Just as Joy Boy stretched out his massive rubber arm to grab the sea monster, a strange suction force suddenly erupted from its body.
Instantly, he felt the life force inside his arm pouring out like water from a broken dam. The thick, elastic limb visibly shriveled and deflated before his eyes.
"WHAAAT?! Ritter! It's sucking me dry!"
"Quit screaming!" Ritter shot him an annoyed look. "That tiny bit of life force? You call that life force? Do you seriously care about losing that much?"
"Oh..."
Joy Boy quickly pulled his arm back, puffed out his cheeks, and started blowing air into it.
"Hooo! Hooo!"
Like someone inflating a tire.
Pop!
The arm swelled back to normal.
This time, he learned his lesson.
Joy Boy had always considered himself a genius.
A thick layer of Armament Haki immediately coated both arms, turning them glossy black.
"Ritter! Ritter! That life-draining thing can't get through this black stuff!"
"That's called Armament Haki!" Ritter corrected irritably while dodging a sweeping tentacle strike.
This fight was unbelievably frustrating.
Part of it was because the giant octopus was genuinely powerful.
The bigger problem was the ocean itself.
Most attacks lost their force to the surrounding seawater.
Ritter's mind raced.
If he could just give that thing something solid to brace against...
He could carve it into minced meat.
Then his eyes landed on a massive coral formation in the distance.
A wicked grin spread across his face.
Heh heh heh...
Little octopus.
If I don't chop you into tiny pieces today, I'll change my surname to yours.
"Joy Boy! See that coral reef over there? Bat it over here!"
"Huh? Bat it?"
Then Joy Boy's eyes lit up.
"Oh!"
If Ritter's "bat" was a figure of speech...
Joy Boy's was absolutely literal.
His rubber arm shot outward and wrapped around the enormous coral formation.
With a tremendous heave, he ripped the entire thing straight out of the seabed.
After weighing it in his hands for a moment, he rapidly reshaped part of the coral into a handle.
Armament Haki flooded over it, turning the massive structure into a gigantic black coral baseball bat.
"Watch this home run!"
Joy Boy roared.
His body twisted like a professional slugger winding up for the perfect swing.
Then he unleashed it.
BOOOOM!
A deafening impact exploded through the deep sea.
The colossal monster was launched backward like it had been hit by a giant siege ram.
Its twisted body flew uncontrollably through the water before slamming into the side of an underwater volcano.
The entire mountain trembled violently.
"NOW!"
Ritter seized the opportunity.
Blood mist erupted from his body at an unprecedented speed.
Instead of spreading outward, it compressed and condensed.
In an instant, a gigantic dark-red barrier formed between him and the volcano.
"Open!"
As Ritter growled the command, the crimson barrier erupted with brilliant light.
An overwhelming repulsive force exploded outward.
The barrier began expanding from within.
The seawater trapped inside was violently forced away, pushed out of the enclosed space.
RUMBLE!
The surrounding ocean surged in all directions.
Deep beneath ten thousand meters of water, Ritter had done the impossible.
He created a massive spherical void.
A giant space completely free of seawater.
The sea monster and Ritter were both trapped inside.
Years ago, simply spreading mist through the air had nearly exhausted him.
Now?
Creating a dry battlefield at the bottom of the ocean barely felt difficult.
That was the difference in strength.
There was still oxygen inside the sphere, of course.
Not that Ritter or Joy Boy really needed it.
Neither of them would have any trouble going weeks without breathing.
The real reason he left the oxygen intact was simple.
Science.
Creating a perfect vacuum would make maintaining the sphere far more troublesome.
Not that it was particularly difficult for him now.
Suddenly stripped of seawater's buoyancy and resistance, the giant sea monster crashed heavily onto the rocky ocean floor.
It let out a painful screech.
Its enormous tentacles, which normally relied on the ocean to unleash their full power, now hung awkwardly against the ground.
Still, the creature adapted with alarming speed.
Ritter landed firmly atop a rocky outcrop.
He rolled his neck and flexed his arms, finally free from the restrictions of underwater combat.
A frighteningly "friendly" smile spread across his face as he stared at the monster that had lost its home-field advantage.
"So, kid."
His smile widened.
"You were having a great time whipping me around with those tentacles underwater, weren't you?"
The sea monster froze.
Even its murky giant eye seemed to blink in confusion.
Its expression practically screamed:
"Wait... seriously? You built a dry arena at the bottom of the ocean? Was all that really necessary?"
"What are you staring at?"
Ritter spat to the side and drew Black Tide from the swirling mist.
The pitch-black greatsword gleamed ominously beneath the crimson haze.
"I'm telling you right now."
He pointed the blade at the monster.
"You're dead."
Sensing genuine mortal danger, the creature's confusion vanished instantly.
Its savage instincts took over.
A furious roar shook the battlefield.
Countless tentacles covered in bone armor lashed outward like enormous thorned whips.
They screamed through the air from every direction, converging on Ritter.
Even before the strikes landed, the creature's life-devouring field had already engulfed him.
Ritter's gaze turned cold.
Blood mist poured into Black Tide.
The sword hummed violently, as if longing for destruction itself.
"Mist God Style: Annihilation."
A dark crimson sword arc swept silently through the battlefield.
It collided head-on with the storm of incoming tentacles.
No metallic clash followed.
No explosion.
No shockwave.
The first tentacles touched by the sword arc simply disintegrated.
Their hardened bone armor crumbled away like weathered sandcastles.
Then the muscle beneath rapidly withered.
Everything turned to ash.
Not a single drop of blood was spilled.
You can absorb life force?
Please.
Back when I was draining Celestial Dragons, you would've already been dead.
Yet the sea monster's regenerative power was horrifying.
The severed ends of its tentacles writhed violently.
Within the blink of an eye, pale new bone structures emerged.
Fresh tentacles regenerated completely and launched themselves at Ritter once more.
Their regeneration was actually faster than Annihilation could destroy them.
"Tch. What an annoying healing factor."
Ritter clicked his tongue.
His body flickered through the frenzy of attacking tentacles like a phantom.
Black Tide danced through the air.
Crimson arcs of Annihilation crossed and overlapped, severing and erasing every tentacle that approached.
But the creature regenerated faster than he could destroy.
The tentacles seemed endless.
For the moment, the battle had reached a deadlock.
-------------------------------------
Hooked already? Let me know what grabbed you leave a review and fuel the journey forward! and if we hit every 250 Power Stones, a bonus chapter drops!
Things are just heating up. Read ahead in Unbound Evolution and stay ahead of the crowd.
[email protected]/_tey
Change @ to a.