With the gurgle of bubbles, Xia’s tense voice reached my ears.

“D-darn… Master, it seems… the aura of a fifth-tier beast…”

A fifth-tier beast…

Hearing Xia, I froze underwater. I almost choked on the water.

Ordinary humans’ Contract Beasts are usually only first or second-tier. Even the Coldblood Cuckoo we met earlier was a weak third-tier beast.

But this time—it’s a fifth-tier beast!

Though it sounds like only two tiers higher than third-tier, books say adjacent tiers differ in strength by at least three times. In other words, this beast is at least nine times stronger than that Coldblood Cuckoo.

Nine times its speed. Nine times its attack power. Even Tida, an Elf who wipes out first or second-tier beasts with a flick, would struggle to block a full strike from it.

“It’s spotted us.”

The ever-stoic Elf girl frowned deeply. Under the moonlight, astonishing magic surged to Tida’s porcelain fingertips. Residual waves rippled the entire Elven Spring.

“U-um…” I poked my head out of the water, watching Tida rise battle-ready.

“Ara ara~ Relax, Little Yiyi,” the fairy on Tida’s shoulder chirped, snapping to attention at my voice. She cut me off with energetic pep. “We can’t beat a fifth-tier beast, but we’ll hold it off. Don’t worry. When fighting starts, Little Yiyi and that flat-chested human girl run east. The War Ancient Tree’s there. We’ll be fine.”

Her tone was bright, but I heard a tremble. Even she wasn’t confident against a fifth-tier beast.

“I’m not flat-chested! And I won’t run!”

“Ara, flat-chested human, you’d just slow us down…”

“My Contract Beast and I are the strongest!”

“Cute Little Yiyi’s strong—I’ll admit that. But you…”

“Ah… no,” I said, seeing my master stand up fiercely. Bound by Contract and fearing for her, I turned to the water. Softly, I interrupted them. “Yiyi thinks we should dress first, then fight the beast together.”

“Fou ki ra hyear presia reen na cyurio re chyet!”

Tida’s chant flowed like soft music. Her hand slashed the air sharply. Instantly, her robe and damp hair fluttered in the cold wind. The air hummed with a strange resonance.

This unfamiliar tongue must be the Elven Folk’s unique incantation for Elven Magic. Such magic drains immense mana—no one on the continent can cast it. Not the humans in the central capital, not the Beast Clan in the south, not the dwarves in the northeast, nor the dragons in the southeast.

Yet this magic lets the Elven Folk hold their place. Unlike humans with Contract Beasts, the Beast Clan’s bloodlines, dwarves’ gadgets, or dragons’ innate strength.

If only I could learn it… After the Throne Struggle… escape… uh… carry out that plan. Wouldn’t it work?

As the chant ended, the air before Tida’s petite frame twisted eerily. Light and shadow shifted. A deep blue screen, like ocean depths, materialized. A blue pulse beam writhed before her finger like a venomous serpent, roaming the screen, ready to shred intruders.

“Ara, if you stay and become beast fertilizer, don’t blame us~” The fairy on Tida’s shoulder stared at us, our skin still flushed pink from the spring. “Don’t look so heroic. A fifth-tier beast is trouble enough without babysitting a timid loli and a flat-chested miss. Honestly.”

“Hmph. My Contract Beast and I need no babysitting. Yiyi, practice attack magic this time.”

“Ah… okay.” I nodded. My Angel intuition screamed danger closing in. My grip tightened on the Stardevouring Staff. —That fifth-tier beast is almost here.

But just then, Xia’s cry cut through: “No! This aura—it’s not fifth-tier! It’s a newly advanced sixth-tier beast!”