The school of Bermuda - Volume 2 - The Sea Monster

-18-

Areiti felt the heat emanating from the room and glanced inside. He could see Lili catching fire and quickly hid behind the wall when an explosion sent fire throughout the room, burning the membranes that held the sea dragon. At the same time, a tremor shook the aquatic body. While the Leviathan weakly opened its eyes, the tremors intensified.

Outside, the Bubak had plunged without hesitation, attracting the monster and easily dodging it. He abruptly changed direction and swam at high speed, heading straight for the monstrous fish, piercing its head from side to side before delivering such a blow that it was thrown out of the water, landing violently in the school courtyard.

All the students and teachers, shaken by the powerful tremor it had caused, left their rooms and dorms to see what was happening, witnessing the enormous mass of coral stranded in the park.

Without caring about the spectators, the Bubak easily pierced a cavity on its side to enter. After a long search in a decaying interior, it finally found a frightened little triton, a young fiery witch, and a weakened dragon. Unable to touch Lili, he grabbed the sea boy and carried him out, entrusting him to the school teachers, while the dead monster seemed to melt in place. Gradually, everyone could see the Leviathan and Lili, but no one could approach her.

"We can't wait for her to lose consciousness like last time," grumbled Izãdo as Viktor held him back. "Let me go!"

"Do you want to end up charred like that?" Tera replied.

The Bubak cautiously advanced, but as soon as he crossed the fiery limit, he immediately withdrew. Fairy magic repelled him immediately, against Lili's will, because he was a creature of shadows. The Leviathan also did not seem to be faring any better. The energy it had absorbed for so many years had greatly weakened it. Only one person could suddenly appear beside her and hold her hand without being burned. It was the mysterious albino.

His tired look indicated that he had not yet regained enough strength since giving Lili the vision of the past, but he smiled at the girl as if nothing had happened, pulling her close and embracing her.

"It's okay, Lili," he whispered. "You can stop now."

"I don't know how..."

"Calm down, don't think about anything."

The young witch closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lulled by the adult's heartbeat, feeling the heat gradually decrease. When she opened her eyes, all the flames had evaporated. However, she remained close to Alonzo.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I doubt you and your intentions, yet you're always there for me."

"Doubts?" the amused adult repeated. "You're going to offend me. But I think we're going to have another big problem."

Lili raised her head, questioning him with her eyes, but he simply pointed to the horizon, where the sun was slowly appearing. Of course, the nurse ran to take refuge in the castle, but the problem did not come from him.

A powerful roar drew everyone's attention to the Bubak. He seemed to be writhing in pain, his nails lengthening into sharp claws and his hair thickening into a wild mane. Alonzo prevented his protégée from approaching him.

"Don't go near him, Lili," he advised. "He's no longer himself..."

The girl could see this when his friend looked up at them. The depths of his red eyes had turned into a deep black. With surprising speed, he charged in their direction, but Alonzo blocked his attack.

"Lili, go away!"

"Don't hurt him!"

"I'll do what I can!"

The girl quickly moved away, running to join her friends, but she couldn't bring herself to take refuge in the castle, watching the two adults fighting.

The Bubak moved away from Alonzo and then tried to attack again. His opponent weakly defended himself, unable to avoid his claws that lacerated his right shoulder. For a few seconds, Alonzo didn't know how to retaliate, the Bubak was about to defeat him, and then he would go after Lili... no, that was out of the question!

The white man sent his foot into the monster's stomach with a force doubled by a gust of wind from nowhere. The blow sent the monster flying backward, propelling him further until he violently collided with a tree that was uprooted on impact. Rising as if none of this had happened, he lunged at the albino again.

Fortunately, Alonzo had the reflex to capture his wrists, but the Bubak immediately sank his fangs into the immaculate throat of his opponent. The humanoid monster then received a boot to the head. Surprised, he released his prey, who took pleasure in ejecting him once again as far as possible.

"Lili, for heaven's sake, you never listen!"

Alonzo looked at the young girl who had rushed towards him. She was missing a shoe.

"I don't want to see my friends killing each other," she grumbled.

Her protector didn't reply, quickly pushing her aside to dodge the monster's renewed attack. He didn't give them time to counterattack, grabbing Alonzo by the throat and sending him crashing much further, against the wall of the building.

Lili looked at her unrecognizable friend who now turned towards her. However, he remained immobile, grimacing as if a part of him recognized Lili and refused to harm her. She stood up trembling, hoping to bring him back to his senses, but as soon as her hand touched him, he grabbed her arm, sinking his claws into it and deeply biting her wrist. She let out a cry of pain as he tore off a piece of flesh, still holding on tightly.

Alonzo quickly returned and delivered a powerful kick to the monster's face to keep it away, but he kept a firm grip on Lili's arm, dragging her down with him. He stood up without letting go, keeping her lying on the ground and plunging the claws of his other hand deep into the girl's abdomen. Alonzo rushed at the monster, forcefully pushing it away from his protégée in the hope of healing her, but his opponent showed no signs of stopping. He came back and knocked Alonzo to the ground with a swipe of his claws to the chest. He was about to finish him off, but froze when the arms of the half-fairy gently wrapped around him.