Oliver froze as he gazed at the eye.

That single eye was larger than their entire ship and it seemed to stare at them from beneath the dark waters.

For a moment, Oliver’s mind refused to process what he was seeing. It couldn’t be real.

Yet when he looked again, he saw it clearly. Beneath the dark waters was a gigantic eye, a completely black eye with a shining golden iris.

The giant golden iris then slowly moved, following their tiny boat with an indifference, as if they were nothing more than insects drifting on the water.

Nobody spoke. Not even a word.

Theo’s jaw hung open as he hugged Ahreum, while Korre unconsciously grabbed Oliver’s sleeve. Even Goldie stood frozen with its fur standing upright as he too stared at the giant beast.

The river was completely silent, yet that silence felt heavier than any roar they had ever heard.

Then suddenly, the water trembled.

No... it wasn’t just the water which trembled.

The creature itself was moving and a massive shadow spread beneath them.

It stretched farther and farther, swallowing the moonlight that reflected on the river.

Their ship seemed ridiculously small compared to the shadow and Oliver couldn’t even see where the creature began or where it ended.

And then, the creature surfaced.

First came its back which was covered in dark blue scales, each one larger than a horse.

Then came rows of jagged fins running along its spine and finally came its gigantic tail, which as soon as was visible went back towards the water and hit it.

BOOOOOOM!

As a result, a gigantic wave rose into the sky and due to the wave, the ship was tossed around like a toy and nearly everyone fell overboard.

"What the hell is something like this doing in a river?!" Ahreum shouted.

Theo who was still hugging her, with his face was pale, replied,

"This... this can’t be an ordinary river."

Ahreum gave a stiff nod as she spoke, keeping her fingers in her ears.

"Maybe... this river is connected to the sea."

Her words sent chills down everyone’s spine.

’Why are you people discussing such stuff now?’

Still, hearing them even he couldn’t help but wonder about it.

If this place was just connected to the sea, then what kind of monsters lurked there? If this beast was merely traveling through here...

Then just how terrifying was the true ocean?

ROOOOOAAAAARRR!!!

The creature opened its mouth, and the roar shook the whole river itself.

Oliver felt his ears ring as some blood came out of his ears, but he still didn’t stop staring at the beast.

The river then began swirling violently and a massive whirlpool started forming around the ship.

"We’re dead!" Theo shouted.

Oliver clenched his fists as he wondered if he really was going to die.

’No fucking way.’

’I have escaped death too many times already. There is no way I am going to die like this.’

And just then a sharp cry echoed through the skies.

"HOOOOOOO!!!"

Oliver’s eyes widened as he knew that voice.

A streak of silver shot down from the clouds as a huge, majestic beast with snow white feathers and gem-green eyes descended upon them.

It was the owl.

The same owl that had saved him long ago from that ape-wolf-spider beast.

Only...it was far bigger now?

Its wings seemed to stretch on for as long as possible and each of their flaps created violent gusts that pushed the river apart.

The majestic beast then let out another cry before diving straight at the sea monster.

SLASHHHHH!!!

Its talons slammed into the creature’s head and thanks to the impact, some water exploded into the sky.

The giant beast roared furiously and lashed out with its tail, but the owl twisted gracefully in midair and avoided the attack before striking again.

The two colossal creatures clashed again and again and shockwaves kept spreading through the river.

Waves rose like walls, and Oliver and his crew could do nothing except cling to the ship and stare at them in awe.

Finally, after many clashes, the giant sea beast seemed to realize that it couldn’t win and so with an angry roar, it suddenly dove back into the river, disappearing beneath the dark waters.

Korre let out a breath as she finally released her grip on Oliver’s shirt.

"It ran?"

"No."

Oliver shook his head as he kept staring at the owl.

The majestic beast hovered in the air for a moment, its enormous wings spread wide as moonlight reflected off its snow-white feathers. It didn’t seem to have any intention of letting its prey escape.

Suddenly, a brilliant golden light erupted from its body.

The light was so intense that Oliver had to shield his eyes.

Strange runes appeared around the owl as its feathers began falling one after another. Then its giant wings slowly shrank while the beast’s body expanded and grew heavier.

Slowly, its sharp beak shortened, its talons stretched and its muscles bulged beneath its shining white fur and within moments, the owl was gone.

In its place stood a horse. No, calling it a horse almost sounded like an insult as the beast was too majestic for that.

It was gigantic, far larger than the ship itself and its body was covered in pure silver-white fur that shimmered faintly under the moonlight.

It’s long silver mane danced wildly in the wind while strange golden markings glowed across its body.

While the whole of the horse was majestic, the most eye-catching thing was its eyes which were now completely golden, calm and majestic.

These golden eyes looked as if they were capable of seeing through everything in existence.

"A horse?" Theo muttered blankly.

Korre was equally stunned as she too questioned, "Transformation abilities? How highly is this beast ranked that it can freely transform from an owl turn into a horse?"

Oliver didn’t know either, but somehow the beast now felt even more terrifying than it did as an owl.

The giant beast looked down at the dark waters for a moment and then it raised its front legs and let out a loud sound that echoed throughout the river.

"NEIGHHHHH!!!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The waters trembled and the clouds in the sky parted.

And then, the horse seemed to walk on air as it descended down and then jumped into the river.

Boom!!

A gigantic wave rose into the sky.

Despite its enormous body, it moved underwater with unbelievable speed and followed behind the aquatic monster.

While Oliver couldn’t freely see the beast’s figure due to the darkness, he could faintly see flashes of white and gold moving beneath the dark waters, chasing after the giant sea beast.

Gigantic pillars of water rose hundreds of meters high as muffled roars echoed from below. The ship shook violently from the shockwaves of the underwater clash, and everyone desperately held onto something to avoid being thrown overboard.

Oliver stared at the chaotic river with wide eyes.

’What kind of beast is this?’

’And more importantly...’

’Why is it saving my life again and again?’