Chapter 437: Wind VS Water Part 1

For several seconds, Ethan could only stare.

The creature hovering above the ocean was no longer the Griffling he knew.

Its body had grown enormous, its powerful limbs ending in curved talons capable of tearing through flesh and bone. Deep green feathers covered its chest, while a magnificent pair of wings stretched from its back, each feather gleaming like polished jade.

It didn’t even need to flap its wings.

The wind carried it.

Its sharp beak and intelligent eyes gave it an almost regal appearance, while the currents surrounding its body seemed to bend to its will.

Ethan’s mouth hung open.

’That’s a fucking full-blown Griffin.’

A beast straight out of ancient mythology, much like the Leviathan it was hovering opposite.

He’d seen plenty of incredible things since acquiring his Title, yet none of them had left him quite as stunned as this. The same stubborn Griffling that had failed to evolve time and time again was now an A Rank beast.

’You actually did it!’

And in the process, he was now officially a B Rank.

A laugh escaped Ethan’s throat, immediately followed by a groan as pain tore through his chest.

"Fuck..."

He was so elated that he almost forgot that he was literally dying.

His arms were mangled, his mana nearly depleted, and his exhausted body could barely keep his head above the water. If the Leviathan attacked him again, he couldn’t dodge, block, or even put up a decent fight.

It made it so that he didn’t even notice any changes after increasing in Rank, and his survival depended entirely on the Griffin hovering between him and the water-dragon-like beast.

’Talon...’

A strange mixture of guilt and admiration twisted inside Ethan’s chest.

’I should’ve trusted you.’

He’d benched Talon before the fight again, deciding Wolfy and Storm would be more useful. It had been a practical decision, but when everything went wrong, he’d lashed out at his remaining beast.

Yet when Ethan had accepted his death, Talon had done something neither of them had known was possible.

It had summoned itself and evolved when he needed it most.

’I’m sorry, buddy.’

Ethan wanted to say it aloud.

He wanted to tell Talon how incredible it was and how proud he felt, which the Griffin could feel through their connection.

Unfortunately, the Leviathan chose that moment to move.

The ocean erupted.

A colossal wave surged upward beneath the water dragon, lifting its enormous body from the depths. Water cascaded from its dark-blue scales as it rose, revealing a neck thicker than a building and a serpentine body that disappeared beneath the waves.

Its enormous green eyes fixed on Talon.

A wall of water rose behind it.

Then another.

Then a third.

Each wave towered above the ocean, twisting into enormous spirals as the Leviathan manipulated the water with frightening precision.

Ethan swallowed.

’That’s not an attack. That’s a fucking natural disaster!’

The Leviathan opened its jaws.

The three waves collapsed inward simultaneously, converging on the Griffin from different directions.

Talon didn’t retreat.

SWOOSH!

The moment it spread its wings, a violent current exploded from its body, launching it forward. Talon shot through the gap between two converging waves with incredible speed, twisting sideways as the water collided behind it.

The impact shook the ocean.

A mountain of white spray erupted into the sky.

Talon emerged from the other side, its talons flashing as compressed wind gathered around them.

SHRAAAK!

A crescent of cutting air tore across the Leviathan’s face.

The water dragon’s head shifted backwards.

Ethan nearly choked as he watched his beast land an attack on the beast that had once seemed unbeatable.

’It actually hit it!’

His excitement was so sudden that he almost forgot about the pain. He instinctively tried to raise a fist in celebration, only for agony to rip through his ruined arms.

"Ah, fuck!"

He sank several centimetres before managing to kick himself back up.

Still, he couldn’t stop staring.

Talon had attacked an A Rank Boss Beast with unmatched durability and forced it to react.

That alone was incredible.

Unfortunately, the Leviathan wasn’t injured.

The wind had scraped across its scales, leaving faint marks that quickly vanished beneath the flowing water.

’Of course. It wouldn’t be that easy.’

The Leviathan swung its head, and its enormous body followed.

The movement looked deceptively lazy, but then the ocean erupted beneath Talon.

A wall of water launched the Griffin upward just as the Leviathan’s tail swept through the space it had occupied. The tail was monstrous, thick enough to crush a building. It cut across the battlefield with horrifying speed, dragging a spiralling torrent behind it.

Talon twisted, narrowly avoiding a direct hit, but the pressure caught its body and sent it tumbling through the air.

Feathers scattered.

The Griffin crashed into the ocean.

"Talon!"

Ethan’s shout tore from his throat.

For one terrible moment, the Griffin disappeared beneath the waves.

Then the water began to rotate.

A towering whirlwind erupted from the impact point, drawing mist and spray into its spinning core. The wind tightened, the column accelerated, and Talon burst from its centre. Its feathers were ruffled, and one wing hung at an awkward angle, but the Griffin spread its wings and caught the surrounding currents.

It stabilised itself above the ocean.

Ethan exhaled shakily.

’You scared the shit out of me.’

But this wasn’t a C Rank Griffling anymore, which likely would’ve been killed by such an attack. Talon was still coming to grips with its newfound power, and the Leviathan almost seemed to see that with its enormous eyes.

Its intelligence was unsettling.

It looked curious, as though it had discovered an interesting opponent after the last one destroyed itself.

’You got this.’

Talon turned to Ethan, spotting the small human floating in the water with its hawk-like eyes and gave him a nod.

The surrounding wind intensified.

Then the Griffin began to circle its opponent, each revolution drawing more air into a tightening spiral. The ocean beneath it started to rotate and a vast whirlpool formed, dragging water inward as the wind grew stronger with every passing second.

Ethan recognised the skill.

How could he not after creating it himself?

’Wild Whirlwind.’

He’d seen Talon use it before, back when it was still a Griffling.

The old version had been useful, but this was on an entirely different level.

The whirlpool expanded until the surrounding waves bent toward its centre. Its powerful currents began dragging at the Leviathan’s body, disturbing the water around it and forcing the enormous monster to shift its position.

Talon was accelerating.

Faster.

And faster.

The Griffin’s movements became a blur of green feathers and wind, the whirlwind following its path like a living creature.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

’It’s trying to trap the Leviathan...’

The water dragon finally reacted.

It plunged beneath the surface, its enormous body vanishing into the ocean, leaving a vast depression in the water. A moment later, the sea around Talon’s whirlwind began to rise, but not in waves.

In spirals.

The Leviathan was manipulating the ocean from beneath, twisting the currents against Talon’s technique. For several seconds, the two forces fought for dominance: wind pulled upward, and water dragged downward.

Wind VS Water.

The whirlwind wavered.

Then a column of water erupted through its centre.

KRAAAASH!

The entire formation burst apart.

Talon was thrown sideways as the Leviathan surged from the depths, its jaws snapping shut inches from the Griffin’s body.

Ethan’s stomach dropped.

’It broke through?!’

Of course it did.

The Leviathan could manipulate water with terrifying precision, and there was no shortage of it. Talon might have an elemental advantage in certain situations, but wind beating water wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

The Leviathan could attack from any direction, reshape the battlefield, and use its monstrous body to turn even a near miss into a catastrophic impact.

Meanwhile, Talon was still learning how to use its new body.

It had changed physically, had an increased mana, and its connection to the wind had reached an entirely different level.

But power and experience weren’t the same thing.

And its opponent had who knew how many years of experience controlling the ocean.

The Leviathan lunged again.

Talon twisted away, its claws skimming across the water dragon’s neck.

The attack left another faint scratch.

Nothing more.

The Griffin climbed, overpowered but unyielding, and turned toward its opponent once again.

Ethan stared at his beast in awe.

It hadn’t won.

It hadn’t even come close.

But Talon had forced an A Rank monster to take the fight seriously.

And the battle was only beginning...