Everything had happened so fast that Nox barely had ti to react.
One mont, he was carefully watching the ocean, keeping his senses sharp for any sudden changes. The next, a massive column of water shot up from the depths, swallowing them whole.
For a second, Nox felt weightless, lost in the darkness as water crashed around him. His ears rang from the pressure, and his vision blurred. He couldn't breathe. His body tensed instinctively.
What just happened?
Zara was right next to him, but even her sharp instincts hadn't picked up anything before they were hit.
BOOM!
"Tsk. Annoying." Nox heard Zara curse in his head, and a mont later...
A bright blue light flashed beside him, and suddenly, the crushing weight of the water eased. He gasped as Zara's power repelled the sea, creating a brief gap around them.
She didn't hesitate. With a powerful burst of energy, she flapped her massive wings, forcing the water away as she surged upward.
Nox barely had ti to adjust before they broke through the surface.
"I hate this particular monster!" she cursed.
From her tone alone, it wasn't difficult for Nox to tell that this was not the first ti she had encountered the water pillar.
The air was freezing against his wet skin. When the pillar had first swallowed them, Nox had been montarily dislodged from his position, but he quickly found balance again, landing swiftly on Zara's back as she hovered above the ocean.
Nox narrowed his eyes, scanning the dark waters below.
Then he saw it.
Sothing moved beneath the surface—huge and slow. A shadow, twisting and curling like a serpent.
Nox's gut clenched. This wasn't so random sea creature. This thing was hunting them, just as Zara had said.
A low growl rumbled in Zara's throat.
"Nox, that thing is strong," she warned. "We should get out of here."
Before he could respond, two massive, glowing yellow eyes opened in the depths.
A shape began to rise. The ocean churned violently, waves crashing outward as the creature surfaced.
It was huge.
A grotesque fusion of a serpent and a manta ray, its body stretched over a hundred ters. Black, oily scales glistened under the faint light, and its cavernous mouth opened wide, revealing jagged rows of teeth.
[Deep Warden - Emperor Tier Lv9]
"A Deep Warden?" Nox asked, not taking his eyes off the monster for even a second.
"Yes, a Deep Warden," Zara responded. "One of the apex predators of the Dark Sea. If it has surfaced, that ans we've unknowingly entered its hunting grounds."
A flicker passed through Nox's gaze as he noticed more presences in the water.
"It's not alone."
As if summoned by its presence, smaller creatures began erging from the water—twisted, eel-like monsters, their eyes glowing the sa eerie yellow. Their bodies slithered unnaturally as they circled below, waiting for the command to strike.
Zara's tail flicked as she spoke. "That thing is at least peak Emperor-tier… and those other ones don't look weak either. They should be at least King-tier."
Nox let out a slow breath, a smirk creeping onto his face.
"Good."
"What are you planning to do?"
Before she could say anything else, the Deep Warden let out an earth-shaking ROAR, and its lesser minions lunged.
They shot toward them like arrows, their sharp fangs gleaming as they twisted through the air.
Nox didn't waste a second.
Runic Dominion—Activate.
A blood-red aura flared around him as weapons materialized in the air. Blades, spears, axes, and halberds hovered around him like an army waiting for battle.
Nox raised his hand.
"Strike."
The weapons shot forward like streaks of crimson lightning.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions of blood filled the night as the weapons tore through the incoming creatures. So were impaled instantly, their bodies shattering mid-air, while others shrieked as they were cut to pieces.
But the Deep Warden didn't even flinch.
It watched. Waiting.
Then, without warning, it moved.
Faster than anything that size should be able to.
Its massive tail swung upward, slicing through the air like a blade.
"Zara, move!" Nox shouted.
She reacted instantly, banking hard to the side. The sheer force of the attack sent shockwaves through the air, nearly knocking them off balance.
The Deep Warden wasn't done.
Its mouth opened, and a swirling black sphere of energy began to form between its jaws.
Nox's eyes narrowed. That's not good.
A second later, the sphere exploded.
A tidal wave of dark water surged toward them.
Zara barely dodged, but the shockwave still clipped them, sending them spiraling. Nox gritted his teeth as he grabbed onto her scales, steadying himself.
They couldn't fight this thing normally.
It was ti to go all out.
"Tsk." A sneer appeared on Nox's face as he held out his hands in a gun shape. I have enough mana. I should be able to spam Shadow Oblivion for a few minutes.
In the blink of an eye, dark energy began to pulse in Nox's outstretched fingers, and then...
A sound similar to a bomb being detonated echoed as the dark blast slamd violently into the Deep Warden.
BOOM!
A pillar of water, several tis taller and more powerful than the first one, rose into the air, and the surface of the ocean rippled violently.
Nox received dozens of kill notifications for the lesser beasts, but the Deep Warden itself was only slightly wounded.
It began to thrash around, shooting out jets of water from its cavernous mouth. Nox didn't relent—Shadow Oblivion rained down on the ocean that night, drawing more beasts to the spot, creatures that were soon slaughtered.
At this point, the Deep Warden was greatly injured. It opened its mouth one last ti, but just as it did, Nox activated Shadow Oblivion again—this ti, the attack crashed straight into its maw.
After dealing with the Deep Warden and its minions, the two encountered more creatures, all of which were swiftly eliminated with Shadow Oblivion. As for the daring ones that actually took to the sky to attack them, they were either cut down by Nox's Oblivion Edge or skewered by ice spikes from Zara's maw.
Their teamwork was so synchronized that they barely encountered any difficulty, and within a couple of hours—thanks to Zara's frightening speed—they crossed the ocean.
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