Surrounded by the scent of death brought over by several colossal and monstrous tornados, a small boat was fearlessly floating away toward salvation.
On top of that little artifact, there were three people.
One was sleeping peacefully as if nothing around her could disturb her serene slumber in a warm and conformable dreamland.
The second, a young man, was sweating profusely and cursing the Heaven for his bad luck.
As for the last one, the oldest between them was holding his head and screaming like a pig who had its throat threatened by a bloody dagger.
Blood so obscure as to look like putrid slime was flowing copiously from every orifice of the desperate old man.
His groans were so loud and filled with grief that the creature devoted to bringing them to safety was agitated and lost in the worry.
"Atlas... he will die if we don't help him... Save him, please!"
Deeply's worries were justified, yet what could he do?
The appearance of that ominous creature was affecting the curse inside Drunkum's mind.
There was nothing he could do except use the only powerful artifact at his disposal, the Aether Primeval Stigma.
"Deepy... led us a bit further from here. We are still too close to them."
The Black Dragon and the terrifying Creature on top of it were still floating above their heads, searching for their position. Luckily, Drunkum's artifact was hiding their presence from the enemy's piercing gaze.
"Move faster... toward the East... it's safer there..."
Under Atlas's guidance, Deepy towed the boat at top speed.
Unfortunately, the number of enemies had grown exponentially, almost blocking every escape route.
"Dammit..."
Atlas's only hope was to find a tiny fissure between their blockade. Alas, those bastards were more skewed than he could imagine.
"They left me no choice... Hopefully, that monster doesn't discover the influx of power caused by the other dimension..."
With no other option left, Atlas was ready to open the gate for the Nihility Dimension, but suddenly...
ROAR!! ROAR!!
The Black Dragon flying in the sky dived toward one location as if angered by something there, bringing the space around the region close to its collapse.
Whirlwinds of different sizes responded to the creature's virulent descent, but it was unstoppable.
ROAR!! SCREEE!!!
Its poisonous maw opened a hundred feet from the water's surface, and greenish flames erupted as if coming directly from Hell.
Something incredible happened just in front of Atlas's eyes.
Indeed, when those malignant flames were one step from reaching the placid waters, something from underwater erupted with equal power and disrupted their advance.
BOOM!!!
A terrifying explosion occurred...
No one was spared...
Tens of Skull's vessels were disintegrated in an instant...
Even Atlas and his small boat were affected by it, yet they were far enough to escape that disaster.
After that explosion, there was not a moment of calm, but rather, a battle erupted between the sky and the ocean.
Dark green flames assaulted those waters as if trying to vaporize every drop in the vast ocean, and water pillars of an intense blue light darted out with the clear intent to take down that damned lizard.
"Who is the one facing the Black Dragon?" Atlas shouted, shocked by the intense fight.
The only one who could answer his question was Deepy, and sure enough, her response came: "It's His Majesty..."
"His Majesty? What are you talking about?" Atlas asked.
"Well... A long time ago, this region was part of Anterus, the Ocean of Myriad Beasts. His Majesty was the sole ruler over this part of the ocean, yet after the darkness's arrival... everything changed..."
BOOM!! BOOM!!
Explosion kept disturbing the surroundings, and even a water creature like a Sealis was starting to feel uncomfortable.
Atlas had heard about Anterus but never thought that this region was also part of that beastly kingdom. His desire for knowledge wanted to apprehend more, yet the current situation made it impossible.
"Deepy... we should use this opportunity to our advantage... let's keep moving further..."
"But..."
Something was calling for her from the ocean's depth, but Drunkum's precarious situation held her back.
She ignored that voice and pulled the boat further from the battlefield until they landed on the beach of a small island.
Even after reaching that far, the voice was still there, pleading for her return.
Deepy couldn't endure anymore, so she detached herself from the reins and looked carefully at the companion who had accompanied her for years.
She wanted to say goodbye to him. Sadly, Drunkum was still screaming and bleeding like before, unaware of the world around him.
"Atlas... you must take care of him."
It all happened so fast that when Atlas realized something was wrong, Deepy was already far from their reach.
"Deepy... Where are you going?" Atlas shouted her name several times, but the creature was gone, and it didn't matter how far his voice could go because no answer came back.
The battle between those two entities was still ongoing, and the ocean was so stormy that it was impossible to see below its surface.
Atlas could only heave a sigh of resignation because he could do nothing to change what had happened.
"I can't stay here anymore..."
Atlas gave one last long look over the shocking battle and then pronounced two simple words inside his head.
'Nihility Dimension...'
Two simple words, yet when they echoed in his head, something happened...
The space around him twisted, and suddenly, a primordial power devoured him.
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"My Lord... if this keeps going, more of our people will die. Please, stop this madness..."
Some vague figures were discussing something in the depths of the ocean.
It was impossible to discern their true form, but some distinctive features of a humanoid creature were present.
"It's that vicious bastard... he killed so many of our kind. We must destroy his body and soul today."
One of them stood out from the group because its body was much taller and tougher than most.
"My Lord... it's useless. He has an immortal soul..."
"Indeed... We killed him many times, yet he is still around..."
"Without the help from the light decree... it's all futile..."
The other creatures were trying to calm him down.
Unfortunately, the anger toward that abomination had crept so deep that no one could stop it.
"Arghhh... Go back and tell His Majesty that I, Arnu Sealis, am thankful for his grace..."
His words were as clear as the sky.
Today, he was ready for anything.