Cold currents twisted violently as El-Mond recoiled, his massive shark body gliding backward in a display of pure, unadulterated instinct. The water felt different now—thicker with information, pulsing with the life-force of the deep.
"What… are you!? What do you want!?"
His voice echoed through the lightless abyss, a silent shout of intent, but the thing before him—the lingering shadow of his own transformation—offered no reply.
Then, a surge of blue energy exploded outward, a silent supernova beneath the waves. It did not merely touch his skin; it seeps into his flesh, through bone, through blood, and through the very core of his predatory instinct. His entire body ignited with a glowing azure pulse, a luminous phantom in the lightless trench.
El-Mond's obsidian eyes widened, the pupils contracting against the inner glow. What was that!?
His thoughts had barely begun to form before the fundamental nature of the world changed. The ocean began to speak to him. It was no longer a silent void but a symphony of vibrations—sharp, distant, and jagged—cutting through the prehistoric silence.
Fighting. Three hundred meters away.
El-Mond froze, suspended in the emerald gloom. I can hear… that far!?
A slow, stunned breath escaped his gills, the bubbles rising like silver beads. "Incredible… such keen hearing."
His body reacted before his mind could deliberate. With a single, powerful thrust of his caudal fin, he rocketed forward. Then, he halted instantly, the water exploding outward from the sudden, violent stop. His heart pounded with a heavy, rhythmic throb. "It's not just my hearing…"
He looked down at himself, sensing the change in his own geometry. The muscle was tighter, the movement cleaner; he felt like power coiled into a loaded spear. He swam again, and this time, the ocean blurred. Sound itself struggled to keep pace with his transit. His eyes sharpened, his vision cutting through the silt and darkness like a honed blade until the quarter-mile ahead became clear
as day.
"This is incredible!" A low laugh escaped his thoughts, equal parts awe and a burgeoning, dangerous hunger. "All this… from killing just one shark?"
A lethal smile curved across his consciousness. "How strong will I become if I kill more?"
The sounds of battle grew violent, a cacophony of thrashing water and snapping bone. El-Mond slowed as he neared the source, stopping just outside the periphery of the chaos. He watched, a ghost in the shadows of the reef.
Two Great White Sharks were locked in a desperate clash against a towering, monochromatic shadow—an Orca. Blood clouded the water in dark, swirling nebulae as the Orca roared, the sound vibrating through El-Mond's
very scales.
"You bastards! You think you can fight me just because there are two of you?" the whale hissed, its voice thick with a predator's arrogance. "Don't make me laugh." With monstrous speed, the Orca vanished into the gloom, reappearing beside the first shark with terrifying grace. A thunderous tail slam sent the fish spiraling away, and in the same motion, the Orca's jaws snapped down, biting deep into the second shark's flank.
But the catapulted shark recovered—too fast, with a resilience that defied the laws of the deep. It rammed into the Orca, sending the massive predator crashing backward into the current.
The shark spoke, its intent cold and mocking. "Indeed… we would normally be no match for you, Rick. But we are not the same as before."
The Orca's confident expression fractured. Worry flickered in its eyes as it watched the bitten shark's wounds knit together at an unnatural speed, the flesh closing as if by a weaver's needle. Both sharks charged. The Orca swung its massive tail to clear the path, but one shark clamped down mid-motion, its teeth sinking into the whale's fluke.
The second shark darted sideways, spinning with the force of a cyclone, and rocketed the Orca into a jagged undersea rock. Stone shattered. The shark followed up, jaws wide, aiming to tear the throat—but the Orca countered with the desperation of a king. It lunged forward and bit into the shark's pectoral fin, slamming the creature brutally back into the jagged rock. The second shark rushed in, but the Orca twisted and dove. With its injured tail, it used the momentum of the current to rocket the attacker into its companion. The ridge collapsed, and a cloud of rubble and silt exploded outward, burying them both.
Slowly, both sharks emerged from the debris. But something had changed. One did not heal. The shark with the damaged pectoral fin bled freely, the crimson mist trailing into the water, refusing to mend. The Orca grins, a slow, predatory expression.
"What's this…?" its voice dropped to a terrifying whisper. "Not healing?"
From the darkness, unseen and unmoving, El-Mond watched. His eyes narrowed, his mind racing through the logic of this strange, new world.
"…What? Not healing…?"
The blue energy within him pulsed faintly, a low hum of power that seemed to recognize the failure of his kin. The ocean held its breath, waiting for the spectator to reveal himself.
To Be Continued…