Chapter 74: How Did She Do It

In the dim room, dust drifted through the faint glow.

Pereti’s shadow stretched long across the ground, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of her sleeve.

Kaierdimozi’s voice was low and drawn-out, wrapped in the obscurity of old stories—but she didn’t hear a single word.

All that rang in her ears was the hollow buzz of the nobles’ laughter outside the door—hypocritical, reeking of money and arrogance. Even through the door, it made her stomach churn.

It wasn’t that she wanted to stay in the same room as the Pope.

It was just that compared to dealing with those outwardly respectful yet inwardly covetous people, this cramped darkness felt like a temporary refuge.

The Pope’s helplessness carried a kind of sorrow born from circumstances beyond his control.

But the greed and ugliness of those nobles—

was so pure, so filthy, that it made her nauseous.

Compared to the Pope’s helplessness, their actions disgusted her far more.

“…Enough. I’m leaving.”

Pereti cut off Kaierdimozi mid-sentence, her tone unable to hide her irritation.

She followed the faint glow to the door, the cold metal of the handle clearing her muddled thoughts slightly. Calling out “Feiye,” she stepped out first.

The crystal chandeliers above had dimmed considerably. Only a few still glowed faintly.

The church no longer had that hazy, sacred atmosphere from before. Along the way, Pereti didn’t see a single person.

The vast cathedral was empty.

“Feiye… in your memories, did Qingcheng ever encounter something like this?”

Pereti looked at her, for the first time feeling utterly lost about the future.

She suddenly realized—

if Qingcheng was her future self, then she must have faced something similar.

Pereti didn’t want to imitate her.

She just wanted to know—

what answer her future self had given to a world like this.

Feiye nodded faintly, her movement almost invisible in the darkness.

She didn’t want what Qingcheng had gone through to happen to Pereti.

But seeing Pereti like this—

she couldn’t bear to watch her continue suffering.

“Then… can you tell me how she handled it?”

“Big Sister told me before,” Feiye said softly, “that humans had been despicable for thousands of years—so there should be an end to it.”

“So she overthrew several human nations, established a new order, returned all the beastfolk within those territories along with some land, and built a very good relationship with the beastfolk princess. She even took me to meet her a few times.”

“Big Sister was just too kind… even though many things had nothing to do with her, she still insisted on helping them… that’s why she ended up like that…”

“Like what?” Pereti asked instinctively.

“And if Qingcheng really helped the beastfolk—returning land, avoiding war—then why did they still try to kill me?”

Feiye fell silent for a moment.

She knew some things couldn’t stay buried forever.

Even if she didn’t say it, Pereti would eventually learn the truth.

“It’s all those golden-haired goblins’ fault!”

At the mention of it, Feiye’s cheeks puffed up in anger.

“Golden-haired goblins?” Pereti froze for a moment.

Goblins had gone extinct centuries ago.

It took her a second to realize—

Feiye meant elves.

After all, in this world, the only races with pointed ears were elves and vampires. As a former vampire princess from a thousand years ago, Feiye would never call vampires that.

And if Pereti remembered correctly, most vampires had white hair like hers.

Golden hair. Pointed ears.

Elves, no doubt.

“Yeah! Them!” Feiye’s voice carried rare anger as she continued.

“Going back in time from the future isn’t unheard of. Hundreds of years ago, the third Elf King made a pact with the God of Decay, turning back the entire world’s timeline to when Sister Masha had just become a god—he wanted to save his wife.”

“But in the end, both he and his wife were killed by Sister Masha.”

“All that was left to the elves was the contract with the God of Decay. According to its terms, the price for reversing time was the World Tree—the foundation of their entire race.”

“The elves tried everything to stop it, but failed. So in the end, they thought of asking Big Sister for help.”

“Qingcheng?” Pereti frowned. “Don’t the elves have their own god? Why not ask the God of Nature? Why Qingcheng?”

“Because Big Sister is the only one blessed by the God of Light,” Feiye explained. “They believed the God of Light would definitely help her, so they had her seek out the God of Decay.”

“But no one expected… when she came back, she was completely different.”

“She personally destroyed the World Tree, wiped out the elves… then humans, beastfolk, vampires—she destroyed the entire world.”

“And after that… time returned to now.”

Pereti stood frozen, her mouth wide enough to fit a watermelon.

She stared at Feiye, taking a long moment before finding her voice:

“You’re telling me… Qingcheng just went to the World Tree, came back, became a god—and destroyed the world?!”

Feiye nodded.

It was absurd.

So absurd that Pereti couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

Putting herself in the beastfolk princess’s position—

A human promises to save your nation, return your land, bring your people home.

You grow close. Maybe even fall for her.

Then one day, you hear she has crushed multiple human nations.

You think your people have finally survived—

And then she arrives…

and kills all your people without a word.

Even physically tearing your heart out.

“…Damn.”

Pereti clicked her tongue.

That sense of despair—

it maxed out instantly.

First giving hope, then absolute despair—

anyone would break.

Now she could understand what that princess must have felt after returning.

And the elf taken away by Karoline—

was undoubtedly here for her.

If nothing unexpected had happened, that elf had also come back from the future.

“Wait—doesn’t time travel require a price?” Pereti frowned. “So many people came back this time—where’s the cost?!”

“I don’t know,” Feiye said softly, scratching her head. “Maybe the God of Decay was too busy chopping the World Tree to collect it?”

“He can reverse time but doesn’t have time for that?” Pereti smacked her forehead.

Not Feiye. Not Josuna.

If there was only one person left in the world who could make a deal with the God of Decay—

it could only be Qingcheng.

Which meant—

it wasn’t that there was no cost.

It was that Qingcheng bore it alone.

Only that could explain everything.

She must have made some kind of deal with the God of Decay.

One of the conditions was for her to destroy the world.

And she had no psychological burden doing so—

because she knew that afterward, time would reset, and everyone she killed would be revived.

But then—

why bring so many people back with her?

Pereti couldn’t help but complain internally.

Wouldn’t it have been enough to come back alone?

Why drag so many others into reincarnation?

What was she even thinking?

Wasn’t that just making things harder?

…Well.

At least now she understood why the beastfolk were hunting her.

Knowing something— was better than being completely lost.