The vortex grew larger and stronger, its pulling force so intense that even high above, Trom felt as if he were about to be sucked into the abyss at its center.
Moreover, the ceaseless roars from beneath the sea instilled an uneasy feeling in Trom.
Trom understood that what awaited might be an entity far more terrifying than the two Ocean Trolls he had previously faced.
Having already had difficulty dealing with the previous Ocean Trolls, Trom had no desire for a repeat battle, nor did he want to waste his strength on a crisis that arose from the Boundless Battle Arena itself.
The best option now was to end the match quickly; if Onassis admitted defeat and was eliminated, he wouldn’t have to confront the emerging Ocean Troll.
With this in mind, Trom shifted his gaze towards Onassis’s previous location.
"Huh?" Trom’s eyes showed puzzlement. When he looked over, he only saw a heap of shattered ice floes and no sign of Onassis.
Trom turned his head back and forth, searching for traces of his opponent.
"Onassis, gravely injured, shouldn’t have the strength to flee; where could he be?" After scouring the area for a while with his gaze, Trom finally located Onassis.
However, when he looked in that direction, his pupils suddenly constricted, and his eyes bulged wide open.
Onassis still looked miserable and was unable to move. Under the vortex’s pull, he was plummeting towards its center at an alarmingly fast pace.
Now that Onassis’s absolute defense was broken, being dragged into the vortex would likely result in his doom!
Onassis’s earlier gentlemanly conduct had earned Trom’s respect. Therefore, seeing Onassis perishing was not something Trom wished for.
"Hurry and admit defeat!" Trom couldn’t help but shout out.
As long as Onassis conceded defeat, the match would naturally end. The judges outside would surely stop Onassis’s fall.
But Trom waited for quite some time and received no response from Onassis. Looking closely, he saw Onassis’s eyes were somewhat vacant, lost of their usual luster; other than his lips slightly moving as if murmuring something, there was no other action.
If Onassis did not concede defeat on his own, only rendering him unconscious could potentially end the match.
Unfortunately, Onassis, although momentarily dazed, had not yet fainted. His spiritual power was unfocused, and it seemed that he couldn’t concede defeat on his own either.
Trom could only watch helplessly as Onassis, spinning at high speed, was pulled into the center of the vortex.
As Onassis’s figure descended, like being swallowed into the belly of a giant beast, he vanished into the darkness.
Witnessing this scene, a trace of sorrow flickered in Trom’s eyes. Regardless of the outcome of the match, he had no intention of leading others to fatal danger.
But now that Onassis was pulled into the vortex, the final outcome was self-evident.
"Sigh..." Trom sighed silently, quietly waiting for the match to end.
In his mind, Onassis’s death was certain, and thus the victor was undoubtedly himself.
However, he waited a long time and did not hear the announcement of the match’s conclusion. He looked up at the Light Screen floating in midair, which still showed him and Onassis locked in combat.
"Could it be that Onassis isn’t dead yet?" Trom furrowed his brow.
Only under such a possibility would the match continue.
If that was the case, where was he now? Trom looked over the tumultuous sea, and under the cover of dim clouds, finding a person in the vast ocean was extremely difficult.
Trom couldn’t locate Onassis at all.
This made Trom feel a bit frustrated because being unable to find Onassis meant... he was about to face a horrifying Ocean Troll.
Trom watched the increasingly terrifying vortex, his expression fluctuating. After a moment of hesitation, Trom decided to execute a tactical retreat, moving away from the vortex first and dealing with the rest later.
Trom stepped on clouds with his four hooves, his deer antler cap situating him as if he were a roe deer strolling through the clouds.
However, this cloud-wandering roe deer had not completed his plan to retreat when he abruptly came to a halt.
The reason was—
A column of water shot up from the depths of the sea, just a short distance ahead of Trom.
If Trom had continued at his original speed, he would have collided with this water column. Trom could clearly sense the surging Water Elemental Energy within the column, and hitting it could have unpredictable consequences.
Why had a water column suddenly appeared ahead of his path? Trom looked towards the distant vortex; was it because of the Ocean Troll?
As Trom pondered, another water column shot straight up from the ocean and pierced the sky, aiming for Trom’s current location.
Trom swiftly dodged, simultaneously using the white fog from his body to freeze the water column into ice. In the moment of energetic contact, Trom sensed the dark consciousness within the water column.
Following this consciousness, Trom saw a huge eye, sinisterly watching him from the ocean depths.
By this time, how could Trom not understand that these water columns were not appearing randomly?
I was targeted, those huge eyes at the bottom of the sea, they must belong to that Ocean Troll!
At this moment, countless water spouts rose from the sea surface. Trom quickly dodged, trying to break through to a distant point. But these water spouts seemed to be able to capture his trajectory and predict his intentions. Even with his almost "instantaneous movement" speed, the water spouts would still accurately spear towards his intended direction, forcing him to slow down.
In this situation, Trom could only keep dodging, then turn the water spouts into ice pillars, hoping to make the chilling aura backlash against the Ocean Troll.
But his plan clearly didn’t work, and more water spouts kept piercing the sky.
Within just a few minutes, the area had become a water spout prison.
When the prison was formed, no more water spouts rose, but Trom was thoroughly trapped within, unable to escape.
Trom gasped for breath, his limbs trembling slightly. The recent fight with Onassis, and the constant dodging of water spouts, had taken a toll on his stamina.
However, the formation of the water spout prison meant that things were not over yet. Trom could only muster his spirit, ready to face the crises that might come next.
While Trom was catching his breath, the sea surface suddenly started to heave extensively once again. At the center of a vortex, a gigantic head slowly emerged.