Chapter 42: Unexpected Crisis
“Dong.”
“Dong.”
“Dong.”
Eluka also heard the strange sound.
“Dong.”
“Dong.”
“Dong.”
The sound was getting closer, and Eluka could hear it more clearly.
It was like the beating of war drums.
“Heartbeat…”
Eluka’s pupils contracted suddenly.
Her hearing was extraordinary, even better than that of the warrior Rode.
But this was on the stormy lake’s surface.
The heartbeat she could hear so clearly must be resounding and powerful.
And its owner, how imposing must they be?
“Not good…”
“Quick, run!”
Eluka looked towards Rode and Tia standing on the body of the lake master and shouted hoarsely.
“Be careful—!”
The final syllable “mian” was drowned out by the crashing waves.
A gap tore through the mist shrouding the lake, and a massive, dark creature leaped out from the water. Its blazing red eyes displayed its fury, while its sinister scales and bone spikes shimmered with blinding lightning.
“The lake master…”
“Another one…”
“How is this possible…”
As they gazed at the even larger black fish before them, Rode and Tia couldn’t help but widen their eyes in shock.
But they had no time to be stunned.
Rode immediately tightened his grip on his longsword, qi swirling around it.
Following closely, he unleashed his martial skill, Lion’s Roar, accompanied by a visible shockwave, boldly charging forward.
Trapped in the lake, there was no possibility of escape, so they had to confront it head-on!
The shockwave clashed with the lightning, creating towering waves in the lake in an instant!
“Damn it… This one, it’s formidable…”
Rode was forced to step back step by step under the pressure of the giant beast, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.
In just a brief clash, Rode found himself completely on the defensive.
After all, it was an ambush, and the target of the ambush was a nearly thirty-meter giant beast!
“I’ll help you.”
Fortunately, Tia by his side was no mere decoration; she was a bona fide third-tier mage.
“Burn, Crimson Flame Magic!”
Still, an instant-cast spell without the chanting process, a massive pillar of fire surged forth with intense heat, fiercely rushing towards the unprepared lake master.
If it hit, even if it couldn’t inflict severe damage, it would surely force a retreat.
But…
In those eyes in the lake, completely unlike those of a human, a hint of human-like mockery flashed.
In Tia’s horrified gaze, it suddenly lifted its broad fish tail and slapped it fiercely on the surface of the lake!
Towerous waves surged up, like a wall blocking hope, crashing into the pillar of flame in an instant.
Hiss.
As the high temperature evaporated the lake water, at the same time as the flame pillar extinguished, a large amount of water vapor was generated again, instantly enveloping the surroundings like dense morning fog, reducing visibility to a pitifully low level.
The new lake master sank into the lake once again, disappearing without a trace.
“I was just thinking earlier, in this kind of environment, don’t use fire magic!”
Not landing on the dead lake master’s body but floating in the air, Eluka was temporarily safe. She used wind magic to disperse the steam while couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t this just causing trouble for ourselves?”
“You… just shut up, okay?” Tia retorted sarcastically.
“You weren’t in my dangerous position, so how do you know what magic was the best solution at that time?”
“Using fire magic on the lake surface itself is problematic, okay?”
“But wasn’t it my fire magic that killed the previous lake master just now? And Eluka didn’t do anything, so what right does she have to criticize me?”
“I’m just pointing out mistakes…”
“I didn’t make a mistake!”
“Alright, alright, let’s all calm down a bit,” Rode interjected into the argument between the two, his tone conciliatory. “Save your energy, we’re still in the midst of battle.”
“Hmph,” Tia snorted coldly, crossing her arms. “For Rode’s sake, I won’t argue with this bumpkin.”
“Bumpkin…”
Click.
This was the second time today Eluka almost broke her own wand.
Was it just because she looked a little better and had a slightly bigger chest?
Why call her a bumpkin?
Didn’t she know that the Rode she was constantly pestering was from the same village as the bumpkin she was referring to?
“Indeed, I shouldn’t have agreed to let her join our team in the first place…”
If it weren’t for seeing Rode working so hard, how could she have allowed someone to disturb their private world?
…
So annoying.
…
But after all, they were still in the midst of battle, and her character was that of a soft, cute, and kind younger sister type. She couldn’t afford to cause more trouble at this time.
Eluka withdrew her thoughts and focused on finding the lake master.
“Due to their territorial instincts, two dominant-level magical beasts can’t stay together.”
“Unless they are a mating pair,” Eluka looked at the body of the lake master beneath Rode’s feet. “Judging from the appearance, the one attacking us now should be the female.”
For most magical beasts, females tend to be much larger than males, which means more strength.
“The intelligence of dominant-level magical beasts is not low. What do you think it would do at this moment?”
As Eluka pondered, her gaze gradually settled on the corpse.
Rode remained standing on it because for a warrior like him, staying grounded always allowed him to exert his strength more effectively.
“What would I do in this situation?” Eluka thought, and then suddenly… her eyes widened.
If she were the lake master, she would definitely…
“Rode!”
“Tia!”
“Don’t move!”
Three years of adventures had taught Eluka that action always came faster than thought. So by the time she snapped out of her thoughts, her wand was already swinging in her hand, casting a consecutive Levitation spell on Rode and Tia.
“Eh? What’s going on all of a sudden? What are you doing?”
The sensation of her own Levitation spell versus someone else’s was completely different. This feeling, like being lifted by someone else, could be quite uncomfortable.
Tia thought Eluka was retaliating against her, so she was about to complain to Rode. But the next moment, any complaint was swallowed back down.
Because she saw the massive lake master’s corpse they had just been standing on suddenly sinking!
The sinking was so sudden that it almost caused waves to splash them down from their floating position in the air.
“Indeed, the first thing it would do is reclaim its mate’s corpse. For magical beasts, how could they allow their mate to be trampled by humans?”
“And then, the second thing is…”
The turbulent lake surface just now suddenly calmed down, like a mirror reflecting the dark clouds in the sky and Rode and Tia.
Then ripples appeared, a whirlpool gradually forming and expanding, as if an invisible hand was stirring the lake surface.
The lake master emerged at the center of the whirlpool.
Dazzling lightning gathered on its ferocious horn.
With angry eyes, it stared fiercely at the two humans who had just stepped on its mate.
“As I expected, it will now attack with all its might to avenge its mate.”
“But…”
Watching the lightning gradually gathering on the lake master’s horn, Eluka muttered in surprise.
“Long-range attack?”
