Mandrake's insane laughter abruptly ceased when he heard that strange, impertinent new voice.
Esterópes, the One‑Eyed Giant, remained motionless… but his gray skin began to exhale that burned yellow aura with greater intensity.
The sea trembled and the pressure in the air started to become more oppressive.
The strange yellow Light was interfering with all the mana around.
Rygar, still hovering in the air, perceived the immediate danger. He hastily retreated a few meters.
"…Tsc. How troublesome."
A green glow appeared in his left hand.
At that same moment, the unconscious mermaid on his shoulder — Lusarina — opened her eyes in shock.
She blinked several times, trying to understand what was happening.
Rygar, indifferent to the girl's confusion, activated his Demon Eye to check her mana reserves and spoke without wasting time on explanations:
"Girl. You have a lot of mana. Take this magic circle and use it on your other friend the whale, the one that was thrown away like an insect."
He withdrew from inside his cloak a special paper on which a King‑level Healing Magic Circle was inscribed.
Lusarina took it into her hands, completely astonished.
What… what was happening? It made no sense. A second earlier, she remembered Esterópes' incinerating ray about to consume her.
Now, suddenly, she was alive and being carried by an unknown man.
"W‑what?! Who are you?!"
But Rygar did not answer. He simply tossed the two — Lusarina and the unconscious crab warrior — out into the sea and said:
"Go far away. But not too far. I want to talk to you later!"
The mermaid almost screamed as she was thrown, but managed to regain her balance when she saw she was in the water.
Still in shock, she clung to Ku tightly, holding the paper with the healing circle.
Meanwhile, Rygar turned to his true enemy.
At the exact moment he tried to advance, he felt the mana in his body falter. His gravitational control collapsed suddenly, and his flight magic failed.
"Damn… this can interfere with my flight magic so easily? This is going to be problematic…"
His body began to plummet.
But before diving into the water, Rygar opened his hand and conjured a Freezing Nova over the ocean, and soon landed beneath an ice platform with a dry crack.
Rygar rose slowly.
Even his Ice Magic was unstable, yet still sufficient.
He was freezing the ocean's surface more and more, using it as a support field for his feet.
"Alright… let's settle this once and for all."
He slowly reached for the blade at his waist, a translucent blue blade.
The instant he drew it from its sheath, a wave of heat ran through the environment.
Blue flames emerged around the sword, spreading as if they wanted to consume everything.
Godbard had created a sheath that pleased Doomsday after several attempts. While sheathed, the sword naturally contained its flames.
But outside the sheath, Doomsday showed her true colors.
She wanted to burn everything, consume everything — not even the ocean would be spared.
The frozen surface creaked beneath his feet.
Even with the chaotic interference from the Guardian affecting his conjurations, Rygar continued to unleash his magic in large volumes, spreading ice ever further across the sea.
He had no concern for mana expenditure. With Doomsday's efficiency, spending all his mana was almost impossible — even if he wanted to.
He slowly began to walk toward the colossus.
Mandrake watched the scene cautiously. He swallowed hard and raised his voice, trying to impose authority:
"Who are you?! Do not interfere in the affairs of the Sea Race, stranger! If you leave now, I'll forget your transgression!"
Despite threatening him, Mandrake was truly cautious.
A man who could fly through the skies, cross the battlefield in the blink of an eye, and on top of that had saved Lusarina from Esterópes' Light Cannon… this guy was not someone to be underestimated.
Rygar, however, paid no mind to the warning.
Mandrake was nothing more than a pawn. A puppet that Hitogami was using to test his strength.
Even so, there was still something that needed confirming.
Rygar amplified his voice with touki and said:
"Mandrake Ocluno, am I right? I know the Man God must have visited your dreams in recent days. If you obediently tell me what he told you, you will be spared excruciating torture."
He paused briefly, then added:
"Ah, speaking of which… forgive me for killing Zeroth. I didn't know he was a divinity of the Sea Race at the time."
Mandrake remained silent for a few moments.
At first, his mind was confused, but gradually, he understood what was happening.
The octopus‑man's bulging eyes widened in disbelief.
"You… you are the Beast God!"
At the end of the sentence, his wavering tone turned into fury.
Rygar lifted his chin, the translucent blade in his hand exuding heat and an ever‑growing will to destroy.
"Yes… it's me. You wanted vengeance? Very well, here's your chance."
He raised an eyebrow.
"And by the way… the offer still stands. You can spare yourself the excruciating torture if you tell me what Hitogami revealed to you on his last visit. By the way… that big fellow at your side doesn't say anything?"
As he spoke, Rygar's senses were entirely focused on the colossal cyclops before him.
Esterópes remained motionless, but his presence was intimidating.
With his senses, Rygar could clearly feel the intent of almost any living being.
And the giant's intent was monstrous.
Esterópes' heart was something beyond human comprehension.
To him, all living beings were mere insects. The biggest perhaps were "walking prey" to entertain his appetite.
And even Rygar, who stood defiantly before him, did not look much different to him.
In the cyclops' eye, he was just a peculiarly dangerous insect — a poisonous insect, perhaps.
That was precisely why the giant did not advance immediately. His single golden pupil remained fixed on Rygar, measuring him.
Esterópes did not want to crush this insect before understanding whether the venom could kill him.
Rygar realized the cyclops was merely waiting for an opportunity. As soon as Rygar got too close, he would try to crush him.
Meanwhile, Mandrake boiled with rage. The assassin of the Lord of Storms stood before him. And that very enemy dared to question him about the Man God?
As Rygar suspected, the God had indeed visited the Octopus‑Man's dreams with urgent guidance: Eliminate the last dissenters of the Sea Race and then order an immediate massive attack against the surface.
Mandrake had carried out both pieces of advice without hesitation. The Man God had never disappointed him.
His armies, at this very moment, were probably already fighting against the forces of the Continent of Gaia.
And he, along with Esterópes, had come to eliminate the last obstacles. When they finished here the giant would also march to devastate Gaia.
But who would have thought the foolish Beast God believed he could face the One‑Eyed Giant in the open sea!
Despite his fury, Mandrake had to laugh at the naivety.
"Hihihihi… hahahahaha!" His laughter echoed madly.
"You still had a chance if you had faced me on solid ground, Beast God! But here, in front of the Guardian of the Depths… you are a fool!" he spat the words like venom.
"Did you think the title of Esterópes, the Giant of the Depths, was just for show?!"
Mandrake's voice distorted into hysteria.
"You won't even be spared from the torture! I will make you regret trying to play God, the Sea Race will show you what a true divinity should look like!"
With that, he spoke again in an incomprehensible tongue. Only Esterópes seemed to understand.
The cyclops raised one of his titanic arms, and in response, a translucent barrier surrounded Mandrake.
His body floated slowly upward, to observe the battle from above like an eager spectator.
Rygar narrowed his eyes. He considered summoning a lightning and striking the insolent octopus where he stood.
But he gave up in the end. There was still something he wanted to know from this guy about Hitogami.
However, before he could think more about it, Esterópes made his move.
Unlike the previous shot, where the Light Cannon was fired after a long preparation time, this time… it was instantaneous.
A flash cut through the air like a miniature sun.
And Rygar vanished from his position.
The flash of the Light Cannon was very fast, but to Rygar's eyes, the flow of time became slower under the perception of the Fragmented Reflection Eye.
At the same time, his body was covered by the Holy Beast Battle Aura.
His senses expanded, his brute strength and speed, already superhuman, reached new heights.
Heat began to run through his muscles and his blood.
The superior variant technique he had created, the Wild Light — was displayed in all its potential.
Combining Wild Light with his natural strength, he reached a speed that was many times above the speed of sound.
His Demon Eyes and his Prediction Technique made his reaction time equally, if not more, monstrous.
With such speed, Rygar could run across the ocean's surface without worry.
The ice platforms he created were not necessary to sustain him — they would serve only if he was submerged at some point.
Meanwhile, the Light Cannon did not cease its pursuit. That golden ray seemed to ignore the logic of physics.
Despite the cyclops' monstrous size, his speed was unbelievable.
Rygar tried to wrap himself in the familiar Lightning Cloak, but the burnt yellow aura that emanated from the cyclops infiltrated his flesh and bones like a corrosive plague.
It did not affect his internal mana — the touki remained intact.
But any attempt at manipulating external mana was difficult to perform.
Whenever Rygar tried to cast, he felt the magic being deconstructed. It was as if the very space around Esterópes rejected the existence of magic.
Still, the Beast God advanced.
The Light Cannon roared in pursuit, vaporizing the ocean, spitting columns of steam that raised colossal waves.
But Rygar ran unhindered. Running on the waters, he seemed like a walking missile.
Doomsday's blade blazed blue. The sword's flames were so intense they made him look like a burning comet.
Wherever he passed, the ocean exploded in violent jets, propelled by the shockwave of his speed.
He continued until only one hundred meters remained between him and the colossus.
And then, suddenly, the Light Cannon ceased.
A shadow rose over Rygar, the cyclops' titanic palm descended from the sky, ready to crush that tiny insect that had dared to get too close.
But Rygar smiled.
The moment the darkness of the palm covered him, only one thought was in his mind:
'Instant Light Flow.'
The cyclops, instinctively, seemed to sense the danger. He tried to pull his hand back, but it was too late.
A blue-silver light sliced through the air accompanied by the whine of a blade.
In an instant, three of Esterópes' colossal fingers were severed.
The cut was so clean that the pieces still hovered in the air for a brief second before plunging like giant stones into the ocean below.
A shimmering blue liquid gushed from the wounds.
A roar from the sea echoed as if it had suffered a loss.
Rygar murmured with a satisfied smile:
"So you bleed too, huh?"
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