In the split seconds before the Hydra's corrosive breath reached him, Alister, with a calm, almost playful smile, raised his left clawed hand. He extended one golden-scaled finger and slashed it vertically, slowly through the air before him.
"Void Rend," he said, his voice cold yet composed.
From his claw, a golden mana beam erupted, blazing forward with immense speed. The sheer intensity of the attack split the poison torrent cleanly in half, dispersing the deadly cloud into harmless mist. The beam continued its path, striking the Hydra's head and slicing it down the middle from crown to neck.
The remaining heads reared back, momentarily stunned by the sudden and brutal destruction of one of their heads. Their glowing eyes flickered with what almost seemed like fear, and then they focused, as in an attempt to petrify him.
But it didn't work.
