บท 164: Chapter 148

As the vibrations ceased, the battle also seemed to have halted with Leviathan raggedly breathing. However, neither Owly nor Naell felt they had gained the upper hand, as they too were brought to more exhaustion from that exchange.

Regardless if he had awakened, the early battle and Ipar's recent barrier that Owly destroyed, both took a lot of his stamina; and obviously Naell was not in a good condition to fight.

"I applaud you two for surviving me in this form." Said Leviathan.

His breathing stayed ragged but by no means was his aura faltering. Contrary to this, the duo could both feel that it was still as vast and threatening as the ocean.

That was when it clicked for Naell just how truly fearsome the so-called "old kings" of Mundo were.

Leviathan was not even at his peak, for if the battle had commenced in the ocean, Naell knew he and Owly stood no chance.

Even now, the duo had a hard time facing the sea king's might. The moment he had fully unleashed his aura, they could barely do anything but wait.

Perhaps if Naell was in a better condition and Owly already learned more from his awakening, the tide of the battle could be in their favor.

Yet that was not the case, hence why the duo needed to be patient for the arrival of their reinforcements—to be exact—the Green Witch, Fle Mistaya.

"I know that plan of yours…I can sense your friends. But do you two really think I will let you survive until then?" Mockingly uttered the sea king.

Leviathan felt it across his skin—the approaching mana of a very powerful entity, and with her was an army. He didn't even need to look at Naell and Owly's telling expression to know he was right.

However, the sea king too had another dilemma other than the reinforcements. In truth he did not have any idea on how long he could keep forcing his aura.

The environment he was currently in was by no means favorable to him afterall. Even now, his body was starving for the sea and yet his lust for victory was far more hunger inducing for him to retreat.

'This time my fodder will take part…And I'll kill all of them if they don't last against the elves.' He thought to himself while snarling.

In truth, he already telepathically commanded the sea monsters to slide under the radar of the duo's detection magic and to catch up to Sead and the others who escaped moments ago.

However their true intention was to ambush the approaching army so they could buy Leviathan time to finish the duo. Still, since many had fled and died upon his arrival, he was unsure of how long the remaining monsters could last.

'This leaves a bad taste in my mouth.' He grinned as he thought.

It was not his style to command fodder for help, although at that moment it was inevitable. Afterall Leviathan couldn't care less if all the remaining sea monsters (awakened or not) died. It was never he who chose to gather the said mobs anyway.

His queen, Reyna, was the one who commanded it, and although losing all those monsters would sour her beloved emotions, killing the duo would most likely appease her.

Leviathan was arrogantly confident that he could finish the job and escape if need be. Even so, he acknowledged that the arrival of that powerful entity would truly be disadvantageous to him if he took longer than necessary.

Prior to their attack, the sea king was briefed that the very terrain they were fighting on, was where Fle Mistaya was known to be at her strongest.

It could be attributed to the presence of the great "Tree of Life" at the heart of Awdita. That was why in the first place, the pawns of Lucile didn't want to engage with her in that location.

Admittedly, since Leviathan had not fought the green witch before, he was curious about her. Yet his interest was not enough for him to battle her on her own turf right then.

'The plan of theirs to lure her out into the sea might still work.'

If he could at least knock the duo out unconscious, he might be able to make the green witch and her army follow him into the sea.

Those were his thoughts, though by then the possibility of it happening was rather slim. Of course had their initial plan progressed normally in the first place, he would have already slaughtered the green witch in the sea.

Certainly he would have done so, as deep in the suffocating depths, not one would come close to his prowess. Nevertheless, whilst Leviathan was known for his brute strength and aggressive nature in and out of the sea, acting out of carelessness was also his personality.

That was why he had failed to consider that Naell and Owly knew what he was thinking.

From above, the duo gazed at Leviathan and briefly felt his killing intent wavering. Every so often it would be reminiscent of what they detected coming from Ipar.

It was odd to them, as they knew throughout the entire battle he had wanted nothing more than to feast on them as soon as possible. Now, as they all felt the arrival of their reinforcements, the monster's sudden change in intentions made his new plan to abduct them obvious.

Even so, regardless of his killing intent's decrease, Leviathan still brutishly exuded the same amount of aura. It was clear that now more than ever did they need immediate assistance.

Yet they could only be patient. They knew that the main reason the reinforcements had not arrived still was not because of an ambush, nor was it because the army was slow, but because their battle with Leviathan was absurdly fast.

The two braced themselves, knowing they just needed to stall a while longer, though accomplishing this was clearly difficult. Even now, just the speed and strength of Leviathan made Naell and Owly internally panic.

It was even more surprising as the sea king's 'evolution' made it so that he could now rush, leap, and maneuver himself in the air with sheer aura alone.

That weakened the duo's flight edge seeing how fast and accurate his trajectory each time was. Hence the duo decided to split up; Naell was to fly below in a somewhat mid-range, while Owly flew high and continued his dark barrage of spells.

And so the fast-paced battle began with Leviathan almost catching Naell. He was erratically faking his movements and at some point managed to trick the duo's senses.

Though because of Owly's feathers hitting in a minuscule second of his movement, Leviathan was slowed, and Naell managed to escape. He then quickly conjured a mini fortress surrounding Leviathan.

Owly then persisted with a continuous barrage of sealing spells and debuffs, all of which proved to be effective as it aimed at the confined Sea King.

Yet it was all just a momentary hampering of Leviathan's movement. In anger, he roared and coated his entire body in aura.

Leviathan then clawed at the fortress around him, keeping his eyes on the duo above who had relentlessly faced his strength. Even his movements that were supposedly weakened by Owly still moved faster than their eyes could comprehend.

With a final barrage of hits and slashes, the fortress shattered with ease and Leviathan once again freed himself.

As soon as the snow fell, Leviathan did not see the night stricken sea nor the bloodied battlefield. Instead, he saw another much stronger layer of magic around him. This time, it was pervasive, green, and forcefully latched onto every inch of his skin.

Leviathan tried to move and resist, yet to no avail. The magic was like the most aggressive retaliation of nature against the Sea King's trespasses.

Through the painful and slightly translucent magic, Leviathan finally caught sight of his foes. There stood the mass of the elven army clad in armor. In the midst of them, slowly approaching with an unwavering gaze, was the powerful Fle Mistaya.