The wall of the royal hall cracked from the force of the impact. But the rubble soon shifted… Atlas emerged from the debris, his eyes blazing with a furious blue light, his face dripping with blood. His voice roared through the hall like the raging sea. "I… have been too lenient with you, you fool!"
A thick vapor rose around him, then a wave of energy erupted, causing the water to condense in the air and tremble beneath his feet. Even Saruto, watching from afar, felt the weight of the water pressure against his skin.
Atlas shot forward with incredible speed, his spear flashing like lightning in the depths, giving Lucian no chance to catch his breath. The two clashed again, the clang of iron echoing through the hall.
Each blow tore through the air, each impact creating a tiny explosion of repulsive energy.
They traded blows, Atlas's spear and Lucian's colliding violently. They were evenly matched in strength. Then, suddenly, Lucian began to regain his balance. The temperature around him rose sharply, and ice began to seep into the ground beneath his feet, freezing even the water on the walls. He raised his spear in a straight line, and a wave of ice surged from it, breaking the pressure of the surrounding sea and propelling Atlas backward with such force that his body slammed against a pillar.
Atlas gasped, wiping the blood from his mouth, then took a step back, his gaze troubled… He realized something terrifying: the tide was turning against him. "No… if this continues, I'll lose!"
He glanced around quickly, trying to make the most of his surroundings. When his eyes fell on the glass separating the hall from the surrounding sea… he smiled wickedly. "This will be useful."
He leaped nimbly, his speed increasing with each movement, then concentrated his energy in his spear, and a massive vortex of pressurized water swirled around him. He roared, his voice echoing through the palace: "This is the end for you!"
And with a single blow, he smashed the glass. The barrier shattered with a thunderous crash, and billions of tons of water surged in, an unstoppable torrent. In an instant, the entire hall was submerged.
At that moment, Saruto swiftly reached out, creating a transparent, hooded sphere around himself and Selena, preventing the water from reaching them.
Selena gasped in terror, her hand pressed against Saruto's barrier, her eyes fixed on Lucian, who was submerged in the depths. "Saruto, save him! He can't breathe down there!"
She cried out, pounding on the barrier, but Saruto remained silent, his eyes following with an eerie calm. He whispered to himself, "He has to rely on himself, to swim stronger."
Inside, Lucian held his breath, his body floating in the heavy water, his silver hair moving slowly in the current, but his eyes remained fixed on his opponent.
Atlas approached him with rapid strides, but his body was no longer entirely human. Sharp fins sprouted from his arms and legs, his skin had turned a deep blue, and his eyes glowed with a brilliant, watery light. "Poseidon ultimate skill: Amphibian Transformation!" he hissed in a deep voice that seemed to emanate from the ocean depths.
His underwater movements increased to an almost imperceptible speed. He shot himself out of the current like a spear and struck Lucian in the chest with tremendous force, sending enormous bubbles from his mouth. A barrage of blows followed.
Each spear left a trail of blood on Lucian's body. The water rippled under the pressure, and Selena, unable to contain herself, cried out through the barrier, "Stop! Enough! You'll kill him!"
But Saruto didn't move, his eyes gleaming with merciless coldness. Lucian continued to fight off Atlas's blows, but in his eyes, an unbreakable will burned. With difficulty, he raised his arm, gathering his last bit of strength. Just as Atlas was about to deliver his final blow, Lucian formed a barrier of ice and deflected Atlas's strike.
Atlas recoiled backward from the impact, and at that moment, Lucian surged upward, cutting through the water at a slow but steady pace, his eyes fixed on the hall's ceiling. "Just… one more breath…" he muttered to himself.
As Lucian struggled to climb, Atlas moved again, launching himself with incredible speed, aiming his spear directly at Lucian's back to prevent him from reaching the hall's ceiling.