Yennifer had barely crossed through the shadows when she realized the chaos had already spread across the higher regions of Asgard.
Alarms echoed throughout the city.
Soldiers ran through the streets, directing residents away from the coastal areas, while flying creatures crossed the skies carrying people who wouldn’t be able to leave the lower districts in time.
In the distance, even with buildings and hills partially obstructing the view, the enormous structure of ice raised along the coast could still be seen.
And above it, Cassandra’s colossal silhouette hovered over the sea.
Krissia remained leaning against Yennifer, trying to walk under her own strength despite her obvious weakness.
Her breathing had stabilized somewhat, but the near-complete absence of mana made every movement feel much heavier than it should have.
"Stop trying to prove something," Yennifer said, holding her firmly around the waist. "You can barely stand."
"I can stand."
"Because I’m holding you."
"Details."
Yennifer didn’t even get the chance to respond.
Three presences rapidly approached.
"Krissia!"
Monica appeared first, running down the road accompanied by Beatrice and Scathach.
All three had abandoned any attempt at maintaining a calm demeanor the moment the first reports from the coast reached them.
Monica stopped in front of them.
"What happened?"
Before Krissia could answer, Scathach had already stepped closer.
"Let me see her."
Yennifer released Krissia just enough for Scathach to place one hand on her shoulder.
Draconic energy immediately appeared.
It wasn’t aggressive like the power Scathach used during battle.
Her energy spread carefully through Krissia’s body, passing through her magical channels and restoring part of the energy she had consumed beyond her own limit.
Krissia took a deep breath.
The sensation was strange.
First came warmth.
Then a pleasant pressure moved through her muscles, gradually pushing away the weakness that had settled into her arms and legs.
"Don’t try to absorb everything," Scathach warned. "Your body is exhausted. I’m only stabilizing your reserves."
"That already helps..."
Krissia tried to plant her feet firmly.
This time, her legs responded.
Yennifer kept a hand against her back as a precaution but slowly stopped supporting her weight.
Krissia managed to remain standing.
"Thank you."
Scathach removed her hand.
"You still need to rest."
Monica, however, couldn’t wait.
"What happened on the coast?"
Krissia turned her eyes toward her.
For several seconds, she seemed to search for a way to explain something she still didn’t fully understand herself.
"I was training."
Monica frowned.
"Training?"
"On the beach. I was practicing my ice magic when I felt pressure coming from the sea."
Krissia took a deep breath.
"Then the water started receding."
Beatrice became serious.
"How much?"
"A lot. It wasn’t a normal tide."
Krissia looked toward the coast.
"Then I saw the waves."
She hesitated.
"They weren’t normal waves, Monica. They were enormous. There were several behind one another. I couldn’t see where they ended."
Monica remained still.
"You raised that wall?"
Krissia nodded.
"I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop everything. I only wanted to delay the impact long enough for the city to evacuate."
Yennifer added:
"Cassandra arrived before the barrier collapsed."
Scathach raised her eyes toward the distant silhouette of the dragoness.
"And froze the sea."
"Part of it," Krissia corrected. "But it isn’t over."
Monica looked at her.
"What?"
Before she could explain, a voice crossed the skies.
"YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!!!"
Everyone raised their heads.
It was Cassandra.
Even from that distance, the desperation in her voice was impossible to ignore.
Monica asked no further questions.
Energy exploded around her body.
Her human form rapidly expanded, replaced by scales, claws, and enormous wings.
Within seconds, a massive dragoness occupied the place where Monica had been standing.
She spread her wings.
"Beatrice! Scathach!"
The two immediately understood.
Monica shot into the sky.
Beatrice and Scathach followed her.
Yennifer remained below with Krissia.
The higher they climbed, the more territory became visible.
First came the coast.
Then the ocean Cassandra had frozen.
Then...
Monica stopped.
Beatrice did the same.
Scathach fell silent.
None of them found words immediately.
The calamity wasn’t happening only in front of Asgard.
It was everywhere.
As far as their eyes could see, the ocean had completely lost any semblance of natural behavior.
Colossal waves crossed the horizon in different directions, crashing into one another and creating even larger walls of water.
Entire currents seemed to have reversed.
It wasn’t a storm.
It wasn’t even a single tsunami.
It was as though all the seas were collapsing simultaneously.
Beatrice slowly turned her head.
"It’s happening on both sides."
Scathach looked toward the opposite horizon.
"Not just both sides."
Asgard possessed kilometers of coastline and regions connected to the ocean by natural channels.
From above, it became obvious that enormous masses of water were advancing from multiple directions.
Monica felt a weight settle into her chest.
The city could endure an attack.
It could survive monsters.
It could fight armies.
But this was geography trying to kill them.
"Cassandra!"
The ice dragoness approached.
"I can’t freeze all of it!"
"You don’t need to."
Cassandra looked at Monica.
Monica made the decision within seconds.
"Return to Asgard."
"What?"
"Freeze twenty kilometers in every direction around the territory."
Cassandra froze.
Monica continued:
"I want a continuous barrier. At least one hundred meters high."
Beatrice understood first.
"You want to isolate Asgard."
"Yes."
Monica looked toward the chaos across the horizon.
"We’re not going to control the ocean. We’re going to stop it from reaching the city."
Cassandra quickly calculated the absurd amount of magic that would require.
"Twenty kilometers is a lot."
"I know."
"Even for me."
"Do it in sections. Prioritize the lowest regions. Use mountains and natural elevations as support wherever you can."
Scathach added:
"I’ll help reinforce the most vulnerable structures."
Monica looked at Cassandra.
"It doesn’t need to last forever. It only needs to last until we figure out what’s happening."
Cassandra stared at the horizon for several more seconds.
Then her eyes hardened.
"Understood."
She turned her colossal body.
Her wings opened.
"I’ll seal Asgard."
Cassandra shot back toward the coast.
Very far away, Strax raised his head.
Samira immediately noticed.
"What is it?"
He didn’t answer.
The plain where they had tested the Gauntlet of Darkness remained devastated.
The ground was covered in craters, enormous cuts, and the remains of rocky formations destroyed during the battle.
Lithara and Albedo were still discussing the results of the test when Strax simply stopped listening to them.
Something was wrong.
Not in Asgard.
Closer.
Strax turned.
"Do you feel that?"
Lithara frowned.
"Feel what?"
Strax remained still.
Then he heard it.
A roar.
Distant.
Continuous.
He looked toward the horizon.
"Water."
Samira turned as well.
"What?"
The roar grew louder.
A gigantic mass appeared beyond the hills.
Strax’s eyes widened.
A wave was crossing the plain.
There shouldn’t have been water there.
Certainly not enough water to completely cover the horizon.
"How..."
He didn’t finish.
His entire body stiffened.
The gauntlet was still practically exhausted.
But his instincts weren’t.
Strax stepped forward.
The wave advanced directly toward them.
He raised one hand.
Fire appeared.
Not ordinary fire.
White flames exploded around his arm and spread through the air.
Strax attacked.
The movement created a gigantic vortex.
The column of White Fire tore across the plain, spinning around itself and devouring air, stones, and everything else in its path.
Then it struck the water.
The result was instantaneous.
Millions of liters evaporated.
A colossal explosion of steam covered the horizon.
The wave simply vanished before them, transformed into a white cloud rising kilometers into the sky.
Lithara shielded her face.
"What the fuck was that?!"
Albedo opened her wings to stop the pressure from dragging her away.
Samira didn’t answer.
She was already changing.
Scales covered her body.
Wings emerged.
Her form expanded violently until an enormous dragoness occupied the plain.
Samira beat her wings and rose.
She pierced through the layer of steam.
Then stopped.
"Holy shit."
Her voice came from above.
Strax looked at Lithara and Albedo.
"Come."
"Wait—"
He grabbed one under each arm.
Lithara’s eyes widened.
"Strax!"
His draconic wings appeared.
Strax shot upward.
"WARN ME FIRST!"
"I’M WARNING YOU NOW!"
"THAT’S NOT A WARNING!"
They passed through the steam.
Then Strax saw it.
Every trace of humor disappeared from his face.
Water.
In every direction.
Regions that should have been dry land were partially flooded.
Rivers had overflowed.
Lakes had disappeared inside larger masses of water.
But the worst was farther away.
The sea.
Even from that absurd distance, it could be seen.
And it was completely out of control.
Gigantic waves rose across the horizon.
Some advanced toward the continent.
Others seemed to be pulled backward.
Massive whirlpools appeared and vanished.
The water level rose and fell in impossible patterns.
Samira approached.
"This isn’t natural."
"I noticed."
Strax kept watching.
"Why are there so many tsunamis happening at the same time?"
Lithara finally managed to adjust herself against his arm.
"Maybe something happened on the ocean floor."
Albedo replied:
"Something large enough to affect an area this size?"
No one answered.
Then the Gauntlet of Darkness trembled.
Strax froze.
A vibration traveled along his arm.
Weak.
The gauntlet was far too exhausted to react strongly.
And yet...
it was reacting.
Strax lowered his eyes.
The black chains began to move.
"Strax?"
Lithara noticed.
He didn’t answer.
The sensation came again.
It wasn’t coming from the gauntlet.
The gauntlet was merely recognizing something.
Strax closed his eyes.
He passed through the pressure of the waves.
Through the magical chaos.
Through the energy spread throughout the water.
And found something different.
Something familiar.
Not because of its identity.
Because of its nature.
The sensation reminded him of Tartarus.
It reminded him of Hades.
It wasn’t demonic energy.
It wasn’t ordinary mana.
It was something above that.
Strax opened his eyes.
"Divine power."
Albedo immediately turned toward him.
"What?"
"There’s divine power inside the water."
Lithara became serious.
"How much?"
Strax looked toward the horizon.
Another gigantic wave began to rise.
The gauntlet vibrated again.
Stronger.
And Strax felt that presence spread throughout the ocean currents as though the sea itself had been given an order.
Water.
Seas.
Earthquakes.
The memory of Hades brought another name with it.
One of the brothers.
Strax narrowed his eyes.
"Poseidon?"
For a moment, no one answered.
Then, far beyond them, the entire ocean seemed to roar.