Chapter 425 The Lucky/Unlucky Water
POV Vesuvius:
The waves smashed against the sharp rock sticking from the wild sea. The massive glaciers in the distance reflected the red glow from the sky in the glossy glass-like surfaces carried by the violent sea currents.
The enormous form of the dragon was surrounded by the deep darkness of nearly absolute zero temperatures, bright flashes of supercharged lightning, and energetic bursts of solar flares.
Each move of his wings sent a tsunami tumbling across the sea and explosions of steam.
'Northern sea.' Vesuvius didn't forget the hint he got from the god of death.
Just at first glance, he could feel an immense power deep beneath him, bearing the signature of divine energy. The sea constantly swirled with waves crashing against each other in unnatural intensity and direction.
'That pattern is too chaotic to be natural.'
Suddenly a calm, flowing voice resonated within his head. 'Get out, dragon. Your kind shouldn't be here.'.
Huge waves followed and rose on the sea's surface, the entire mass of the frosty waters raging and foaming.
His eyes pulsed with excitement as he felt like there was something beneath him that would make all his past hauls feel like a pittance.
'As if I would leave now.'
The next moment the entire sea exploded, and an enormous mountain of water shot toward the sky, carrying islands of corals and ice. Two glowing vortexes of mana and divine energy spun in its center, fixed upon the dragon like a pair of eyes.
The mass of water raised higher and higher, two thousand meters, then four thousand meters, the entire sea flowing, compressing, and gathering into a single spot, revealing a bare sea bottom filled with mud and stone.
The monstrosity grew larger and larger, its size comparable to the biggest mountains, its size so huge it made even the dragon feel small in its massive shadow.
'Sea elemental, but how could it grow so strong?' He was sure it was just a regular elemental and not an elemental monarch or a lord, as it lacked the aura of majesty and its power was raw and unrefined.
Still, the divine energy made the entire mass weakly glow. It was crude and unnatural, but for some reason, it contained divine energy far beyond what it should realistically have.
'Something is inside it!' The dragon's senses felt and saw every single thread of energy slithering through the oversized body from a single spot buried deep within it.
The spot glowed like a small sun of divine energy, making the dragon's greed flare up. The images of him blowing up the entire thing together with the treasure passing before his eyes, made him feel dread.
'I have to safely extract whatever is inside of it. I will cut it out of its body. It is just a blob of water... what it can do to me?'
He didn't wait as his domain exploded out of his body sending waves through the elemental's body. Everything darkened, and the air turned heavier as a giant storm formed in the sky.
Thousands of river-like streams of water with immense pressure shot toward the dragon, the sonic booms pushing back the haze of tiny water droplets.
With a single command, mana rushed through his body, making the glow of his mana veins penetrate through his armor. In the subsequent moment, the black and purple storm of elements gathered around him, forming a monumental barrier with golden-glowing magic circles engraved all over it.
The billions of silvery glowing specks swarmed the air, blending within the frost and solar flares blazing out of his armor.
The water geysers crashed against the barrier hissing as they evaporated into nothingness. More and more water poured out of the elemental while its humongous form rolled forwards, the ground shaking beneath it, the cracks forming in the stone bedrock just from its sheer weight.
'Divine energy, this will be dangerous. Even with the risk, I want what is inside it.' Instantly all the dragon's power exploded out, and the flash of golden light devoured everything with the massive world of fire manifesting around them.
The magma and water clashed with clouds of steam, filling the entire space of the dragon's divine kingdom.
The dragon flapped his wings and shot forward with a speed that turned him into a purple, golden and black flash of light, his barrier pushing back and deflecting the never-ending streams of water.
Energy pulsed and glowed in the depth of his throat as the apocalyptic storm and all his elements exploded out, mixing together into a spinning globe of energy.
Both the dragon and the elemental quickly closed as they rolled towards each other, their eyes shining with the warm feeling of the mana coursing through the dragon's veins. His heart pounded with the adrenaline of the fight and the craving for the treasure buried within the sea.
The next moment the two being collided, and the dragon drilled and submerged into the mass of the water like a stone in a lake. The water flowed everywhere, mixing with the golden glow of the divine power. The golden divine energy surged and raged everywhere in his sight, washing away his barrier like water washing off some dirt.
He could already see the golden glint deeper within the elemental's body as he quickly deaccelerated all the water pushing and blocking his path. The pressure grew with each moment, the mountains of water pressing and compressing against his barrier in the unending onslaught.
He felt all the divine energy surge from the golden thing.
'Now!' Without any delay, he opened his mouth, and the surging spheres shot out, accompanied by lightning and steam. The glowing letters around it flashed a single time, and then it exploded in a giant explosion of elements.
The water disintegrated as the wave of black frost and purple flames accompanied by lightning quickly expanded outwards, the traces of divine energy in his breath pushing and repelling the crude and thin energy in the water.
'Now I am sure of it. The elemental is just a lucky weakling that absorbed some powerful divine remnant.' His determination grew as he wanted to save the treasure from being wasted and misused by the sub-par blob of water.
Vesuvius flapped his wings, and a giant burst of purple and golden solar flare exploded, propelling him forward amidst the disintegrating water, clouds of steam, and smoke.
The source of the golden glow quickly closed again, making the dragon's two hearts pound as he sensed the immense energy within the golden star twinkling behind the thick wall of water and mana.
The divine energy-charged waves of water smashed again and again, the dragon's element washing them away and quickly closing towards him again.
'This is such a crude use of divine energy...' The more the dragon observed it, the more sure he was that it wasn't the own power of the elemental.
The next moment bright golden flames exploded from the dragon's armor, forming a powerful golden barrier that interviewed with the barrier of the black and purple storm.
The golden flames pushed back and repelled the onslaught of the water. The two sources of divine energy clashed again and again, the dragon's one pushing back and repelling the sloppy and crudely controlled water.
With each flap of his wings, he got deeper and deeper, piercing through the layers of the waterbody like a torpedo.
At last, his eyes fell upon the source of the golden glow, making them go wide in shock.