Before the octopus monster could escape far, Draco used Apparition again, teleporting behind the giant beast and giving chase.
The octopus monster was incredibly fast, darting through the deep sea like an arrow, but Draco's Apparition was like a persistent leech, able to teleport behind it no matter where it fled.
As Draco pursued, he continuously waved his wand, unleashing Ancient Magic time and again, shattering the Ottawa Monster lashing out at him. The behemoth's limbs snapped off, its blood staining the surrounding seawater crimson, and it writhed in agony.
The octopus monster was both shocked and furious. Although it was extremely fast, its escape was futile against Draco's teleportation.
Finally driven to desperation, it turned around and sprayed a large amount of thick, black venom at Draco and Hermione.
The highly corrosive venom spread rapidly in the seawater.
Draco and Hermione teleported away, but the Hermione monster not only sprayed venom at Draco, but also secretly spewed out a large amount of venom forward. The venom seemed to have a life of its own, quickly gathering and entwining in the seawater to form a huge venom barrier that completely enveloped Draco and Hermione.
But to its utter surprise, Draco's Ancient Magic Apparition magic was completely unrestricted by space.
Even though they were completely enveloped in venom, a flash of magical light allowed the two to teleport out of the venom's encirclement unharmed.
At this point, the octopus monster's mental defenses were finally broken down. It dared not have any thought of resistance and hurriedly opened its mouth, letting out a strange, low-frequency roar—a distress signal.
" Draco, it's calling to its companions!" Hermione understood and turned around, quickly reminding her, "And the cruise ship is getting further and further away!"
"I understand," Draco said, his eyes fixed on the octopus-like monster before him. "I'll take care of it as soon as possible, then return to the cruise ship."
" Impedimenta!" Draco first slowed down the octopus monster's movements, then waved his wand again. " Incarcerous!"
Several magical ropes tightly bound the octopus monster's body and remaining tentacles, rendering it completely unable to resist.
Having done all this, Draco gathered his power, and as the red aura in his palm shone brilliantly, he unleashed a full-force attack on the monster!
With a full-force strike, the monster's body was shattered. Dark venom spread wildly in the seawater, and fragments of flesh and bone flew everywhere. Some fragments stuck to the two people's Bubble-Head Charm shields, emitting a nauseating stench.
Looking at the sticky, disgusting venom and remains, Hermione frowned, a wave of nausea washing over her. She raised her wand and chanted, " Scourgify!"
The magical light swept across the shield, cleaning away the filth and dissipating the stench, gradually easing Hermione's discomfort.
Just as Draco was about to take Hermione back to the cruise ship, the surrounding seawater suddenly churned violently, and countless enormous black shadows rapidly converged from the depths of the sea. In a matter of moments...
Dozens of enormous octopus monsters surrounded the two, their gigantic tentacles flailing wildly in the seawater.
The atmosphere became incredibly oppressive.
Seeing the increasing number of monsters, Hermione's expression suddenly changed. She unconsciously gripped Draco's hand tightly, feeling tense and worried. Even with Draco's strength, eliminating all of these monsters would be no easy task.
Draco could have Apparition back to the cruise ship with Hermione, but these monsters wouldn't have given up. If they caught up, the cruise ship would still be destroyed, and the people on board would still be lost. The only solution now is to find a way to deal with it.
"Just now, your kind launched the first attack, sinking our vehicle and putting our lives in grave danger. I did not intend to be your enemy; it was a desperate counterattack. I hope you can understand." Draco decided to discuss the matter with them.
The octopus monsters that had gathered around were instantly stunned, their bodies pausing in unison, their enormous eyes filled with astonishment.
Having lived in the deep sea for tens of thousands of years, nothing has ever been able to understand their language, let alone communicate with them.
The fact that this tiny creature could speak their tribe's language left them completely bewildered.
Immediately afterwards, they rapidly exchanged information through their mental network, and soon they were "discussing amongst themselves," conveying mostly contempt and schadenfreude towards the octopus monster:
(I knew it was that bastard Liat who started it! He always likes to bully others, steal food, and bully the weak!)
(It deserved it! It deserved to be torn to pieces!)
Even if you're born as an octopus monster, don't act arrogantly in ordinary times, otherwise everyone will want to kill you when you're in a life-or-death crisis.
After a moment, the murmurs subsided, and a leader octopus monster, larger than the other giant beasts and with more ferocious tentacles, slowly swam out from the group and responded:
(Outsider, you make a good point. Liam has only himself to blame. You may leave now. We will not attack your vehicle, but do not approach our territory again.)
"Thank you for your understanding. This was truly unavoidable. We will never set foot in your territory again unless absolutely necessary, lest we disturb you." Draco pulled Hermione and bowed to them.
"Farewell." Draco said, and with Hermione, they Apparition once more. In the instant space warped, they had passed through the dark seawater and appeared at the bottom of the still-sinking cruise ship.
The sight before them made their hearts sink. The luxury cruise ship was already mostly sunk, its dark hull tilted, half of it submerged in the cold seawater. Seawater was still pouring into the gap in the hull that the octopus monster had pierced. The once magnificent cruise ship was now in a sorry state and could sink to the bottom of the sea at any moment.
"Bang..." Gunshots rang out from the deck, indicating that the situation had become extremely chaotic, even to the point of resorting to force.
"We'll use the Reparo to first repair the damaged parts of the hull, and then plug the leaks that are letting seawater in," Draco said, looking at the breaches in the hull and turning to Hermione.
Hermione immediately understood and nodded, "I understand." She also raised her wand and aimed it at the smaller crack on the other side.
The two stood one behind the other on the cruise ship, each aiming at the shattered wreckage, raising their wands to begin repairs. As the spells were cast, light poured forth from the tips of their wands.
The light enveloped the scattered wreckage, drawing up the steel plates and fragments that had sunk into the sea, bit by bit, and then attaching them to the gaps in the hull.
Under the influence of magic, the shattered metal quickly pieced itself back together and healed, gradually patching up the gruesome gaps.
Lifeboats occasionally fall into the sea. Each lifeboat's fall means that the people on board are one step closer to survival, but it is also accompanied by endless separations of life and death.