Chapter 179: We’ve found you!

“Now that I’ve rested enough, I want to go out for a walk alone.”

Perletti rubbed the corner of her forehead as she stood up, her gaze drifting toward the ruined remains of Navia in the distance. Her voice carried the perfect trace of exhaustion and nostalgia.

“After all… this used to be my homeland too. Just by myself, alright?”

She recalled how, when she first woke up, Scarlet Night had not been guarding her side.

That seemed to confirm her suspicion:

The Scarlet Night of this world was not a reincarnator. She did not possess that almost obsessive desire to monopolize her big sister, and her personality seemed far more normal.

Sure enough, Scarlet Night only thought for a moment before nodding.

“Of course, big sister. Even though this place is ruined now, a lot of the streets are still recognizable. Just don’t go too far, and stay safe.”

Could she really not tell what Perletti intended to do by leaving alone?

It was just that, after everything they had gone through, Perletti truly looked exhausted.

So exhausted that she hadn’t even had the chance to properly rest.

And that Josuna…

Was probably the final lingering attachment in her heart.

The moment she left Vinika and Ino’s line of sight, Perletti immediately began circulating the magic power inside her body.

What shocked her inwardly was that whether it was the nature of her magic, its quantity, or the smoothness with which she cast spells, everything was exactly the same as before entering the World Tree.

Vinika had already grown into an adult in this world, meaning several years had passed.

That only further proved—

I was thrown into this illusion together with my real body and powers.

According to the information Vinika revealed, Josuna had escaped after being injured during her battle with her.

Perletti knew Vinika’s combat style all too well.

Through powerful mental interference, Vinika excelled at creating openings in her opponents.

Against someone like her, even if Josuna survived by luck, there was no way she could have escaped unscathed.

Dragging around severe injuries, she couldn’t have gone far.

At the moment, the followers of Gluttony were still immersed in the ecstasy of conquering the Imperial capital, busy cleaning the battlefield and reorganizing order. The net cast to hunt down surviving enemies likely had not fully tightened yet.

If she moved quickly, perhaps…

Perletti stopped hesitating.

With a thought, pure light elements rapidly gathered behind her back and condensed into a pair of glowing white wings.

The wings trembled once.

Dust exploded beneath her feet as her figure shot into the sky like a streak of white light, speeding toward the coastline outside Navia—the area whose terrain she remembered as the most complicated.

Eventually, her eyes locked onto a steep seaside cliff in the distance.

The terrain there was dangerous. Endless waves crashed against the cliff day and night, likely forming natural caves and cracks through years of erosion.

At the same time, the surrounding plains were completely open. Any approaching pursuers could be spotted from far away.

From the perspective of hiding, the space beneath those cliffs was perhaps the only place capable of offering even a brief respite in desperate circumstances.

Perletti landed at the edge of the cliff and looked down at the raging waves and jagged reefs below.

Then she lifted her foot and stomped heavily against the ground.

Loose stones near the cliff edge immediately tumbled downward, rolling along the almost vertical cliffside before crashing into the sea below. The sound was instantly swallowed by the thunderous roar of the waves, leaving no trace behind.

If someone were suppressing groans…

Or painful breathing…

Those sounds would probably also be perfectly concealed beneath the eternal noise of the ocean.

She did not immediately descend to search.

Instead, she spread her energy and lightly flew above the sea surface, her sharp eyes carefully scanning every cliff face and every shadow that might conceal an entrance.

But the surging waves, heavy sea mist, and awkward angle of the light made it impossible to spot any obvious cave entrances.

She didn’t linger too long.

At her current level, she still could not maintain flight for extended periods of time. After only this short while, Perletti could already feel her balance becoming unstable.

Failing to find anything, she turned and flew toward another direction, her white figure quickly disappearing beyond the cliffs.

“Hah… looks like she finally left!”

A deliberately hushed female voice trembled with relief from surviving disaster.

It came from behind an extremely hidden crevice near the bottom of the cliff.

A figure carefully pushed aside a thin stone slab whose color and texture almost perfectly blended together with the surrounding rocks.

The slab opened just enough to let in a faint ray of light and fresh air.

A pair of cautious eyes peered through the gap, carefully scanning the gray sky and ocean surface. Only after confirming that the white figure had truly departed did the owner finally sigh in relief and widen the opening slightly.

“That should really have been the Light Witch… sigh, thankfully she doesn’t seem especially skilled at flight control. She couldn’t hover in the air for long enough to inspect carefully. Otherwise, with how crude our hiding spot is, if she’d looked a couple more times or gotten any closer, we definitely would’ve been discovered.”

The speaker was a girl in a torn maid outfit, her face stained with dirt and blood. Clutching her chest, she spoke in lingering fear.

Yet before her relieved words had fully fallen—

From deep within the dark and cramped cave suddenly came a cold metallic sound overflowing with hatred and despair.

Clang!

The sharp cry of a sword leaving its sheath!

Immediately afterward, a trembling female voice filled with boundless fury erupted like something dragged from the depths of hell itself, shattering the brief silence within the cave.

“LIGHT———————— WITCH————————!!”

Alongside that hysterical roar, the originally dim cave was instantly flooded by a brilliant white light that appeared out of nowhere!

Within the light was the sword raised high in Elberna’s hand.

The knight’s light armor on her body was shattered and ragged. Her pink hair clung messily to her sweat-soaked cheeks and neck.

Yet her golden eyes burned with nearly insane flames as she glared fixedly at the white-haired figure who had somehow appeared soundlessly inside the cave entrance.

By the light, Perletti was finally able to see the interior of the cave clearly.

The cave was cramped and damp, filled with the smell of seawater and faint traces of blood.

In the deepest corner, curled atop a bed of torn cloth, lay another figure.

Her body was wrapped in makeshift bandages torn from clothing, all stained dark red with blood.

It was the missing Josuna.

She had grown taller now, more mature.

Even though the silver-white robes symbolizing the Holy Light Church were torn so badly they were almost unrecognizable, they still could not fully hide the natural elegance and resilience woven into her very being.

Only now, that elegance was buried beneath weakness and pain.

“L-Light Witch?! W-When did you get in here?!”

The maid who had opened the stone slab earlier turned deathly pale in fright and stumbled backward, nearly tripping over the scattered rocks on the ground. Her voice was full of horror.

Perletti’s gaze slowly shifted away from Josuna and landed upon Elberna and the panicked maid.

Her voice was calm.

Flat.

Without the slightest ripple of emotion.

Cold enough to make one’s heart tremble.

“The moment you pushed aside the stone slab… and let the first ray of light enter.”

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