Volume One: Lord of the Hell-Level World Chapter 78: The Battle Ends

"Attack!"
As the hydras unleashed their energy upon the giant bone beast, a man standing atop one of the hydra heads charged forward.
This man bore the head of a tiger, wore armor made from leaves and scales, and his lower body resembled a long serpent.
He was Brufid, the master of the hydra flock, a druid skilled in beast taming.
No longer concealed underground, Brufid instantly discerned the bone beast's condition.
It was the perfect moment for the hydras to rampage.
After spewing their toxic breath, the hydras coiled their massive bodies around the bone beast.
Even the shortest among them stretched more than thirty meters; their constriction crushed the bone beast's skeleton into fragments.
The bone beasts under the undead leader's command could not withstand for long.
Especially the one serving as his mobile base—it became the focal point of the hydra's relentless assaults.
Wave after wave of venomous spray battered the bone beast.
The skeletal mages upon its back initially shielded themselves with magical barriers, resisting several attacks.
But as more hydras appeared, their defenses finally crumbled.
Just then, the Holy Light hydra had recovered; a blast of radiant breath scorched the giant bone beast, reducing it to ashes.
Within the fallen bone beast, aside from scattered bones, two intact Hearts of the City and some building stones tumbled to the ground.
The undead leader even attempted a desperate counterattack.
But he faced not Chen Gu, but Brufid—whose countless years of experience had elevated him well beyond mere mortals.
Brufid was no idle man; his skills honed by time and action.
Seeing the undead leader attempt to flee, Brufid knew exactly what to do.
While commanding the hydras to finish off the remaining enemies, he himself lunged toward the undead leader.
Brufid's sudden charge startled his foe.
Fortunately, the leader's steward intervened, blocking Brufid's assault.
Meanwhile, Chen Gu watched the battle unfold through Peter's water basin.
Spotting the undead leader's escape attempt, Chen Gu immediately leapt into action.

"That one’s trying to run—Fire Spirit Crow, Straw Scarecrow, go!"
Chen Gu was still some distance from the battlefield; only the Fire Spirit Crow and the Straw Scarecrow could quickly pursue the enemy.
The Fire Spirit Crow soared out, rapidly closing in on the fleeing undead leader.
Now stripped of his former glory, the undead leader had lost his minions, his bone beast destroyed.
He could only rely on his own legs, running desperately forward.
He vowed that, once he escaped, he would raise another undead army—this time with poisonous mage corps to turn the swamp into a field of death.
At that moment, he heard several caws overhead.
He looked up to find several strange crows following him.
"What are you staring at? Look again and I'll kill you."
No sooner had he spoken than three streaks of fire descended from the sky, striking his skull.
His head exploded on the spot, and countless sparks grew to the size of balloons, raining down and engulfing him.
After a wave of explosions, the Straw Scarecrow appeared, scythe in hand, at the site of the blast.
With a sweep of their scythes across the ground, two points of green fire were sliced apart beneath the blades.
Afterward, they picked up items from the ground, glanced at the crows above, and headed toward Crow's Nest Swamp.
Back at Crow's Nest Swamp, the remaining undead had been eradicated.
Though numerous, without a commander they could barely muster a third of their usual strength.
And with the hydras unleashed, a single breath could wipe out swathes of undead; it took only moments to cleanse the swamp.
Chen Gu turned to Peter and said, "Now you can release Crow's Nest City."
Peter offered no protest; though he knew this wasn't the optimal moment, Chen Gu's arrival signified he had chosen to oppose the undead.
Restoring Crow's Nest City was his right.
Peter worried about the city's future, but as he pondered, he began to unpack the city.
The first to emerge was the council hall.

Crow's Nest City's council hall was a hollow within a giant tree.
The tree hollow was far larger than the council hall of Silverpine Valley.
As the council hall was brought up, Chen Gu realized he had underestimated the complexity.
The giant tree appeared on the swamp not upright, but laid horizontally across the mire.
It resembled the World Tree of the Holy City, fallen upon the lake’s surface.
Once the tree was placed, the bundled structures began to transfer onto the swamp one by one.
Most of the buildings were fashioned from straw and branches.
To seal the city, all unnecessary contents were removed, leaving only the basic structural components.
Chen Gu watched as Peter positioned each material according to its place, as if assembling a vast Lego set, reconstructing the city piece by piece.
Brufid and Kebas now approached Chen Gu.
Observing their forms, Chen Gu asked curiously,
"You’re druids?"
"Yes, but during the sealing of the city, we underwent a primal transformation. We can no longer return to human form," Kebas replied resignedly.
"No matter. I’m not an elf; I don’t see anything wrong with your current state. If you wish, I can offer you other options."
"Like those hydras?" Brufid interjected.
"Yes, just like the hydras."
"That’s wonderful! Could I also undergo such a transformation?" Brufid said excitedly.
Peter, still moving materials, could not help but protest, "Brufid, are you mad? Are you abandoning your family's hydra legacy?"
"Old Peter, don’t you understand what our legacy truly is?
Our legacy isn’t merely the art of taming hydras, but the spirit of curiosity toward all things new. That’s why our ancestor first discovered how to tame hydras.
Now I see hope in this new method. Sir, I would like to try it."