Chapter 202: What you’ve always wanted has been here.

The anger on Zhuwaaishi’s face suddenly vanished without a trace.

In its place appeared an overly sweet smile as her figure flashed forward with a “swish,” stopping almost nose-to-nose with Perletti.

“This brave and interesting big sister~ what’s your name? Tell me, pretty please~”

Perletti’s pupils contracted slightly.

She saw through it.

It wasn’t that Zhuwaaishi had moved quickly—

Something like a portal had been placed between them, and Perletti herself had been teleported directly in front of her.

“No comment.”

Perletti’s expression remained cold as she attempted to walk around her and continue forward.

The next second—

She returned to the exact same spot, once again facing Zhuwaaishi’s enlarged smiling face.

“How boring.”

Perletti spat in annoyance and stopped wasting words. Suddenly accelerating, her figure transformed into a streak of light and shot sideways.

Yet no matter which direction she dashed toward, or how fast she moved, she would bizarrely return to Zhuwaaishi’s front, as though trapped inside an inescapable Möbius loop.

“I already told you not to bother trying~”

Zhuwaaishi rested her chin on her hands while sitting cross-legged in midair, swinging her legs as she watched Perletti’s repeated futile attempts.

Then she sighed in a coaxing tone.

“I opened two connected gates. No matter how you run, you’ll just keep circling back to the same place~ So instead…”

“How about we make a deal?”

She lightly floated down before Perletti, raising a single finger while her cat ears twitched happily.

“Make me happy first. If I’m pleased enough, maybe I’ll let you pass~”

“And why exactly should I go through all the effort to entertain you?”

Perletti crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the goddess before her. Not a trace of compromise existed in her tone—only the stubborn attitude of “what can you possibly do to me?”

“Because if you don’t make me happy, I won’t let you through! Isn’t that simple?”

Zhuwaaishi touched the back of her hand against Perletti’s forehead and muttered with a serious expression:

“No fever… so why does your brain seem kind of slow? Could it be you’re actually an idiot?”

Perletti slapped her hand away, too lazy to continue bickering.

Instead, she rapidly observed the surroundings while trying different movement routes.

After several tests, she understood the situation.

This catgirl goddess had only placed looping teleportation gates along the route leading toward the World Tree’s core.

Other directions remained unrestricted.

Which meant—

The road was blocked.

But the objective might not have only one solution.

Masha had tasked her with destroying the “Origin Core,” but solving a problem had never required only one method.

Destroy the core—

Or…

Deal with the person causing the problem directly.

Her gaze shifted toward the center of the battlefield.

There, Masha was fighting Mu in an almost insane manner. Relying on her terrifying regeneration and the plundering nature of her “Authority” power, she had forcibly dragged Mu into a brutal war of attrition.

Mu was so wary of Masha that she could not spare attention elsewhere.

Wasn’t this perfect?

With Perletti’s current strength, directly interfering in a divine-level battle was basically suicide.

But she held more than one trump card.

For example—

Azure Fury.

And Time Slow.

Perletti had personally witnessed the terrifying power of that dagger. As long as she seized an opportunity, even a scratch upon Mu would be enough to instantly cripple her combat ability.

Those two abilities combined were practically hell layered atop hell.

Unless the difference in power was utterly insurmountable, almost anyone would fall victim to that combo.

Compared to playing mind games with a goddess who delighted in manipulation, this was obviously the more direct and efficient route.

Having made her decision, Perletti turned around without hesitation and began circling toward the edge of the battlefield, intending to find the best moment to strike.

“Hey hey hey! Why are you leaving?!”

Zhuwaaishi’s voice instantly rose, filled with wounded disbelief.

Her legs gave out as she flopped dramatically onto the ground and fake-cried loudly:

“Waaahhh—how can you bully a god like this?! This is way too cruel!”

But seeing that Perletti didn’t even slow down or react to the performance, Zhuwaaishi instantly stopped crying.

With another “swish,” she bounced up from the ground and pounced onto Perletti’s back with the nimbleness of an actual cat, wrapping her arms around Perletti’s neck.

“Don’t gooo~ Don’t gooo~ Let’s talk this out properly! We can negotiate!”

“Negotiate?”

Perletti stopped walking and glanced sideways at the fluffy head resting on her shoulder.

Her tone was full of suspicion.

“You were blocking me with everything you had just moments ago, and now suddenly you’re acting friendly. Anyone with a functioning brain would think this is a trap.”

“It’s not a trap! Absolutely not!”

Zhuwaaishi shook her head like a rattling drum, swearing solemnly:

“I sincerely want to help you! How about this? As long as you nod your head, I’ll personally blow up the Origin Core for you! You won’t even have to do it yourself! Pretty generous, right?”

“Since when are you such a kind person?”

Perletti turned around and pulled some distance between them, carefully examining the small face overflowing with “innocence” and “enthusiasm.”

She absolutely refused to believe that the God of Deceit and Mockery had suddenly developed a conscience.

If Zhuwaaishi was doing this, it could only be because she found it “more entertaining.”

Betraying Mu?

That didn’t seem quite right either.

Although Zhuwaaishi behaved erratically, from allowing Olivia inside until now, she had always remained within certain boundaries and had never directly sabotaged the ritual’s core.

So what exactly was she plotting?

A flash of realization crossed Perletti’s mind.

She tested cautiously:

“Let me guess… You tampered with the Origin Core somehow, and now you need me to personally go there and witness some kind of… ‘surprise’ to satisfy your twisted sense of fun. Am I right?”

“Congratulations!”

Zhuwaaishi’s eyes instantly lit up as she clapped happily.

“You got haaalf of it right! But just guessing isn’t exciting enough~ Come on, come on, I’ll personally take you there!”

“You’ll definitely—”

Without waiting for agreement, she grabbed Perletti’s wrist and dragged her toward the central altar region.

They arrived at an open area formed by massive intertwining roots.

Aside from the tree roots beneath their feet continuously extending and writhing outward, there was no sign of any special energy source.

Nothing there?

No.

According to Masha, the Origin Core had to be here.

It couldn’t have simply vanished.

Hidden inside the roots?

Without hesitation, Perletti gathered light-element power into her palm.

A Lumen light bullet shot forth and precisely blasted into one of the main roots!

“BOOM!”

A huge crater exploded open in the root, wood splinters flying everywhere.

Perletti quickly stepped forward to inspect it—

But aside from denser wooden fibers deeper inside, the pit was completely empty.

And in the next second, green light surged through the damaged area, rapidly restoring it back to normal.

“Nothing?”

Perletti frowned and immediately tried another location.

The result remained the same.

She tested several additional likely key nodes in succession, but aside from endlessly regenerating tough tree roots, she found absolutely nothing.

“Can’t find anything~?”

Zhuwaaishi’s figure appeared ghost-like beside her, resting her chin in her hands while smiling brightly enough to dazzle the eyes.

“Heh.”

Perletti looked at her coldly.

“So you really did tamper with it. I was wondering why you suddenly became kind enough to let me come over. Turns out you were just waiting here to laugh at me.”

“Now now~ you can’t say it like that~”

Zhuwaaishi raised a finger and shook it before mysteriously lowering her voice.

“I didn’t touch the Origin Core at all~ It’s been there the whole time.”

“If not you, then who?”

Perletti pressed immediately.

The smile on Zhuwaaishi’s face became increasingly bizarre.

She slowly floated behind Perletti, took hold of her wrist, and gently raised her arm—

Pointing directly toward the not-so-distant Olivia, who was anxiously watching the battle unfold.