VIP Chapter 371 Becoming Lovers
Will gazed at the now-destroyed castle that was once “impregnable” and at Liya, who stood bathed in the light of the dawn.
He recalled three days ago, while they were studying “XX Ash Extinguish,” his idea—
“Teacher Liya, I think those two words… mean decompose.”
“Decompose?”
“Of course, the name of the magic itself isn’t important, as long as it can describe what the magic can do. The reason I say decompose is because… I think the magic of the Candle of First Creation has a paradox.”
“Hmm?”
“If the wax block of the Candle of First Creation can only be extinguished by the strongest flame, then before that, there can be no magic that heats it from the outside to shape and change it.”
“Yes. That’s likely the reason. Moreover, this magic Meilin gave me doesn’t come from the original text of ancient magic either.”
“But… what if we aren’t heating it from the outside? What if we change the state of a substance from within?”
“From… inside?”
“This might be a bit ahead of understanding of this era—imagine, as a created object, it has a structure that magic cannot destroy, which proves there must be a stronger force connecting it.”
“You mean…”
“If the connection within it decomposes, it will generate greater heat. Therefore, it’s not from the outside, but from the inside that it decomposes and burns.”
“That explanation does shed some light on the meaning. But… that’s fine for a wax block you can hold and shape, but for… that castle?”
“Then we might need some medium. For example… Teacher Liya~ that coin you witches are most proud of.”
…
Using the coin as a medium, the ancient magic of “Decomposition Ash Extinguish” was precisely projected into the interior of the Snow Woman’s castle, causing every piece of ice within the castle to decompose and explode. This way, the problem wasn’t solved from the outside, but by dismantling it from the inside of the ice wall.
The method of solving the problem had become a brute force solution.
This magic also placed no small demands on the magic circuit and Liya’s magic power.
Since she managed it, and managed it without using his blood as a “catalyst”…
Will lowered his head and picked up the large magic hat that Liya’s gale had blown away.
A relieved expression appeared on his face.
Just as the blackened ones, beyond his control, had awakened him to the reality of this world, so too did they now possess a “reality” beyond his control.
She understood what he wanted to do.
She had done it, truly controlling the witch’s circuit, rather than being controlled by it.
“How was it? The Snow Woman should still be alive, but the castle is gone, so she just needs your finishing blow—ask her anything you want.”
Liya held her staff and thrust it into the ground.
The End of Ice Abyss was no longer swept by a cold wind, but by a warm spring breeze.
She felt the gentle spring breeze and subconsciously reached to adjust her hat, only to forget it had blown away, her palm landing on her head.
“Mm. Thank you, Liya. A beautiful fireworks display, I saw it.”
Will placed the hat on her head, pressing it down slightly, causing her Twin Tails to bounce downwards.
“You’re not calling me ‘Teacher’ this time?”
“In a relationship with a lover, still calling me ‘Teacher’… isn’t that a perverted and overly intimate term? Let me reiterate, I’m truly not a pervert.”
“Wh-what intimate term… At your age, what are you thinking…”
Liya had her own way of wearing her witch hat. She held the hat brim, twisted it, making sure to turn the side with the witch’s portrait to the back.
After unconsciously sighing and performing this action, she lifted the hat brim, revealing a flushed face.
“Wait… You you you you… you just said… said lover?!”
“I’ve heard enough of your confessions. And, let me correct you, I wasn’t acting.”
Will slowly bent down. Liya watched his head. As he squatted, her perspective shifted from a 30-degree upward glance to a level gaze.
Her eyes met Will’s.
“From the beginning, I said it. I love you deeply, and my love for you has never diminished from the moment you awakened me until now. Now, you should believe it, right?”
Faced with Liya, who had transformed from ‘tsundere’ to an extreme ‘straight shooter’ and a ‘fangirl,’ Will’s choice was…
Straight shot.
One should respond to a straight-shooting, high-attack move with an even more direct, high-attack move!
Speaking heartfelt words without any pretense.
“Hmm… Or perhaps, Liya, you’re the type who gets more excited when called ‘Teacher,’ feeling a thrill of being ‘conquered’ by a younger person?”
“You… you…”
“Teacher Liya~? Teacher Liya… Teacher Liya—!”
He called out in three completely different tones, tilting his head and smiling with narrowed eyes. Such a smile and gesture were clearly teasing Liya.
Liya understood.
Whether it was Will’s chosen “Fake Death,” or the earlier drastic action of pouring his blood on her head, or the final act of putting a bug in her to manage her magic circuit.
In reality, all of it was for this moment, so that she could…
Be able to be with him now, with her “love” undiminished, but “healthy” and under his regained control—
“Alright. My dear Will. I… I allow you to… from now on, only call me Liya.”
Liya pulled down her hat with one hand, hiding her shy expression, while with the other hand, she held onto his pinky finger.
—Becoming lovers.
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“The sky… is brightening…”
The Snow Woman Lay amidst the “ruins” of her castle. Because all her defenses were concentrated on the castle walls, her本体’s defense was very low.
After being completely blown apart, she leaned against the wall, only her upper body remaining. Of course, as a monster from a Dungeon, her upper body did not bleed terrifying guts or internal organs; it merely dissipated into a pool of ice-blue moisture on the ground.
Her black hair covered half of her face.
Will cautiously approached.
He was unsure if the Snow Woman before him still had “consciousness,” as her gaze seemed unfocused.
He pondered, even an Empress, if her lower body were directly obliterated, would she still have much consciousness, he wondered?
“Kexicili… can you still hear me?”
He crouched down, facing the Snow Woman, who only had her upper body and couldn’t even utter a taunt, and called out that name.
That…
In the Original Work, it was the epithet of the Snow Woman from “Apex of the Galaxy.”
For some reason, the Snow Woman here hadn’t told this name to anyone else.
She seemed to dislike her name—though Will remembered that Kexicili in the Original Work was the same.
“Have you heard of… the dungeon ‘Apex of the Galaxy’? In your memory, have you heard of an Empress named Li Wei’qi?”
Will did not receive a reply from the Snow Woman, but he asked the question he most wanted to know.
“So… so cold…”
“…”
Will looked into her eyes. They were no longer focused on tangible things. The Snow Woman now looked at the “illusion” of her own impending death.
“…But… still have to… still have to keep moving forward…”
“Can I… can I only go this far… to this end?”
“I still want to… still want to sleep in my own… my own castle…”
The Snow Woman’s words were intermittent, and finally, her body slowly dissipated.
Liya stood aside, watching it all coldly. To her, the Snow Woman was not a particularly respectable opponent, but she had sparred a few moves with her and found her somewhat interesting.
“What did she see in the end? What was she saying? Strange, in the end, she wasn’t saying her usual sarcastic remarks.”
Will sighed.
“I don’t know. Perhaps it’s just the… illusion of an Emperor before death.”
“What you wanted, was it that? Her… heart?”
Where the Snow Woman had disappeared, the Loot from the victorious battle in “The End of Ice Abyss” lay quietly.
It was an exquisitely carved ice-blue heart, like an ice sculpture. Inside the heart, there seemed to be a small “Pendant.” However, unlike the pendants of deceased individuals, this one did not contain a photograph.
It was empty, with only the name written on the background—
“Kexicili.”
