Maria stepped forward and shielded Thor. "Before the Black Tide officially arrives, scattered Black Tide monsters do appear. That's one way it differs from the Red Sea."
As they spoke, the Rotten Goat Monster charged right at Maria. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and uttered a series of indistinct notes.
A massive cross-shaped flame suddenly burst to life in front of her arms.
The Rotten Goat Monster slammed into the flames, but they didn't scatter. Instead, they bent around it, wrapping the monster up completely.
Four ropes of fire abruptly bound the Rotten Goat Monster into a ball, then tightened further, digging into its flesh.
Maria raised a hand and released a Witchcraft Scroll. It burned in midair and transformed into a sharp arrow, which pierced the flame-wrapped Rotten Goat Monster straight through its head and out the base of its tail.
The Rotten Goat Monster, which had just been roaring soundlessly, immediately went limp. Then it turned to ash in the flames.
Ash fell through gaps in the flames. Among it was a palm-sized piece of grayish-white bone.
Maria's eyes lit up, and she immediately rushed down.
She caught the bone near the surface of the sea. But just then, a huge circular shadow appeared beneath the water.
The shadow had appeared without a sound. Maria was so focused on her spoils that she hadn't noticed what was beneath her.
As Maria neared the surface, the shadow suddenly lunged out of the water. It was a huge mouth lined with a ring of sharp teeth!
Maria only reacted when the monster leaped from the sea. She immediately prepared to flee upward while casting a shield.
But just as she was so tense that she couldn't spare a thought for Thor above her, a mass of