Gloomy thunderclouds piled across the sky as a fine drizzle fell in a steady patter over the vast ocean.
Boom!
A thick bolt of lightning tore across the sky, bathing the endless sea in an eerie violet glow.
On the raging surface floated shattered building debris and countless fragments of mechanical creatures, all soaked in ink-black seawater that reeked of blood and rust.
About three kilometers from the offshore platform,
the dark seafloor suddenly began to churn violently, as if something enormous were about to burst out.
Boom!
A sky-blocking golden octopus was hurled out of the water by some strange force.
"Roar!"
The Sand Kun let out a furious roar as it emerged from the deep.
Then it sprang upward like a hunting killer whale and bit fiercely at Kraken in midair.
Kraken couldn't dodge in time and took the hit head-on.
With a thunderous splash, the savage Sand Kun locked its jaws onto Kraken's head and crashed back into the raging sea.
Crack! Crack!
Its sand-formed teeth ground down with all their strength, trying to chew Kraken apart.
But Kraken's head was simply too hard. On top of that, Sandbox's power was weakened underwater, so he couldn't deal any real damage to the golden octopus.
In the freezing seawater, Kraken flew into a rage and thrust out a silver tentacle, stabbing hard into the Sand Kun's body.
A huge hole immediately opened in the Sand Kun's belly, spraying out streams of fine sand.
But Sandbox was a lifeform made entirely of yellow sand. He felt no pain at all.
The Sand Kun's teeth remained clamped firmly onto Kraken's head, grinding out a web of shallow cracks.
Kraken swung its tentacles wildly, turning them into streaks of silver afterimages as they all hammered into the Sand Kun's body.
Under that barrage, the Sand Kun exploded into countless grains of yellow sand that dispersed through the seawater.
The golden octopus swept its gaze around, eyes blazing with killing intent, and suddenly spotted a green box floating in the water.
It stretched out a long tentacle to snatch it back.
A dense cloud of sand wrapped around the green box, dodged the golden octopus's grab, and sped off into the distance.
As it fled, Sandbox reshaped himself at high speed.
A few seconds later, the mass of sand transformed into a fierce sea flood dragon, hiding the green box inside its head.
That green box was Sandbox's lifeline. If the enemy got hold of it, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Seeing the box escape, Kraken kicked its thick tentacles and churned up violent waves as it gave chase.
Not only that, a huge swarm of mechanical creatures followed behind Kraken, all intent on tearing the sea flood dragon to pieces.
The sea flood dragon twisted its head around and spat out a curved sand blade that swept across the pursuers.
Clang!
The fierce sand blade struck Kraken and managed only to leave a shallow cut.
But the ordinary mechanical creatures weren't nearly so lucky. Hundreds of them were sliced apart on the spot, shattered into scraps.
"Roar!"
The sea flood dragon, with twin horns on its head and eyes as round as bronze bells, surged with sand all around its body as it charged ferociously at the golden octopus.
Kraken drove its massive body forward like a towering golden mountain, ripping through the sea in a brutal collision.
Boom!
With one terrifying impact, the sea flood dragon was smashed into powder, unable to withstand that overwhelming force.
Kraken was over a hundred meters long. Against a flood dragon barely twenty meters in length, it was like crushing a small snake without effort.
Clang!
The sound of a sword leaving its sheath rang out, cutting through the heaving seawater and shooting skyward.
In the next instant, a towering ancient desert general rose up from the surface of the sea, majestic and imposing.
Draped in golden sand armor, sword in one hand and shield in the other, he was wreathed in surging yellow sand that dyed half the sky in a hazy veil.
Splash! Splash!
The mountain-like golden octopus lifted its head out of the sea, blood-red eyes fixed on the ancient desert general.
Its enormous figure looked like some legendary Cthulhu-like god, blotting out the sky with a terrifying presence that made the heart tremble.
Even the tall ancient desert general looked tiny in front of the giant golden octopus, only about one-fifth its size.
Expressionless, the ancient desert general raised his sharp golden sword and brought it slashing down onto Kraken, sending sparks flying.
A trace of almost human disdain flashed through Kraken's eyes.
Then it lashed out with its tentacles, spreading over the ancient desert general like wildly growing vines.
The ancient desert general's gaze sharpened. He raised his shield, enlarged it at high speed, and condensed it into a solid wall of sand, compressing its density to the absolute limit.
But in front of Kraken's overwhelming strength, it was all useless.
Boom!
The golden shield shattered instantly, and the ancient desert general was blasted backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing into the sea and breaking into several chunks.
After taking blow after blow, Sandbox's recovery speed was getting slower and slower.
The ancient desert general's body slowly gathered itself back together and gradually returned to normal.
"Roar!"
Kraken threw back its head and roared, as if proclaiming its victory.
Large numbers of green Tentacle Troopers crowded around it, splashing excitedly and whipping up waves of white foam.
"Damn it..."
The ancient desert general clutched his chest and slowly rose to his feet.
A feeling of helplessness unlike anything before welled up inside him.
This golden octopus was, without question, the most troublesome enemy Lucian had encountered since coming to this world.
A beast-like body, terrifying brute force, and near-unbreakable defense.
That sky-covering pressure made Lucian feel as though he were facing Gatanothor.
No... Kraken was only a little over a hundred meters tall, while Gatanothor stood a full two hundred meters. The two weren't even in the same league.
No wonder... Tiga couldn't beat Gatanothor...
That suffocating pressure was something you could only truly understand by standing there in person.
Facing the nearly unbeatable Kraken and the endless swarm of mechanical creatures, the ancient desert general lowered his head and said nothing.
He gripped his golden sword in one hand and thrust it back into the seawater, like a lone warrior facing an army by himself, isolated and bleak.
"No... I can't just sit here and wait to die!" The ancient desert general suddenly raised his head, his eyes blazing with fierce resolve. "I have the Omnitrix, the most powerful weapon in the universe. I will not lose!"
"Roar!"
Kraken roared and commanded all the Tentacle Troopers to swarm forward at once, rushing toward the ancient desert general.
The ancient desert general raised a hand, reached into his head, pulled out the green box, and pressed the Omnitrix on top of it.
Thunk!
A flash of eerie green light burst out, and Sandbox vanished instantly.
In his place appeared a pale ghost...