"Thump."

"Thump."

"Thump."

Aluka also heard the strange sound.

"Thump."

"Thump."

"Thump."

The sound was getting closer, and Aluka could hear it more distinctly.

It was a heartbeat, steady and powerful, like the pounding of war drums.

"A heartbeat..."

Aluka's pupils suddenly contracted.

Her hearing was sharper than most, even surpassing that of Rhodes, a seasoned warrior.

But they were on the surface of the lake in such a storm.

For a heartbeat to be this loud and clear—it would have to be unparalleled in strength and resonance.

And the one possessing such a heartbeat... how massive could they possibly be?

"Not good..."

"Run, now!"

Aluka shouted hoarsely toward Rod and Tia, who were standing on the corpse of the lake master:

"Watch out the bo—!"

Before she could finish the word "body," her voice was drowned out by the erupting waves.

The mist blanketing the lake suddenly tore apart as a massive, pitch-black monster leapt from the water. Its glowing red eyes burned with fury, and its grotesque scales and bone spikes shimmered with blinding arcs of lightning.

"The lake master..."

"Another one..."

"How is this possible..."

Rod and Tia simultaneously widened their eyes at the sight of the enormous black fish before them, far larger than the earlier lake master.

But there was no time to gawk.

Rod gripped his longsword tightly, battle aura coiling around it. Without hesitation, he unleashed his combat technique, *Lion's Roar*.

The visible shockwaves roared forward as Rod valiantly charged toward the colossal creature.

Escape wasn’t an option on the water. The only choice was to face it head-on!

Shockwaves clashed with the lightning, instantly stirring a tremendous wave across the lake!

"Damn... this one is so strong..."

Rod was forced to retreat step by step under the creature's overwhelming power, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

After just a short engagement, Rod was in a complete disadvantage.

After all, it had been a sneak attack—and by no less than a behemoth nearly thirty meters long!

"I’ll help you."

Luckily, Tia wasn’t just a bystander; she was a bona fide Tier 3 Mage.

"Burn, Crimson Flame Magic!"

With no need for incantations, the instant-cast spell brought forth a massive pillar of fire, its searing heat surging toward the unprotected lake master.

If it struck, it might not inflict grave injury, but it would surely force the creature to back off.

However...

In the creature’s inhuman eyes, a flicker of human-like mockery appeared.

Before Tia's horrified gaze, it abruptly raised its broad fish tail and slapped it down hard onto the lake's surface!

An overwhelming wave surged up, as if erecting a towering wall that veiled all hope. In a split second, it collided with the pillar of flames.

*Hss.*

The immense heat evaporated the lake water, extinguishing the flames while generating a dense cloud of steam. Instantly, the surroundings became enshrouded in fog so thick it resembled the mist of dawn, reducing visibility to almost nothing.

The new lake master sank back into the water and disappeared once more.

"I was just about to say—don't use flame magic in this kind of place!"

Hovering mid-air, secured by her own magic, Aluka was relatively safe for now. As she used wind magic to disperse the steam, she couldn’t help but voice her annoyance:

"All you’ve done is make things much more complicated!"

"You... you shut up, alright!"

Tia snapped back angrily:

"You weren't in my dangerous position. How can you possibly judge what’s the best magic to use in the moment?"

"Using fire magic on a lake—it’s fundamentally wrong!"

"But wasn’t it my fire magic that killed the earlier lake master? And besides, Aluka, you didn’t do anything at all, so what gives you the right to criticize me?"

"I’m just pointing out your mistake..."

"I did NOT make a mistake!"

"Alright, alright, both of you, enough!"

Rod interjected between their escalating quarrel, though his tone was highly conciliatory:

"Save your energy; we’re still in the middle of a fight."

"Hmph."

Tia huffed, crossing her arms:

"For Rod’s sake, I’ll refrain from arguing with this country bumpkin."

"Country bumpkin..."

*Crack.*

For the second time that day, Aluka nearly snapped her own wand in half.

Isn't she just a little better looking than her, with bigger boobs?

What gave her the right to call *her* a country bumpkin?

Didn’t she realize that the Rod she clung to all day long came from the exact same village as the "country bumpkin" she insulted?

"I knew it—I never should have agreed to let her join our team in the first place..."

If it weren’t for seeing how overworked Rod was, she’d never let this intruder disturb their world of two.

...So annoying.

...

But conflict couldn’t last in a life-or-death situation. And her character was supposed to be a sweet, soft, and adorable girl. Now wasn’t the time to argue any further.

Aluka refocused her mind, directing her attention toward locating the lake master.

"Two apex predators wouldn’t typically share the same territory."

"Unless... unless they were a couple."

Her gaze shifted toward the body of the earlier lake master beneath Rod’s feet:

"Judging by its physical features, the one attacking us now is likely the female."

For many magical beasts, females were often significantly larger than their male partners. And size equated to strength.

"The intelligence of an apex beast isn’t low. In this situation, what would it do next?"

As Aluka pondered, her gaze lingered on the corpse.

Rod still stood on it because, as a warrior, he always performed better with solid footing than in mid-air.

"If it were me, what would I do?"

As the thought crossed her mind, her eyes suddenly widened.

If she were the lake master, right now she would undoubtedly...

"Rod!"

"Tia!"

"Don’t move!"

Three years of adventuring experience made Aluka’s actions quicker than her thoughts.

By the time she came to her senses, her wand was already in motion, and a series of levitation spells had been cast upon both Rod and Tia.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

The sensation of being carried by another's levitation magic was completely different from casting it on oneself. This newfound feeling, like being lifted by someone's hands, was unnerving and extremely uncomfortable.

Tia assumed Aluka was doing it out of spite and was about to complain to Rod.

But the next moment, her words stuck in her throat.

Because the massive corpse of the lake master they had just been standing on suddenly sank!

The descent was so abrupt that the resulting splash nearly knocked them out of the air.

"Of course, its first move would be to retrieve the corpse of its mate. For a magical beast, how could it possibly tolerate its partner being trampled by humans?"

"And next, its second move would be..."

The tumultuous surface of the lake suddenly calmed, smoothing out into a mirror-like stillness.

The clouds above were reflected alongside Rod and Tia.

Then, ripples formed, and a whirlpool began to emerge, growing larger and larger.

It was as though an invisible, massive hand was stirring the waters.

At the center of the vortex, the lake master surfaced once more.

Furious lightning gathered at the tip of the lone, jagged horn on its head.

Its blazing red eyes locked onto the two humans who had dared stand upon its mate’s body.

"As expected, its next move is an all-out attack for revenge."

"But..."

Watching the lightning buildup on the lake master's horn, Aluka murmured in astonishment:

"Ranged attack?"