Chapter 591: Freeze and Electrify
The sea was rough, still bearing the echoes of the storm that had engulfed them. Black waves rose like walls of water and foam, and the salt burned the eyes of the two women as they clung to pieces of driftwood.
Cassandra, the ice dragon, was panting in panic, her heart racing. Her silver hair stuck to her face, and her hands were shaking so badly they could barely hold the plank that kept her afloat.
“Damn it!” she screamed, spitting saltwater. “Where are we?! Where is the rest?!”
Monica, the one with white hair with streaks that seemed to glow like electrical wires in the distant lightning, was beside her, floating with her feet firmly planted on a makeshift plank. Her eyes were half-closed, cold, assessing.
“I don’t know,” she said calmly. “But we have a bigger problem.”
Before Cassandra could respond, the sea in front of them rose in a whirlwind. Something colossal was moving beneath the waves. A black back cut through the surface, slick, covered in iron-hard scales. The putrid smell that rose to the surface made Cassandra gasp.
“What… what is that?!” she screamed, her nervousness growing.
A head emerged. But it wasn’t a fish’s, nor a shark’s. It was a grotesque fusion of a fanged mouth, multiple eyes scattered on different sides of the skull, and a mane of tentacles that lashed the water. The creature let out a deep roar, making the sea tremble.
“A sea beast,” Monica replied, her voice firm, almost emotionless. “And it’s hungry.”
The monster attacked, opening its massive maw and charging at them. Cassandra screamed and instinctively threw up her arms. A jet of ice exploded from her hands, forming a translucent barrier that instantly froze part of the wave. The creature’s impact shattered the ice into a thousand fragments, but the attack was deflected.
“It won’t hold for long!” Cassandra screamed, her entire body trembling.
“No need to hold,” Monica retorted, raising her hand. Lightning crackled between her fingers, hissing like hungry snakes. “You just need to give it an opening.”
She shot an arc of electricity straight into the water. The flash illuminated everything around it like a thunderstorm’s lightning, striking the beast squarely. The sea boiled, and the creature roared in agony, writhing.
Cassandra’s eyes widened. “You’re going to fry us both!”
“Then stop screaming and swim,” Monica replied curtly.
The beast surfaced again, spitting out jets of saltwater mixed with viscous mucus. One of the tentacles lunged at Cassandra, who reacted reflexively: it launched a beam of ice at the incoming arm, partially freezing it. The tentacle shattered into shards as it crashed into a nearby rock, but another was already following.
“I CAN’T TAKE THIS!” Cassandra roared, her eyes glowing an icy blue. “I hate the sea! I hate this thing!”
Monica, with unnerving calm, dodged another tentacle, gathering electricity between her hands. “Anger won’t help, Cassandra. Focus.”
“I AM focusing!” Cassandra screamed, firing ice spikes toward the creature’s eyes. Some hit, causing the monster to momentarily retreat. “See?! I can do it!”
“Yes, you can,” Monica muttered, then leaped forward, running across the floating planks like makeshift steps. “But now it’s my turn.”
She raised both hands to the sky. Lightning formed around its body, and the surrounding sea glowed blue and white. The beast roared, launching three tentacles at once toward her, trying to crush her before she could act.
“Monica!” Cassandra screamed, her desperation returning.
But Monica didn’t move. Instead, she released the pent-up energy. Thunder boomed, and the electric shock tore through the tentacles, burning them until the smell of charred flesh filled the air. The impact illuminated the entire ocean for miles, as if the sky itself had split.
Cassandra was momentarily blinded by the light, blinking repeatedly. When her vision returned, Monica was still there, unharmed, floating above the board and staring at the creature.
“This thing won’t stop until it’s dead,” she declared coldly. “Then we’ll kill it.”
“You say it as if it were easy!” Cassandra retaliated, creating an ice spear and throwing it at the creature’s neck. The weapon pierced part of the scaly flesh, but it didn’t penetrate deeply enough. The beast merely roared and sank, then resurfaced behind them, creating a wave that nearly swallowed them.
The two were thrown to opposite sides. Cassandra fell into the icy water, struggling, gulping down water. Tentacles lashed out at her, and panic took over.
“No… no… no!” she screamed, trying to freeze the tentacles, but her spells fell flat, fragmented by the water and fear.
It was then that an electric hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Monica forcefully lifted her back to the surface, her eyes flashing.
“Concentrate!” she screamed. “If you keep this up, you’ll be eaten!”
Cassandra was breathing fast, shocked. “I… I can’t… I can’t…”
Monica narrowed her eyes. “You can. You are Cassandra, Ice Dragon. The one who froze entire kingdoms. The one who faced armies single-handedly.” She shoved her back onto the board. “Don’t you dare tell me you can’t handle a big fish.”
Cassandra’s eyes flashed with fury. “I’m not a coward!”
“Then prove it,” Monica replied, already building electricity in her hands.
The creature reemerged, its mouth open, ready to swallow them both. Cassandra, now overcome with rage, raised her arms. A full column of ice erupted from the sea, striking the side of the monster’s head with brutal force. The impact knocked half of the creature off its feet, exposing its scaly underbelly.
“NOW, MONICA!” Cassandra roared.
Monica didn’t hesitate. She leaped onto the ice Cassandra had raised and focused all her remaining energy. Her entire body glowed like a blue sun.
“DIE!” she screamed, unleashing a bolt of lightning that pierced the air and sea, striking the beast’s exposed underbelly.
The creature’s roar was deafening. Electricity coursed through its entire body, causing its tentacles to writhe chaotically, crushing waves and cracking the ice. The entire sea seemed to be convulsing.
Cassandra, gasping, raised another ice spear and threw it straight at the monster’s open mouth. The projectile pierced its palate and exited through the top of its skull.
The beast groaned, its movements becoming erratic, and then it fell heavily into the sea, creating a wave that nearly drowned them both again.
For a few seconds, there was only silence, except for the splashing of the water and the panting of their hearts.
Cassandra gasped, eyes wide, trembling. “Did we…?”
Monica landed beside her, small arcs of electricity still crackling through her fingers. “We did.”
Cassandra laughed nervously, almost hysterically. “I… I thought I was going to die…”