Chapter 45: Disgraced

“ROAARR!!”

The Lake Master let out another screeching roar.

The deafening bellow stirred up waves several meters high. Ailuka clutched her ears, but it did little to dull the pain from the sonic shock.

“Is that your death wail?”

Anne, however, remained utterly unfazed. She raised the scythe in her hand high—like a Reaper descending to harvest the soul before her.

Reflected in the Lake Master’s eyes was Anne’s cold, indifferent face... and in those beast eyes, for the first time, a flicker of human-like fear surfaced. It had never encountered a human this powerful.

But that fear quickly twisted into manic desperation.

If I’m going to die... I’ll take you down with me!

Lightning surged—white arcs of electricity winding and writhing around the Lake Master’s body.

But its horn—the very organ that launched its attacks—had already been broken. Simply gathering this lightning... how could that possibly threaten Anne, standing before it?

Or was this merely a desperate measure—like drinking poison to delay death?

Anne frowned slightly. The hand holding the scythe paused mid-air.

She was waiting—for the Lake Master to falter, to let the lightning fade.

But there were no signs of it dimming.

The Lake Master was clearly on the verge of collapse, but the lightning only grew fiercer, more blinding.

“Something’s wrong. Very wrong.”

Not far off, Ailuka noticed it.

She heard it—the sound of a heartbeat.

A rapid heartbeat.

A heartbeat like it was about to burst!

There was only one possibility with a heartbeat like that.

“Get out of there—it’s going to self-destruct!”

Realizing the Lake Master’s intent, Ailuka cried out to Anne in a panic.

Self-destruct?

Anne’s gaze sharpened as she looked back at the beast.

It was only now that she saw it—that madness and mockery gleaming in the magical beast’s eyes.

“Tch... I underestimated you.”

In the very next moment, the lightning surging around the Lake Master exploded.

BOOM!

With a sky-shattering roar, the blinding light of the explosion lit up half the sky like a miniature sun.

...

...

“A-Are you okay...?”

Using only her Float Spell to support herself, Ailuka hovered over the lake not far from the blast, watching as that brilliant, sun-like light bloomed—and then vanished.

Chunks of charred meat scattered from the epicenter of the explosion like a grotesque meteor shower—utterly devoid of any romanticism.

The Lake Master had clearly controlled the blast radius—Ailuka, being this far, wasn’t affected much at all. But that only made her worry more.

A smaller radius... meant a more concentrated impact!

The Lake Master had clearly done it to make sure it dragged its enemy to hell with it!

“Please be okay, that big sister...”

Ailuka prayed silently while staring hard at the heart of the blast.

The residual heat from the explosion had created thick steam, obscuring the center from view.

Fortunately, the rain hadn’t stopped.

The mist quickly began to dissipate under the downpour, slowly revealing the aftermath of the explosion to Ailuka’s eyes.

Since it happened over the lake, the self-destruction hadn’t left behind any particularly grotesque scene. The steel-thorn forest that had once bound the beast had melted under the intense heat, then cooled again in the lakewater. The tips of the twisted iron could still be seen, glowing faintly red and white where the metal had liquefied.

The Lake Master was gone. Presumably, even its remains had scattered into the lake during that meteor shower of gore.

And there—floating quietly above the thorn forest—was a massive, conspicuous metallic sphere. Eerie and strangely beautiful.

“What is... that?”

Seeing the sphere, Ailuka’s heart leapt into her throat.

“Um... Miss, are you okay...?”

She called out softly, carefully.

Clack.

A circular hatch opened in the metal sphere.

Anne stepped out with one foot, turned her head to glance at Ailuka—her expression calm and dignified, as if she hadn’t just danced with death.

“I’m fine.”

“Haah... thank goodness.”

Ailuka finally let out a long breath of relief.

With the tension gone, exhaustion surged in like a flood, nearly drowning her.

“Ah, right! I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Ailuka. Thank you so much for saving me earlier!” Ailuka forced herself to stand upright and bowed stiffly.

“Anne. And no need to thank me,” Anne replied.

“I only killed that magical beast because it was in the way.”

“Even so, I’m still very grateful, Miss Anne!”

Ailuka puffed out her cheeks, speaking seriously.

“I’ll bring my companions later to deliver a proper gift—please don’t refuse, Miss Anne!”

“......”

Anne didn’t respond immediately. Her cool eyes swept across Ailuka’s face.

“Eh? Did ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) I say something wrong?”

“No. I was just thinking... aren’t you worried about your companions?”

“Ah! My companions!”

Only now did Ailuka remember—she still had two missing comrades!

“They fell in that direction.”

Anne pointed off into the distance.

“Thank you!”

Ailuka quickly thanked her, gathered what strength she had left, and flew off in that direction using her Float Spell.

After Ailuka left, Anne withdrew her gaze.

She lowered her head and stared at the vast lake below, massaging her temples in mild frustration.

“Alright. Now that the nuisance is out of the way... how the hell am I supposed to catch fish?”

...

...

“Rode! Tia! Are you two okay?!”

Following Anne’s direction, Ailuka searched carefully—and finally found Rode and Tia at the edge of the shore.

The moment Rode saw her, his face lit up.

“Ailuka! Perfect timing—hurry and cast a healing spell! Tia, she...”

“What?”

It was only then Ailuka saw—Tia wasn’t mocking her usual disheveled state.

She was lying on the ground, pale, her face twisted in pain. Blood had trickled from the corner of her lips.

“Must’ve been the shockwave—it probably damaged her internal organs. Ailuka, hurry, use healing magic!”

“But... but my mana’s already gone...”

“Gone?!”

Rode froze. Then suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Ailuka by the collar, shaking her violently.

“What do you mean your mana is gone?! Completely gone?! What about healing potions?!”

“R-Rode... you’re hurting me...”

Ailuka pried his hand off, gasping for breath.

“My mana really is completely drained... and aren’t healing potions always managed by Tia?”

“But I checked her bag just now—there’s nothing in it!”

“If she forgot to bring them, then there’s nothing I can do...”

“Damn it!”

Rode slammed his fist into the ground.

“You’re a mage! How could you not carry potions?!”

“......”

Didn’t I just say—Tia handles the potions?

And unlike Tia, I don’t recklessly burn through mana. If today hadn’t gone completely off the rails, there’s no way I would’ve run out.

When you get right down to it... isn’t this Tia’s fault for not bringing them?

“...There’s no choice. I’ll take Tia to the Guild right now.”

Rode slung Tia onto his back.

“I’m going too,” Ailuka said.

“Forget it. Just stay here and rest.”

Rode didn’t even look back.

“You’d only slow me down right now.”

“......”

Ailuka watched as Rode vanished into the rain with Tia on his back.

The rain came down harder. It stung her eyes.

At some point, her fingers had dug deep into the mud, gouging out claw marks in the earth—marks that the rain quickly erased.

...

She’s such an eyesore.