-----Narrator POV-----
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The sound tore out of the doorway just as a massive silhouette forced its way through the flooding gap. Water burst outward around the man's legs as he stepped in, each stride shaking loose chunks of stone from the frame. The long scar over his right eye caught the dim light for a heartbeat before his head lowered and his shoulders rolled forward like a beast locking onto prey.
Orsted pulled Nanahoshi behind him, his arm tightening around her wrist.
"Nanahoshi—move—"
A sharp crack split the floor.
A burst of force that shoved the rising water outward as Reinhardt's body shot forward.
Orsted brought his arms up just as the fist reached him.
The impact slammed into his guard, driving his feet backward across the slick platform. Water surged up around his shins, pushed aside by the force of the blow. His teeth clenched as the pressure kept building from Reinhardt's relentless strikes burying Orsted into the stone.
I haven't recovered from the spell…
Reinhardt didn't slow. His weight pressed forward, his boots grinding against the stone as he pushed, each shove sending another wave across the chamber.
I can't fight him here…
Nanahoshi stumbled behind him, the water dragging at her legs, her breath turning shallow.
Reinhardt's voice tore out again, shaking droplets loose from the ceiling.
"DRAGON GOOOOD!"
The giant's cry tore out of his chest, and the veins along his arm bulged as he drove his Heavenly Blessing into his fist. The moment his knuckles met Orsted's guard, the air detonated. A shockwave burst outward, flattening the rising water and hurling Orsted across the chamber. His body skipped across the surface like a stone, each impact throwing up a spray before he slammed into the far wall hard enough to crack the stone behind him.
The impact rattled his skull. His vision shook. For a heartbeat, everything blurred.
Then a shadow swallowed the light.
A massive hand clamped around his face, fingers digging into his jawline. The grip yanked him forward, then slammed him back into the wall, the stone splintering behind his head. Orsted's hand shot up, fingers locking around the giant's wrist, bones grinding under his grip as the man dragged his head back and forth, each strike carving a deeper imprint into the wall.
Orsted twisted his torso, forcing his shoulder through the gap between the giant's arm and the stone. His body slipped free of the carved indentation just as the giant shifted his weight, on counter, Reinhardt's hips turned seamless spinning along with Orsted dragging him straight into the water. The two bodies plunged beneath the surface, the force of the descent splitting the water column as Orsted's back hit the flooded bottom floor hard enough that the water around them blew outward in a violent ring and a hollow sphere of air snapped open around their bodies.
Orsted's senses snapped back just as the giant's shadow dropped over him. Reinhardt's knees hit the ground on either side of his waist, the weight locking him in place. His fist rose above his head, the muscles along his arm tightening like drawn cables, and the next sound cracked through the water like distant thunder.
Then the impact followed.
Orsted's forearms shot up in time to catch the blow, but the force still drove his spine deeper into the floor. The next punch came before the first one finished.
Then another!
AND ANOTHER!
Each strike tore the water away from their bodies, the wind pressure alone keeping the rising flood from touching their skin.
The rhythm accelerated. The sound sharpened. The water around them churned into spirals.
Orsted's arms moved on instinct, redirecting each incoming fist by fractions, the collisions sending bursts of kinetic heat through the water. The temperature climbed with every clash. Steam began to rise in thin threads, then in thick clouds, swirling around the two figures locked in the underwater brawl.
Above them, Nanahoshi stared at the surface.
The once‑still water convulsed. Waves slammed against the walls, steam bubbles burst in rapid succession, and the floor vibrated with each impact below.
Below, the assault continued.
Reinhardt's fists hammered down in a relentless rhythm. Each strike peeled more skin from Orsted's forearms, thin strips tearing away under the repeated collisions. But the Dragon God's movements sharpened. His arms no longer buckled under the blows, they redirected them, each parry sliding the incoming fist off its line by the smallest margin.
The giant's swings grew wider. The openings grew clearer.
One came.
Reinhardt's arm swept across in a broad arc, water trailing behind it in a crescent. Orsted's forearm snapped upward, catching the swing at the wrist and diverting it past his shoulder. His other fist drove forward at the same instant, sinking into Reinhardt's chest with a deep, muffled thud.
The giant's body shot upward.
The water above them split open as he burst through it, a column of displaced liquid rising with him. His back slammed into the ceiling, stone cracking in a jagged pattern around the impact point.
Below, smoke curled from Orsted's knuckles. His fist glowed faintly red, heat radiating off the skin as the water rushed back in around him, collapsing the air pocket and swallowing the sea floor once more.
Reinhardt's shoulders twisted as he tore himself free from the ceiling, stone fragments raining past his legs. The surface of the water below trembled — a tight vibration spreading outward — just before a figure burst upward from beneath it. Orsted shot out of the water like a launched spear, his body cutting a clean line through the rising spray, one hand extended, palm flat, aimed straight at Reinhardt's heart.
Reinhardt's forearm snapped into place, redirecting the strike with a sharp clash. His other arm swung in for the counter, but the Dragon God moved before hand clamping around Reinhardt's wrist and twisting it aside as his body rotated. The momentum ripped Reinhardt free from the ceiling's rubble, dragging him through the air.
Orsted hurled him downward.
Reinhardt's body hit the water mid‑fall, the impact splitting the surface into a wide ring. Before the splash even finished rising, Orsted's fingers traced a sharp pattern through the air. Frost burst outward from his palm, racing across the water in a spreading sheet. The entire surface froze solid in a single breath, trapping the giant beneath a thick layer of ice.
Orsted struck the ceiling again, using the rebound to launch himself toward the platform. He landed beside Nanahoshi, scooped her into his arm, and slammed his hand onto the teleportation circle. Light surged beneath them, swallowing their bodies as the spell activated.
At the same moment, the ice below shattered.
A deafening crack tore through the chamber as the frozen layer exploded outward. Shards blasted into the air like a storm of glass, spinning across the room in violent arcs. A massive silhouette burst through the debris.
Water streaming off his shoulders. His head snapped left, then right, then forward again, each movement sharp enough to whip the air.
The air still trembled from his last roar, but the presence he hunted was gone. His gaze snapped to the teleportation circle as the faint glow flickered across its runes.
Reinhardt landed on the circle with enough force to send a ripple through the entire platform, he stood still on top of the teleportation circle waiting for the familiar feeling of space tearing open beneath him.
"..."
However the light beneath his feet flickered, thinned, and then snapped apart like brittle glass.
The giant's chest heaved as his fingers curled.
"COME ON!"
His fist dropped.
The blow struck the center of the circle, and the stone buckled inward. A deep fracture tore across the platform, dust bursting upward in a cloud. The runes dimmed instantly, their glow collapsing into dead lines as the impact spread through the floor.
"Rein... Hardt?"
Reinhardt froze when he heard the small voice behind him. His head turned sharply, the tension in his neck easing the moment he saw the red‑haired boy pushing himself upright. Matheus's eyes were still unfocused from the earlier struggle, his hands fumbling at the straps of the backpack digging into his shoulders as he tried to sit up.
The giant's breath slowed. His chest lowered. The fury that had been twisting his muscles loosened as he dropped to his knees on the shattered teleportation circle, his hands resting on the broken runes while his shoulders sagged forward.
Matheus shifted again, wincing as the bruises along his ribs flared. His fingers tugged at the straps, trying to free them, but the earlier violence had wedged them tight against his body. The weight of the bag pulled at him, and the moment he felt it, the memories surged back in a rush, the dragon's cave, the hydra, the white‑haired man's grip around Sebas's throat, the way the boy's legs kicked as the air left him.
His breath caught. His chest tightened. His gaze locked onto the giant kneeling in front of him.
Reinhardt didn't lift his head. His hands stayed pressed against the dead circle, his posture heavy, his body unmoving except for the slow rise and fall of his back.
Matheus stared at him, the silence stretching between them until it pressed against his ears. The weight of it grew with every heartbeat, and something inside him twisted as the last image of Sebas's face flashed through his mind.
His voice broke through the stillness, thin and trembling as it escaped him in a single breath.
"Where is... Sebas....?"