The tentacles opened like flower petals, revealing a gaping maw with fangs aimed directly at Draco's location, before snapping down!
It seems to want to chew up and devour the shield along with it!
As the monster attacked, Draco was instantly enveloped in ancient and powerful red Ancient Magic energy. He raised his hand and aimed at the incoming tentacles, gathering a powerful pale golden magical energy in his palm before unleashing a red Ancient Magic shockwave.
The shockwave traveled at extreme speed, tearing the terrifying tentacle's mouth through the ground. The immense kinetic energy sent it flying backward, along with the splattered, dark green, foul-smelling blood!
Black debris and viscous fragments rained down onto the surrounding decks with a thud, and the massive, severed tentacle contracted, retreating back into the pitch-black depths of the sea!
At the same moment the tentacles retracted, the continuous crashing sounds and the feeling of the ship tilting out of control quickly subsided.
The cruise ship regained its stability; although it was still rocking at a slight tilt, the shaking was no longer violent.
The crisis was temporarily averted. Draco withdrew his magic, Scourgify the broken pieces on the ground, then turned to look at Trillian, who was terrified, and said, "I'll be right back."
Seeing Draco about to leave, Trillian panicked. She grabbed Draco's arm tightly and shook her head frantically.
"Don't leave me behind! Draco! Don't leave me alone! That thing will come back! Take me with you!"
Back in the presidential suite, Draco released Trillian, Trillian legs went weak and she collapsed onto the thick carpet.
She was panting heavily, her gaze unfocused as she scanned the luxurious space, as if she had just crawled back from hell.
The presidential suite wasn't much better off after the shaking; furniture was overturned, vases were shattered, the neatly made bed was overturned, and items were scattered all over the floor. And in the center of the room...
Hermione was encased in a shield, maintaining her casting posture, her eyes still showing a hint of panic and unease.
"Honey, are you alright?" Draco rushed over immediately, looking Hermione up and down to see if she was hurt.
"I'm fine." Hermione lowered her wand, the shield dissipating. She shook her head, her gaze quickly sweeping over Trillian as she asked, "What happened outside? The ship is listing badly."
"The cruise ship was attacked by an unknown creature, like some kind of giant octopus, with long tentacles and a flower-shaped mouthpart," Draco said succinctly. "But I've already repelled it..."
As soon as the words were spoken, the entire cruise ship suddenly sank downwards, the angle of tilt increased, the floor tilted violently to one side, and the scattered objects slid again, making a screeching sound.
The three of them stumbled. Draco caught Hermione around the waist, pulling her into his arms. He frowned, understanding dawning on him.
It seems the monster never truly retreated.
"The ship is sinking!" Hermione's expression changed drastically. She grabbed the back of the sofa next to her to help Draco relieve the pressure.
Trillian, who had frequently faced life-or-death situations, had a solemn expression.
She knew all too well how terrible it was for a cruise ship to sink.
At this moment, she could only keep glancing out the window, her mind racing to think of ways to escape. However, she also knew that in the deep sea, ordinary escape methods were completely useless.
The cruise ship continued to sink. Draco waved his wand, activating " Specialis Revelio," and a pale silver magical light spread along the floor, pierced the hull, and reached into the deep sea.
Every now and then, the view from the bottom of the ship would be revealed to Draco.
Directly beneath the cruise ship, a colossal deep-sea monster lay coiled, resembling an octopus with a blunt, rounded head and nine massive, thick, black tentacles.
At this moment, the monster was frantically waving its tentacles, viciously hacking through the steel plates at the bottom of the cruise ship. Each impact caused the hull to tremble violently, the steel plates to twist and crack, and seawater to pour in continuously.
It was clear that its intention was to scuttle the entire cruise ship, enter its territory, and then slowly reap all the lives on board.
"There's a tentacle monster down there. It was just feigning a retreat. It wants to sink the cruise ship. We have to take it down, or everyone on board will die," Draco quickly explained to Hermione.
With that, he gripped his wand tightly, preparing to head to the deep sea. Hermione stepped forward, firmly grasping his arm, her eyes resolute and unwavering. "I'll go with you!"
"Okay, stay close to me and don't leave my side."
Hermione nodded.
Draco waved his wand, casting a Bubble-Head Charm on Hermione and himself to ensure underwater breathing and visibility.
"Hold on tight." Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist, and Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's waist as well, and the two headed straight for the deep sea.
Only now, standing where she was, did Trillian have time to be shocked. She had seen many unbelievable things, but she had never seen such a illogical ability—appearing and disappearing out of thin air, along with those magical transparent bubbles and shields. This was beyond her comprehension.
Meanwhile, the cruise ship deck was in complete chaos.
Passengers screamed and ran in panic, their cries, shouts, and wails mingling together. Everyone was filled with fear, searching for a way to escape. Some desperately rushed to the edge of the deck, while others collapsed on the ground, trembling.
The captain and crew shouted themselves hoarse, desperately trying to calm everyone down and hastily organize the lowering of lifeboats to allow passengers to evacuate in an orderly fashion. However, in the chaos, no one listened to their instructions, the scene spiraled out of control, and everyone was gripped by fear...
The octopus monster sensed a familiar presence and turned to the two of them. When it saw Draco's appearance, its massive body trembled violently, and surprise and fear welled up in its huge eyes!
It was this tiny human before it that had just used that terrifying, mysterious power to easily shatter one of its tentacles; the intense pain and sense of destruction it felt were still fresh in its memory.
Without the slightest hesitation, the octopus monster turned and fled into the depths of the sea, wielding its remaining eight giant tentacles to frantically strike and block Draco and Hermione, trying to stop their pursuit and buy itself time to escape.
"It's trying to run!" Hermione shouted, braving the water pressure, her wand pointing directly at the base of one of the octopus monster's tentacles. " Expelliarmus!"
A beam of red light struck the tentacle, but the blow only slightly dented the monster's skin, and the tentacle merely twitched. Instead, the pain made it swing even more wildly!
Hermione then unleashed Confringo, but this only left a shallow mark on it, unable to penetrate its hard keratin layer; ordinary magical attacks had little effect.
"Ordinary magic doesn't seem to work, Hermione! This thing has too much magic resistance!" Draco said, activating the Ancient Magic within him. A red aura of ancient magic condensed at the tip of his staff.
He then blasted the shockwave at the blocking tentacles, blasting them into countless pieces of flesh and blood, which scattered in the seawater.