Chapter 45: Distress
“Roar!”
The lord of the lake roared once again.
The deafening roar stirred waves several meters high. Eluka, standing beside, covered her ears, but still struggled to alleviate the intense pain caused by the shockwaves.
“Is this your lament before death?”
However, An seemed unaffected, raising his sickle high as if death itself had descended, ready to reap the soul before him.
The lord of the lake’s eyes reflected An’s indifferent face, revealing a hint of human-like fear. It had never seen such a strong human before.”
“But this fear soon turned into a frantic desperation!
Even in death, I’ll drag you humans down with me!
Lightning flashed, white thunderbolts coiling around the lord of the lake.
However, with its horn, the transmitter broken, merely gathering these thunderbolts, how could it harm An in front of it?
Or is it just a desperate attempt to delay death?
An frowned slightly, the hand holding the sickle paused.
She was waiting for the lord of the lake to give in, dispersing the lightning.”
“But there was no sign of the lightning dispersing, the lord of the lake obviously exhausted, yet the lightning became even more dazzling.
“No, something’s very wrong.”
Eluka, not far away, noticed a clue.
She heard a heartbeat.
A rapid heartbeat.
A heartbeat that seemed on the verge of bursting!
This kind of heartbeat only meant one thing.
“Get out of the way, it’s going to self-destruct!”
Sensing the lord of the lake’s intention, Eluka hurriedly shouted to An in alarm.
“Self-destruct?”
An’s gaze hardened as she looked at the lord of the lake.
At this moment, she finally saw the madness and mockery in the eyes of this monster.
“Heh, underestimated you, did I?”
In that instant, the lightning gathered around the lord of the lake suddenly exploded.
Boom!
With a deafening roar that shook the earth, dazzling lightning illuminated half the sky.
…
…
“Are…are you okay?”
Eluka, relying on her levitation spell, hid on the nearby lake surface, watching the dazzling lightning that resembled a miniature sun, only to vanish in an instant.
Charred pieces of flesh scattered from the center of the explosion, like a rather unromantic meteor shower.
It was clear that the lord of the lake had controlled the explosion’s range, so Eluka, at this distance, wasn’t affected, but that only made her more worried.
Because a smaller range meant greater damage!”
“The lord of the lake did that obviously to ensure they could both go down together!”
“Please, be safe, Miss.”
Eluka prayed silently in her heart, her eyes fixed on the center of the explosion.
The residual heat from the explosion created a lot of water mist, making it difficult to see clearly at the center.
Fortunately, the heavy rain hadn’t stopped.
The water mist quickly dispersed because of the heavy rain, gradually revealing the scene at the center of the explosion to Eluka’s sight.
Due to the explosion occurring on the lake’s surface, the lord of the lake’s self-destruction didn’t result in the gruesome scene one might expect.
However, the steel thorn forest that was originally used to restrain it had melted considerably due to the high temperature, then cooled by the lake water. Even now, one could still see the reddish-white melted traces at the ends.
The lord of the lake was long gone, probably even the remaining fragments had fallen into the lake during the recent meteor shower.
Above the steel thorn forest, there was a huge, extremely conspicuous metal sphere, floating quietly, exuding an eerie beauty.
“This is…”
Looking at that metal sphere, Eluka’s heart leaped into her throat.
“Um… Miss, are you okay?”
She cautiously called out in a soft voice.
Click.
A circular gap suddenly appeared in the metal sphere.
An stepped out from inside, turning to look at Eluka, her expression still dignified and calm, seemingly unaffected by the recent brush with death.
“I’m fine.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
Eluka’s previously suspended heart finally settled, and she couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.
The tension that had been wound up suddenly relaxed, flooding her with a sense of exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm her.
“Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Eluka. Thank you for saving me just now!” Eluka forced herself to bow.
“An, you don’t need to thank me.”
An said, “Killing that monster was just because it was in the way.”
“Even so, I’m very grateful, Miss An!”
Eluka puffed up her cheeks, speaking earnestly, “Later, I’ll bring my companions to express our gratitude to Miss An. Please don’t refuse then!”
“…”
An suddenly fell silent, her cold gaze scanning Eluka’s face.
“Uh, did I say something wrong?”
“No, I’m just wondering, aren’t you worried about your companions?”
“Oh, right, my companions!”
Eluka remembered at that moment that she still had two companions who were nowhere to be found.
“They fell in that direction.”
An pointed in a direction.
“Thank you!”
Eluka hastily thanked An, mustering her energy and swiftly manipulating her levitation ability to fly in that direction.
Once Eluka left, An withdrew her gaze.
She lowered her head, looking at the vast lake, rubbing her temples with some headache.
“Well, the nuisance is taken care of now, but how do I catch fish?”
…
…
“Rode! Tia! Are you two okay!”
Following An’s direction, Eluka searched along the shore until she found Rode and Tia.
As soon as Rode saw Eluka, he immediately showed an excited expression.
“Eluka, you’re just in time. Hurry up and use healing magic, Tia…”
“What?”
Eluka then noticed that Tia wasn’t mocking her as usual. Instead, she was lying on the ground, pale-faced, looking extremely painful, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
“It seems the shockwave just now injured her internal organs. Eluka, quickly use healing magic on her!”
“But… but I’ve run out of mana…”
“Run out?” Rode blinked, then suddenly rushed up, grabbing Eluka’s collar and shaking her forcefully.
“What did you say? Out of mana? None left at all? What about healing potions?”
“Ad, you’re hurting me…”
Eluka broke free from Rode’s grip, panting heavily, and said with difficulty:
“My mana is indeed completely depleted, and wasn’t Tia the one managing the healing potions?”
“But I just checked her backpack, and there weren’t any.”
“If she forgot to bring them, then there’s nothing I can do.”
“Damn it!”
Rode pounded the ground angrily. “As a mage, why didn’t you bring any healing potions?”
“…”
Wasn’t it said that Tia was in charge of managing the healing potions?
And I’m not accustomed to squandering mana like Tia. If it weren’t for so many unexpected events this time, I wouldn’t have run out of mana at all.
Ultimately, isn’t it Tia’s fault for not bringing the healing potions?
“Nothing we can do about it. I’m taking Tia to the guild now.”
Rode lifted Tia onto his back.
“I’ll go with you,” Eluka said.
“You better stay here and rest.”
Rode didn’t even turn his head.
“You’ll just slow me down now!”
“…”
Eluka watched as Rode disappeared from sight with Tia on his back. The rain grew heavier, stinging her eyes.
Unconsciously, Eluka’s fingers dug deeply into the soil, leaving behind several fierce marks on the ground, quickly washed away by the rain.
…
She felt so intrusive.
What a scumbag