The palace trembled beneath suppressed
fury.
-
"Please calm your anger, Your Majesty,"
the Orca with a bow said, his voice steady,
though sweat traced the curve of his jaw.
-
"I have already dispatched the Elite Squad to retrieve him."
-
A heavy silence followed.
-
"Hmph… whatever."
-
With a lazy wave of his massive hand,
the Orca King dismissed him.
Invisible pressure rippled outward,
forcing the subordinate to bow deeply,
before turning and exiting the palace hall.
-
As the doors closed behind him,
the Orca's eyes narrowed.
His teeth clenched so tightly they groaned.
-
Three months…
Just to retrieve a simple core.
"Useless fool," he thought bitterly,
casting a venomous sideways glance
toward the throne.
"You'd better not ruin my plans…"
-
Northern Sea:
-
Four colossal Orcas broke through the dark waters,
their bodies fully bestial no half-human
forms in sight.
Killing intent rolled off them in violent waves.
-
One among them stood apart.
-
Larger than Rick.
A living mountain of muscle and bone.
-
At nearly forty-five feet long and weighing
over nineteen thousand pounds,
his presence crushed the water around him.
-
"You all saw Commander Dunka's expression,"
the giant Orca rumbled.
"Split up. Search the area."
-
His cold eyes swept across the sea.
-
"Find Rick. Or find the core. If you fail…
you know what awaits us."The Orcas stiffened.
-
"Stay within communication range,"
he added, his voice lowering.
"This place… feels wrong."
-
"Yes!" the others answered in unison,
fanning out into the depths.
-
Littoral Cave 500 meters away:
-
The sound waves reached deep into
the darkness.
-
Two eyes snapped open.
-
Reptilian.
Blue.
Shark-like.
-
"…Orcas?" El-Mond muttered,
his voice echoing softly in the cave.
"Three of them this time?"
-
His lips curled.
-
"What business do they have here…?"
-
A pause.
-
"…Are they searching for that Orca?"
-
Interest sparked.
-
"How fascinating…"
-
A grin spread across his face,
revealing steel-like razor teeth.
Black water peeled away as he swam
forward, emerging from the shadows.
-
His body massive, jet-black,
newly forged was smaller than Rick, yet
far more ominous.
Deathly energy seeped from him like ink
bleeding through parchment, warping the surrounding sea.
-
Twenty-Five Minutes Later
-
"Report."
-
The ringleader's voice boomed through
the water.
-
"Any sign of Rick or the core?"
-
No response.
-
"I asked if you found anything!"
-
Silence.
-
"…Are you all deaf? What is..."
-
His sentence died mid-breath.
-
Something was wrong.
-
The water felt thin.
-
"WHO IS THERE?" he roared, spinning around.
-
From the darkness, a silhouette drifted forward.
-
"Interesting…" El-Mond said calmly.
"Your senses are sharp.
My concealment level must be too low for you."
-
The Orca's nostrils flared.
-
"…That stench of blood."
-
A heavy sigh followed.
-
"My subordinates… are dead, aren't they?"
-
El-Mond circled him slowly,
like a predator measuring prey.
-
"Don't worry. You'll join them soon
unless you answer my questions."
His voice dropped.
"Why are your kind here…
and where are you from?"
-
The Orca's eyes burned.
-
"I will use your blood," he growled,
"to pacify my subordinates."
-
El-Mond grinned wider.
-
"You can try."
-
The Clash:
-
The Orca vanished.
-
BOOM.
-
He reappears beside El-Mond's head
and Slammes into him,
sending his body hurtling through the sea
like a broken spear.
-
El-Mond steadies himself mid-flight.
-
"…Fast," he muttered. "Surprisingly
fast."
-
His eyes sharpened.
-
"If my body hadn't been strengthened…
that would've shattered my skull."
-
The Orca appears again
this time to his right.
-
"Getting distracted, are we?"
-
Another devastating blow.
The water screamed as El-Mond was
launched backward.
-
Then
-
Above him.
-
The Orca loomed, rage distorting his face.
-
"RUSHING WAVE FORM ONE!"
-
The sea twisted.
-
"EXECUTION!"
-
A chain-like wave,
wrapped around the Orca's tail,
compressing into violent spirals as it
detonates forward. The strike pierced the water,
forming a brief vacuum wall as the energy
tore straight through El-Mond.
-
His body was driven downward.
-
CRASH.
-
The ocean floor exploded in sand and debris, smoke-like clouds billowing outward from the impact crater.
-
"Hmph. Pathetic."
-
The Orca stared down with contempt.
-
"So he was only brave enough to ambush my subordinates."
-
He turned away.
-
"The Commander will be waiting for my report.
I should..."
-
A voice rose from the depths.
-
Cold.
Sharp.
Alive.
-
"MY TURN."
-
To Be Continued…