cyanide had originally thought there would be plenty of them when Ragnar made that comment about the nasty smell. But apparently… that was not the case.

After a while of exploring, though… Cyanide came across a peculiar area. It was a wide open area in the exact middle of the swamp, and was shaped in a perfect circle. The swamp trees here, however, were different than the norm as well. They were twisted, coiled into shapes.

Two in particular directly across from Cyanide looked like snakes, facing the left and right respectively. Between them was a stone wall that looked quite out of place here, entangled by vines and with a carving of a multi-headed snake on it.

This wasn't just an arena anymore. It looked like some kind of… weird throne room for some kind of mystical creature.

But Cyanide's focus wasn't even on that. Instead, his gaze fell on the numerous purple plants surrounding the edges of the circular arena, half-submerged in the murky swamp waters. The horrible stench was also strongest around these parts, so it was confirmed—those were indeed the Odium that they'd came here for.

But the question was…

… How would he harvest them?

It was clear this area was no simple place. The water here was only deep enough to reach Cyanide's ankles, but the moment he took a step forward into it, would the moment he awakened whatever the hell was lying in slumber here.

But then again… was it really that bad to awaken it? Cyanide didn't know its strength. It could be weaker than him, or it could be Level 90. All he knew was that this was not a Blood Baron—something like that would be far more visible, and he most likely would already be fighting it by now. Moreover, Blood Barons locations always show up on maps with an icon, even if a player hasn't unlocked them yet—all the info will just be labeled as '???'.

So just what was this place…?

Cyanide was getting an extremely uneasy feeling, one that he normally was unaffected by. Even when fighting Zul'Krak, the massive stone-lightning lizard, he didn't feel like this. But this place… this swamp… it held a terrible secret. A terrible danger.

And-

"Oh, limpdick! Fancy meeting you here!" Ragnar interrupted out of nowhere, and Cyanide turned to see him approaching from beside the stone slab. "So? Did you get the plants yet? I didn't find any while massacring th-"

"Don't step in that!" Cyanide yelled, but it was too late. Ragnar's heavy boot plopped down into the water, creating ripples in it, and slowly, both of them looked down at the center of the water as they heard a low rumbling sound coming from beneath the earth—the sound of something slithering, biting its way through dirt and rock alike. And it was at that moment that Ragnar knew: he'd fucked up.

"… Oh, crud."

The snake carving on the stone slab lit up yellow, and suddenly, out from the center of the water came tearing out a horrible beast with its nine heads, each shaped like a snake and baring sharp fangs and forked tongues. Its body was huge, as tall as the trees and as wide as nearly the entire circular arena. The nine heads shrieked in unison rage, horribly dissonant, as Ragnar was thrown backwards in the direction of Cyanide, who promptly stepped aside and let him slam painfully into a tree.

"Agh-! Goddammit, you fuckwit… I'll get you later for that one," Ragnar grunted, climbing back to his feet and readying his weapon. "But for now… what in hell's name is that…?"

"That…" Cyanide narrowed his eyes as a notification popped up in front of them both.

[Lost Herald: Discovered]

[Asmodeus, Nine-Headed Basilisk & King of the Serpents]

"… Is a Hydra."

*****

- STATS -

[Name: Asmodeus, Nine-Headed Basilisk & King of the Serpents]

[Level: 50]

[HP: 25000/25000]

[Category: Lost Herald]

[Rewards: ???]