Lubella stared at Zich. He stood above the lake as he drew his sword and exhaled deeply.

She moved her gaze from Zich to the front of the boat. The space before them was split—there was no other way to describe it. It was as if a curtain covering a scenery was split right in the middle and revealed what was behind it. A part of an island appeared into view behind the split space, but the island wasn’t visible in any other area. Lubella was able to easily assess what had caused this phenomenon.

Space was warped in this area. While the lake’s rough currents blocked people from approaching the area, space itself was warped to conceal this island. The island that came into view behind the split space was probably the Bellid headquarters that Zich talked about. Although the Bellid headquarters that the Karuwimans had been desperately looking for came into view, Lubella’s eyes lingered longer on Zich than on the island. What was the strike of light she had seen just now? Concealing an island by warping space couldn’t be done by any normal means. Furthermore, looking at the parts of the island visible through the gap, she was able to assess that the island was of considerable size. Naturally, the bigger the island was, the more mana was needed to conceal it.

Lubella recalled the first time she had met Zich. Although Zich had considerable skills, he still had his limits then. He was stronger than his peers, but overall, he was not much more than a young, skilled fighter. Yet, the current Zich was on a whole different level compared to the previous Zich. Even her bodyguard, Weig, wouldn’t be able to be a worthwhile opponent to Zich now. No, one could say that Zich was the world’s strongest fighter at the moment. Seeing that Zich had become so strong in a couple of years, Lubella sighed in relief that although he was a bit(?) violent, Zich hadn’t gone astray and continued to walk the path of justice.

Furthermore, Lubella wasn’t the only one stunned by Zich’s unbelievable power and might. Though they had witnessed his skills while fighting a dragon, they still couldn’t get used to seeing the scale of it all.

“What an utter monster,” Walwiss murmured. Leona usually refuted whatever he said right away, but she kept her mouth closed this time.

That said, with the experiences and skills they had gained until now, the party members soon regained their senses. At the back of the boat, Til stretched out his hand behind him.

Pop! The boat shot forward from the repelling force. Since he lacked mana control compared to Zich, the boat wavered quite a bit. However, the speed of the boat wasn’t any slower compared to the time that Zich had managed the boat.

Whoosh!

Since the surface of the lake that Zich split hadn’t recovered yet, the boat dropped down. Then, it breezed across a valley of water at a quick speed toward the gap in space that Zich created. With Til’s keen eye, he was able to see that the gap was slightly narrowing, and it wouldn’t be open forever. Still, the gap was still large enough for the boat to pass through.

Shaaaa!

No matter how impressive Zich’s skills were, he couldn’t keep the lake split forever. Soon, water poured down from the sides and began to fill in the gap. It appeared as if the water would swallow up the boat and sink it. Til changed the direction of his mana to propel the boat upward.

Pop!

From the shock of the mana, the tail end of the boat tipped down while the front end tilted up. Cutting through the water rushing in, the boat began to rise over the valley of water.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Til shot out another series of mana bursts and multiplied the boat’s momentum. Defying the rough water currents pouring down, the boat moved up. Zich and his companions clutched the boat’s rails.

Bong!

The front of the boat shot above the lake’s surface and the boat floated a little into the air.

Splaaaash!

The split lake completely sealed up again after the boat escaped. White foam filled the top of the lake’s surface and the boat scattered the foam away as it fell.

“Is...it over?” After withstanding the boat’s rough ride while clutching onto the rails with all her might, Lubella surveyed her surroundings.

“It seems so.” Walwiss had basically been hanging over the railing, and he finally rose. “Ah, my back! My body isn’t like before...” he said, clutching onto his back. His bones cracked.

“That’s why you shouldn’t hole yourself in your room all the time. Go out and do some exercises,” Leona remarked.

“Don’t compare me to elves who are youthful and lively even after living many years. When humans become old as me, unless they train professionally like knights, they will hit their limits no matter how much they hone their physique,” Walwiss replied.

Then, he turned to Til at the back of the boat and said, “Good work. I bet it was difficult to control the boat between the split sides of the lake.”

“Thank you.”

“The boat is pretty broken. I suppose we will have to change our boat again,” Walwiss said and looked around like he was searching for something. “But where is our boat supplier now?”

Tong!

As soon as Walwiss finished speaking, Zich dropped down from the air. “Good work everybody.”

“Mr. Til did most of the work. I hope we don’t have to experience something like this again. It’s too much of a burden on an old body.”

“Yes, Zich. It’s too much for an old, creaking mage to bear.”

“How do elves age exactly? I hope this one quickly becomes old and experiences how I feel.”

“I’m sure I won’t age like you at least.”

“Come on, let’s not fight. Look in front of you. That’s the goal we are chasing,” Zich said.

Lubella, Leona, Walwiss, and Til looked forward. There was an island. Shielded by a space warped with mana, the island was considerably big. The party members looked back to see how the outside appeared from inside the barrier. They found that although the island was completely hidden from the outside, those inside the barrier could see the outside with no issues. Then, the party studied the island again.

The island was flat. It didn’t have any curves like a mountain or hills and didn’t have areas that were difficult to land on such as cliffs. The lakeshore they saw and the one across it were both blanketed by sand. However, the island had a special feature that easily stood out from far away. There was a tower that rose high in the middle. It was so tall that with a bit of exaggeration, it could be described as 'soaring into the sky.' Zich and his companions scanned the tower from the bottom to the top.

“Geez, these Bellid bastards. They have a nest that’s way too good for them.” Walwiss seemed to be in a bad mood; his pride was hurt because the tower in front of them was much taller than his own magical tower.

Compared to him, Lubella wasn’t even the least interested in the tower’s height. “Let’s go. Let’s quickly exterminate and crush those insects into dust.”

“Yes, let’s go.” Zich took out a new boat. After all his companions moved to the new boat, Zich drove the boat to the island. The fierce currents strong enough to crush all the boats became completely calm once they entered through the lake’s barrier. It did not take long before the boat arrived at the foot of the island. However, arriving at the island was only the beginning.

“Are you ready?” Zich asked. His gaze was glued to the inside of the island. A huge number of monsters were packed on the shore of the lake as if they were welcoming the uninvited guests.

“It seems like they’ve prepared some defensive measures to protect their main base.”

“There aren’t many high-ranking monsters though. Most of them are there to fill the headcount.”

“It doesn’t matter. Since we’re here, we just have to think about getting to the top of the tower.”

Walwiss, Lubella, and Leona spoke in order while taking out their weapons. Til didn’t open his mouth, but he headed to the front of the boat with his sword drawn out before anyone else. Everyone’s eyes were on Zich.

“It doesn’t seem like I need to explain. Let’s clean up these troublesome things and advance to the top,” Zich said as he set foot on the island first. The rest of the party followed suit.

Soon, the sound of fierce battle enveloped the island.

* * *

Zich’s party showed off their skills by easily trampling over a bunch of monsters and advancing toward the tower. The monsters that filled the lake were no better than scarecrows standing on a field.

“Are we going to the tower right away? Or shall we first wipe out all the monsters here?” Walwiss asked.

“Let’s go to the tower!” Zich shouted.

“Got it!”

Walwiss followed Zich’s words without question.

Baaaaam! After Walwiss’ magic wiped out all the monsters in front of him, there were no more monsters left between them and the tower.

“Where’s the entrance?” Walwiss asked.

“This way!” Everyone moved in the direction that Zich pointed toward. Soon, the entrance to the tower was revealed. There was a large door big enough to allow four or five people to go through it together. Zich grabbed the doorknob and pulled it.

Clank! The door was locked, but no one was concerned. Zich made eye contact with each of his companions. “The inside will be much more dangerous. Are all of you ready?”

Everyone nodded in unison.

“Then let’s go!”

Crush!

Zich put some strength into his grip. Zich had split the lake and barrier with a swing of his sword; there was no way that a mere door lock could withstand his strength. The lock broke with a rough click, and the door of the tower opened.

“I’ll go first.” Til went through the entrance. He tightly held his huge sword and warily glanced around in all directions. “...There’s nothing here.”

“Do they not want to start attacking from the first floor? It seems like even these guys have basic courtesy when treating their guests.”

“There’s no way that’s true, Sir Dwayne. How can those filthy Bellids possess such a thing? Courtesy is a word that goes along with the Bellids about as much as cockroaches and cleanliness.”

Walwiss and Lubella followed behind Til. Zich and Leona stood guard for any outside threats, and they entered last.

Bang! Zich shut the tower’s door. However, even if he tried to lock the door, he couldn’t because the lock was broken. On the other hand, even if the lock were intact, it wouldn’t have been strong enough to stop the monsters from entering.

“Move out of my way for a moment.” Walwiss leaned his staff against the door. “This isn’t my specialty, but...”

Mana revolved around his staff. Hissss! The tower’s door froze instantly.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Uahhhhhhh!

Kuahhhhh!

They could hear monsters slamming on the door outside, but the frozen door didn’t budge an inch.

“Monsters of that level won’t be able to come in for quite a time.” Walwiss spoke casually, but he was a mage from a school of magic that specialized in fire magic. Considering that he was able to use such strong ice magic with ease while specializing in fire magic, it was possible to get a glimpse of his astounding magic ability.

After the tower’s entrance was sealed, the party’s gazes headed toward the inside. They had no idea what was going to happen there, and they felt the tension rising.

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