Chapter 615: Dragon vs Kraken (Part. II)
Cassandra and Monica’s wings beat frantically, tearing through the storm. Each black bolt of lightning that exploded behind them reminded them that they no longer belonged on this battlefield. They weren’t warriors here—just survivors fleeing the shadow of a god.
The wind was sharp, like knives against their scales. The waves rose and crumbled into walls of water that nearly swept them back. But they persisted, each wingbeat a desperate plea to get away from that epicenter of absolute power.
When they finally got far enough away, they paused only to breathe, looking back. The horizon was a living abyss: black lightning streaked across the sky, columns of water rising like spears, and at the center of it all, a colossal shadow that made the sea itself retreat.
Strax.
No longer a man. No longer a common dragon.
Something the world seemed incapable of containing.
Cassandra squeezed her eyes shut, her heart pounding as if it wanted to escape her chest.
“He… he doesn’t fight like us anymore.” Her voice was a fragile thread against the roar of the storm.
Monica gritted her teeth, but didn’t answer. She knew it was true.
They turned and flew north, obeying. Not by choice. But because they knew that if they stayed, they would be nothing but nameless ash.
The sea, silent for a moment, began to churn again. The waves beat against each other, trying to erase the heavy silence Strax had left. The Kraken, still wounded, its runes flickering faintly on its flesh, emerged once more.
Its tentacles rose like broken columns, each trembling not only with pain, but with hesitation. The titanic creature—guardian of the seas, terror of the continents—now looked like a cornered animal. His luminescent eyes, once filled with arrogance, trembled as he stared at the colossal dragon before him.
Strax hovered in the air, wings spread, his shadow swallowing miles of ocean. His flaming gaze descended upon the monster, and for a moment, he didn’t attack. He just watched.
And then he spoke.
His voice carried layers of sound, low and deep like tectonic plates colliding, yet distorted, as if coming from many places at once:
“So… that was your job?” Irony dripped from every syllable. “Toy with me. Trap me. Test how much I could endure.”
The Kraken let out a low roar, a guttural sound, but didn’t attack. Its tentacles trembled, retracting slightly.
Strax inclined his head, a slow, menacing gesture.
“I admit… the prank was fun.” His mouth curved into something that wasn’t a smile, but showed his teeth, fangs that gleamed with dark energy. “Mess with my head, manipulate time, fill the sea with runes and monsters. You truly are amazing with those runes.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best option.
The Kraken’s runes glowed in response, as if in protest, as if the creature’s very flesh screamed in despair.
Strax lowered his voice, and his fury became an icy blade.
“But you forgot one detail… no matter what game they play, no matter how much time they twist.” His eyes burned like dead embers. “I always reach the end. And now… You’re next.”
The sea shuddered. Of course, Strax wasn’t speaking to the Kraken, but to the damned person who created it and used it to anger it so.
The Kraken roared, finally in response. A roar more of panic than courage. Its tentacles lashed out, but not in a coordinated attack—they were desperate lashes, like those of a cornered animal.
Strax spread his wings and descended.
Not with immediate destruction. But slowly. With brutality.
He launched himself at the first tentacle and grabbed it with his claws, crushing the runes pulsing there. The flesh gave way beneath his strength, cracking like fragile stone. The Kraken’s scream echoed, and Strax bit down, tearing off a colossal chunk, letting black blood gush out and stain the sea.
The second tentacle tried to lash out from behind, but Strax twisted his body, his wings slicing through the air like blades. One of them pierced the monster’s limb, tearing it in two. The piece fell into the sea, still writhing, before dissolving into energy.
The Kraken dove, trying to escape. But Strax dove with it, a shadow of steel, cutting through the water with impossible speed. The ocean opened before him, receding as if afraid to touch him.
In the depths, the Kraken’s runes glowed brighter, trying to regenerate, creating currents and whirlpools to drive it away. Strax tore through each defense like mist.
He grabbed another tentacle, yanked hard, and ripped it out by the root. The water turned black, pulsing with the titan’s pain. The Kraken struggled, growing weaker.
“Have a great time.” Strax’s voice reverberated down to the ocean floor. “I’ll see you soon.”
He dug his claws into the monster’s main body, forcing it to rise. The Kraken roared, but Strax wouldn’t let it be quiet. With his jaws, he tore apart part of its carcass, crushing bones and runes with a grotesque crack.
The sea parted in columns of bubbles and blood. The Kraken’s roar became a wail.
Strax, instead of finishing, prolonged it. He wanted the titan to understand the difference between pain and annihilation.
Rising with the titan in his claws, Strax lifted him above the sea surface, exposing his mutilated body to the storm. The sky roared with black lightning, illuminating the scene like a horror show.
“Toy.” Strax’s voice was a sentence. “I’ll end this and find the others.”
Then he flapped his wings and twisted his body, hurling the Kraken into the sea with such colossal force that the water rose in columns hundreds of meters high. The impact cracked the seabed, an explosion of rock and lava rising from the open crevices.
The Kraken tried to raise its remaining tentacles, but Strax landed on it, crushing it against the rocks of the exposed seabed. His claws pierced the monster’s chest, reaching the rune core pulsing within.
The titan thrashed in convulsions, but Strax didn’t stop. He opened his mouth and spat a torrent of dark energy directly onto the core. The light of the runes screamed, flickering in frenzy, until one by one… they died.
The Kraken’s roar echoed for the last time. A sound of end, not of struggle.
The colossal body trembled, stopped, and then shattered, dissolving into ethereal dust that the sea swallowed like mourning.
Strax rose again, wings spread, breathing heavily but steadily. His aura burned so intensely that the ocean itself receded, opening into momentary craters around him.
Silence.
The entire sea fell silent.
Strax stared at the horizon, eyes burning with black embers.
And he murmured softly, but each wave seemed to carry his words forward:
“Now… the others remain, before I come to you.”