As Natalia was still blaming herself for letting her guard down, sighing at her own weakness and helplessness, a fierce wind carrying a terrifying force descended from the sky.
BOOM!
A loud noise rang out as Liyakade landed on top of the Berserk Shark, surrounded by countless green whirlwinds, and stomped heavily onto the shark’s spine.
The steam in the air, the thick smoke from the charred Human-faced Fish and Blood-devouring Demon Octopus, and even the Fire Wall that Field had raised earlier were all completely blown away by that single strike.
The sky suddenly cleared, the falling Rain Curtain vanished, and the guards and travelers who had retreated far away could finally see the situation of their battle clearly.
Just before the Berserk Shark’s blood-filled maw reached Field’s body, Liyakade stomped it down.
The shark’s body was slammed into the ground by the immense force, carving a long trench across the surface.
Standing on the shark’s head, Liyakade reached out and grabbed the still-shaken Field, whom she had pushed away earlier, and brought her up onto the Berserk Shark’s head.
“. . . Liyakade!”
Feeling the wind rushing past her and the soft touch on her body, Field opened her eyes in delight.
Sure enough, she saw Liyakade holding her in her arms.
As expected, even though Liyakade hadn’t made a move, she must have been watching all along.
Whenever danger appeared on her side, Liyakade would surely come to her side.
“Mm.”
In response to Field’s soft call, Liyakade nodded and smiled indulgently.
“As expected of Field. You even defeated the Blood-devouring Demon Octopus. That’s impressive.”
With such strength, having them accompany Liyakade to the Magic Domain would let her feel at ease.
“Ah… well, it’s not that impressive.”
Rarely hearing praise from Liyakade, Field looked a bit shy, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
After all, Field had never been someone who needed much praise as a child, and growing up, she had become even more mature and independent.
Liyakade certainly praised Alice more often.
Therefore, after defeating the Blood-devouring Demon Octopus, the sudden compliment and affection from Liyakade made Field feel embarrassed.
At that moment, Natalia, who had been knocked back, steadied herself and stumbled a couple of steps onto the ground.
She saw Liyakade’s figure, watched her suppress the Berserk Shark and rescue Field.
Natalia couldn’t help but feel a myriad of emotions.
It wasn’t just the admiration for Liyakade’s strength; it was also her amazement at Her Highness’s trust in Liyakade.
No wonder Field had never been injured in battle—she knew that Liyakade was watching over her from the side.
Once danger appeared, Liyakade would act immediately, not allowing Field to suffer even the slightest harm.
This kind of trust even made Natalia feel a subtle jealousy.
She, too, had never experienced matters of romance between men and women.
As a Sister of the Church, her usual work was not just odd jobs and patrols in the church; sometimes she had to mediate residents’ conflicts and listen to villagers’ prayers.
In that process, Natalia had long grown accustomed to the disputes of men and women in love—from the initial sworn oaths to the eventual mutual harm.
She had seen it too many times in the church.
Therefore, the relationship between Liyakade and the other two seemed very novel to Natalia.
And now, seeing how Liyakade protected Field, Natalia felt a subtle mix of envy and jealousy.
However, a doubt arose in Natalia’s mind.
Why was Liyakade’s physical strength so great?
From the way Liyakade had cast magic earlier, she should be a pure Magic User, without the physical fitness of a Magic Swordswoman or a martial artist.
Yet Liyakade descended with such momentum, stomping the Berserk Shark into the ground.
Even if her level granted her physical attributes, she probably couldn’t achieve this level of damage without injury.
But this doubt was quickly dismissed by Natalia.
After all, physical fitness was only a minor issue, and her admiration for Liyakade’s power far outweighed any concern about her physical capabilities.
On the Berserk Shark’s head, Field was still feeling shy, but she quickly came back to her senses.
This wasn’t the time for such things.
“No, now isn’t the time for that! Liyakade, is this guy the reason you wanted to conserve your magic power?”
The crisis wasn’t over.
The fish head beneath their feet was still shaking.
Even though they had stomped the Berserk Shark into the ground, it hadn’t stopped.
Its body and fins kicked up another cloud of sand, and its sliding speed didn’t decrease—it actually increased.
Noticing this, Field tightened her grip on Liyakade’s arm.
She looked at the flesh under their feet.
Liyakade’s heavy stomp hadn’t dealt much damage to the Berserk Shark’s head; its scales had absorbed most of the force.
The white skin on its head didn’t even have a bruise.
“Yes. I finally got this guy to make a move.”
Liyakade’s eyes turned cold.
Her crimson pupils stared down at the pair of vicious eyes looking back at her.
From the very first wave of Human-faced Fish attacks, what Liyakade had been guarding against was this creature.
Whether it was intuition or something else, Liyakade felt a genuine threat from this thing, just like when she had faced Darkness before.
If Liyakade couldn’t conserve all her magic power to fight, she would have to activate her Demon Bloodline to defeat this creature.
This thing had been hiding behind the Rain Curtain, ready to strike a fatal blow.
Now that all its minions had been wiped out, the hidden Berserk Shark finally revealed its true form.
“Kuh—”
The Berserk Shark slid across the ground, its belly already buried in the earth, yet its speed showed no sign of slowing.
The pair of fins on its sides moved through the ground as if there were no resistance at all.
Its sharp head smashed through several thick trees in front of it.
The broken tree trunks fell toward the Berserk Shark’s head, toward where Liyakade and Field were standing.
Liyakade seemed to have anticipated this.
She released Field from her embrace, held one of Field’s hands, and with the other hand covered in a layer of light wind, she swatted left and right, sending the falling trunks flying to either side.
“Whosh—”
A sound of wind tearing through the air suddenly rang out—the sound of the Berserk Shark flapping its fins.
Field felt like the world was spinning, and everything before her seemed to change violently.
From Field’s perspective, she couldn’t see what was happening.
But Natalia and the retreating travelers and guards could see it clearly.
The half of the Berserk Shark buried in the ground slowly rose to the surface.
Its massive body suddenly accelerated, and its fins acted like wings, lifting the Berserk Shark into the air.
Not only that, once airborne, it immediately flipped its body, trying to shake the two off.
Field felt a strong sense of weightlessness wash over her.
Her battle with the Blood-devouring Demon Octopus had already consumed all her magic power.
Even protecting her body with magic was now difficult.
But Field wasn’t afraid.
Because no matter what scene lay before her, the hand tightly gripping hers always gave her a sense of security.