Chapter 147

"Are you sure you didn't just get fatter?" Teasingly asked Naell as he carefully stood up using his staff.

Owly just sneered at his friend before puffing his chest; that of course, eliciting a laugh from both of them with how silly the young owl looked.

Still, the sudden roar of powerful aura, followed by the shattering of Owly's barrier around Leviathan intercepted their moment of joy.

The creature then snarled further, announcing that he had freed himself.

"How does my food find time to chat, I wonder? Had you both ran, I would have given you the time to say your last words."

Leviathan's voice had hints of deep annoyance from what happened to him.

Yet his eyes gave away his caution and curiosity. That was not his first-time afterall to fail in detecting his enemy, and in turn get caught under some kind of spell.

"I would have been so kind as to devour you both at the same time." He added.

"Well, I need your help now noob, HOOT."

"I don't think I have the stamina to fight anymore, Owly…But he's actually kinda right though, why didn't we run away?"

"That slipped my mind, HOOT!"

"..."

In spite of the danger they were facing, the two could not help but banter still. Rather, it was almost as if they grew more talkative by the second.

"By the way, that was cool magic from you and Lily, HOOT."

"Heh. Thank her when we get back. And good job removing the barrier."

"Duh, I'm just that good, HOOT!"

It was certainly not out of deep nervousness in facing the enraged Sea King, not at all.

However, contrary to how they felt, any foe they could face in that moment would've misjudged the duo's interaction as overconfidence—or in Leviathan's view, uninhibited mockery.

That was why the sea king didn't even spare any more time and launched himself towards them. Coating his bloodied claws with aura, he then slashed in Naell and Owly's location.

Luckily, the duo's collective mana shields were able to block his slashes. Also, as Naell had experienced it beforehand, he managed to react in time grabbing the young owl and riding away with his snow crystal.

That had created enough distance for Owly to bombard Leviathan with his dark magic.

Each of the feathers leaving Owly's body had a trail of red mana, and all of them together fizzled with dark magic forming the faintest image of chains.

Their vantage point at that moment proved effective, as Leviathan had to adapt to how fast the dark magic fell from above. Yet mere seconds passed when he began to focus his aura on his limbs and raised his mobility by tenfold.

"That fish is fast, HOOT!"

"... Don't say that to his face or we'll both—"

Before Naell could even finish his words, he began spitting blood once more.

Even though his mana core was now stable (due to Owly's healing and sealing) the fact that he was beyond his limit remained unchanged.

Owly also was also well aware of his state, hence he was pleased (kinda) to know that the bishop they faced a while ago was no longer present.

He then asked, "What happened to the three, HOOT?"

That was when Naell explained how the pieces retreated upon the breaking of the bishop's seal. Yet they then contacted the so-called sea king, a powerful being equal to that of the demon king.

"I don't blame you if you don't know much about the other kings since they're a thing of the past, HOOT." Replied Owly before casting down another rain of restraint magic.

Naell could only nod as Leviathan was finally hit with several of the projectiles. In turn, dark chains began to cling fiercely to the sea king's wrists and ankles as he roared and pulled at them aggressively.

Seeing this, Owly then rushed to gather a pool of his mana in front of him, before conjuring it into a swirling vortex of dark thorns.

"Become sashimi, HOOT!"

The magic then fell at immense speed. Although it wouldn't really cut through Leviathan's thick skin, if Owly's dark magic landed, it would shroud his skin in splinters of sealing magic and in turn weaken his output of aura.

Leviathan roared and rampaged. He forced his feet and claws in the sand as he angrily thrashed, when the sudden snap of the dark chains gave him the green light to avoid the magic.

Despite his freedom, neither Naell nor Owly paused to give the creature a chance to gain the upper hand, and this persistence annoyed the sea king severely.

"Fall on land where you belong, accursed human scum!!" Leviathan yelled as he enhanced the aura around his claws, before throwing slash after slash of chaotic aura.

Naell focused and tried his best to avoid every attack, as just one hit truly would have sent them to the ground.

Yet overtime his speed waned and Leviathan's attacks didn't cease.

Owly, I need you to do something.

Naell said telepathically, before coughing up more blood. Concerningly, he seemed to feel fatigue catch up to him once more.

"Focus, noob! You can do i—HOOT!"

All of a sudden, a massive wave of Leviathan's aura shot directly at them.

The darkness of the night suddenly turned red, as bright opaque mana that seemed to be Owly's, covered and filled the sky. It was almost as if blood had scattered, telling the creature that he had achieved what he needed to do.

Almost instantly, Leviathan laughed as his appetite grew. He then grinned and walked forwards, noticing the pristine white feathers continuously falling down from the sky and landing in front of him.

"My dinner, just in time." He arrogantly said, licking his lips and overjoyed that he had finished the fight before the arrival of their reinforcements.

Yet as he picked up one of the fallen feathers and gazed up impatiently to where his meal should be, a deep numbness ran across his body, frost climbing up his spine and growing stronger and stronger with each passing second.

"What...?" He released the feather from his fingertips, yet it remained afloat. All of a sudden, the nest of owl feathers beneath and floating around him erupted into dark needles.

Leviathan snarled, feeling his aura weakened slightly, yet it was not strong enough to completely subdue all of it.

It was there when he saw them—Naell sitting on a small ice crystal, and Owly flying while HOOTing smugly. The red mana in the sky had dissipated and encircled the young owl's wings once again.

Quickly, Owly began to conjure a high level spell. His mana gathered and began to form arcane words into ribbons of magic. Soon, those same words began to sprawl and form on Leviathan's skin.

'Just like last time…!' Thought Leviathan as he heaved and yelled in frustration.

The sea king could not help but recall what happened eons ago. The reason as to why he was "forced" to do the bidding of the demon's king family, and why he stayed in the middle of the sea not venturing the lands as he once did.

It was the time when he was sealed by another king with the help of the celestials. That magic should have lasted for eternity in the deep ocean, yet the one who helped him escape was none other than the queen of Lucile, Reyna.

Ever since that day, he had fallen in love with the dark elf. However now, he feared he might have committed a grave mistake by going to the land once more.

By then the effects of the dark needles were dissipating and his aura's strength returned, however, the sealing magic ran fiercer than anything and forced its way into his head.

Under normal circumstances, Leviathan would have surely swallowed his pride and retreated.

Yet at that moment the thrill of the battle remained lingering in his mind, craving the greed of victory, tainting his mind to stay.

Hence, far from what his instincts were telling him, Leviathan became even more aggressive. He then unleashed all of his aura, not to escape but to fight.

That then sent ripples, affecting not only living beings as far as the entirety of the Elven Kingdom and its borders, but as well as the sea—and even the land where he stood, quaked as a result.

Leviathan didn't even wait for a second as he effortlessly leapt to catch the duo. Every movement he had was so fast that even his own aura seemed to leave afterimages.

It expanded each time it caught up with his body, unable to react from his speed.

Even more so was Naell and Owly who were startled from his transformation.

Physically, Leviathan's body became smaller and toned resulting in him becoming more agile. Yet his power, if not thrice as strong as it once was, could now cut both the duo's mana shields with ease.

Alone, that would have surely been the end of Naell, but his fluffy friend in his awakened state was now with him.

With no hesitation, Owly with a great swoosh, summoned a large sum of magic that resembled his wings, preemptively shielding them from harm.

As the slash made impact, an ear piercing boom sounded throughout all of Awdita. What one would believe sounded like a tragedy, in truth, was the booming sound of Leviatian's attack clashing against the spell conjured by the Son of Wisdom.