Perhaps because they had been attacked repeatedly, the Volcanion, though somewhat exhausted, had fallen into a state of fury, no longer retaining their former gentleness.
The moment they sensed someone stepping into the fields, they no longer waited for the other side to attack first before judging them as enemies.
Instead, they directly treated the intruders as foes and launched an assault.
This time, there was no flashy maneuver at all, Volcanion simply spewed raging flames straight at Nauplius.
"Flamethrower!"
The flames arrived in an instant, yet Nauplius did not raise any defense.
Instead, he brought his hands together, then thrust both palms forward in the direction of the oncoming fire.
Immediately afterward, a surging torrent comparable in force to Flamethrower burst forth from his hands.
Fire and torrent collided violently.
The searing flames instantly vaporized the rushing water, but in doing so consumed a tremendous amount of their own heat.
Where water and fire intertwined, steam rose at once.
Just like that, Volcanion's "Flamethrower" was neutralized by Nauplius.
"Well? What do you think of my power of water?" Nauplius was extremely pleased with the outcome, pride evident in his voice.
"It's nothing more than mere flames, how could that possibly stop us Argonaut heroes? Watch as I completely extinguish your fire!"
"Roar, !"
With their first strike failing, the Volcanion grew even more irritated and began to take deep breaths once again.
The jets of steam erupting from their bodies allowed Nauplius to immediately recognize that they were accumulating the power of their flames.
It seemed the Volcanion were charging up some terrifying attack.
"No matter how much you spray flames, it's useless!" Nauplius shouted, stomping his right foot heavily into the ground.
An imprint instantly appeared in the soft farmland, and from that footprint, torrents of water burst forth.
This technique had its origins.
Nauplius's father, Poseidon, was often depicted wielding the trident gifted to him by the Cyclopes during the Titanomachy, which became his iconic symbol.
With this weapon, he could easily raise towering waves to unleash storms and tsunamis, sink continents, shatter heaven and earth, pulverize all things, and even trigger massive earthquakes that shook the entire world.
Yet aside from being a weapon, Poseidon's trident was also used to split rocks, allowing clear springs to flow from the cracks and nourish the land.
This move was derived from that very legend.
Although Nauplius could not, like his father, directly generate an endless water source, compared to simply producing water through his own power, this technique allowed him to call upon far more water element.
As the spring gushed forth, an unceasing flow of water began to revolve around Nauplius in accordance with his will.
Very quickly, the rippling water transformed into a towering waterspout, spiraling upward around his body. In the blink of an eye, it became a cylindrical barrier of water, firmly enclosing him in protection.
On the other side, the Volcanion finished accumulating their flames and unleashed them at once.
Highly compressed fire erupted from the Volcanion's mouths, forming a massive "D"-shaped blaze that shot straight toward Nauplius.
"Blast Burn!"
This move was not only immensely powerful, once the highly compressed flames struck their target, they would detonate violently, producing devastating force.
However, when the two "Blast Burn" attacks reached Nauplius's position, they could only crash into the shield formed by water.
"Boom! Boom!"
The collision between Blast Burn and the water tornado triggered a tremendous explosion.
The intense blast and raging flames made the Argonaut heroes deeply worried about Nauplius's safety.
Could such a defense truly withstand Volcanion's "Blast Burn"?
After the explosion, the battlefield was once again shrouded in thick steam.
Because the energy levels of both sides' attacks were extremely high, the scalding steam condensed into a dense white fog that took quite some time to dissipate.
When the steam finally cleared, the Argonaut heroes were delighted to discover that within the fading mist, Nauplius was completely unharmed.
"Blast Burn" had failed to injure him in the slightest.
Instead, it was the Volcanion who had used "Blast Burn" that appeared even more drained of stamina.
This outcome filled them all with excitement.
As expected, Nauplius's power of water was the natural nemesis of Volcanion.
With this, the trial of the first stage was on the verge of being cleared.
Nauplius himself was also rather pleased.
Next, he no longer waited for the Volcanion to continue their assault, instead taking the initiative to launch his own attack.
From his hands, highly compressed water arrows shot forth one after another toward the Volcanion, striking their crimson, high-temperature outer shells and once again kicking up plumes of white mist.
However, it seemed to have little effect.
"So you still have plenty of heat inside your body!" Nauplius did not grow discouraged.
On the contrary, as if he had grasped his opponent's weakness, his confidence deepened.
"But that's fine. If this isn't enough, then I'll use more water, enough water to drown you."
As he spoke, he repeated the same maneuver, stomping several more times and creating multiple pits in the ground.
Gushing springs burst forth from these pits, several streams converging into a sizable torrent.
"Taste the power of pure water!" Nauplius roared, pointing straight at the Volcanion.
The flood surged forward at his command, rushing toward the two Volcanion.
Faced with the roaring deluge, the two Volcanion let out repeated roars, growing restless and panicked. They tried to flee, but before the raging waters, there was nowhere to escape.
The surging flood swallowed the two Volcanion whole.
Because of the intense heat surrounding their bodies, the moment they were enveloped by the water, enormous amounts of steam were produced.
The high temperature rapidly vaporized the water, and the evaporation was so swift that only after the water vapor cooled did it condense, forming thick white fog that once again blanketed the entire field.
However, compared to a few water arrows, the sheer volume of the flood was overwhelming.
No matter how high the Volcanion's body temperature was, it was nowhere near enough to evaporate an entire river, let alone such a torrent.
Thus, as the flood continued to surround them, the surface temperature of the Volcanion began to drop, and the production of steam gradually ceased.
In the end, the water receded, leaving the Volcanion standing in place.
But now they looked listless and weakened, no longer able to produce any steam at all.
"As I thought, flames are the source of your power. You're driven by that force, aren't you?
Now that the high temperature is gone, now that the power of fire is gone, you're nothing at all!"
Sensing that the enemy's stamina had been greatly depleted, Nauplius immediately seized the opportunity, charging straight at them.
With the enemy in such a weakened state, this was the perfect moment for Nauplius to defeat them.
However, just as he reached the Volcanion, the creatures that had moments ago appeared utterly drained and unable to move suddenly opened their eyes and sprang to their feet.
Nauplius was shocked to see that there was not the slightest trace of fatigue in their gaze.
On the contrary, they looked sharp-eyed and vigorous, their stamina seemingly fully restored.