Rod threw himself at Tia from the sky like a moth drawing into a flame—talk about a fiery love bug!
Time seemed to stretch into eternity as Eluka watched their silhouettes grow closer and closer, the Lake Master’s single horn crackling with increasingly dazzling lightning.
With Death closing in like an angry alley cat, Rod’s actions looked both hilarious and utterly tragic—like a butterfly flapping its wings into a hurricane.
“Rod, you really liked Tia all along, huh?” Eluka suddenly thought, only to swiftly shake the idea out of her mind.
As Rod’s childhood friend, she knew what he was made of: brave, gentle, kind—grinning at everyone like the sunrise on a good morning.
An attention magnet, for sure. But in matters of love? As clueless as a wooden plank.
So, no matter who was flying out to save, Rod would go full sacrifice mode.
“This kind of tender warmth shining on everyone and everything—it’s almost enough to make someone go crazy with jealousy.”
Even so, she still liked him. So…
Eluka clenched her staff suddenly, ignoring the stabbing pain in her head, and poured her last bit of magic into it.
“Someone saving their rival? Well, guess I’m just the kind-hearted and cute girl after all.”
“Lucky me—I accidentally learned this spell,” she mused.
“Bit late now, but hey, what’s the harm?”
“Charm Magic!”
Eluka aimed her staff at the Lake Master, accompanied by a dramatic gasp and gasp, and pink hearts fluttered out of her bright eyes.
This was her first magic that didn’t require chanting—a lightning-fast spell she’d excelled at, so deadly she even scared herself.
But since the target wasn’t human, her heart fluttered nervously—would the Lake Master fall for it?
Sizzle…
In Eluka’s hopeful gaze, the tense, mighty form of the Lake Master suddenly relaxed, muscles loosening visibly.
The lightning on its horn, which had been crackling to its limit, started to fade.
It turned, facing Eluka.
Two bright pink hearts appeared in its fierce eyes!
“Success!” Eluka couldn’t help but pump her fist in excitement.
As long as the Lake Master was enchanted, Rod was safe. No way a third-rank warrior like him would drown in a lake.
But then…
“Roar!”
The Lake Master let out a bloodcurdling roar, thrashing and twisting in the water—displaying an agility and speed that shouldn’t belong to its massive size.
It charged at them, reckless and determined.
In its eyes, pink hearts—but behind those hearts, what seemed to be—its supposedly long-dead partner!
At that moment, Eluka saw a lovesick woman charging blindly toward what she believed was her long-lost husband, ready to give him a heartfelt hug.
Truly touching. Or at least it would be if that love-struck woman wasn’t a 30-meter-long creature capable of smashing a ship with a single tail slap.
“God of Ice and Snow…”
Eluka grit her teeth, raising her staff again.
But before she could even finish the chant, a stabbing pain in her head nearly made her faint.
“This is bad…”
Eluka’s face turned pale, desperate.
Her magic was completely drained—no energy left, not even a trickle.
She couldn’t even make her floating spell work to dodge the approaching Lake Master.
“Is this it? Is my fate finally done for?” she wondered.
Death was approaching, yet she wasn’t even that afraid.
She raised her gaze, searching the distance for something, anything—only to be blocked by the turbulent waves stirred up by the Lake Master.
But…
“Rod’s probably already rescued Tia,” she thought.
“Then my death won’t be in vain.”
Eluka gave a satisfied smile and slowly closed her eyes.
“Hopefully, Tia will successfully win Rod’s heart and make him happy afterward.”
If only that thought brought peace to her afterlife—that would be enough.
Haha, yeah right. Not a chance.
Not even a little.
“Order.”
A cold voice echoed in Eluka’s ears.
Followed by a cacophony of metallic screeches—twisting, grinding shrieks that made her teeth ache—and behind those noises, the Lake Master roared in fury.
Death didn’t come as expected.
Eluka blinked, confused.
She saw a figure cloaked in a windbreaker and hood, standing protectively in front of her.
The figure was slender, likely a fragile girl, yet when she stepped between Eluka and the Lake Master, the entire world seemed to hush.
The figure turned and revealed a graceful, handsome face.
“Are you alright?” An asked gently.
“I… I’m fine,” Eluka whispered, trembling like a startled kitten, nodding slightly.
“That’s good.”
An turned her head:
“Now I’m going to kill it. Stay safe.”
“Okay… okay,” Eluka replied dully, staring.
Only now did she realize where those sharp sounds originated.
Metal.
Countless metals.
Alive, writhing, twisting metal!
Silver, dark gold, red copper—and even rusty, blood-red stains—many kinds, many quantities.
They intertwined like snakes, defying physics—rubbing, merging, forming an impenetrable wall.
But once this wall blocked the Lake Master, it instantly restored its inherent metallic resilience—a formidable, unyielding barrier.
The Lake Master, charging with unstoppable force, slammed into it.
And then…
Of course, the inevitable.
It squealed and howled as its outer shell, seemingly invulnerable to magic, was pierced.
Right at the point of contact, Eluka saw the Lake Master’s prominent, twisted horn shattered.
“Guess it’s just one of those days,” combined Eluka’s quiet sigh with a bit of grim amusement.
An hovered gracefully above the writhing, agony-stricken Lake Master.
Her cold eyes gleamed with deadly intent.
“Freaking around like this… what about the fish I was supposed to catch for the young master?”
An raised her hands, fingers curling.
Then, with a swift snap of her palms over her head—
“Imprison.”
Her voice was ice-cold, merciless, like a divine decree.
The metallic wall disintegrated into fragments, which under some powerful unseen rule, reassembled.
A crown of metallic thorns erupted, dazzling and sharp.
Enveloping the Lake Master entirely.
“Roar!”
The Lake Master convulsed, struggling violently—their terrifying strength bending steel, their armored scales resisting the sharpness of metal…but it wasn’t enough.
The creature’s form kept “growing,” sprouting new “branches,” as the thorny jungle of metal gradually lifted it out of the water.
Without water, the Lake Master’s struggle was all but useless.
“Just a fish, huh?” An said, a grim smirk on her face, her reflection catching the cold glow of her weapon as she stepped down a metallic staircase toward the creature.
“Even powerful beasts like this are only at this level. Looks like catching a dragon-whip for the young master won’t take long at all.”
