A thunderous roar erupted from the dragon's gaping maw, unleashing an overwhelming wave of raw power that radiated outward, carving a colossal circular pit deep into the ocean floor. The devastating force surged toward William, and despite all the strength he had amassed, he was utterly powerless against the relentless gale, unable to control his movements as the chaos consumed him.
Eve and Rain worked in unison, desperately constructing a series of defensive walls to slow the explosive force. Yet, despite their combined efforts, the barriers shattered like fragile glass under a hail of stones thrown by mischievous children.
SHATTER-SHATTER-SHATTER-SHATTER-SHATTER...
The two were swept up in the ferocious gale, helpless against its overwhelming strength.
Nereuson's eyes flickered with pride, sensing that his enemies had either perished or been driven away. Almost immediately, freed from any external distractions, the dragon's enormous gaze fixed on the glowing pillar of light known as Atlantis. A surge of rage began to course through his vast form as he coiled like a serpent in the ocean, the sinuous, pulsating muscles beneath his scales tightening against his armored hide. With a wicked grin, an expression that should not have been possible for a dragon, Nereuson used the very ocean as leverage, propelling himself toward the underwater city. There, atop the city's walls, stood Aquarius, glaring defiantly while wielding a brilliantly glowing golden trident, waves of power resonating continuously from its metallic surface.
"Descendant of the betrayer, you shall serve as a mere toothpick once I finish honing my claws upon your wretched form!"
Nereuson, upon spotting Aquarius, or more precisely, the trident in his grasp that once belonged to the one who had imprisoned him countless millennia ago, suddenly opened his maw with a guttural growl. The two crown-like horns atop his head began to radiate with an ominous green and purple glow, and that same energy manifested within his maw, forming a growing sphere of power that expanded in size and intensity.
Aquarius struck the ground with the base of his trident, and as though responding to the call of its ruler, a vast sphere of seawater materialized at the central prong of the lethal royal weapon.
Both spheres of energy surged with immense power, yet to an external observer, it was evident that Aquarius remained at a significant disadvantage. However, undeterred by the looming threat of a swift and merciless death at the hands of this vengeful foe of the Atlantean people, he stood firm, unyielding against the fear coursing through his veins.
Aquarius was the first to act, as he required less time to channel his ability due to the nature of his trident, and without any reserve, he sent a massive jet of compressed water shooting towards the dragon.
Even though the attack was made of water, the enchantment placed on it through the royal trident made the water as close to solid as possible without becoming pure ice and as it passed, the surrounding seawater temperature plummeted to a dangerous degree.
The attack from Aquarius was nearing the halfway point when Nereuson finally finished channeling his energy into this devastating ball of death.
Nereuson was about to unleash the monstrous attack that would undoubtedly devastate the city of Atlantis, and time seemed to slow to an absolute crawl.
WHOOSH!
Emerging from the depths like a force of nature, William propelled himself out of the darkness with the velocity of a missile, his fist aimed squarely at the dragon. With all his strength, he delivered a powerful blow to the dragon's jaw, snapping its head backward and redirecting the deadly attack it had just unleashed. The redirected beam shot skyward, splitting the ocean's surface for miles as it soared into the heavens, obliterating a CNN satellite from orbit on its way to the moon. Upon impact, the beam released its full destructive power.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The resulting explosion was unprecedented in lunar history, radiating outward from the point of impact. As the dust and debris settled, a massive five-mile-long crater was revealed, visible even from Earth. The astonishing event left not only the GDA but astronomers across the globe in utter disbelief.[1]
Before Nereuson could regain his balance from the punch, an ultra-compacted jet of water shot toward him with the speed and intensity of a beam of light. Unable to react in time, the Dragon was left with a gaping hole in its abdomen.
The memory of Aquarius' attack had been erased from his mind after the blow to his jaw, and now a deep, smoldering wound marred his once immaculate dark scales, a grim reminder of his momentary lapse.
The dragon's guttural roar shook the very ocean, reverberating like a force that threatened to cleave the sea in two as Nereuson convulsed in rage. His enormous body writhed like a serpent caught in a tempest, his scales grinding together with the harsh sound of stone scraping against stone. From the gaping wound in his abdomen, no ordinary blood poured forth, but a molten emerald ichor that sizzled and boiled upon contact with the seawater, transforming the surrounding ocean into a thick, toxic mist.
"You dare to defile my flesh?!" Nereuson bellowed, his voice carrying across vast stretches of ocean with an otherworldly resonance. "I am eternal, your fleeting lives are but foam upon the tide!"
With a furious motion, he whipped his gargantuan tail, its speed rivaling that of a tsunami's surge. The sheer force of its movement sent shockwaves through the water, creating a spiraling maelstrom that tore Aquarius from his post on the walls and hurled him into the depths like a helpless doll.
In a blinding instant, William intercepted, his fist colliding with the dragon's tail in a titanic clash. The force of the impact shattered the surrounding water, sending it exploding outward and creating a temporary void that revealed the jagged, shadowy cliffs of the ocean floor far below.
CRAAAACK!
The bones in William's arm screamed in protest, but his regeneration snapped them back together mid-strike. Gritting his teeth, he wrenched the beast's tail upward and slammed it into the ocean floor with a thunderous BOOM that fractured the seabed for miles.
Before he could recover his stance, Nereuson's horns blazed to life once more, glowing with a malevolent green-and-purple light. This time, the energy fractured into countless tendrils of lightning-like beams, each seeking its own target. The beams streaked outward, transforming the ocean into a deadly cage of piercing light.
Rain surged forward, his form dissolving into a towering tidal wave that loomed higher than the walls of Atlantis. With an earth-shaking roar, he hurled his massive watery form against the advancing barrage. The beams tore through him, but their momentum slowed and weakened under the crushing weight of his elemental mass.
"NOW!" Rain's voice thundered from every droplet of water.
Eve reacted instantly, her pink constructs blossoming like fragile glass lilies, intercepting and deflecting the beams away from the city. Each collision shattered her barriers with devastating force, but she refused to falter, her arms steady as she funneled every bit of energy into holding the line.
William shot through the ocean like a spear, every muscle coiled with raw power. Morrigan, the blood-forged blade, materialized in his hand, blazing with fire and wrath. With a guttural cry, he drove the weapon straight into one of Nereuson's glowing horns.
KRAAA-CHHH!
The horn shattered in a cataclysmic explosion of molten fragments, scattering the abyss with shards of incandescent bone and searing energy. Nereuson's scream reverberated through the ocean like a deafening thunderclap, a cry of torment that shook Atlantis' walls and sent tremors rippling through the deepest trenches of the sea. His colossal coils convulsed violently, tearing apart entire ridges of coral and rock as if the earth itself were fracturing beneath his wrath.
The beams wavered, faltering into darkness as his concentration crumbled. For the first time since his awakening, the god-dragon bled, not merely ichor, but his pride as well.
Aquarius seized the chance. Bloodied and bruised from the earlier skirmish, his hold on the golden trident remained steadfast. With a roar that rivaled the ocean's fury, he summoned an unrelenting torrent, compressing the seawater until it shimmered like polished crystal. The sheer pressure made the ocean tremble, and in a flash, the column of liquid diamond surged forward like a spear.
It struck its mark.
SHHHHHHRRRRRRIIIK!
The crystalline torrent tore through Nereuson's remaining horn, obliterating it in a cascade of molten emerald ichor and shattered energy. For the first time in millennia, the ancient tyrant's crown lay in ruins.
"INSOLENT WORMS!" Nereuson roared, thrashing with such ferocity that the ocean floor ruptured, spewing plumes of magma into the abyss. Billowing clouds of boiling black smoke spread outward, staining the sea with hues of hellfire. His glowing eyes burned fiercer, the veins across his body swelling until they pulsed with blinding emerald radiance.
William braced himself, Morrigan quivering with rage in his grasp, the blade's fiery orange gem blazing as if thirsting for more blood. Eve hovered by his side, her trembling hands reforging constructs despite her exhaustion. Rain, though diminished, reformed defiantly, his watery figure rippling with determination. Aquarius steadied his trident, his chest heaving but his resolve unyielding.
The four warriors stood together, their battered silhouettes illuminated by the ominous glow of a monstrous foe.
Nereuson's body convulsed violently, as though consumed by unbearable agony, his guttural cries reverberating like a death knell across the endless abyss. His massive coils thrashed uncontrollably, sending plumes of magma erupting from the fractured seabed. For a fleeting moment, hope sparked in the hearts of those who dared to stand against him.
The tyrant dragon appeared defeated.
Aquarius steadied his trident, his bloodied chest rising and falling with ragged breaths, while William hefted Morrigan, ready to deliver the final blow. Eve and Rain exchanged weary glances, bruised, battered, yet clinging to the fragile belief that the climactic battle had reached its end.
And then—
The ocean grew darker.
From Nereuson's gaping wounds flowed not weakness, but an ominous light, a thick black ichor that tainted the water like liquid smoke. The broken stumps of his horns began to glow with a grotesque radiance, fractures spreading to reveal the pulsating, writhing essence of something alive and malevolent within.
A sound erupted from the depths unlike any roar heard before, half mocking laughter, half venomous growl, resonating with a chilling, otherworldly malice.
"Did you truly believe…" His voice dripped with disdainful mockery, "…that an eternal king could be so easily dethroned?"
Before their astonished eyes, the ichor solidified, forming jagged, obsidian-like spikes. Corrupt energy spiraled skyward, shaping itself into new horns that erupted from his skull, longer, sharper, and more grotesquely twisted than before. Veins of violet fire coursed through them, pulsating with the rhythm of some ancient, malevolent force.
The ocean recoiled in terror, the waters around him distorting and darkening as though tainted by his very essence.
Eve's breath hitched. "He… he was pretending all along."
Aquarius' expression twisted with a mix of rage and dread. "No… he's absorbing the corruption. Growing even stronger!"
William's grip on Morrigan tightened, the blade emitting an enraged howl in his hands. "Damn it," he growled through clenched teeth. "He was never really losing."
Nereuson's grin spread wider, disturbingly human on the draconic face, as his newly regenerated horns radiated with corrupt brilliance.
"Now," he hissed, black ichor still oozing like molten tar from his maw, "witness the might of a king unshackled by the chains of gods."
The ocean quaked as the energy surrounding him surged, a colossal vortex spiraling outward from his immense form. Each heartbeat was an earthquake, each breath a tidal wave.
With an abrupt snap, the reforged horns ignited, spewing torrents of black-violet lightning that tore through the ocean like annihilating blades.
The abyss erupted in apocalyptic brilliance, black-violet lightning rending the ocean apart, vaporizing entire trenches, and leaving gaping scars of searing emptiness in place of water. The immense force of the discharge bent Atlantis' protective barrier inward, groaning like strained glass on the verge of shattering.
Rain, already weakened, disintegrated in an instant, his watery form scattered into countless droplets that hissed and evaporated against the storm's corruption. Eve's anguished scream filled the chaos as her pink constructs shattered before even reaching the lightning, her arms seared by the unrelenting backlash of pure power.
William surged forward, Morrigan blazing like a comet in his grasp, slashing through the abyssal storm's tendrils to close in on Nereuson's towering silhouette. Each swing of his blade tore through the ocean with fiery ferocity, but every strike that connected with the dragon's armored hide only fueled the black ichor that oozed from its wounds, solidifying into darker, more jagged scales.
Aquarius held his ground at the edge of Atlantis, his trident resonating violently, its golden light flickering against the overwhelming corruption. He lifted the weapon high, channeling the collective will of his ancestors to summon waves that loomed higher than mountains. But as the black-violet lightning pierced the waters, his mighty summons evaporated into clouds of toxic steam.
The dragon's voice thundered, overpowering the chaos:
"FOOLS! I am no longer confined by divinity or mortal frailty. This is the gift of the Abyss itself, eternal hunger, eternal dominion!"
As his horns blazed with intensity, a colossal sphere of concentrated black-violet energy materialized between them, churning like a miniature black hole that threatened to collapse the entire sea surrounding it. The ocean floor heaved, the currents writhed, and even the crushing deep seemed to bow before its immense gravity.
William, blood streaming from his mouth, forced his body to regenerate faster than it was disintegrating. "If that thing fires…" His voice, hoarse and barely audible over the maelstrom, broke. "Atlantis won't just fall. The entire ocean will perish."
Aquarius' grip tightened on his trident, his knuckles pale, his eyes blazing with desperate determination. Eve, her arms scorched and trembling, dragged herself upright, murmuring to Rain's scattered essence, willing him to reassemble.
And Nereuson, grinning, luminous with corruption, oozing black ichor, lowered his head, prepared to unleash devastation.
[1] Sailor Moon's finna be pissed!