The two launched at the same moment, ryo was leaving behind a small trail of sand.
with his wings, he transformed into a blur of speed for a single moment… his body encased in air currents and wings that made his movement fluid. Beside him, shimoro dashed with complete seriousness, freezing the ground beneath his feet with every step to give himself a faster launch boost, his eyes fixed on the giant monster.
"shimoro! Split up!"
ryo shouted sharply as he jumped to the right, while shimoro slid to the left.
In that moment, the red scale fish opened its mouth again, but this time it wasn't a normal water ball.
The EIU aura around it glowed with a terrifying dark crimson-blue color, and the surface of the Sea of Fireflies shook violently.
"GWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
A compressed water beam launched with unimaginable force, resembling a liquid laser cannon. The beam passed just centimeters between ryo and shimoro, continuing its path toward the forest behind them.
BOOOOM! CRAAACK!
The two heard a massive crashing sound. Four giant trees of the arabisel forest were uprooted and their trunks shattered all at once by a single strike, falling thunderously to the ground and kicking up a storm of dust and leaves.
ryo whistled as he landed on a high rock:
"That… if that thing touched us, we'd turn into two drowned kids."
But the fish gave them no time to rest. It struck the water surface with its head, and suddenly… two smaller creatures jumped out of the water.
Two fish, roughly a meter long, possessing the same sticky skin but gray in color, with rows of sharp, pointed teeth protruding from their mouths even when closed.
The two fish landed on the shore and began crawling and leaping with strange speed toward shimoro.
ryo glimpsed the new monsters with the corner of his eye and said quickly:
"Sharp teeth… small body… looks like Rank D, but fast and annoying."
Then he turned his gaze to shimoro and shouted:
"You idiot of ice! Take the small ones! I will distract the big head myself!"
shimoro didn't argue. He knew ryo was the only one capable of keeping up with the giant fish's speed.
"Alright! Count on me!"
ryo lunged directly toward the red scale fish, drawing his new sword.
"Come on, you giant fish! I am your opponent!"
Meanwhile, shimoro turned to face the two small fish.
His heart was pounding violently, and his breathing was already heavy, but he raised his dagger while his other hand radiated intense cold.
"SHHHHAAAA!"
One of the small fish attacked, opening its jaws to bite shimoro's leg.
"Not today!"
shimoro slammed his hand onto the ground:
"Ice Spikes!"
Small spears protruded from the ground, but the fish was sickeningly flexible; it twisted around the spikes and continued the attack. shimoro retreated backward and stumbled, falling onto his back with the predatory jaws approaching his face.
"Damn it!"
He kicked it in the stomach with his foot encased in ice, pushing it back slightly, then stood up quickly, panting.
"Hah… hah… it's fast…"
On the other side, ryo was waging a war of attrition.
He was jumping from one rock to another and from place to place in the air, directing quick strikes with his sword toward the scales and gills of the giant fish, then escaping before it could crush him.
"You are slow! Very slow!"
The fish was striking with its head and firing random water bursts, but ryo was manipulating his wind skillfully, although sweat had begun to pour from him profusely and new scratches appeared on him…
The scene returned to shimoro. The two fish were surrounding him from both sides.
"Focus… remember ryo's training… Visualization… Shape…"
He closed his eyes for a second. He visualized the ice not as a wall, but as a trap.
When the two fish jumped at him simultaneously…
shimoro ducked quickly, placing his hands on both sides of his body.
"Freeze."
Ice shot from his hands to catch the tails of the two fish, pinning them firmly to the ground.
The monsters twisted, trying to escape, but shimoro didn't waste the chance.
He lunged toward the first one, burying his dagger in its head.
Then he turned and quickly created an ice blade in his left hand, slicing the neck of the second.
shimoro fell to his knees, panting as if his lungs were burning.
"Hah… hah… I'm done….. Imaginary transformation is tiring…"
He looked aside, finding ryo flying in the air, having almost fallen due to a water wave.
ryo shouted:
"Are you done playing over there?! I need help here, you idiot!"
shimoro stood up, his legs trembling from exhaustion, but he wiped the sweat from his forehead and shouted:
"Coming!"
shimoro joined the main battle, and the two began coordinating their attacks with a harmony that hadn't happened before.
ryo runs to the right to distract the fish.
shimoro seizes the opportunity and fires "Ice Arrows" toward its remaining eye.
The fish blocks the arrows… screams, and turns toward shimoro to strike him with its head.
So ryo screams: "Jump!"
And ryo releases an air current under shimoro's feet to lift him high, dodging the fatal strike by centimeters.
"Double Attack!" ryo shouted while in the air beside shimoro.
The two landed on the fish's back.
ryo strikes with the sword, and shimoro strikes with the dagger.
Sparks flew, and scales were cut.
The battle continued for minutes that seemed like hours.
shimoro was falling, rolling on the sands, his face covered in bruises and cuts, but every time he insisted on his neck and stood up again.
"I won't… stay… down!"
ryo was exhausted too, his chest heaving, but his high fitness and experience allowed him to retain more energy than shimoro, who was staggering from extreme fatigue and EIU depletion.
"shimoro! Your energy is running out! Don't overuse the ice! Watch out—" the words escaped ryo's mouth as he blocked a fin strike with his sword.
"It doesn't matter… we must kill it!"
In that moment, shimoro saw an opening.
The fish was lifting its head to fire another water beam toward ryo, exposing the lower neck area which seemed less protected by scales.
shimoro didn't think.
His body moved on its own.
"Now!!"
shimoro slid with the maximum strength he had left on the ice, jumping toward the exposed chest of the fish from close range, raising his dagger with both hands, his eyes shining with battle madness.
"DIIIIIE!"
He plunged the dagger into the soft flesh.
The fish screamed a scream that shook the corners of the forest.
shimoro smiled for a moment… he thought he had done it.
But…
He didn't notice the very long gills extending on the sides of its body.
One of the gills moved with lightning speed, like a giant guillotine blade.
"shimoro!! Fall back!!" ryo screamed in horror, reaching out his hand.
But the attack was faster.
Tshhhhhkh!
The sharp bony blade of the gill passed through shimoro's body.
It sliced its way from his lower abdomen up to the middle of his chest.
The thick blue coat tore, revealing the white underclothes… which instantly turned crimson red.
shimoro's eyes widened in shock.
He froze in the air for a moment… then the attack threw him away.
shimoro's body hit the ground with force, rolling several times before stopping motionless. Blood began to form a pool beneath him with terrifying speed.
"shimoro!!!"
Time stopped for ryo.
His sarcastic smile vanished.
His cunning look vanished.
His cool composure vanished.
He looked at the body of his comrade lying there… then slowly raised his gaze toward the giant fish that was preparing to finish him off.
ryo felt something snap inside him.
His wind aura, which had been transparent and calm… suddenly turned into a raging storm, turbulent and violent, swirling around him and tearing the ground beneath his feet.
He gripped his sword with a force that made the hilt groan, and his eyes turned pitch black from pure rage.
He said in a low voice, but it was more terrifying than the monster's scream:
"I swear… that I will cut you to pieces… you scum!"
To be continued…