Thunder and the Sea

Crack—!!!

A streak of deep-blue lightning pierced the thick darkness like a sword.

In the fleeting flash of light, everyone saw an indescribably enormous creature slowly swimming through the clouds high above.

Its massive body churned the storm clouds, bolts of lightning connecting to its horns. At that moment, it seemed to be the only god in the region.

Roar!!!

Cloud Dragon roared at the sky. The warm drizzle abruptly intensified, turning in an instant into a torrential downpour. Raindrops as large as beans pelted everyone painfully.

It was a scene like a great flood bringing about the end of the world, yet the area around Dawn remained completely unaffected.

The rain avoided him like the plague. Even the water flowing across the ground parted on its own, not daring to disturb him.

This was Cloud Dragon's special consideration.

He was gradually taking control of the storm clouds over the region.

The wind-driven rain beat against them so fiercely that they could barely keep their eyes open. The downpour washed the mold out of the air, dissolving it into the water and keeping it dormant for a short while.

Once the downpour stopped, however, the mold dissolved in the water would be nourished by the damp conditions and return in an even more terrifying form.

But Dawn would never allow that to happen.

He raised a finger and pointed at the parachutes being blown apart in the sky.

Mista had yet to recover from his grief when he saw Dawn point somewhere. He instinctively turned to look.

Crack!!!

In an instant, heaven and earth blazed as bright as day.

The raging thunderbolts tore through the darkness, illuminating Mista's stunned face.

At that moment, he forgot the danger and where he was. He was wholly absorbed by the terrifying might of the heavens.

The lightning tore through countless parachutes, reducing the suspended limbs to charcoal and annihilating them completely.

The mold in the surrounding area rapidly receded. Mista was amazed to find that the mold on his hand had vanished.

He flexed his fingers and looked at Dawn, his clothes billowing in the wind. His eyes were full of reverence and gratitude.

Dawn had saved his life once again.

"Mr. Dawn can actually control the thunderbolts of nature. That's a power no Stand User should be able to possess."

Mista's mind was in turmoil. Before he could do anything else, a zipper suddenly opened in the ground, and someone climbed out.

It was Bucciarati.

"Bucciarati, where's Abbacchio?"

Bucciarati didn't answer. He simply held out his hand and opened his fingers, revealing a scrap of purple fabric.

"Hey, Bucciarati... You're joking, right? I mean Abbacchio..."

Mista took a step back, mouth slightly open and face pale. He couldn't bring himself to accept reality.

Lightning streaked across the sky, briefly illuminating Bucciarati's grim face.

"I've killed the enemy underground. Now we have to use this downpour to take out the other enemy immediately," Bucciarati said gravely.

"I'm already doing that."

Dawn didn't turn around. He simply kept directing Cloud Dragon to bombard the town, which was on the verge of becoming a ruin.

Thunderclaps rang out across heaven and earth, purging this polluted region.

Bucciarati's pupils contracted, his eyes filled with shock.

Meanwhile, somewhere in a basement, Ghiaccio was anxiously waiting for a call from his partner, Secco.

"Damn it, what's all that noise outside? Why isn't Secco answering? This has never happened before."

Ghiaccio climbed onto the sofa and picked up the phone again.

Just as Dawn had suspected, Ghiaccio had divided his body into several parts and hidden them in elevated places or suspended them from parachutes.

His vital upper body, meanwhile, was hidden in a secure basement.

After receiving information about Dawn, Ghiaccio hadn't dared to confront him head-on. Instead, with the Boss's help, he'd mobilized the organization's resources.

Ghiaccio had never cared whether an enemy's Stand was powerful. If he could mislead them, even the strongest Stand User would die from mold infection.

He figured Secco was probably busy filming them and hadn't noticed his call. That was forgivable.

Bucciarati's team would be facing certain death.

"Victory belongs to me, Ghiaccio."

Ghiaccio called Secco again. It rang twice, then someone answered.

"Secco, did you get a shot of them dying? Hurry over and show me. I'll reward you with the sugar cubes you love~"

"So you didn't escape after all."

Dawn's voice came through the phone. Ghiaccio was so startled that he hurled it against the wall, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"That man... That's Dawn, the one the Boss specifically told us to kill. Why does he have Secco's phone? Could Secco already be...?"

The more Ghiaccio thought about it, the more frightened he became. With only his upper body left, he couldn't escape. If he did, he'd be spotted and killed without a chance to fight back.

"So what if you know I'm here? There's no way you can break into this basement. And even if you could, you'd never find me."

Ghiaccio's confidence swelled. He crawled over to pick up the phone and even called Dawn back himself.

He planned to taunt them, make them lose their tempers, and then keep them trapped there until they died.

Beep... Beep...

The call connected.

"Dawn~ How many companions do you have left? What a shame I can't see them die. Otherwise, I'd be so excited!"

As Ghiaccio spoke, he suddenly stopped. He thought he heard Dawn reply.

"Ghiaccio, you'd better pray you have gills on your face and can breathe like a fish."

What did that mean?

Ghiaccio's face darkened. Before he could ask, the highly secure basement suddenly grew damp.

A drop of rain seeped in through a crack.

Drip... Drip... Drip...

The drops sounded like someone playing the piano, yet they seemed to possess a strange, almost magical quality, steadily plucking at Ghiaccio's increasingly fragile nerves.

"What's going on? Is it raining outside?"

Ghiaccio had a bad feeling. Instinct drove him into action.

He crawled toward the basement exit and pressed the button to open it. In an instant, a surging torrent rushed inside.

"Bastard!"

Ghiaccio desperately grabbed hold of something fixed in place and used all his strength to press the button to close the door.

The heavy door closed slowly, cutting off the floodwater, but it couldn't stop the raindrops that kept seeping in.

To his horror, Ghiaccio realized that the water level in the basement was slowly rising.

The water crept higher and higher, like a nail being driven in little by little. Its relentless rise tormented Ghiaccio until he wanted to rush outside and fight.

But reason forced him to stay cowering in the basement, hoping to buy more time.

As time passed, the water in the basement crept up past Ghiaccio's neck and continued to rise, slowly but steadily.

It covered his mouth, then his nose, and finally his eyes—filled with despair and a faint, almost imperceptible glimmer of hope.

"No, I just have to wait... That's right! All I have to do is wait! The mold will kill them, and Secco will come save me!"

Only when rainwater filled his lungs did Ghiaccio, tormented by fear, remember that Secco had already been killed. No one was coming to save him.

And what Ghiaccio hoped for was never going to happen.

Dawn brought down one last torrential rain. The storm clouds gradually dissipated, and soft moonlight fell over the ruins of the town.

The entire town had nearly become a city on the water. Most of the low-lying buildings had been completely submerged.

Activating [Thunderstorm Season] had taken a heavy toll on Cloud Dragon.

His body was far smaller than before, and it had become much less solid.

At Dawn's direction, while [Thunderstorm Season] was still active, Cloud Dragon used lightning to wear away a large portion of Notorious Big.

This was to keep himself from growing weak and causing it to run amok.