Chapter 43 : Chapter 43
Volume 1
Chapter 43 : Should I Be Happy?
“How can it be a ranged attack?”
“The previous lord of the lake never used any ranged attacks at all!”
“Could this be a power unique to the female?”
Eluca stared fixedly at the clearly charging lord of the lake.
Lightning crackled as it took aim at Rod and Tia, who were floating in the sky.
At that distance, combined with the poor mobility of the Levitation Spell... there was definitely no time to dodge.
Rod and Tia realized that as well, and their faces immediately turned pale.
As for Tia, she did not know any defensive magic at all!
So now, she had to...
“Compassionate Mother of Earth, please grant me your power of protection!”
Eluca poured Mana into her wand as if her life depended on it, constructing the spell at the fastest speed she had ever managed in her life.
Fortunately, she made it in time.
Before that blinding lightning could arrive, an earthen-yellow shield appeared out of thin air before Rod and Tia, blocking the bolt!
But...
“So strong...”
Eluca gripped her wand so tightly that veins bulged across her slender hand.
If there had been a mirror in front of her right now, she knew her expression would have been twisted.
The lord of the lake’s lightning was not a single blast at all.
It was continuous fire!
Like a beam of light, it kept hammering against the shield she had thrown up in haste.
“What kind of... biological... generator is this...?”
Eluca could feel her Mana being consumed at a terrifying speed.
At this rate, she would not be able to hold out for long!
“Ah!”
Just as Eluca was reeling from the pain in her head caused by her rapidly draining Mana, she suddenly heard Tia scream.
That scream startled her badly, and for one absurd moment, she thought, Don’t tell me there’s a third lord of the lake?
Are you magical beasts really this wild?
A three-way?
But thankfully, it was not a third lord of the lake.
It was only a stray arc of lightning that had suddenly curved around the shield and struck Tia on the face, leaving behind a clear charred mark.
“Ah, my face!”
Feeling the stinging pain on her face, Tia pulled out a small mirror to look.
Her expression instantly darkened.
Her fair, beautiful face had been injured like this.
How was she supposed to face anyone now?
“Eluca, can’t you be a little more useful?”
Tia shrieked angrily:
“My face ended up like this! How are you going to compensate me?”
“Is now... really... the time... to be saying... that?”
Eluca gritted out through clenched teeth:
“I’m already... doing... everything... I can... okay?”
You are the one who never even bothered learning a single defensive spell, and now you’re blaming me?
How could I possibly have time to care about that disgusting face of yours right now?
“Stop pretending to be some soft little sweetheart. You obviously could have blocked an attack like this easily before.”
Tia let out a cold snort.
“I think you’re just jealous of me and doing this on purpose.”
“...”
How dared she say something like that?
She was still standing under my protection, so how could she possibly dare say that to my face?
Was she not afraid I would dispel the shield and let the lord of the lake kill her on the spot?
Ah.
No.
Rod was still here.
She was supposed to be a soft, adorable, kind-hearted girl. How could she possibly do something that vicious?
...
Couldn’t she, really?
...
“I... can’t... hold on... much longer...”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“My Mana... is almost gone.”
Under Tia’s horrified gaze, the earthen-yellow shield that had been blocking the deadly lightning actually began to shrink.
The shield that had originally been large enough to protect both of them kept getting smaller and smaller.
Now, it was no longer just the occasional arc of electricity striking Tia.
Scattered bolts of lightning grazed across her body, instantly leaving many charred marks on her skin.
“Wait, Eluca, I was only joking just now. I didn’t mean to blame you, so don’t do this...”
As the threat of death drew closer and closer, Tia instantly panicked.
She began pleading with Eluca, as if that arrogant and overbearing attitude from earlier had only been an illusion.
Hmph. As expected of a cheap bitch.
She did not even have the slightest bit of dignity she should have had.
There was no way Rod would ever like someone like you.
Eluca thought with dark satisfaction.
Still, she had no intention of actually using this chance to kill Tia.
She only wanted to teach her a lesson.
Besides, her Mana really was almost exhausted.
“Tia... don’t worry... I’ll try harder... I definitely... won’t let... anything happen... to you...”
The shield stopped shrinking, stabilizing at a size that could fully protect Rod while leaving Tia in a position where she would still be splashed by stray lightning from time to time.
Listening to Tia’s intermittent screams, Eluca felt as though even the circulation of her Mana had become smoother.
But at that moment, Eluca did not notice that the lord of the lake, watching everything from below, suddenly revealed a distinctly human-like look of mockery in its eyes.
BOOM!
A bolt of lightning completely different from before, tinged with a crimson hue, suddenly exploded outward.
The shockwave from the blast shook the shield, and Eluca instinctively poured even more Mana into it.
But it had all happened too suddenly.
She had already had very little Mana left, and now that she was forcefully drawing out even more, it immediately felt as though a giant hammer had smashed into her head.
Stars burst before her eyes, and dizziness and ringing filled her ears.
Through her blurred vision, she saw a figure fly away.
That was...
Tia?
Eluca’s eyes widened abruptly.
Yes, it was Tia.
The shockwave from that explosion had actually blown her flying away.
“Tia, use Levitation!”
Eluca shouted at her.
But there was no response at all.
Tia’s eyes were shut tight.
It seemed she had been knocked unconscious by the blast.
“How did this happen...?”
Eluca’s face turned somewhat pale.
She had not expected the lord of the lake to suddenly switch tactics.
Caught off guard, perhaps even Rod, standing right beside Tia, had not had the time to react.
But Eluca no longer had enough strength left to cast two spells at once, which meant she could not save Tia at all.
No, even if she got blown away, she would only fall into the water.
Her life would not be in danger for the moment...
But that naive thought had barely flashed through Eluca’s mind before reality ruthlessly crushed it to pieces.
Because she saw the lord of the lake suddenly stop attacking.
Then it lowered its horn and aimed it at Tia.
Lightning began crackling once more.
It was charging again.
“It’s over.”
At that moment, Eluca’s mind went completely blank.
She could not think of any way to save Tia.
The lord of the lake had clearly planned this all along, and there was no way it would let this opportunity go.
Tia was going to die.
“Huh?”
*“So now... should I be happy?”
...
Of course.
...
“Tia!”
Suddenly, Eluca heard a loud shout, and her gaze instinctively turned toward the source of the voice.
Then she saw it.
Rod abandoned the shield protecting him and leaped toward Tia.
“Ah.”
It felt as though someone had stabbed her heart.
“Why?”
“Rod, have you lost your mind?”
“Why are you trying to save that bitch...?”
Eluca wanted to shout all of those things, but when the words reached her lips, they only became the powerless trembling of her mouth.
The mockery in the lord of the lake’s eyes grew even stronger.
It was waiting.
Waiting for Rod to successfully catch Tia.
Only then could it kill two birds with one stone.