Cutter’s form since devouring the concentrated dark crystal was changing even more as he swam, looking more like a shark than an Animalia. His form bigger, darker, gleaming with dark power, like nothing I had ever seen before.

The ocean darkness seemed to be being absorbed into his body feeding his power further, it reminded me of the power Link possessed, but unlike them, of which lost control or became controlled by it, Link could control it, perhaps even one day master it.

“Careful master,” I heard Mila’s voice. “He has become more powerful by devouring that crystal.”

“What was it?” I quickly asked feeling my body tense, was I scared?

“An original crystal from the eternal dragon himself,” answered Raziel. “Very few remain but hold the most concentration of his power. Our first master purified all of it, well he thought he had.”

Cutter’s body was pulsating with dark power, shimmering all over as his body absorbed in its power. For a moment I wondered why they had not used this power to take over Cathopia, but I already knew the answer, this power had not just given him power but had consumed his soul, Cutter was no more than a beast now.

He began swimming erratically from side to side, almost seemed like he was in some pain, or discomfort, then he set his eyes upon me, all drained of the life that once shined within them.

A shiver went down my spine as I heard him say my name with such malice. “Fang.” It wasn’t Cutter’s voice but someone else.

His mouth opened wide, releasing a blast of energy, filled with pure dark energy. I froze there, I feared this power.

“Master!” I heard Mila, feeling her power and Larana’s come together in front of me, creating a shield to block the incoming attack.

“Focus.” Raziel spoke quickly. “He has been completely taken over of what was left of the eternal dragon, this is his power now. You must defeat him quickly, otherwise he will take your life and those on the boat, perhaps even rampage upon the shores until the dark crystal’s energy dissipates.”

“How long will that take?” I gulped.

“A few weeks,” answered Arata. “Get a move on.”

“What?” I was shocked, but quickly had to reinforce my shield as Cutter came through his attack and slammed against it. “So, this is the power of the eternal dragon.” It was terrifying. How could Fang have faced against such a monster, and this was only a small portion of it.

I could feel the strength of my shield failing, so moved back avoiding his body ramming through it, only for him to grab hold of the trident, biting down hard, pulling me with him. I pulled back, trying to swing him around, to free my weapon.

“Let go.” I heard Arata roar as lightning pulsed straight into Cutter’s body. His entire body flinched and convulsed as it entered his body, but it still took a lot of it before he’d let go. I pushed him through the powerful currents back into the tornados.

“Wind cutter!” I shouted releasing Larana’s power under the water, it turned into sharp blades of water tearing at Cutter’s body as he swam through the tornados without any problems, these currents were nothing in his new form.

He swam around, giving himself more propulsion using my currents to spread more dark smog, making the waters cloudy, hard to see through. I had to rely on my clairvoyance and Mila’s ability to see within the waters.

“Release more of our power master.” I heard Mila’s adult form talk, she wanted blood.

I felt vibration from Fiske’s boat from above, which angered Cutter and he change course towards the boat. I dashed after him, trident bared I jabbed him in the side, pushing him off course just enough for him to jump out of the water, his thick skin dragging the trident and me with him.

Cutter jumped right over the boat. I saw Fiske’s expression of fear and Link’s shock, his hand moving for the pendent, but he stopped himself and watched as we re-entered the ocean.

Seeing them both there upon the boat, made me realise I needed to stop hesitating, I needed to act now, if I was going to kill this thing.

Cutter twisted his head left and right, breaking free from my trident, but the second he had, he sharply turned ramming straight into my side. I moved slightly avoiding most of his mouth, but I did not move enough as his teeth bore down into my skin. I let out a scream.

“Master!” I could feel both Arata and Raziel responding to the attack. Lightning energy went directly into Cutter’s body, while the water temperature began to increase dramatically.

I had already lost a lot of blood from taking on his previous attacks. I was beginning to feel faint. “This ends.” I lifted up the trident above my head, while fighting off the pain from his teeth as he tried to throw me about like a rag doll, but Mila kept me in place by forcing all the currents in the direction Cutter moved, pinning him in one place. I controlled these waters and him.

The trident bubbled as Raziel’s heat engulfed it. I slammed down the trident, right into Cutter’s body, the heat burning straight through him, his blood mingling with mine as his grip loosened and I was freed. Weakened we both began to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

“I… will… take… your … life… now.” Cutter’s words were slow as he moved towards me. The body the eternal dragon’s power was held within was failing.

“No, I end yours.” I held the trident as steady as I could, building up Arata’s power and sending out a beam of lightning directly at him.

His body tore apart, disturbing words leaving his lips. “You… have… not…won… this… war… my… power… will… return… and… she… will… die.”

I looked at him as his body began to disintegrate until only the crystal he had devoured was left, but even that crumbled away into nothing.

I sank further to the bottom, numbingly laying there, looking up at the small amount of light sparkling down from the sun, but that light soon faded into oranges. It had been hours since my fight had begun and now the sun was beginning to set.

I watched as the dark smog began to slowly disperse. I felt a great relief come over me, I had done it, I had won, but this was far from over. Cutter was not one of the strongest in Dumah’s group, so the battles would only get tougher after this, especially if each one had one of those crystals. This win was simply by luck.

I saw one small fish swim by, the darkness fading away was already having a positive effect, I could even feel the joyful emotions from Mila.

“It’s working master, you did it.”

“We did it.” I corrected.

I had hoped it wouldn’t be long before these oceans were filled with fish again. My wish was answered sooner than I thought as schools started to swim passed high above me.

There were so many, some even swimming as low to where I was, then even more. I was quickly swept up by the thousands of fish, almost getting completely swamped.

There was a second when I thought I would drown in a sea of fish, when a huge net came down into the waters, scooping me up with hundreds of fish.

I was soon on the deck of Fiske’s fishing boat, my fused form with Mila slowly fading away as she had forced us to remain in that form just long enough for her to heal the wounds inflicted by Cutter, but even that took what remaining strength I had left.

“Fish, the fish have returned.” I heard Fiske. “You did it.” I smiled, almost unable to bring myself to speak a word.

“Well done, Fang.” Link patted me on the back. “And another fused form to boot.”

“Yeah, but they certainly take it out of you,” I commented.

“Who was that shark?” he asked.

“Cutter.” I answered.

“What?” He was surprised.

“He used the power of the eternal dragon,” I mentioned. “Turned him into that monster.”

“Impossible,” he gulped.

“It’s time master,” said Mila.

“No not yet.” I waved my hands.

“Time for you to know my past.” I tried keeping my eyes open but to no avail, falling I felt Link catch me. Between light and darkness, I passed out, hearing Link’s voice call my name.

“Fang!”