My Scumbag System Chapter 454: The Crimson Comet’s Grand Entrance

I rushed forward.

The Hydra barreled toward me.

Physics indicated one of us faced a disastrous moment soon.

Spoiler: That wouldn't be me.

Its central head yawned wide, flames surging in its throat like a furnace set to erupt.

I dove beneath its jaw, bat arcing upward.

Spatial Cleave triggered by pure reflex.

The unseen edge sliced through hide and flesh effortlessly.

The head detached from the neck with a single precise slash.

Blood gushed out. Dark and sticky. The stench evoked scorched tires blended with decaying blooms.

The head smacked the ground with a soggy thump.

"One down!" I yelled.

The left head whipped in my direction, sparks dancing between its teeth.

"Look out!" Celeste yelled.

Too late.

The lightning struck my chest dead center.

Every muscle locked up tight.

My sight flashed pure white.

My teeth buzzed like they might rattle free from my head.

Yet Rockstar Made activated right as my heart skipped a beat.

Pain transformed into raw power.

All my stats spiked by five percent.

I smirked amid the currents snapping over my body.

"Thanks for the power-up, asshole."

The right head drew in a breath.

I knew that flavor of destruction well.

Frost breath approaching.

I tumbled left while the icy beam gouged a furrow through the pavement where I'd stood.

I sprang up striking.

Sever struck with three swift slashes.

The right head severed at its root.

Followed by the left.

Two additional heads sprawled on the ground.

Blood gathered around my boots.

"Satori!" Natalia's cry pierced the mayhem. "Problem!"

My gaze shifted to the central stump.

The tissue twisted already.

Rebuilding.

Expanding.

The cut-off head melted into dark vapor, and fresh one burst from the neck amid a spray of glittering scales.

"Oh come on."

The left and right stumps mirrored the process.

Three heads. Operational once more. Utterly furious.

"They regenerate!" Natalia shouted.

"Yeah, I noticed!"

The Hydra pulled back high.

All three jaws parted simultaneously.

Fire. Lightning. Ice.

Every element targeted straight at my face.

"Shade Cloak!"

I shifted into shadow state.

The triple assault streamed harmlessly through my form.

I solidified behind its rear leg.

Hacked at the ankle.

Spatial Cleave severed sinew and bone.

The limb collapsed.

The Hydra lurched, its stance disrupted.

"Natalia! Now!"

Violet force encircled every neck at once.

Telekinetic force compressed.

The heads flailed wildly, desperate to escape.

Celeste advanced from the flank, fingers tracing intricate motions.

"Glacial Serenade: Winter’s Waltz."

Frost bloomed from her hands in intricate patterns, encasing the Hydra’s torso and inching toward the vulnerable core inside.

The beast howled.

The roar demolished every leftover window across three blocks.

Then regeneration accelerated wildly.

The lost leg regrew in moments.

The frost on its chest splintered and shed as inner fire thawed it.

Natalia’s mental hold snapped as the necks swelled, bulking up tougher.

"Not working!" she panted.

The tail lashed out.

It slammed my ribs.

Hurled me twenty feet through the air.

I crashed into a car, crumpling its body.

Blood flooded my mouth.

My ribs howled in agony.

The regenerator brace flickered on my torso.

Still, I rose to my feet.

Because staying down equaled death.

"Okay," I coughed up blood. "Plan B."

"What’s Plan B?" Celeste shouted.

"Still workshopping it!"

The Hydra focused on Natalia now.

Central head darted forward.

She erected a shield of whirling rubble.

The head bulldozed through it like flimsy paper.

Fangs snapping at her former spot.

But she had vanished.

Celeste had seized her, pulling her clear just in time.

"Thanks," Natalia breathed.

"Don’t mention it."

The monster swiveled toward them both.

Three heads. Six eyes. Fixed on my companions.

A chill rage coiled in my core.

I lifted the bat.

Funneled all the Dragon Witch’s Ring’s fiery output into it.

Ember raced along the alloy until it blazed like a tiny star.

"Hey!"

The Hydra glanced my way.

I bared my teeth in a grin.

"You want to play with fire? Let me show you how it’s done."

I swung hard.

Not toward the beast.

Toward the pavement separating us.

The bat struck concrete.

Heat burst forth in a blasting wave.

The ground split. Liquid stone erupted wildly. A scorching barrier swept the square like a colossal oven door flung wide.

The Hydra flinched back.

Its scales heated to crimson from the sheer warmth.

Perfect.

Now my move.

I charged once more.

But now with allies joining.

Red lightning cracked overhead.

Not ordinary storm electricity.

Aspect lightning.

The impact crashed into the Hydra’s back with force sufficient to shatter three spinal plates.

The beast unleashed a thunderous roar.

I glanced upward.

A girl perched atop a neighboring building.

Crimson tresses lashing in the gale. Combat suit hugging curves banned in a dozen nations. Emerald eyes radiating lethal promise.

One hand extended toward the heavens, sparks of electricity leaping between her digits.

"About time someone interesting showed up," she called down.

Reyna Cabana.

La Sirena herself.

The Crimson Comet.

The girl who’d eyed me like prey on my first day.

"You’re late!" I shouted.

"I had to do my hair!"

Another lightning bolt plummeted from above.

In mid-air, it divided into three forks, hitting all of the Hydra’s heads at the same instant.

The monster thrashed violently.

Its regeneration hitched for a split second.

That proved enough for me.

I surged forward to close the gap.

Spatial Cleave slashed through the central neck.

The head fell away.

Instead of seeing it melt and reform, I funneled Ember into the stump.

I overheated the gash.

Sealed it at the molecular level through cauterization.

The meat hissed.

Blackened completely.

Ceased expanding.

"There we go," I muttered.

One head gone.

For good this time.

Reyna touched down next to me in a low crouch, boots igniting sparks on the concrete.

"You figured out the trick."

"Heat stops the regeneration."

"Obviously." She straightened up, rolling her shoulders. "I’ve been fighting it for ten minutes while you were playing with your bat."

"I was testing theories."

"Sure you were, Stray Dog."

"Don’t call me that."

"Too late. It’s trending."

She hoisted her hand once more.

A shape of sheer electricity coalesced overhead.

It resembled a puppet forged from lightning. Humanoid form. Eight feet in height. Surging with power to energize a modest city.

"Volt Marionette: Crimson Storm."