CHAPTER 123 — The Hydra-King Descends, A Battle of Gods Begins
(Full novel chapter blending Option 1: The Hydra-King manifests + Option 3: Immediate continuation of battle)
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1. When the Sky Dies
Reality… cracked.
Not metaphorically.
The sky died.
Clouds turned to ash.
Wind froze.
Color drained from the world.
For a heartbeat, everything turned black and silent—
as if the heavens forgot how to function.
Then the cracking began.
KR… KRK… KRRRSSSHAAAAA—!!!
A colossal rift split open across half the horizon.
At first there was darkness.
Then movement.
Then—
Heads.
Huge serpentine heads of abyssal flesh and bone emerged, each tens of miles long, dripping tendrils of void corruption.
One head had burning blue eyes like collapsing galaxies.
Another had a skull of black fire.
Another was wreathed in storm-winds made of pure annihilation.
Disciples screamed and collapsed to their knees.
The Sect Master of Cloudsky sucked in a sharp breath.
"Th—that's… that's not a mere general…"
The Flower Pavilion Mistress paled.
"Not a demigod… not even a pseudo-god…"
The Sovereign Dragon bowed his massive head.
"…a KING."
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2. The Abyssal Hydra-King — Origins of a Terror
The sky trembled as more heads emerged.
Bai whispered in horror:
"What is that thing…?"
The Sovereign Dragon answered, voice shaking—not with fear—but with ancient grief.
> "The Hydra-King…
an Abyssal God-Beast.
The first creation of the Abyssal Ancestor."
Lin tightened his grip on his spear.
"Explain."
The Sovereign Dragon's eyes dimmed.
> "Before the Primordial War, before even dragons ruled the heavens…
the Abyss sought a guardian to destroy worlds."
"So it created one."
"A beast with infinite regeneration, infinite hunger… and infinite heads."
"Each head is a sealed domain. A realm.
Each one a world-ending catastrophe."
Bai swallowed hard, voice trembling despite his new Sovereign power.
"How many heads… does it have?"
The Sovereign answered softly.
> "Count them…
if you can."
Lin looked again.
There were six visible—
But in the darkness behind, countless more twisted through the void.
"Are you telling me that THING can't be killed?"
The Sovereign Dragon exhaled heavily.
> "It can be killed.
If every head is destroyed at the same moment."
Lin stared at him.
"That's impossible."
The Sovereign Dragon's gaze hardened.
> "Which is why entire civilizations have fallen trying."
Funeral silence swept the world.
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3. The Hydra-King Speaks
The massive rift widened, and a titanic torso emerged. Eight wings of black void unfurled into the sky, warping the clouds.
A voice echoed from every direction at once:
> "WORLD-SOVEREIGN."
Lin's heart froze.
> "YOU HAVE SOMETHING I WANT."
The first head lowered.
> "A UNIVERSE."
The second head hissed.
> "A NEWLY BORN WORLD… LITTLE AND FRAGILE."
The third head grinned monstrously.
> "A PERFECT FEAST."
The fourth head whispered softly—too softly—like a voice in the back of Lin's mind.
> "…come… open… let us in…"
Lin shut it out with pure will, lightning crackling around him.
"You won't be getting anything."
The Hydra-King's central head laughed—
A sound that shook the continent so violently that several mountain peaks collapsed.
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4. The Battle Begins — Executioner vs Sovereign, Hydra vs World
Drakarth lunged first.
The Abyssal Drake shot forward like a meteor, claws dipped in void. Bai and the Sovereign Dragon countered simultaneously.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The sky shattered like glass, raining shards of color.
Below, elders raised barrier after barrier just to survive the shockwaves.
One inner disciple cried out, "This—this isn't a battle—this is the end of the world!"
But Lin wasn't watching Drakarth.
He was watching the Hydra-King.
Because the King…
…had not yet attacked.
It was studying him.
Lin raised his spear.
Tribulation lightning wrapped around his body.
Solar flames erupted behind him.
Laws of his inner world hummed like celestial scripture.
The Hydra-King's far-left head whispered:
> "Good. You grow fast."
Lin snarled:
"Come test it."
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5. Lin vs the First Head
A single Hydra head dropped from the sky like a falling moon.
Lin moved.
FLASH!
Lightning cracked the air—
Then—
CRAAACK—!!!
The collision shattered the clouds.
Lin was thrown backward hundreds of meters.
He gritted his teeth.
"That thing is ridiculously tough…"
The Hydra head smiled.
> "Little Sovereign…
a few thousand more years, and you might have been a threat."
Lin spit blood—
And grinned.
"I don't need a few thousand years."
His inner world flared.
Binary suns ignited.
The world tree pulsed.
The vine-heart sapling poured divine life into his meridians.
Lin's aura shot upward.
Soul Transformation peak → Void Transformation (Early)
The Sovereign Dragon gasped.
"Impossible—he jumped an entire major realm mid-battle—!"
Lin didn't waste the moment.
He spun his spear—
and stabbed directly into the first Hydra head's eye.
STAB!
The head screamed—
Rot dissolved through its skull—
It collapsed—
Then…
PUFF—!!!
Regenerated instantly.
Lin clicked his tongue.
"Great. That confirms it. Annoying bastard."
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6. The Second Head Joins
Another head lunged, spewing a beam of annihilation.
Lin countered with a solar eruption:
SUN-FLARE SPEAR!
A sun exploded in mid-air.
Light swallowed darkness.
Hydra flesh charred—
But regenerated instantly again.
Lin growled.
"So that's how it is."
His eyes narrowed.
"This thing isn't meant to be fought."
The Sovereign Dragon roared:
> "CORRECT—IT IS MEANT TO BE SEALED."
Lin's gaze snapped to him.
"You know how?"
The Sovereign nodded grimly.
> "Only a World-Sovereign can anchor the seal."
Lin pointed his spear at the Hydra-King.
"Then tell me what to do."
The Sovereign's massive eyes locked onto Lin's.
> "You must let it swallow you."
Lin stared at him.
"…I'm sorry, what?"
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7. Hydra-King Attacks — Opportunity or Doom
The Hydra-King, as if hearing the plan, roared:
> "YES.
COME TO ME, LITTLE WORLD.
LET ME CONSUME YOU WHOLE."
The rift behind him expanded—
revealing a stable abyssal domain.
The Sovereign Dragon shouted urgently:
> "Lin Xuan—NOW! Before it stabilizes!"
Bai screamed desperately:
"MASTER NO—WE CAN FIGHT—JUST—DON'T—"
But Lin was calm.
Terrifyingly calm.
He lowered his stance.
Solar fire burned in his eyes.
Lightning of tribulation wrapped his spear.
His inner universe pulsed behind him like a divine halo.
He looked at Bai.
At Mu.
At Wen.
At the Sect Master.
At the Sovereign.
Then he said quietly:
"I'll be fine. My world travels with me."
The Sovereign nodded solemnly.
> "Then go.
And trust yourself."
Bai shouted one last time—
"MASTER—!!!"
Lin turned—
and charged straight toward the Hydra-King.
The Hydra-King's jaws widened—
Big enough to swallow a mountain range.
Lin leapt into the darkness.
The Hydra-King snapped its jaws shut.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
A world-shaking shockwave erupted as the Hydra swallowed Lin whole—
The continent trembled.
The Sovereign Dragon's wings shook in rage.
Bai collapsed to his knees.
Mu covered her mouth in horror.
And Wen whispered:
"…He… he went in willingly…"
The Hydra-King's eyes glowed with victory.
> "A WORLD-SOVEREIGN…
DELIVERED TO ME."
Yet inside the Hydra…
Lin Xuan opened his eyes.
And smiled.
> "Good.
Because this gives me exactly what I needed."
His binary suns ignited.
His inner world fully expanded.
The Hydra-King froze.
Lin whispered:
> "Now let's see how you handle an entire universe…
fighting back from inside."