Chapter 604: Submit
Clyde landed, and immediately moved first the moment his feet stabilized on the creature’s back.
Lightning erupted along his arms and surged into the Demonic Sword. He drove the blade down into the hardened shell beneath him. The impact rang out like a metal striking stone. But this time it did not stop there. The lightning spread.
White-blue arcs crawled violently across the surface of the monster’s rocky armor. They seeped into the cracks and forced their way between layers of molten stone.
The shell began to glow brighter where the electricity passed, the heat inside reacting to the intrusion.
Clyde attack again.
He sent swing after swing that was not meant to cut through completely but to weaken it. To overload it. Lightning burst with every impact, hammering into the same areas and forcing fractures to spread wider across the surface.
"Come on! Break!" he muttered under his breath.
Beside him, Mina did not attack blindly.
Her eyes moved constantly, scanning every inch of the creature’s body. The cracks Clyde created revealed glimpses beneath the shell. Glowing molten flesh. Softer points.
"There!" she called.
She darted forward, her body low and controlled. Her dagger slipped into one of the glowing cracks. The blade sank deeper than before, piercing into the softer inner layer. The creature reacted instantly.
A deep, furious roar shook the entire chamber.
The molten beast thrashed violently. Its massive body twisted as it tried to throw them off. Then it turned and slammed itself toward the cavern wall.
The impact shook everything.
Rock shattered. Debris rained down. The force would have crushed anything caught between it and the wall.
But Clyde and Mina held on.
Lightning anchored Clyde. It spread from his body into the creature’s shell, gripping it like chains of energy. His stance lowered as he absorbed the impact.
Mina reacted just as fast. She pulled her dagger free and shifted her footing, using the creature’s movement instead of resisting it. Her body stayed tight against the surface, avoiding being thrown off.
The monster slammed itself again and again. Each collision sent shockwaves through the chamber, but neither of them let go.
"This thing is strong and fast!" Mina said, her voice tense but steady.
Clyde didn’t answer. His focus remained absolute.
The creature changed tactics.
Its body suddenly lurched downward.
The molten surface below began to open as the beast forced itself back toward the lava pool. Its massive form started sinking, dragging them with it.
Heat surged upward instantly. The temperature spiked as the lava closed in.
Clyde’s eyes narrowed.
If it submerged fully, they would lose their footing. Or worse, they would be forced into the lava with it.
He couldn’t let that happen.
"I’ll end this before it goes down," he said.
The Demonic Sword pulsed in his hand.
Clyde pulled in more power.
The orange mist surged violently around him in thicker form than before. It poured into his body, feeding the lightning that now roared like a storm that he just unleashed. The air around him distorted under the pressure.
He raised his sword.
Lightning gathered and compressed. Intensified into a single point along the blade.
Then he struck.
The attack crashed down into the creature’s back with explosive force. A massive surge of lightning tore through the shell, forcing cracks to spread violently.
The molten core beneath it reacted, bursting through the fractures in flashes of blinding heat and light.
The chamber shook.
For a moment, it looked like the creature would lose.
But it didn’t.
The molten beast let out a deafening roar as its body continued sinking. The lava rose higher around them, swallowing its form inch by inch despite the damage.
Clyde clicked his tongue. "Damn it."
The creature disappeared beneath the surface.
The last thing visible was the glow of its body fading under the molten waves.
"Jump back!" Clyde shouted.
Mina nodded.
Both of them pushed off at the same time.
Clyde used a burst of lightning to launch himself backward. Mina followed, her body flipping through the air before landing hard on the solid ground near the edge of the chamber.
They slid slightly before stopping.
Behind them, the lava churned violently for a few seconds. Then it settled.
The creature was gone beneath the surface.
Mina stared at the surface of the lava. Her brows tightening as it slowly calmed.
The heat still pressed against her skin, and faint bubbles continued to rise where the creature had disappeared.
"What do we do now?" she said, frustration clear in her voice. "That thing is hiding!"
Clyde didn’t answer. His eyes remained fixed on the molten surface. Then he moved.
He stepped closer to the edge of the lava pool, stopping just short of where the heat distorted the air too heavily. The Demonic Sword shifted slightly in his grip.
Without a word, he swung.
A wave of lightning burst from the blade and crashed into the lava.
The surface reacted instantly.
The molten pool exploded into violent motion. The electricity spread across it in jagged lines, forcing the lava to churn and bubble far more aggressively than before. Bright flashes of white-blue energy tore through the orange glow beneath.
Clyde attacked again.
Another surge of lightning slammed into the pool deeper. The force drove into the depths, seeking the presence hiding below.
Mina watched him, realizing his intent.
"You’re trying to drag it out," she said.
Clyde still didn’t respond. His focus sharpened further.
The lightning intensified.
He raised the sword again, gathering more power, preparing to strike even harder and force the creature to the surface whether it wanted to or not.
Then the lava exploded.
A massive surge erupted upward as the molten beast burst back out from beneath the surface. Lava scattered in all directions as its enormous form rose again, its body glowing brighter than before, cracks spreading across its shell from the damage Clyde amd Mina had already inflicted.
Clyde and Mina reacted instantly. Both of them shifted into position. Their bodies tensing, ready to continue the fight.
But the attack from the monster never came.
The molten creature stopped.
Its massive body hovered just above the lava. Then slowly, its movements changed.
The beast lowered its head. The action was strange. It was not form of an attack. It looks like... submission.
Mina blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
Clyde didn’t move, but his eyes narrowed slightly.
The towering molten monster remained still, its head lowered toward them, its massive body no longer showing aggression.
The chamber fell into a strange silence.
Only the sound of bubbling lava remained.
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