The two of them aren't speaking with their mouths. They are communicating with their minds so the onlookers can't hear what they say to each other. To them, it just looks like the monarchs are levitating in the air and grinning at each other. It is as if they have an inside joke that only the two of them know about. They didn't know of the violence that is currently brewing within them, waiting for an outlet.
But the grinning didn't stop. It became weird and unnatural but it didn't stop. Soon the onlookers had more pressing matters to deal with. They felt the two Monarchs release the pressure of their existence in every direction.
It is as if the monarchs want to crush each other with their pressure. The onlookers paled immediately because of it. It is not a good sign at all. It is as they say, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. They are the grass here.
Things became weirder when Marlinto's tongue extended from out of his mouth. The red organ continued to lengthen until it reached his waist. That was the signal to every onlooker to run for it. They turned around and ran so they didn't see Marlinto's lips split apart.
His lips split open and so did the skin of his face. His skin wiggled and flaked away because something within Marlinto wanted to get out. The skin all over his body also split and fell away to allow what was beneath to come to the surface. A bloody figure larger than Marlinto came out of the skin shell. It is as if the skin was caging something. Now it is free.
This being has a bloody skull for a head. The skull doesn't have a lower jaw. It has sharp and long canines attached to the upper jaw. The rest of his body is just a mass of tentacles attached to the base of the skull where the neck should be. One of those tentacles is Marlinto's tongue.
Marlinto's red and bloody octopus body continued to increase in size after being liberated. It grew so large that the top of the bloody skull reached the roof of the Cavern.
The bloody octopus asked with pride, "Do you still believe that you can take me now?"
Ragnarok shrugged. "Size isn't everything." He said.
Marlinto laughed. "That's good. You are not intimidated by my true form. You are brave for such a young mutt. Let me break that bravery of yours. Let me show you the error of your way. There's nothing better than witnessing the horrors of the deep to know your place in the world. It will make you learn some discipline. That is if you don't die."
The octopus swung a tentacle at him. The tentacle is bigger than him. It created a shadow that covered him directly. It fell from the sky like a giant wall. Ragnarok responded by swiping his small hand to meet the large tentacle. His white pristine hand morphed according to his will. It expanded into a large clawed paw. The long black claws on his paw sliced the tentacle to pieces.
"Good move," Marlinto said while laughing.
The chopped tentacles turned into blood that flowed back to the red octopus. His sliced tentacle healed immediately and became anew. That is why he is not angry at the damage at all.
Ragnarok agreed, "Yes, this is good."
His paw shrunk back into a small hand. He brought his hand to his lips and licked the blood on it. He doesn't need to lick his claws to clean it of blood. The blood on the black bony claws is already being absorbed quickly through them. But he did it anyway. And he did it while staring provocatively at Marlinto.
He taunted the Vampire, "You taste like snail meat. I don't like snail meat. It is slimy and boring."
Marlinto wasn't fazed. He mocked, "It is because you have shallow tastes. You don't know what's good when you come across it."
"Then I should educate myself further on the taste of your flesh."
His body expanded explosively. It is as if he was inflated abruptly. He became a large horned beast more than 100 meters in length. This beast has white fur. But his fur can't be fully appreciated because he is covered head to toe with black bone armor. Only the fur of his paws and tails can be seen.
He has 9 long furry tails and a red halo between his giant black horns. One of his tails is red while the others are white. The horns are the same color as the sharp teeth. They are both black like the thick bone armor on his body.
"So disgusting. You look horrible and ugly." Marlinto said.
Ragnarok sneered and replied, "Look who's talking. You are a dung calling a dung beetle smelly."
His lips spread to reveal a mouthful of black canines. The small patch of red tattoo on his bone armor glowed more than usual. He is ready to do battle.
The two colossal entities stood against each other. The eyeless body skull of the red octopus inspected the beast while the three eyes in the skull of the beast are focused on the octopus. Then they charged at each other wordlessly.
Marlinto sent an avalanche of tentacles against his enemies. He is still bigger despite the upgrade to Ragnarok. So it seemed as if he was about to bury Ragnarok. This burial will not be painless. The tentacles morphed and grew spikes. It is more likely that Ragnarok will be ground to paste by the tentacles before he is buried.
Ragnarok spread Legion-1's domain. He didn't want to for fear of angering Mother High Heaven. But he has to now that he has seen that he is no match for Marlinto head-on.
A black dome encompassed the two of them and most of the underground cavern. Everything within the dome was destroyed all except the red octopus. It continued to glow brightly against the darkness like the red moon in the night.