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The girl with blonde hair was not an unidentified blue woman appearing before the black agent who had stepped out of the cave holding her in his arms.

Under the enormous full moon, colossal pillars of swirling water surged upwards.

Looking up, there it was—Hydra, made of swirling water, showcasing its immense presence beneath the shining light of the celestial bodies.

It simply stood there, yet the pressure felt so immense it could crush me.

The massive water spout carried such weight that it could be felt even from a distance.

“What on earth is this?”

The black agent muttered in perplexity, but his voice was lost amidst the deafening sounds of the swirling water.

Against the backdrop of a sky pouring starlight, the Hydra, lofty and proud, drew its gaze to a specific direction and opened its mouth.

A jet of water shot forth from the Hydra’s mouth, striking the ground in an instant, like a laser beam.

The torrent of water tore through the ground with the power and sharpness to split solid rock like paper.

The whirlpool spreading around the Hydra yanked nearby objects into chaos, sending droplets and debris soaring into the air.

To the black agent, it seemed like a flare announcing the destruction of Seoul.

A disaster on par with the Steel Tower had descended upon Seoul.

*

The lake’s water swirled upwards high into the sky.

A gigantic pillar of water that was large enough to cast shadows over everything nearby.

The Golden Reaper, the Blue Reaper, and I all halted our tasks to gaze up at this magnificent spectacle.

The size and intimidation of the water pillar stirred a sense of anticipation within me.

Could I finally understand what the ‘Mirror of the Blue Witch’ really was?

But what emerged was neither a witch nor a mirror.

A serpent with nine heads.

A creature made of water, resembling a Hydra.

As soon as it rose from the lake, the Hydra fired a stream of water in our direction, demonstrating immense power.

For it to spew such a large volume of water with enough force to slice through rocks!

If the Blue Reaper got hit by this water cannon, they’d definitely turn into a blue reaper themselves, so I hurriedly sent them back to the garden.

The whirlpools surged from all directions, grinding the stones to dust, launching the pulverized debris into the sky.

The nine streams of water shot from the Hydra’s mouth cut and crushed everything around.

Water and rocks bounced around haphazardly, creating a horrifying scene where even a light brush could send limbs flying.

However, the intimidating emergence and attack of the Hydra had no effect on us.

The Golden Reaper rode the rapidly spinning whirlpool as if on a merry-go-round.

Ducking and weaving between the streams and rocks while reveling in the chaos, the Golden Reaper moved about joyfully.

Soaring through the air as if enjoying a skydive after getting launched by the water pressure, it was the Golden Reaper Water Park!

I too was swept along like the Golden Reaper, marveling at the spectacle.

The condition for defeating the Hydra was .

Quite a clear condition, indeed.

The problem was, I had no idea where the hearts were located.

The body of the Hydra, made of transparent water, was see-through, yet the hearts remained elusive.

*

The tattooed woman, upon discovering the Hydra, hurried back to her residence and woke her younger sister.

“Sis? Why the sudden urgency?”

She grabbed a bag containing fragments of crystal and spoke in haste.

“Get out quickly. We need to evacuate right now.”

The vibrations beneath our feet grew increasingly stronger.

As they emerged from their shelter, they saw the Hydra, shooting torrents of water somewhere.

And then a colossal, shattering roar echoed, tearing through the mountains.

Having dealt with its target, the Hydra was set to annihilate the area around the lake, so a hasty escape was essential.

Together with her younger sister, they dashed towards higher ground, as far away as they could.

“Hey, look over there! A monster made of water has appeared.”

Her younger sister exclaimed, turning back with an oddly enthusiastic tone.

The girl, entranced by the blue moon, was completely oblivious to the precariousness of the situation.

The woman simply tightened her grip on her sister’s hand and quickened her pace.

Though hurried, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Why had the lake’s serpent shown up so quickly?

The lake serpent only appeared when the lake faced real danger, making it peculiar.

The taint of betrayal couldn’t have spread this rapidly.

Who on earth had summoned the serpent?

As they climbed to what seemed a reasonably safe hill, they spotted the true instigator.

An object so small compared to the Hydra that a human with regular vision would struggle to even see it.

An object that seemed dust-like and powerless when compared to the Hydra.

And that object was none other than the most renowned object in Korea, the Gray Reaper.

Even the highest danger-level object seemed helpless against the Hydra, tossed around like a newspaper caught in a storm.

I thought it would be torn to shreds in a second, yet surprisingly, the Gray Reaper held on well.

But surviving alone wouldn’t lead to victory.

The hope that someone else could defeat the Hydra faded rapidly.

We needed to flee further away.

After escaping to a safer distance, we’d have to focus on completing the crystal.

“Wow, sis! Look at that! It’s shining gold!”

The younger sister, still under the spell of the blue moon, continued to beam.

Just as the woman turned to call her sister while checking the fragments, golden particles caught her eye.

Much smaller than the Gray Reaper, these golden reapers were merely tiny specks.

She recognized them as those from somewhere.

Ah!

The golden waves that devoured the theme park.

The Gray Reaper had been the object that destroyed the theme park…

Stuck in a daze at the bewildering events that followed, the woman could only watch.

Every time the Hydra was swept up by the golden waves, its size diminished.

It was as though part of its mass was being stripped away.

With the golden waves shrinking the Hydra in a one-sided manner continuously.

Even as it spat water and tried to flee, it was all in vain.

[Craaaack!]

And in its final moments, with a dreadful scream that echoed throughout Seoul, the Hydra vanished.

“Unbelievable.”

The woman witnessed the incomprehensible scene and dropped the crystal she held.

“Hey, sis! You said that crystal was important, right? It just fell!”

The crystal had now become utterly useless.

*

Having no visible hearts meant there was only one plan left.

If I erased its whole body, the hearts would vanish too.

I planned to gather as many Golden Reapers as possible and launch the Hydra away by overlapping them.

The plan was a success.

Without any physical immunity, it proved to be even easier than expected.

The lake, from which the Hydra had emerged, remained calm in its aftermath.

Even after all the water the Hydra had drawn away, the level of the lake remained unchanged.

A lake that neither expanded nor shrank.

In that sense, it certainly did fit the characteristics of an object.

Sounds of life cresting against the entrance of the cave filled the air.

The presence of a human, nearing their limit, could be discerned.

Looking back toward the cave entrance, the man in the black suit was shuffling forward, the girl cradled in his arms.

Seeing the Golden Reapers surrounding him in sorrow, I wondered if he had been gravely injured.

The man in the black suit emerged from the cave, slowly walking before finally collapsing to the ground.

Several large boulders were embedded in the man’s back.

It seemed he had been struck by one of the boulders pulverized by the Hydra.

The Golden Reapers, with anxious expressions, fidgeted around him.

In times like this, we needed the youngest.

Releasing the Blue Reaper into the air, they swiftly discovered the man in the black suit and began treatment.

[Please remove the stones from the wounds.]
[Please heal the wounds.]
[Please recover energy quickly.]

The Blue Reaper’s texts transformed into light, flowing into the man’s body.

The stones began to extract themselves, and the wounds started to slowly heal.

However, the blonde girl had already lost her life.

No matter how magical the powers might be, they couldn’t revive someone already dead, could they?

She was the blonde girl I had seen in a laboratory in China, yet here she was, dead.

As I stared at her, feeling regret, something strange washed over me.

I had a feeling that perhaps I could save this girl.

I took out the heart that had been spewing flames, which I had left in the garden.

Thump.

Gently placing the softly vibrating heart atop the girl’s body.

The red heart slid into her body as if it were returning to its original place.

It seemed this heart was indeed the answer to reviving her.

Cough.

The girl began to breathe again, coughing out blood.

Thank goodness she was alive again.

Seeing her breathe, I made my way deeper into the cave.

Since it was the cave where the old woman leader had emerged, there might be something of value inside.

It would be nice to discover the so-called Mirror of the Blue Witch…

*

In the center of the softly glowing cave, there was a splendid puddle.

It was a tranquil puddle, perfectly mirroring the night sky streaming through the ceiling.

The instant I spotted the puddle, I shouted inwardly.

This must be the ‘Mirror of the Blue Witch’!

A circular pond, accurately fashioned and beautifully embellished like a mirror.

But how on earth do I break it?

Should I jump in and make a splash?

I pondered various methods, but nothing came to mind.

This felt just like an escape room game with zero hints!

Way too difficult.

I sat at the edge of the puddle, dangling my feet in the water, making splashing sounds.

Strangely enough, no matter how much chaos I created, the puddle remained calm.

Well, attempting to break it by splashing failed.

Next, I decided to throw in the Golden Reapers one by one.

One, two, three.

Golden Reapers packed in like people in a crowded bus filled the puddle.

I thought filling it to the brim might do the trick, but nothing changed, and it failed.

Then I called upon our youngest Blue Reaper to heat the puddle.

Initially, the Golden Reapers protested, worried they would get hurt, but after I explained they wouldn’t, they began the task.

[Please heat it up.]
[Please boil until evaporated.]

As the Blue Reaper’s magic took effect, the puddle began to boil explosively, sending steam shooting up to the ceiling.

The Golden Reapers enjoyed the playful steam, waving their hands in it with glee.

Introducing the Golden Reaper Bathhouse!

But still, no destruction notification appeared, and it was a failure.

At this point, I began to waver on whether that puddle was really a mirror.

Growing tired of thinking, I began to erode reality back to the garden.

Then, with both hands outstretched, I grasped the very space of the puddle.

Clap.

With a clap, I pressed down on the space itself, erasing it.

I felt an enormous quantity of firewood vanish.

Just when I thought I couldn’t afford any more failures, something shifted in the hole above.

A cute, glowing mini moon rose gently.

See? A sturdy body makes up for a lack of brains.

Hehe.