Chapter 164: She looks so silly

Peretti placed the 【Everbright】 lantern by her feet. Its gentle glow spread outward, providing a stable light-element environment around her.

Closing her eyes, she focused her mind and began constructing the complex spell known as 【New Sun】 according to the instructions in the manual.

Minute by minute passed. Fine beads of sweat formed at her temples.

“As expected of a restorative spell said to return something to its peak condition… even for me, a single high-tier spell actually took three attempts before I barely succeeded.”

Normally, most high-tier magic only required a single attempt for her to grasp the framework.

Then… let’s see the results.

Peretti lifted 【Everbright】 and focused its radiance onto the enormous heart, formally activating the completed 【New Sun】 spell.

Golden patterns materialized around the heart, rapidly intertwining into a complex and sacred three-dimensional magic circle. Warm yet non-burning holy light completely enveloped the heart, causing it to slowly float into the air.

Golden ripples spread outward from the heart in concentric waves, carrying the rhythm of purification and revival. They gently stirred the hair and clothes of the three present.

The light gradually reached its peak before slowly receding like the ebbing tide.

Losing its support, the floating heart dropped back onto the ground with a wet thud, splashing dust and black liquid.

Peretti held her breath and stared expectantly.

One second. Two seconds. Ten seconds…

The heart lay there motionless.

There was no change at all.

Even the faint pulsation from before had completely ceased.

Then, right before Peretti’s astonished eyes, countless tiny cracks spread across the surface of the gigantic heart. With a crisp crack, it shattered apart like dried mud, completely collapsing into a pile of lifeless flesh and sludge.

“What the hell…”

Disappointment washed over her.

After all that effort… this is it? Nothing happened at all!

“Well, failure is the normal outcome, isn’t it?”

Olivia stepped forward and looked at the completely inactive remains, visibly relieved.

“It’s only a heart that’s been eroded by a curse for hundreds of years. No matter how you look at it, resurrection was never possible.”

“Yeah, Sister.”

Crimson Night tugged at Peretti’s sleeve and softly urged her,

“It smells awful here. Let’s leave already.”

Peretti pouted and cast one last glance at the pile of rotten flesh before turning around reluctantly to leave.

Squirm…

A faint sound suddenly came from behind them, as though something were writhing through thick liquid.

Peretti’s footsteps halted instantly.

She spun around sharply, her piercing gaze locking onto the pile of shattered heart fragments.

“What’s wrong, Titi?”

Olivia noticed her reaction.

“Nothing.”

Peretti blinked and listened carefully for a moment, but the sound never came again.

She shook her head.

“Maybe I misheard it. Probably just the wind or something.”

She turned once more and left with Olivia and Crimson Night, walking back the way they had come.

Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Only after confirming that the three had completely gone did several more moments pass…

Then suddenly, the center of the dark-red pile of heart fragments began to twitch irregularly.

Splurt—

A tiny hand coated in sticky fluid suddenly thrust out from the mound of flesh!

Immediately afterward, a small and slender white-haired figure struggled free from the center of the supposedly “dead” remains.

She looked no bigger than a human child, her body covered in dark crimson residue. Beneath her wet, tangled white hair was a pair of deep violet eyes filled with lingering fear… and overwhelming ecstasy.

“Finally… finally…”

She gasped for breath, her childish voice carrying an ancient tone.

“It’s gone… Our hope! The hope of surviving has finally arrived!!!”

Peretti’s 【New Sun】 spell had not been ineffective at all!

At the very instant the spell activated, Sevyara clearly felt the terrifying curse that had entangled her soul for centuries completely vanish. A vast surge of life force poured into her remaining “core,” frantically attempting to reconstruct her body.

But she forcefully suppressed both the rebuilding impulse and the radiance, refusing to reveal herself immediately.

She needed a chance to escape.

A chance to gain true freedom.

If the powerful being who cast the spell discovered it had worked, she would definitely be controlled or taken away on the spot. At that point, freedom would become nothing more than a foolish dream.

Although her reborn body had become abnormally tiny due to insufficient energy and damage to her core, and her strength had fallen to less than one percent of its former self, it was all worth it as long as she gained freedom!!!

She cautiously scanned her surroundings. Only after confirming the three terrifying figures had truly left did she carefully crawl out of the pile of flesh and begin sneaking toward the depths of the forest.

Thunk—!

Her little head suddenly bumped into something warm and soft.

Sevyara stiffened.

Slowly… very slowly… she raised her head.

Reflected in her violet pupils was a delicate, spotless black leather shoe.

Above it were slender ankles and calves wrapped in pure white stockings.

Her gaze slowly traveled upward along the leg until it met a pair of golden eyes looking down at her with playful amusement.

At some point, Peretti had silently returned and was leisurely waiting for her here.

“Guh… can’t see me… can’t see me…”

Sevyara’s entire body froze. She immediately shut her eyes and began muttering under her breath, attempting to cast the legendary “Invisibility Spell” (psychological comfort version).

Maintaining her crouched posture, she slowly—bit by bit—tried turning around, pretending nothing had happened so she could quietly sneak away.

“Oh?” Peretti’s amused voice sounded above her head.

“And where exactly is little dragon sister planning to go?”

“Can’t see me… can’t see me…”

Sevyara chanted even faster, though her trembling voice completely betrayed her.

“Sister.”

Crimson Night tilted her head while staring at the strange little white-haired creature.

“She looks… kind of dumb?”

“So it’s a stupid dragon.”

Peretti sighed theatrically, though her tone brimmed with mischief.

“Well, that’s troublesome. A dumb dragon isn’t very useful. I heard dragon meat is extremely nourishing? Every part of a dragon is treasure. Guess we’ll just have to find a big pot and stew her into soup.”

“Eh?! EHHHH?!”

Sevyara instantly broke down. Her eyes widened into perfect circles as she scrambled to Peretti’s feet and hugged her leg tightly, pleading incoherently:

“T-This honorable… honorable bird—! Ptooey, ptooey! Honorable Winged God-sama! Your divine grace is boundless! Surely there’s no need to argue with a weak, pitiful, helpless little dragon like me, right?! My meat is sour! There’s not even enough on me for one bite! I taste awful! Really!”

“Too close… I almost used my old verbal tic…”

“The Winged Gods hate being called bird people the most. If Peretti heard that properly, I’d probably get turned into mute-dragon jerky…”

Sensing the dense light-element aura surrounding Peretti, Sevyara instinctively classified her as some genius of the Winged God race. Even though Peretti lacked wings, an aura like that couldn’t be faked.

“Hahaha…”

Unable to hold it in any longer, Olivia finally laughed softly, her gaze turning subtly toward Peretti.

“Titi, you really are awful. You noticed something was wrong from the very beginning, yet you deliberately waited for her to crawl out on her own just so you could scare her.”