William pushed off the walls of Atlantis with a muted grunt.
Above him, Eve's form glimmered like a guiding light in the murky depths, her hands crafting massive pink chains from raw energy. Each link, as large as a city bus, warped the surrounding water with their immense weight. With a powerful throw, she launched them forward, the chains slithering like serpents through the ocean, wrapping tightly around the leviathan's writhing form.
Even underwater, the sound was an earsplitting screech of chain grinding against scale. The force of the binding sent pressure waves outward, shoving William back by nearly a meter.
Then—
BOOM!
The leviathan crashed into the seabed with earth-shattering force, splitting the stone below and triggering a tremor that rippled across the ocean floor like a submerged earthquake.
In perfect synchronization, hundreds of Atlantean warriors descended, their tridents and spears glowing with runes that pulsed like rhythmic heartbeats. They attacked the creature in precise, overlapping formations.
SLASH!
CUT!
BOOM!
Every blow carved glowing fractures into its flesh, releasing boiling streams of blood that painted the water in dark crimson streaks. The smell, sharp and metallic, seeped through William's helmet filter, evoking the stench of a slaughterhouse.
The assault intensified into a chaotic crescendo until finally—
KRAAAAASH!
The leviathan's body exploded, fragments of scale and flesh scattering outward in a gruesome storm. Eve's shattered chains floated in the water like drifting pink reefs, entwined with the remnants of its destruction.
Meanwhile, Rain moved with calculated precision.
Every flick of his wrist conjured crushing walls of pressure that closed in on swarms of corrupted fish, their bodies imploding with sickening wet pops. His silhouette blurred into the current, disappearing and reappearing like a mirage just before a mutated tail obliterated the spot he had occupied moments before.
One leviathan, its scales dark as night, its eyes burning like fiery coals, fixed its gaze on him. Its massive tail coiled slowly and deliberately, winding back like a tightened spring. Rain responded with a defiant gesture: the finger.
The creature's pupils narrowed to razor-sharp slits. A deep green glow began to build within its gaping maw, the surrounding water trembling with the resonance.
Rain didn't hesitate. His hands traced arcs through the water, whipping currents into a spiraling vortex before him. The whirlpool coalesced into something immense, an aquatic construct forged entirely of raw force. By the time it took shape, the nearby Atlanteans had frozen mid-battle, transfixed by the spectacle.
A torpedo, the size of a small submarine, hovered before Rain, its surface shimmering with barely restrained power.
The leviathan lunged, unleashing a beam from its mouth, a corrupted green pillar of annihilation.
Rain unleashed his creation.
The instant they collided—
BOOOOOOOM!
The detonation was more than just light and sound; it was a forceful pressure that struck William's chest even from hundreds of meters away. The water churned violently as the torpedo detonated, consuming the beam in its final moments and expanding into a vast cone of destruction.
The leviathan bellowed and intensified its assault, but the wave overtook it, enveloping its massive form in a chaotic cloud of seething water and torn flesh. When the turbulence subsided, nothing remained of the beast.
William's heartbeat quickened. The sight of Eve's unyielding constructs and Rain's relentless precision ignited something primal within him. His flames, once feeble, starved for oxygen, flared hotter and brighter, piercing through the murky battlefield with their light.
WHOOSH!
A mutated swordfish shot forward, its serrated bill aimed directly at his heart. The tip grazed his skin but failed to pierce it, William's hand had already seized the creature, gripping it like a mere plaything.
A grin spread across his face.
With a single powerful kick, he launched himself toward a colossal corrupted whale. He thrust the swordfish ahead of him.
PUCHI!
A thick ribbon of blood erupted, painting the whale's insides across the current. William burst through its opposite side, still clutching the twitching body of the swordfish.
Then his flames surged.
Even in the icy depths, they consumed the whale's corpse, leaving behind drifting black ash and steam. The intense heat pushed the surrounding water outward in concentric ripples, causing the pressure to shift and his ears to pop.
The battlefield reeked of salt, blood, and scorched flesh. Fragments of the leviathan floated like macabre confetti. Yet amidst the chaos, William sensed something greater taking shape, as though this battle was merely the preamble to an even more monumental confrontation, a shadowy threat lurking at the edge of awareness.
Far above, the ocean groaned, a deep, resonant sound as if the very sea anticipated what was about to unfold.
The ocean's roar intensified, the dark expanse above shifting like a restless, living canopy. Shapes began to materialize, darker shadows against the void, moving in an unnatural synchronization.
From the depths, the next wave surged.
William was surprised.
The first collision nearly stole the air from his lungs. A massive form crashed into the seabed beside him, sending towering plumes of silt spiraling like underwater smoke. As the cloud dissipated, William's eyes locked onto it: a monstrous serpent, its skin pale as bone and studded with jagged coral-like protrusions, its multiple jaws unhinging grotesquely in overlapping layers.
It moved with a speed that defied its immense size.
WHOOSH!
Its coils enveloped him in an instant, compressing with a force capable of crushing submarines. William's ribs protested under the pressure, but he braced his feet against one of the coils, twisting fiercely. Flames erupted from his core, coursing along the serpent's body like molten veins.
The creature convulsed violently, thrashing in the swirling storm of silt. William drove both hands into its flesh, feeling the resistance give way before he unleashed a focused burst of energy.
FWOOM!
Boiling currents erupted around him, the heat distorting the water as the serpent's pale hide blackened and split apart.
But there was no reprieve, through the rising steam, more shadows began to close in.
Eve's eyes blazed with raw energy and unyielding determination.
Her constructs shimmered as vivid pink beacons in the abyss, her hands a blur of motion as she worked with unparalleled speed. From her palms erupted a torrent of jagged spikes, each as long as a car, hurtling toward a swarm of eel-like creatures. The creatures thrashed violently as the spikes impaled them, pinning their writhing forms to the ocean floor. Clouds of blood spiraled upward, painting the dark waters in crimson tendrils.
The assault showed no signs of relenting. Smaller, swifter entities emerged from fissures in the seabed, weaving through her constructs with razor-edged fins. Eve planted her feet firmly, channeling her focus to maintain control over her structures. Around her, colossal bladed fans materialized, spinning in a menacing protective ring. The first attacker collided with the barrier and was instantly torn to shreds, its remnants drifting past her visor like scattered debris.
A distant, guttural rumble snapped her focus upward. Her heart raced as she caught sight of an enormous claw tearing through the ruins of an ancient Atlantean wall, reducing an entire section to rubble. Something colossal was breaking through the depths.
Rain's heartbeat aligned seamlessly with the rhythm of the ocean, his movements flowing like shadows within the currents. Each subtle change in pressure conveyed the presence of a foe. Instinctively, he responded to the unnatural ripples ahead, releasing a concentrated burst of force from his palms. The explosion tore through three mutated hammerheads before they could attack.
But there were always more. Always more.
Diving toward the trench's edge, he harnessed the surrounding current into a spiraling sphere, which condensed into a powerful, crushing barrier of water—a shield and weapon fused into one. When the next predator struck, its armored body fractured under the immense pressure, bones shattering with a sound that echoed even in the dense silence of the deep. Rain barely acknowledged the kill before a massive shockwave rippled through the battlefield.
It came from Eve's direction.
William's senses screamed of danger.
A colossal clawed limb, as towering as a galleon's mast, tore through the water, missing him by mere meters. He twisted instinctively, turning to confront the monstrosity breaking through the wall.
This was no leviathan. It was something infinitely more terrifying.
The creature's form was a horrifying amalgamation of coral, steel, and pulsating flesh, its body a grotesque patchwork of nightmare materials. One blazing eye burned with molten red fury, while the other was a hollow void, leaking trails of silt into the murky depths.
Instinct ignited within him. Flames erupted, flaring hotter and brighter, defying the suffocating chill of the deep. Spear-hand extended, he lunged forward, driving his attack into the creature's torso. The searing heat vaporized its flesh, exposing rusted metal plates beneath the charred layers.
A deafening roar erupted, echoing through the water and rattling him to his core. The attack had left no visible effect, and the creature remained as unrelenting as ever.
Eve grunted in frustration.
The creature's claws tore through one of her larger constructs with ease, the pink light shattering into a spray of fragments before vanishing into nothingness.
Her jaw tightened as she drew upon every ounce of energy she could muster, meticulously weaving it into a single formation, a net of interlocked chains, each link inscribed with intricate, glowing runes pulsing with power.
The net snapped into place around the creature's head, tightening with a crushing force capable of obliterating battleships. The beast thrashed violently in response, its movements so ferocious that the seabed beneath them fractured into a sprawling web of cracks.
Eve's vision blurred at the edges as maintaining the construct became an all-consuming battle, the strain pressing against her mind like a relentless storm threatening to tear her control apart.
The net held, barely.
Rain's eyes narrowed into sharp slits.
From a distance, he spotted the net and Eve's trembling form as she strained against the effort. The monster, momentarily distracted, would not remain so for long.
Rain surged forward, the ocean currents splitting in his wake. As he moved, he drew in every ounce of kinetic energy from the surrounding water, compressing it into a dense, volatile sphere at his side.
The immense weight of the energy bore down on him like an anchor, his muscles ablaze with exertion. When he finally closed the gap, he unleashed the sphere against the monster's flank with all his might.
The resulting impact was catastrophic. The sphere detonated, releasing a concussive shockwave that carved a deep trench into the seabed and sent the creature reeling sideways.
Seizing the opportunity, William launched himself upward like a blazing rocket, flames trailing in his wake. His fists struck with relentless force against the exposed metal plating of the creature's flank, each blow amplifying the molten glow of its armor.
He targeted the core next, driving one arm deep into the wound and unleashing an unrelenting surge of fire that roared with unmatched intensity.
Steam billowed in violent clouds as the surrounding water hissed and screamed, while the creature convulsed in anguish, shredding the remnants of Eve's net in a single desperate outburst.
Its tail lashed out violently at William.
WHAM!
The impact sent him hurtling through the water, disoriented as the world around him dissolved into chaos. Dark spots clouded his vision, and he barely glimpsed the enormous shadow slipping away into the murky depths.
Eve was reaching her breaking point, her stamina and mental resilience stretched to their limits.
She collapsed to one knee, clutching her temple with trembling fingers. The sudden release of tension left her dazed, her breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps. Through the haze clouding her vision, she glimpsed the creature dissolving into the shadows, yet the restless movement above warned it had not retreated.
It was circling. Watching. Waiting.
Clenching her jaw, she forced herself upright, summoning smaller constructs, razor-sharp blades and jagged spikes orbiting her in a defensive formation. Her hands quivered, her strength ebbing away, but she refused to yield.
Rain clenched his jaw, his instincts screaming with the shift in the underwater currents, a change that resonated deep within him. The monster surged forward with terrifying speed, disrupting the battlefield in chaotic waves as it moved.
Below, the Atlantean warriors fought to reorganize, dragging their wounded into protective shield formations. Their glowing tridents pierced the dark, murky waters, casting beams of light that resembled drifting, scattered constellations.
But Rain couldn't spare a moment to help them. The predator's unwavering focus had locked onto the three of them, its relentless intent impossible to ignore.
William groaned, the throbbing in his head a dull reminder of the blow he had taken, but the fire within him blazed undeterred. He forced himself upright in the water, his eyes scouring the murky depths for any sign of movement.
In the gloom, something massive loomed, far more than just the monster he had faced before. Smaller figures surrounded it, moving with eerie precision, their synchronized motions betraying a shared purpose.
He released a slow, deliberate breath, heat rippling from his lips. "So it brought reinforcements."
Flames erupted around him in a dazzling display, brighter and more ferocious than ever, cutting through the darkness like the first rays of dawn. If they sought war, he would give them one.
The battlefield shifted once more as the smaller predators fanned out, executing coordinated attacks on the Atlanteans. The patchwork abomination drifted closer, its single, blazing eye fixed on the trio of heroes with unsettling intensity.
The water itself seemed to pulse with malevolence, no longer a neutral battleground but an extension of the enemy's will. Every current, every subtle shift in pressure, was orchestrated by the sinister intelligence commanding these horrors.
Eve's constructs shone like a fortress of light amidst the encroaching shadows. Rain's currents twisted into razor-sharp weapons, deadlier than any blade forged by human hands. William's flames burned defiantly, a beacon of resilience against the oppressive depths.
This war was far from over; it had only just begun.
[Will have another chapter uploaded either today or in the morning please enjoy!]