When his trident made contact with the chains, Dhaga was surprised by how sturdy they were. While he attacked the chains, he could feel them binding tighter around him while something entered his body. While he couldn’t see what entered, he could feel his strength slowly waning the longer the chains were around him. Understanding that these were indeed the seals mentioned by the orcas, he only struggled harder to break free. When his struggles failed to yield anything, the naga attempted his whirlpool portal. To his surprise, the ability helped him break free.

  Damn it! Those chains don’t give up, do they?

  Seeing the chains pursue him, the naga moved quickly to reach the end of the portal. Remembering the limitations of his abilities, he used his offensive abilities on the chains while he saved his whirlpool portal for moments when the chains got too close. Before long, he could spot the portal exit not far in the distance. The chains still refused to give up on the chase so he couldn’t slow down either. Then, the naga noticed chains appearing near the exit. Once those chains stopped moving, they formed what looked like prison bars, barring the naga from the exit.

  I hope I can get through those ones as well. Otherwise, I have no choice but to have most of my powers sealed away.

  Once he was a meter away, he used his ability and successfully got through the last obstacle. As he went through the portal exit, he thought he could hear something scream in frustration but, before he could figure out the origin of the scream, he felt himself pulled into darkness at a rate that nearly forced all the air out of his lungs. Then, he unexpectedly found himself beside Cridror who was gliding slowly through the water.

  It’s good to see you, Cridror! I definitely missed you while I was over there.

  You’ve grown a lot stronger, Dhaga. Looks like you aren’t depressed over your lost sight anymore.

  You can say I gained something much stronger. What’s the situation? Is it too late for the hero to save the day?

  You know the saying about heroes always arriving late? I think your timing is just about right.

  Hearing that, Dhaga used his advanced echolocation to locate the battlefield. He then took the lead while Cridror followed closely behind him. From what he sensed, the two sides were fighting fiercely but the flank he was assigned was slowly collapsing. The two remaining creatures were proving too difficult for ordinary nagas to handle while the other orb owners were too busy holding the center against tougher foes. Luckily, the other flank was holding just fine as the two orcas there had everything under control. From his initial observations, he might even say that his side was slowly winning that flank.

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  Time for me to deal with those two creatures.

  Just as the creature capable of petrification advanced towards the nagas, Dhaga stopped to bring his trident back. Once he had the distance and position adjusted using his advanced echolocation, he tossed the trident like a javelin towards the target. The trident traveled at triple his normal swimming speed and hit the creature's head cleanly, resulting in the head bursting on impact. However, that wasn’t the only thing he was aiming for. He had already positioned himself during his swim to ensure that the other creature would also be the trajectory of the trident. In a matter of seconds, the two creatures were both penetrated by the trident with them both losing their heads.

  With that, the nagas should recover their morale and regain their will to fight.

  Dhaga swam some more before he reached out with his right hand. By calling out with his mind, the trident broke free from the Kraken followers and returned to its owner.

  Silly Kraken followers! You think anyone can wield the trident?

  The nagas, upon seeing Dhaga’s return, cheered his name as they raised their weapons. Dhaga then felt the Kraken followers back away while his side cheered. Sensing the need to keep the momentum going, the naga charged up his attack before using his whirlpool portal to close the gap between him and the enemy. With a charged current shockwave, he cleaved through the Kraken followers that were assigned to guard the creatures. The resulting attack surprised him too because he didn't even give it his all. As tempting as it was to see how strong he had truly become, the naga knew that hiding his true strength was the right choice in winning the battle.

  “Attack!” he shouted as soon as he slayed the powerful Kraken followers. “For the Guardian! For the nagas!”

  “For the Guardian! For the nagas!”

  The nagas on the flanks mounted an offensive on the Kraken flanks. The Kraken soldiers, following the death of their creatures and stronger followers, no longer had the desire to hold the flank. They turned their backs as the Kraken flank completely routed. During the rout, countless Kraken soldiers were slaughtered. With the enemy flank collapsing so quickly, Dhaga led the nagas to attack the enemy center which wasn’t ready for the attack. The initial charge inflicted heavy casualties, dividing the attention of Kraken followers that were only focused in one direction earlier.

  Time to cause some disruption!

  This time, both Dhaga and Cridror got into the thick of enemy ranks through whirlpool portal and aqua charge respectively before unleashing their abilities. The naga needed three successive current shockwaves to cleave all the enemies around him while the orca was far more efficient with a single whirlpool burst. Their abilities succeeded in disrupting the enemy ranks while sowing confusion. During the chaos, the nagas on the flank had made further progress by hacking at the wavering Kraken followers.

  Time to withdraw from this position before we get surrounded.

  Once the two of them exited the fighting, Dhaga took a moment to rest. He found that, despite getting stronger, using the same ability in succession was still very draining. He knew the battle was far from over so he needed to use the chance to rest.

  Cridror, please keep watch! I have something I must do!