The fox seems unfazed by Wyn's combination. As soon as it crashes into the rock pillars, it swiftly springs back up and lunges toward the team, the hydra heads unleashing torrents of rocks, water, fire, and lightning from their mouths. Only the middle head, the gray one, remains inactive. The team retaliates with their own projectiles.

  The fox, incredibly agile, darts left and right, almost appearing to teleport. Wyn quickly creates a maze of rock pillars, but the creature effortlessly leaps atop them, pressing forward without missing a beat.

  “The rest of you get behind, except for you, Mister Wyn!” Lisa says.

  On the count of three, Wyn and Lisa fuse their abilities, creating a rocky cyclone that spirals around a beam of crackling laser. The attack strikes the fox square in the chest just as it leaps from the final pillar toward them. Yet, once again, the creature lands unfazed and immediately lunges forward.

  “Paralysis has no effect on it? Let’s try again!” Wyn wonders.

  Wyn quickly forms another maze, this time adding descending electric cyclones in random spots. While a few of the cyclones make contact, they barely seem to inflict any damage or slow the fox's advance.

  “If you summon too many attacks at once, they can’t deal significant damage to a strong enemy like this, eh!” James points out.

  “I know, Landon, jeez! At least I tried!”

  In desperation, Wyn and James create a large wall in front of the team. Unsurprisingly, the fox easily leaps over it, evading Lisa’s laser beams, and lands a distance behind them. All the hydra heads rotate around, with the middle one beginning to suck the team in, while the others open their mouths, ready to snap shut.

  Wyn quickly reorients himself, then demonstrates a move he'd learned from the fuckface fight – a controlled cyclone dash. Impressively, his cyclone overpowers the hydra’s inhale, allowing him to maneuver around as he swiftly gathers each team member in multiple dashes.

  “Hold on to me tightly!” he shouts.

  He veers away just before the hydra heads snap shut, then propels himself in the opposite direction. The jaws snap together with a loud crack, but Wyn and team manage to crash-land safely out of reach.

  The hydra heads, seemingly frustrated, lightly bump into each other as if placing blame. Meanwhile, the fox turns around and relentlessly charges forward once more.

  “I’ll take the air. You guys split into two and do your best to distract the heads,” Wyn instructs.

  The team quickly splits – Yu and James to one side, Mira and Lisa to the other – while Wyn stands his ground, serving as bait. As the fox closes in, Wyn leaps into the air with a cyclone jump. The rest of the team follows up with a barrage of attacks from both sides.

  Reaching a certain height, Wyn rotates, head pointing downward. He releases the chakrams from his gloves toward the fox, then spins again to dash horizontally, keeping himself airborne. The chakrams miss as the fox evades attacks from the squads on either side.

  “Icy weiner! Go!” Yu shouts.

  “Where?” Mira asks, excitedly.

  Yu uses a water stream to propel the icy dog, chasing after the fox, while James replicates Wyn’s maze but with uneven ice pillars. To prevent the fox from jumping easily onto them, James slants the tops of his pillars, making them difficult to grip. Just as planned, the fox slips after attempting to land on an ice pillar, allowing Lisa to hit two heads simultaneously with four laser beams, each surrounded by spiraling flames. The beams force the two heads to swing back, striking the fox on the head. As a result, the fox momentarily drops its shed tail but quickly snatches it up again with its mouth.

  “Huh? Did I just hallucinate?” Wyn mutters, hovering in the air and waiting for the right moment to strike.

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  As the fox picks up its tail, the icy dog catches up, only to be crushed with a single chomp from one of the hydra heads.

  “Oooh! I’ve got an idea! Yu and James, come over here!” Mira calls out.

  While the four regroup, Wyn dashes in, throwing his blades to clear a path. When the fox dodges, Wyn follows up with cyclones that twist and curve toward the creature; however, they never manage to catch up. With Wyn distracting it, Mira shortens her whip and places it inside a newly formed icy dog. The clock is ticking, as the metal tip of the whip slowly melts the ice. Wyn continues his assault, maneuvering the fox toward the icy dog, which is now being propelled by a stream of water. However, the fox leaps over the sculpture just as it melts, causing Mira’s whip to explode.

  “Another one! Quick!” Mira yells.

  Seeing the fox closing in on his friends, Wyn quickly constructs a maze and adds cyclones to hinder its advance. He raises a tall wall in front of them, and on his command, Yu directs a water stream upward. Just as the fox leaps over the wall, the icy dog explodes on contact, sending the creature flying before crashing to the ground. Using its hydra heads, the fox halts itself from rolling.

  “LET’S GO ALL OUT!” Wyn commands, bloodlust echoing in his voice.

  Most of the barrage hits its mark, but the fox remains unfazed.

  “What are we missing?” Wyn wonders, frustration mounting as the creature regains its balance and the hydra heads resume their relentless attacks.

  The four on the ground quickly regroup into their two squads, ready to fight back.

  “Yu and Landon, I need you two to freeze the fox for me,” Wyn instructs.

  “How?” Yu asks.

  “Water first, then ice follows! What else, sushi boy!” James says.

  The relentless attacks from the hydra heads are making it difficult for Yu and James to comply with Wyn's request.

  “Remember where it is, okay?” Wyn says.

  With that, everyone halts their attacks, and Wyn erects a wall to completely surround the fox. Quickly, Yu summons water streams inside the wall, hoping to engulf the creature. James follows suit, fusing with Yu to freeze the streams. From the air, Wyn sees that their plan is working, though Yu and James' efforts are too weak to freeze the fox solid. As the hydras’ attacks begin to break through Wyn’s wall, the fox lunges toward Yu and James.

  “Your weapons! The fox shouldn’t be a problem!” Wyn says.

  Standing his ground, Yu braces for impact, holding the crescent blade poised against the charging fox.

  “It’s gonna leap again! Get your timing right!” Wyn instructs, following the fox.

  As the creature leaps above Yu and James, Yu extends his blade, grazing the fox’s stomach midway. However, the fox seems unfazed, and as it lands, the gray head immediately begins to suck Yu and James toward the hydra heads. In response, Wyn pins the two to the ground with a cyclone, while a fiery laser beam pierces through the swirling winds, striking the gray head and halting its attack. The fox releases the tail once again when the gray head swings and strikes it.

  Wyn swoops Yu and James to regroup with Mira and Lisa.

  “I’m so sorry, guys. I’m so sorry,” Wyn says, voice shaken with fear.

  “We’re okay. We’re still alive!” Yu says, giving Wyn a reassuring smile.

  “‘We’re okay’? Next time ask me before speaking on my behalf, eh!” James complains.

  The team has no time to strategize as the hydra heads resume their attacks. Wyn calls for another ice maze and an explosive icy wiener. As anticipated, the fox lunges toward them again. Wyn hovers high, positioning himself behind the fox as it is slowed by the maze. Timing his next move, he hurls the ice sculpture he’s been holding, ignoring the frostbite nipping at his fingers. With a powerful cyclone, he launches the icy dog at the throat of one of the hydra heads. The explosion sends that head crashing into the fox.

  “Did you all see what I just saw?” Wyn asks, referring to the way the fox’s fur subtly rippled as it dropped its tail, the current traveling down its body, causing the hairs to stand on end. When the fox quickly picked the tail back up, the effect reversed, sending a shiver of energy back up through its coat.

  “What did you see?” Mira shouts.

  “Never mind! Yu and Landon, now freeze the fox!” Wyn says as he dashes forward.

  Yu summons a large, fully-charged water stream beneath the fox, engulfing it completely. James quickly freezes the stream, but before Wyn can reach the heads, the fire hydra head defrosts itself and fires a torrent of flames at him. Wyn narrowly avoids the blast, redirecting his momentum. He envelops his weapon in rock, with a chakram blade jutting out in front, and charges into the leftmost head, striking just above its midsection and shattering the ice. While the blade fails to lodge, the frozen head is knocked back, colliding with the fox’s head.

  At the same time as the punch lands, the force from Wyn’s cyclone dash sends him spiraling as the red hydra head lunges forward, snapping its jaws around his arm and severing it in an instant. He crashes hard to the ground, rolling. Quickly, he uses his other weapon to grip the earth, halting his roll. Summoning a slanted rock pillar, he positions it at an angle that sends the fox’s tail flying toward his teammates before the fox can snatch it back.

  “Mira and Lisa, destroy the tail! Yu and Landon, we need to hold off the fox!”