Seraphim’s roar violently shakes the surrounding castle grounds, his now black aura inflecting damage wherever it lands. Zed and the group shield themselves with their arms as they’re pushed back from the sheer force Seraphim was giving off. Seraphim stops roaring and closes his large, spiky toothed mouth. The courtyard goes quiet with the only sounds that can be heard being rubble falling and crashing to the ground from the falling apart castle. The group uncover themselves and look in awe and worry at the now monstrous Seraphim.

“Well… that was even more showy than when he was gold”, said Zed. “I don’t care how big he gets, he’s still no match for my new Oasi Bratso!” As he confidently exclaims this, Zed jets right to Seraphim.

“Careful Zed!” yelled Trace. But Zed continues, quickly gaining ground on Seraphim. Zed reels the Oasi Bratso back, taking aim right at Seraphim’s big anglerfish like head. He punches with a full forced proothisi jet punch into Seraphim’s temple. The doniseis reverberates as it sends shockwaves into Seraphim’s skull.

“How do you like that Fin Head?” said an overconfident filled Zed. Seraphim however has no reaction to Zed’s words. In fact, Seraphim had no reaction no Zed’s punch that had earlier left him incapacitated. “… That’s probably not good.”

Seraphim’s stretches out his huge muscular arm and backhands Zed. Zed is sent flying backwards and is caught by Psy and Trace.

“He just got a major power boost”, said Trace.

“Ya, but nothing me and the Oasi Bratso can’t handle!” Zed said trying to flex the Oasi Bratso to no avail “oh.”

“What do you mean oh?!” frantically asked Trace.

“Out of magic juice”, responded Zed.

“Excuse me?!” responded Trace angrily.

“It’s my first time handling magic junk! I’m sorry I didn’t realize I was working with such a limited tank!”

As Zed and Trace begin to argue, Seraphim begins raising his trident upward before letting lose a large wave of black aura directly at the trio. Psy is quick to notice and jumps ahead of Zed and Trace. Psy’s arms bubble out his purple aura and he lifts his palms out to face the oncoming wave of sinister magic. Psy’s aura extends from his hands, forming an aura shield of sorts. Seraphim’s black aura collides with Psy’s with a thump, excess black aura flows passed them. Psy winces as he focuses his aura to protect his friends, his aura seemingly disintegrating the black one. The black aura wave finally subsides, and the group comes out unscathed thanks to Psy’s quick thinking. “My aura might’ve had no effect on that trident directly, but it can still neutralize his aura attacks”, said Psy.

“Good thinking Psy!” exclaimed Zed.

“Ya… thanks”, responded Psy.

Seraphim laughs a monstrous laugh and then smiles a sharp toothed grin. He begins slashing wave after wave of black aura at the group. Psy holds his positions strong but with each impact on his aura shield he flinches. The waves continue to pound at Psy as he drops to one knee and grits his teeth. Just as it appears Psy’s about to lose his strength the black waves suddenly stop. The group looks to find two Oahantis guards are attempting to restrain Seraphim’s arms with aura enhanced spears. From all directions the courtyard begins to fill with guards, including a recuperated Brine. Four guards surround princess Kali in the courtyard in an effort to protect her. Brine quickly notices the trio and floats over to them.

“Thank you visitors, for protecting our princess”, said Brine to the group. “This is an Oahantis problem, so we guards of Oahantis will handle it from here.”

“Be careful”, warned Trace. “Seraphim turned into that thing and got absurdly stronger.”

“Our pride as guards is on the line here. We can’t just rely on our guests to our work for us”, responded Brine.

“Indeed”, Kali floats over to them. “Let the royal guards handle this while I refuel you Zed.”

“Much appreciated princess”, Said Zed. Kali’s patterned body begins to glow as she touches the Oasi Bratso, channeling her aura into it. Meanwhile the guards are carefully closing in on Seraphim, aura coated spears pointed and at the ready. The two guards that were trying to restrain seraphim’s hulking arms proved unsuccessful as Seraphim doesn’t budge an inch. With one swing of his arms, Seraphim tosses the guards like they were pebbles over the other guards’ heads. The other guards then descend onto Seraphim and begin slashing at him with their aura enhanced spears. Seraphim shields himself with his massive arms, but then counter attacks with another trident slash releasing a wave of black aura. Many guards are pushed away violently by the black wave, but more guards rush in to take their place. Seraphim shields himself again, not taking much damage but appears to be overwhelmed from the sheer amount of guards attacking him.

“Swim back everyone!” commanded Brine. The guards hear Brine’s order and clear a path for Brine to face Seraphim. Brine reaches to his waist and unsheathes a sword; the hilt is decorated by various corals. He focuses his blue aura into the blade and swiftly glides through the water toward Seraphim, holding the sword’s hilt with both his hands. He vertically slashes upward at Seraphim’s body, cutting Seraphim’s forearms, causing him to un shield himself leaving his torso exposed. “Advance! Get the Trident of Pelagria out his hand!’

The guards respond swiftly, yelling with enthusiasm in response to Brine’s successful strike. Some guards push Seraphim’s body into the ground while another three attempts to pry the trident out of his clutch. They use their spears to try and get Seraphim to release, but Seraphim’s hold remains tight. Seraphim remains on the ground as if stunned from Brine’s attack.

“Wow!” exclaimed Trace. “You guys really got him!”

“… you just had to say that”, retorted Psy. The guards continue to try and remove the trident from Seraphim’s hand when Seraphim begins to stir. Seraphim’s pupils go black as his face contorts from seething anger. The jewel in the trident begins to blacken. The jewel turning to a dark black releases pulses of black magic, sending the guards that had been restraining Seraphim flying backwards into the courtyard surroundings. The trident’s staff twists and bends as if it had turned into rubber. The staff twists up Seraphim’s arm like a snake until resting upon his forehead. The staff recedes into the prongs of the trident until there is nothing left of it, and its prongs heighten themselves. The trident now resembles less of a trident and more of a crown fused to Seraphim’s forehead.

Seraphim’s robust figure stands itself up as it begins to grow even larger than it had before. As it grows his figure becomes less and less humanoid. His arms extend, becoming large fins and his legs fuse together to form a fish’s tail. His neck disappears as his head and torso become one. Seraphim, if that’s what you could call him anymore, has grown at least forty feet in length and has become a monstrous looking giant fish. His once golden body patterns have now turned black and stripe his entire body length. The crown had grown in size as well to match his gigantic figure and rests above his black eyes.

The remaining guards that are still standing look up with fear at the monster that has formed in front of them, and reluctantly point their spears at him. Seraphim’s eyes look back at them and he bellows a mightier roar than his prior form. Waves of black aura roll out of his terrifying jaw, scattering the guards in every direction. Brine is pushed back into the group of Zed, Psy, Trace and Kali.

“Are you alright there guy?” asked Zed.

“Ya, I’ll be ok”, said Brine. “Nothing hurts more than my pride right now.” They all look upward at Seraphim’s huge figure silhouetting the courtyard.

“And I thought he was ugly before”, said Psy.

“That form is a reflection of his hatred”, said Kali finishing filling the Oasi Bratso with magic. “Whatever powerful dormant magic that was in the trident of Pelagria has been influenced, or should I say corrupted, by Seraphim’s intense emotions.” Zed flexes the fingers of the Oasi Bratso, checking to make sure it’s working properly after it’s refill.

“What do they say? The bigger they are, the harder they fall?” asked Zed.

“Uh, I don’t think you can fall under water Zed”, said Trace.

“It’s the principle!” said Zed. “Look he just has a bigger butt to kick. Ready Psy?” Psy nods his head, ready to join his brother. As the brothers prepare to face against Seraphim once more, Kali floats out in front of them and spreads her arms open. “Um excuse me princess, we have a butt kicking appointment we must attend to.”

“Don’t”, said Kali. She then turns to view Seraphim. “I can see his sinister aura around his body. It’s doing something…” Zed scoffs at Kali’s warning but second guesses himself when he sees the pattern on Seraphim’s body begins to glow black. The glow starts from the base of Seraphim’s tail, making its way up his body until reaching his head. The glow intensifies in his mouth. He cracks opens his mouth and brilliant black light rays shoot from it. His giant jaw opens widely, and a beam of dark magic is released! The beam shoots over the coral homes of Oahantis until reaching the lake floor on a far of distance. There’s a large explosion where the beam impacts, a shockwave rattles the building and residents of Oahantis.

“That fiend!’ shouted Brine. “I thought he was claiming to be our savior?! He almost blew Oahantis out of the water!”

“Hey! Weren’t you after us, fin head!” Zed yelled at Seraphim.

“Shhhhhhhhh!” Trace aggressively put her finger in front of her mouth. “You trying to get us killed?!” she angrily whispered. However, Seraphim gave the group no attention. Instead he begins swimming towards the residency of Oahantis. His massive tail hits a tower connected to the castle, shattering it as he swims off.

“He’s not acting like the Seraphim we just saw moments ago”, said Brine.

“No”, said Kali. “He’s been blinded by his own hatred. He’s now an uncontrollable monster.”

“Then there isn’t a moment to lose”, said Brine. “Any of you guards that are still alive get up! We have to stop Seraphim before he does anything crazy!” A few guards scattered around the courtyard respond to Brine’s call, feebly standing themselves up.

“No, Brine”, said Kali.

“But Princess! As the guards we have a duty to protect Oahantis!” said Brine.

“You have that a little wrong”, said Kali. “Buildings can be rebuilt; our citizens need protecting. Please use your remaining men to get us many of our people to safety.” Brine’s eyes widen with embarrassment and he kneels to Kali.

“My apologies your highness!” said Brine. He turns to the remaining guards. “You heard our princess! Save as many citizens as you can!” The guards breathe a sigh of relief now knowing they won’t have to fight Seraphim. “Get going!” The guards straighten themselves with a snap.

“Yes sir!” the guards yelled back to Brine before gliding through the water toward the residency. Brine is about to join them when Zed suddenly grabs his shoulder.

“Princess, I have a question”, Zed asked Kali. “I don’t fully get magic junk but from what you just said Seraphim turned into that because of that trident, right?”

“I believe so”, responded Kali.

“So, what would happen if that trident, or crown now, would be destroyed?” Zed continued.

“Well I’d imagine he’d revert back to the Seraphim that you had first met”, said Kali. “But to destroy such an artifact would be nearly impossible, especially now. I could see a dense aura around that crown. To destroy the crown, you’d first have to get through that.”

“I can handle that”, said Psy. “My aura was taking a beating earlier from his attacks, but I was neutralizing his magic to a degree.” Zed smiles at his brother’s smarts.

“Ok, everyone huddle up”, said Zed. “I have a plan.” Zed, Psy, Brine and Kali all huddle closer and then turn their heads to look at the un-huddled Trace. “Ya, you too!” Trace rolls her eyes and smiles nervously.

“You brothers are unbelievable”, Trace said shaking her head as she joins the huddle