Rod lunged toward Tia in mid-air, like a moth drawn to a flame.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly. Aluka could clearly see their figures drawing closer, as well as the increasingly dazzling lightning brewing on the lake lord’s horn.

Under the shadow of death's approach, Rode's actions seemed laughable, yet deeply lamentable.

“Rode, could it be that you actually like Tia?”

That thought flashed through Aluka’s mind, but she quickly shook it away.

As Rod’s childhood friend, she knew what kind of person he was.

Brave, gentle, and kind, always greeting the world with a warm smile.

Like the first rays of the rising morning sun.

Such a person naturally attracted others’ attention.

Yet when it came to relationships, he was as dumb as a log.

So at this moment, it didn’t matter who was in danger—Rod would risk his life to save them.

“This kind of warmth, radiating indiscriminately to everyone, could drive people mad with jealousy,” she thought.

And yet, despite it, she still liked him.

So...

Aluka suddenly gripped her wand tightly. Ignoring the searing pain hammering in her head, she poured the last of her magical energy into it.

“I can’t believe I’m actually about to save my rival in love... Fine, I suppose it suits my kindhearted and lovable image.”

“Fortunately, I've learned this spell by a chance earlier.”

“If I use it now, it should be okay.”

“Charm Magic!”

Aluka pointed her wand at the lake master, her voice breaking into soft, almost breathless exclamation. From her crystal-clear eyes, a pink heart glimmered to life.

It was the first magic Aluka had ever mastered without chanting, and also the one she excelled in the most. The talent she showed for this spell even frightened herself.

But the target wasn’t human, which left her feeling a bit uneasy. She couldn’t be sure if the lake lord would succumb.

A sizzling sound...

Under Aluka’s eager gaze, the lake lord’s enormous, tense frame—so tightly coiled, ready to strike—visibly relaxed.

The radiant lightning gathered on its horn gradually dissipated.

The lake master turned its head, staring at Aluka.

In its savage eyes appeared a pair of pink hearts!

“It worked!”

Aluka clenched her fist in excitement.

As long as the lake lord was captivated by her, Rod would be safe. As a rank-three warrior, there was no way he’d drown in the lake.

However...

“Roar!”

The lake lord let out a guttural bellow, its massive body twisting within the water with surprising agility and speed for a creature its size.

It surged toward her.

Unrestrained.

Its eyes brimmed with pink hearts, but behind those hearts, a reflection of... its deceased mate seemed to emerge!

In that moment, Aluka felt as if she were witnessing a passionate woman, who, upon seeing her presumably long-dead husband, cast caution to the wind to rush in for a loving embrace.

How moving.

If only this passionate woman weren’t thirty meters long and capable of smashing a boat with a single tail swipe.

“Ice and Snow God, plea—”

Aluka gritted her teeth and raised her wand again.

But before she could even finish chanting, the sharp pain in her head nearly knocked her unconscious.

“Damn it…”

Her face turned pale, and she wore a look of despair.

Her magical energy was utterly exhausted.

Not a drop left to draw upon.

She couldn’t even muster enough strength to cast the levitation spell keeping her afloat and avoid the rapidly approaching lake lord.

“So this is the end of my destiny, huh?”

As death loomed, Aluka surprisingly felt no fear.

She lifted her gaze, searching for something in the distance.

But everything was obscured by the waves thrown up by the lake master as it churned the water. She couldn’t see a thing.

Still...

“Rod must have already saved Tia by now.”

“If so, my death won’t be entirely meaningless.”

A serene smile graced Aluka’s lips, and she slowly closed her eyes.

“I hope Tia can truly manage to win Rod’s heart one day and bring him happiness.”

That way, even in the afterlife, I’d feel at ease.

...

Hell, no.

Not even a little bit would I feel at ease.

...

“Command.”

A crisp, cold voice echoed in Aluka’s ears.

Right after, the piercing screech of countless twisting, grinding metals assaulted her senses, filling the air with a discordant symphony. Beneath this cacophony, the lake master roared in rage.

Death did not come as expected.

Dazed, Aluka opened her eyes.

She saw a figure cloaked in a trench coat and hood standing in front of her.

That person appeared so slender, clearly a frail-looking young girl. Yet, when she stood there, shielding Aluka, the winds of the world fall silent.

The figure turned slightly, revealing a refined, elegant face.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I... I’m fine,” Aluka stammered, nodding lightly like a startled kitten.

“Good.”

The girl turned back, her gaze fixed once more on the lake lord.

“I’m going to kill it now. Take care of yourself.”

“O... Okay.”

Aluka stared blankly.

At last, she noticed the source of the sharp metallic noises.

It was metal.

Countless pieces of metal.

Living metal!

Silvery white, dark gold, crimson copper, and even some in rusted, blood-tinged hues—an amalgam of metallic fragments, writhing like serpents in utter defiance of physical laws, intertwined and twisted together. They scraped and grated, combining to form an impenetrable wall.

Yet when this wall stood before the lake lord, it instantly regained the hardness and resilience that was metal’s nature.

The lake lord, charging at full force, had no way of halting its momentum. Inevitably, it slammed into the wall.

Then...

Unsurprisingly, it let out a pained screech.

Despite its supposedly impenetrable exoskeleton, difficult even for magic to penetrate, this once-formidable carapace was no match for the towering wall of metal. The moment of impact was all it took—Aluka clearly saw the lake lord's most distinct feature, its fearsome horn, snap right off.

“How dare you.”

The girl ascended into the air, drifting to hover above the writhing, agonized lake lord.

Her gaze bore down upon it with icy, lethal intent.

“How am I supposed to catch the fish my young master wanted if you keep rampaging like this?”

She raised her hands.

Her ten fingers bent slightly and suddenly clapped together above her head.

“Imprison.”

Her voice was cold, devoid of mercy.

Like a deity issuing an irrevocable command.

The metallic wall disintegrated into shards in an instant.

Under some powerful, unseen rule, the fragments reassembled themselves.

A forest of metallic thorns erupted from the ground!

Completely encasing the lake lord.

“Roar!”

The lake master thrashed, struggling violently.

Its monstrous strength bent the steel; its resilient scales tried to resist the sharpness of the metal, but it was all in vain. It could not stop the ever-growing thicket of thorns from coiling tighter around it, lifting it out of the water.

Without its aquatic domain, its struggles become even more futile.

“In the end, just a fish?”

A massive, fearsome scythe appeared in the girl’s hand, its blade gleaming with an eerie, frosty glow. Treading down steps seemingly made of steel, she descended step by step until she stood directly before the lake master.

“A dominate-tier magical beast; this is all it takes? Looks like bringing a dragon penis back for my young master won’t take long after all.”