The storm continued to rage, thunder rolling through the dark clouds, and towering waves seemed ready to swallow everything in their path.
Yet compared to the terrifying presences lurking beneath the sea, even this tempest felt insignificant.
Lo Quen could feel it clearly. The gazes of those colossal Kraken were locked firmly onto him and Blooddancer.
Angered by the dragonfire, they had not retreated. Instead, they pursued relentlessly through the depths.
Lo Quen patted Blooddancer's neck.
"Climb higher. Get away from the sea. Buy me time."
Blooddancer let out a low growl and beat its wings with all its strength, punching through the rain and surging toward the higher clouds, trying to widen the distance from the surface.
As Blooddancer climbed, Lo Quen rose to his feet on the saddle and drew a deep breath.
A dazzling golden radiance burst from within him, instantly swallowing his figure.
In the blink of an eye, a colossal beast nearly three hundred feet long appeared between sea and sky.
"If you won't retreat, then I'll roast you into oversized calamari!"
Golden dragon Lo Quen roared thunderously, his draconic eyes cold as they fixed on the monstrous shapes beneath the waves.
He plunged straight toward the largest shadow.
The sea monsters sensed the sudden, overwhelming threat.
They no longer hid.
They responded with savage fury.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several gray-brown tentacles, each as thick as the mast of a great warship and studded with grotesque suction cups, burst violently through the surface. They lashed in from every direction, rushing to ensnare the diving golden dragon.
Their strength was terrifying, their speed even more so, sealing off nearly every avenue of escape.
Golden dragon Lo Quen did not dodge.
His massive jaws opened wide, blazing golden light gathering deep in his throat.
A torrent of terrifyingly thick dragonfire erupted.
The flames did not strike at the roots of the tentacles, but slammed directly into their midsections as they whipped toward him.
"SSSSHHHH—!"
An ear-piercing, horrifying screech exploded into the air, accompanied by the Kraken's agonized shriek.
The tentacles, capable of crushing ship hulls with ease, instantly charred and carbonized upon contact with the golden dragonfire. Their slick, resilient flesh blackened in moments, and the stench of scorched meat billowed skyward.
The foremost tentacle was nearly melted in two, left hanging by a strip of charred flesh before crashing back into the sea, sending up an enormous splash.
The remaining tentacles were seared raw, covered in blackened scars as they spasmed and recoiled in panic.
But there was more than one Kraken.
Their attacks came from all sides.
Just as Lo Quen focused his dragonfire on the tentacles ahead, two more struck silently from behind. They wrapped violently around the golden dragon's hind legs and tail.
A dreadful force surged through him, enough to halt even Lo Quen's massive body and break the momentum of his dive.
Countless bowl-sized suction cups clamped tightly onto his scales, constricting as they tried to drag the golden dragon down into the icy depths.
The crushing pressure and pulling force made Lo Quen's heart jolt.
More dangerously, he could feel it. From within those suction cups seeped some kind of numbing toxin, trying to worm its way through the gaps in his scales.
Golden dragon Lo Quen erupted in fury.
His massive draconic head snapped around, icy golden slit pupils locking onto the two grotesque tentacles wrapped around his body.
Lo Quen did not try to burn them with Dragonfire. There were too many tentacles to clear completely, and the risk of scorching himself was real.
Instead, he activated another active skill.
[Blazing Inferno]!
In the next instant, a colossal spherical domain of fire exploded outward, centered on his immense dragon form.
Boom!!!
Extreme heat and violent flame energy surged in all directions like a raging tide.
The two tentacles coiled tightly around him took the full brunt of it.
At such close range, caught in a flawless, all-encompassing burst of fire, the tentacles were instantly swallowed by golden flames. They did not even have time to twitch or struggle before being completely carbonized and shattered.
The constriction vanished in an instant.
Golden dragon Lo Quen shook his massive body, sending charred fragments raining down.
He was completely unharmed. His golden scales gleamed brilliantly within the flames, as if that terrifying restraint had never existed.
At that moment, Lo Quen was seething with anger.
These deep-sea worms were far too cunning. Without [Blazing Inferno], he might truly have been in danger.
He let out a furious dragon roar that seemed to tear through the clouds, then beat his enormous wings with full force and plunged through the storm toward the violently churning sea below.
The largest Kraken appeared to be utterly enraged. Its hideous, mountain-like head surged out of the water as more and more tentacles stretched upward, grasping for Lo Quen.
"Showing your head? Perfect."
Killing intent overflowed in golden dragon Lo Quen's eyes.
Not only did he fail to slow down, he accelerated his dive. His massive jaws opened once more, all of his magic power surging without restraint.
A dragonfire far thicker than before slammed straight into the exposed head.
The moment it hit, the Kraken's unbelievably tough skull melted like wax cast into hellfire. Skin, muscle, and bone were vaporized in an instant, leaving nothing behind.
The terrifying heat instantly evaporated huge swaths of surrounding seawater, forming a massive cloud of steam.
The headless body convulsed violently once, then sank helplessly into the depths. Ink-dark blue blood poured out like oil, staining the sea black.
But this was only the beginning.
Golden dragon Lo Quen circled above the surface, slit pupils locking onto the remaining two enormous shadows.
Dragonfire erupted without pause.
One sweep of flame severed several newly extended tentacles at their roots.
Another blast pierced straight through the sea, striking the main body of a Kraken attempting to dive.
The seawater was forced apart and vaporized as the dragonfire bored into its body and detonated out its back.
Charred flesh and shredded organs mixed with boiling seawater and exploded skyward.
Just like that, four Kraken were slain in succession.
The final Kraken seemed to feel fear and tried to flee into the deep.
But how could golden dragon Lo Quen allow that?
He drew in a deep breath. Dragonfire pierced through the water, relentlessly scorching the fleeing shadow until it was roasted through in the depths.
The battle was over.
Even the storm seemed to ease slightly.
The sea was littered with blackened, carbonized tentacle remains and the massive, cooked corpses of the Kraken.
Golden dragon Lo Quen clearly felt five immense Dragon's Souls being drawn from the fallen Kraken, surging into his body like rivers flowing into the sea.
[Dragon's Soul +50,000]
A cold notification rang directly within his consciousness.
Lo Quen summoned Blooddancer and reverted to human form, frowning slightly.
These Kraken were magical as well?
That was unexpected.
He had assumed they were merely enormous natural creatures, not beings infused with magic.
He did not dwell on it. His bloodline purity had risen to 36%, and his body length had reached nearly three hundred sixty feet.
Yet what excited him most was not that, but the fact that his bloodline purity was nearing the critical 40% threshold.
When he broke through 20%, he had gained the active skill [Dragonbond Lineage].
Lo Quen was eager to see whether reaching 40% would bring another bloodline evolution and new abilities.
"Blooddancer, return to the fleet."
He issued the command to Blooddancer, who had been circling high above on guard.
This unexpected encounter had been perilous, but the rewards were immense.
Not only had the threat to the fleet been eliminated, his strength had also risen to a new level.
Lo Quen looked toward the Westeros continent to the northwest, anticipation growing stronger by the moment.