William, Eve, Rain, and all the Atlanteans on the battlefield clutched their heads in torment, as if an immense internal force was threatening to rip them apart. The weaker Atlanteans could not withstand it and disintegrated entirely, their bodies bursting into grotesque clouds of flesh and blood.
PUCHI
PUCHI
PUCHI
PUCHI
Across the battlefield, sudden and unexpected clouds of blood materialized, creating a scene of sheer horror. Reacting swiftly to this gruesome sight, Eve and Rain erected defensive barriers around themselves with precision timing. The barriers solidified just in time to absorb the impact of an unseen force that struck them, causing the shields to ripple and distort like plastic under immense pressure. Fortunately, the attacks lacked the strength to penetrate their protective defenses.
"What the hell was that?" William shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos as the only sound audible amidst the battlefield. Around him, others remained doubled over, clutching their heads in agony.
Although William was overwhelmed by the crushing pressure, he managed to withstand it after the initial wave of pain, though the reason for his resilience remained a mystery even to him.
"ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"
The deafening roar echoed through the ocean depths, shaking the waters to their very core. Above, the calm and serene surface of the Bermuda Triangle erupted into chaos, with violent waves and swirling whirlpools. The tumultuous upheaval was so intense that it even caught the attention of satellites observing from orbit.
William had barely regained his senses when, in the distance, what he initially mistook for a bioluminescent leviathan began to surge toward him, exuding an unmistakable aura of lethal intent.
"Just a leviathan, shouldn't be too much trouble," he muttered quietly, gripping his sword, Morganna, in preparation. But as the creature approached, his confidence wavered. His eyes narrowed into pinpoints as the leviathan grew larger with each passing moment, eventually towering over its brethren as though they were mere hatchlings.
The massive beast revealed itself fully, sporting two sets of golden horns on either side of its head that initially lay flat but flared upward with menace like a crown. Its four sets of monstrous claws gleamed dangerously, radiating an aura of destructive power.
Its eyes burned with a hatred so profound that William felt as though he had been plunged into a realm of pure carnage and suffering, leaving him momentarily paralyzed with shock.
The dragon's jaws opened wide, and within its maw, an ominous sphere of energy began to form, pulsating with a terrifying and destructive force.
"Is that..." Eve started but was interrupted mid-sentence when Rain said with wide eyes, "A fucking dragon?"
WEENNNNG!
As if waiting for them to make the realization, the dragon unleashed the massive amount of power it had built up in its jaws and sent it hurtling towards William.
William's eyes reflected the light from the incoming beam that shot towards him with such force that the sea split upon its passing, turning into poisonous vapor that formed rings around it as it passed.
The ocean detonated with light.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The dragon's beam pierced the ocean depths like a divine javelin, splitting the sea into towering walls of scalding vapor. William planted his feet firmly, gripping Morganna as its obsidian blade absorbed his unyielding resolve. The instant the beam struck, chaos erupted, currents collapsed inward, reefs exploded into fragments, and Atlantean remains disintegrated into ash in the blink of an eye.
With a roar, William drove his sword forward, slicing against the relentless torrent.
CLAAAAAANG!
The impact reverberated through his entire being, Morganna wailing as it met the overwhelming surge of power. His arms seared with agony, muscles tearing under the strain, yet he pressed on, blood trickling from his clenched teeth.
Behind him, Eve extended her arms, conjuring a lattice of radiant pink hexagons that buzzed like overworked engines. Rain joined her effort, channeling streams of water into spiraling fortifications that bolstered her construct, evaporating in bursts but constantly renewing.
"Hold on, William!" Eve cried out, her voice a mix of desperation and defiance.
William's feet scraped backward across the ocean floor, carving deep trenches into the stone. His lungs burned with every breath, the oppressive heat threatening to hollow him from within.
Then—
CRACK!
Morganna's edge splintered, fissures spreading like spiderwebs along the blade. The beam surged unimpeded, engulfing William in its blinding fury.
"William!" Rain bellowed, his body surging into a tidal form as his arms erupted into massive whips of water that struck the beam, straining to redirect its trajectory. The deflected torrent gouged through the battlefield, obliterating thousands of meters of coral and rock, leaving behind a scalding canyon of destruction.
As the light finally faded, the waters quivered in an eerie silence.
Out of the haze, the dragon emerged, its immense figure eclipsing all else. Poisonous mist hissed from its gaping maw, and its golden horns shone even brighter, locking onto William. He stumbled forward from the shadows, his charred and battered body still upright, faint embers flickering within the cracks of his scorched skin.
Blood dripped from his lips as he lifted the shattered hilt of Morganna. "So... not just a leviathan after all."
The dragon's eyes narrowed, ancient malice smoldering in their depths, and its voice reverberated through the ocean like the grinding of tectonic plates.
"I AM NEREUSON, SMALL MORTAL, DEVOURER OF THE DEEP, AND I WILL USE YOU TO PICK THE BONES OF ATLANTIS FROM MY TEETH!"
The ocean quivered under the weight of Nereuson's proclamation. The dragon's voice still reverberated like the rupture of continents, but William forced his broken frame upright. He spat blood, his eyes blazing with defiance.
"Bold words for a creature that skulks in shadows."
Nereuson's pupils narrowed into slits, and his colossal wings, a blend of bone and scaled membrane, unfurled with a roar, whipping the ocean into violent cyclones.
FWOOOOOOM!
The currents surged chaotically, flinging Atlantean warriors like scattered debris. Eve clenched her teeth, extending her hands as energy constructs blossomed across the battlefield, forming hexagonal domes to shield the fleeing survivors. "Keep your focus on him," she barked at Rain. "I'll handle the stragglers!"
Rain's liquid form shifted, his arms solidifying into twin blades of condensed ocean, their edges shimmering with refracted light. He gave William a curt nod. "You take the head. I'll dismantle the body."
William tightened his grip on Morganna's fractured hilt. The broken blade glowed faintly, its shards flickering as if bound by his unyielding fury. "Fine. Let's slay a dragon."
Nereuson inhaled deeply, the waters around his chest distorting as his golden horns surged with energy, lightning arcing between them. His jaws opened wide, revealing a vortex of abyssal darkness swirling within.
William didn't hesitate. He propelled forward like a cannonball, leaving sonic booms in his wake. BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! Each powerful leap shattered the ocean floor. Raising Morganna high, he slashed at Nereuson's snout, sparks flying as the blood colored blade clashed against divine scales.
The dragon recoiled, only for a vibrant pink construct to clamp around his throat like a vice. Eve hovered ahead, her eyes blazing with fierce focus as she tightened the bands. "Choke on it, monster!"
Nereuson snarled, his enormous claws slicing through the ocean. They tore the construct apart effortlessly.
CRASH!
Shards of pink light scattered. But that fleeting moment of restraint was all Rain needed.
SHHHHK!
He surged upward in his tidal form, his arms merging into a colossal harpoon of water. With the force of an underwater hurricane, he drove it deep into the dragon's chest. The impact cracked scales, releasing plumes of black ichor into the sea.
Nereuson roared, the sound alone obliterating coral spires for miles. His tail lashed out violently, smashing into Rain's form and dispersing half of it into mist. Yet Rain reformed instantly, lashing tendrils binding the tail and slowing its momentum.
William sprinted along the dragon's horns, his blade glowing, embers trailing from his battered figure like a comet. Reaching the crown of Nereuson's head, he drove Morganna downward with all his strength.
CLAAAAANG!
The blade pierced barely half an inch before halting against bone harder than any metal. Nereuson's massive eye rolled upward, locking on William, hatred radiating like a blazing sun.
"You gnats… DARE!"
Energy erupted from the dragon, a torrent of gold and black shockwaves. Eve's constructs shattered like fragile glass, Rain's body scattered across the currents, and William was hurled skyward, his ribs audibly snapping.
The ocean split for miles as the Devourer of the Deep spread his wings in full, his colossal form rising like an abyssal mountain. Poisonous mist seeped from his scales, and his voice thundered once more, brimming with wrath:
"THIS OCEAN IS MINE, AND YOU WILL DROWN IN MY NAME!"
The abyss bellowed with Nereuson's wrath as his colossal form surged toward Atlantis, each beat of his wings unleashing waves powerful enough to overturn entire fleets. Behind William, the surviving Atlanteans screamed prayers or curses, their glowing city flickering in the distance like a fragile lantern in the midst of chaos.
William struggled to his feet, steam rising from his scorched skin. Charred flesh sloughed off only to regenerate, his ribs snapping audibly back into place, and the burns creeping across his arm flaked away to reveal unblemished skin beneath. Every regeneration left his body trembling, yet his determined glare remained undimmed.
"Not…done yet," he murmured, tightening his grip on Morganna, the crimson blade pulsing in rhythm with his heart.
Eve swept in beside him, her constructs reforming in sharp bursts of pink light. "We can't let him reach Atlantis. One attack, and the entire city is finished."
Rain emerged from the currents, his form partially dissolved into a turbulent tidal shape. Spirals of water coiled around his arms like serpents, ready to strike. His voice was calm, icy. "Then we end it here. Together."
The three exchanged resolute glances, no hesitation, no more isolated efforts.
"On my mark," William commanded.
Nereuson's golden horns blazed as he reared back, another sphere of destructive energy gathering in his throat. Before he could release it, Rain surged forward, his body elongating into a liquid spear that struck the dragon's snout, forcing its aim skyward. The blast discharged harmlessly into the depths, splitting the ocean overhead with a searing beam that vaporized the waters.
"NOW!" William roared.
Eve flung her arms wide, and chains of solid light erupted from her constructs, wrapping around Nereuson's limbs and locking them in place like radiant manacles.
William surged forward in a brilliant streak of orange light, Morganna igniting and extending with the force of his momentum. Twisting mid-charge, his healing factor rapidly mended his injuries, leaving no trace of the burns or broken bones that had ravaged him moments before. With a feral cry, he sliced upward across Nereuson's underbelly. A shower of sparks and ichor erupted into the sea as the dragon bellowed in agony, writhing violently against the restraints of Eve's chains.
Rain shifted back into humanoid form just long enough to thrust both palms forward. A massive torrent burst forth, a spiraling geyser that coiled around William's slash wound, driving the crimson blade deeper into the scaled flesh. The water hissed and steamed as it met Nereuson's corrupted hide, releasing a pungent mix of brine and sulfur into the air.
For the first time, the dragon hesitated, its advance halted, jaws snapping in agony.
"Keep pushing!" Eve commanded, her voice sharp and resolute as she tightened her chains.
William's body screamed under the strain, his healing working overtime to counteract the backlash of his own reckless attack. His vision wavered, but his determination crystallized. Behind him, Atlantis shimmered, delicate and reliant on their efforts.
The trio moved in unison, light, water, and steel intertwining into a desperate barrier against the monster's approach.
Nereuson's eyes flared with intensity, his horns resonating with primal energy. Despite his wounds, the dragon's roar began to rise again, a harbinger of destruction powerful enough to obliterate their fragile defense.
The sea quaked violently. Nereuson's roar erupted, a sound ancient and primal, older than the mountains themselves, so ferocious it distorted the very currents around it.
William, Eve, and Rain cried out as the shockwave tore through them. Eve's radiant chains shattered into fragments of pink light, scattering like shards of glass into the abyss. Rain's tidal form disintegrated, droplets of water scattering before frantically coalescing once more. William was flung backward, crashing into the ocean floor with such force that a crater formed beneath him, blood spraying from his mouth.
All around them, Atlanteans writhed in torment, clutching their heads in agony. Those too frail succumbed instantly, their bodies erupting into crimson clouds that stained the waters with gore.
Despite his charred and battered form, William's body flickered with glowing bronze embers. His regenerative power roared to life, knitting torn muscles and mending shattered bones at an impossible pace. Steam rose from his skin as he forced himself to his feet, his chest heaving like a bellows.
"...Still not enough to kill me," he rasped, his voice strained but resolute.
Eve reconstructed her barrier, her form shaking with the effort. "He's tearing us apart, one by one. We need to synchronize!"
William locked eyes with Eve and Rain, and in that fleeting moment, an unspoken understanding passed between them. There was no room for hesitation, no time for fear, the fate of Atlantis hinged on this singular moment.
"Now! Together!" William bellowed, his voice slicing through the chaos.
Eve unleashed a torrent of pink energy, crafting a cage of radiant hexagons that shot toward Nereuson, ensnaring his enormous limbs and constricting with relentless power. The dragon thrashed violently, its colossal form cracking the bindings, but Eve's concentration never faltered.
Rain surged forward, water spiraling around him like a hurricane. Each tidal strike was amplified by his immense speed and strength as he slammed into Nereuson's flanks, sending geysers of seawater and ichor spraying into the air. For the first time, the dragon's roar faltered, its momentum disrupted by the relentless assault.
William launched himself with the precision of a predator, Morganna blazing with searing intensity. His body shimmered as burns, shattered bones, and torn flesh mended in real-time, leaving him unbroken, unstoppable. In a blur, he ascended the dragon's immense frame, slicing through scales and sinew with each strike, his fury and unyielding will driving him forward.
Nereuson writhed, attempting to throw them off, but the trio moved as one. Eve tightened her radiant chains, Rain's tidal barrage remained unrelenting, and William's blade carved a molten path across the dragon's chest.
With a final, synchronized effort, they combined their powers into a single, devastating blow. Morganna cleaved downward, Rain's tidal surge drove the blade deeper, and Eve's radiant constructs compressed the force, focusing every ounce of energy into one obliterating strike.
Nereuson unleashed a bellow that tore through the heavens and shattered the ocean's surface. Light, water, and energy converged in a cataclysmic explosion, sending shockwaves radiating across miles of ocean.
"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAARRRR!"
[AN - Queue Rock theDragon!]