Chapter 341: Battle with the Beast!

The first thing that changed in the environment was not the light, but the pressure. The moment the distant bell finished echoing through the hidden sea, the entire dimension seemed to inhale.

Every current halted and every floating island stopped drifting. The silver rivers of mana that had flowed peacefully since Jax and Astra entered froze in place as though time itself had paused.

Silence descended. Not ordinary silence. It was the kind that instinct warned every living creature to fear. Even the thousands of monsters surrounding them no longer moved.

The eel-like horrors, the crystalline leviathans and the floating jellyfish whose translucent bodies contained miniature galaxies.

Every last one remained perfectly still. Their crimson eyes stared only toward the black tower. Not one of them acknowledged Jax anymore. Not one acknowledged Astra.

It was as though the two of them had suddenly become insignificant.

"..."

Jax slowly lowered the hand that had been glowing with golden mana, "They’re afraid."

Astra’s massive dragon head turned slightly toward him, "You think so?"

"I know so."

His golden eyes remained locked on the tower, "They aren’t predators anymore."

"They’re prey."

***

The black tower pulsed and a thin blue line illuminated across its surface. Then another and then hundreds.

The pale veins spread throughout the ancient black stone until the entire structure resembled an enormous heart whose veins had suddenly begun carrying divine light.

The surrounding water darkened. Not because the light disappeared, but because something was swallowing it.

The silver illumination that filled the hidden ocean bent inward toward the peak of the tower, more specifically, the slowly forming whirlpool suspended above it.

The whirlpool expanded, from one kilometer to five and then ten. It continued growing until it eclipsed nearly the entire city beneath it.

Ancient buildings disappeared beneath its shadow. Floating islands trembled. Entire mountains rotated slowly around its circumference.

The water wasn’t simply spinning anymore, reality was.

Astra felt it immediately, "Space, "

~CRACK!~

A thin fracture appeared in the air in reality itself and then another appeared, then another. Like glass developing stress fractures.

Each crack revealed absolute darkness beyond, causing Jax’s expression to sharpen, "Spatial collapse,"

Another crack formed, then fifty. Hundreds spread throughout the sky of the hidden sea. Proof that whatever was awakening possessed enough raw presence to damage reality merely by existing.

"..."

Then, something opened, the environment’s aura changed as if the universe was remembering something it had forgotten in the past.

~BOOM!~

The whirlpool suddenly imploded and everything rushed inward. Water, mana, light, even sound, all of it was tyrannically devoured.

Then.

~ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!~

The roar erupted, echoing in the ear of every single creature in the environment simultaneously.

The city shook violently due to the roar. Multiple bridges shattered, various crystal towers cracked. Floating islands broke apart and entire streets folded beneath invisible pressure.

Astra’s enormous dragon body instinctively dug her claws into the stone beneath her as lightning exploded across her scales.

"...!!"

Even she had to brace herself as the roar physically pushed against them. It wasn’t sound, it was raw, unimaginable force.

A tidal wave blasted outward from the tower, causing more buildings to be flattened. The surrounding monsters lowered themselves instinctively.

Thousands of creatures bowed, not voluntarily, but their bodies simply collapsed beneath instinct older than civilization.

Jax remained standing as golden mana erupted around him. The invisible pressure struck his aura, and split around him.

His coat fluttered violently and his curls whipped behind him, yet he never moved an inch.

His eyes narrowed, "Now that’s interesting."

Another roar followed, but this one was smaller and hungrier.

The whirlpool finally parted and something emerged from within it.

***

At first, when he saw it, Jax couldn’t understand what he was looking at.

It wasn’t because it moved too quickly. It was because his brain couldn’t immediately assign it to any known creature.

Its body resembled no singular species. It possessed six enormous limbs, yet they were not symmetrical. The front pair resembled enormous claws capable of crushing castles.

The second pair looked almost draconic. The final limbs resembled elongated fins covered in countless moving eyes.

Its torso was protected beneath overlapping obsidian armor plates. Each scale was larger than an entire palace.

Between the armor, blue light pulsed. Like molten stars flowing beneath black stone. Its neck stretched impossibly long before ending in a head that seemed designed by nightmares.

Rows, upon rows, upon rows of rotating jaws. Each ring opened independently.

Hundreds of crystalline teeth slowly rotated around one another like grinding celestial machinery.

The creature also had thousands of eyes attached and every single one opened simultaneously. All of them looked directly at Jax, mana radiating from each and every eye.

"It sees us," Astra whispered as she saw that, shivering from the mysterious creature.

"It definitely does," Jax muttered, "Stay on guard,"

The creature fully emerged. Its sheer size dwarfed the tower beneath it. The black tower, which had seemed enormous moments ago, now barely reached halfway up the creature’s chest.

It slowly rose and water poured from its body like waterfalls. Space cracked again with another roar and the surrounding monsters whimpered.

Several fled while others simply curled into themselves. The predator had awakened and was now hungry for a meal clearly.

***

Astra slowly exhaled as she saw this, lightning danced across her enormous jaws, "Looks like it might be time to fight,"

The creature moved, not toward them, but towards the sky. It lifted one claw, and absentmindedly swatted.

~CRAAAAAAACK!!~

Three floating islands simply ceased existing, not shattered or exploded. Reality around them compressed and then the islands disappeared.

"Spatial manipulation," Jax murmured as he recognized that ability, "Wonderful."

Astra looked sideways, "You sound excited."

"I am, not everyday you find something like this," Jax muttered.

She laughed, "I noticed."

The creature finally acknowledged them. Its countless eyes focused in, looking even more eerie than before.

The pressure on the duo doubled and then tripled. The water beneath Jax’s feet exploded downward.

Entire streets collapsed, causing the city to groan.

Astra looked back, "So?"

Jax’s grin slowly appeared, "So..."

Golden mana exploded around him, "Let’s go say hello."

Without another word, Jax leapt, landing effortlessly atop Astra’s back. His boots touched the sapphire scales between her shoulders.

She adjusted naturally, like they’d done this countless times before.

He rested one hand lightly against one of her crystal-like horns, "Ready?"

She answered with a thunderous growl, electricity erupted across her wings, "I’ve been ready, let’s do this,"

Her wings spread, each one stretched hundreds of meters, lightning burst outward.

~BOOOOOOOOOOOM!~

The hidden sea exploded beneath the force of her takeoff. Stone streets shattered, water folded and entire whirlpools formed where she’d been standing only moments earlier.

She accelerated immediately, no gradual increase. She simply became a blur as storm mana surrounded her.

Lightning carved enormous spirals through the ocean. Jax stood effortlessly atop her back, not even leaning, his golden mana anchored him perfectly.

Wind, or rather underwater currents, rushed past them. The enormous creature noticed them. Its head turned.

One rotating jaw slowly opened. Blue light gathered deep within.

Jax recognized the buildup immediately, "Incoming."

Astra banked left and instantly, the creature fired of a sphere. The blue orb drifted lazily through the water. It looked almost harmless.

"Too slow."

Astra continued past it but Jax’s eyes widened, "Wait,"

The sphere suddenly expanded, instantly, a hundred meters, five hundred, two kilometers. Everything inside its radius suddenly ceased moving.

Water froze, mana stopped and time itself seemed delayed. Astra’s left wing clipped the edge.

"...!!"

Lightning sputtered and her momentum died instantly.

"What?!"

Jax slammed his palm onto her back and his golden mana erupted.

~BOOOOOOM!~

His mana forcibly restarted the surrounding flow. The frozen space shattered apart. Astra immediately accelerated away.

"That," She looked back, taking a deep breath, "What was that?!"

"I have absolutely no idea," Jax said to her.

"Comforting," She joked.

"It wasn’t meant to be," Jax said and she rolled her eyes.

Even as she dodged another attack, the creature lifted one enormous claw. Space bent and five black tears opened, each tear birthed another monster.

"..."

Jax stared, "So that’s where they came from."

The dimensional fractures were spawned by the creature after all, and that was the origin of all the beasts.

"Then," Golden light surrounded Jax’s hand, "Let’s close them."

He pointed and five golden spears manifested instantly. Each condensed from impossibly compressed mana and they launched.

~BOOOOOOOM!~

Each spear struck a fracture and the tears collapsed. The emerging monsters were severed in half before fully entering reality.

Astra grinned, "Nice shot."

"I’ve had practice," Jax said.

Astra laughed and then folded her wings. The dragon dove. Straight toward the creature’s chest.

The monster roared and lightning answered. Astra opened her jaws and the water around her condensed, storm mana spiraled together.

The surrounding currents accelerated until they resembled an underwater hurricane. Then,

~THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!~

A concentrated beam of white-blue lightning erupted from her mouth. It crossed kilometers instantly.

The attack struck the creature’s chest, and exploded. The hidden sea lit up brighter than daylight. Shockwaves rippled through the abandoned city.

Buildings collapsed. Water displaced for miles. The beam continued for nearly ten full seconds before finally fading.

Astra smiled, "Direct hit."

The explosion cleared, revealing the creature had remained standing with one armor plate possessing a small scorch mark, nothing more.

"..."

"Well, at least you tried huh," Jax joked

She blinked, "That definitely could’ve gone better."

Jax chuckled, "I was about to say."

Then, he noticed something and his smile disappeared, "Wait."

The scorch mark was healing. Not regenerating through flesh, the surrounding space itself was stitching the damage closed.

As though reality refused to allow the creature to remain injured.

"This dimension is completely this thing’s domain, we’ll have to destroy this place to have a real fight with it," Jax muttered.