When Ery's mind finally returned to reality, he found himself once again locked up in the prison. Not only that, his pack apparently got caught as well, because they stood all in the cells next to him.
It had been days since he was imprisoned in this place, but there was still no word from the Ouroboros. He received nothing about Silva's condition and the fact she was gradually dying without a solution was slowly killing him from the inside.
Finally, on the sixth day, a figure snuck into the prison and arrived in front of his cell.
It was none other than Annara Vermont.
"This place brings back mories." She said this as she looked around. "At least this ti I am on the other side of the room."
Not at all in the mood to joke with the girl, Ery imdiately asked for news about Silva.
Alas, to his despair, even Annara, who was arguably an expert in lying, couldn't hide the sorrow in her voice as she said, "She doesn't have much ti left... A few days, a week at most."
It was worse than what Ery expected. He thought she still had a year or two left. Hence, he couldn't hide the shock and devastation he felt. In his desperation, he tried to cling to all kinds of hope.
"The queen will not let her die just like that, right? She must have prepared sothing!"
Annara told him the Ouroboros Queen had actually just returned from a trip to personally seek help from several renowned healers. But once again, despair struck Ery when he heard that they had all given up recently. Now there truly were no other options.
"No, it can't be... There's got to be another way."
As his mind went into overdrive, trying to think of anything he could think of, Ery suddenly thought of a spell.
"Rebirth!"
However, his exclamation was quickly countered by the red-haired girl.
"How?! You can't even cast Tier 4 spells and now you think you can cast a divine one?"
Although what she said was true, Ery was not willing to give up without trying.
"Annara, let give it a try. Inform the queen for ! Let do it!"
The bat girl took a deep sigh, before she nodded slightly and left. After an agonizing one hour wait, she finally ca back and got Ery out of his cell. Taking him to the main hall, where the silver-haired Serpent Queen appeared to be massaging her head while her eyes stared at him.
Silence enveloped the entire room as Ery and the Ouroboros Queen stared at each other. The latter was dissatisfied with him and she certainly didn't hide it at all, but still, with Silva's life at stake, Ery had to give his idea a try and he was sure the other side wanted the sa as well.
"Show ." She said it simply a mont later.
Now that he had permission, Ery directly requested a high-grade light artifact be sacrificed for the spell. The Ouroboros Queen gave him a Tier 5 artifact—a light elental staff—which he quickly disassembled and took its light core.
The queen was, of course, unwilling to let Ery test his idea on Silva imdiately. However, Ery would not be able to cast the spell without a body.
With annoyance, the queen called out one of her guards and then without hesitation, using spirit force, she snapped his neck before throwing the now-dead guard right in front of Ery. Staring at the latter with a glare, she spoke sharply.
"Quick, show !"
It was a cold-blooded act, but with what was at stake, Ery did not plan to complain. If he wanted to take responsibility for what happened, he now only needed to bring back the dead guard.
Without further ado, Ery took out one of the [Spirit Explosion Pills] and ate it to enhance his spirit and soul for the upcoming venture. Imdiately, he began to put all of his concentration into the spell, a chant that was filled with a wish to be granted—the miracle of rebirth.
He tried and tried. An hour passed, yet still no result. He couldn't even create a hint of the spell.
It was a complete failure.
Looking at the guard's cold body lying on the floor, the Ouroboros Queen said, "Because of you, another life was lost."
On the other hand, Ery was frustrated with his inability. If only his spirit soul had not been injured, if only he had gone to the elven planet sooner. Maybe, just maybe, he could make the spell work and save Silva's life.
Ignoring Ery, the Ouroboros Queen ordered her other guards to take the corpse away. Of course, she also ordered Ery back to his cell. Hearing that, Ery imdiately pleaded with the queen.
"Please, let see her."
The expression on the queen's face was one of great annoyance as she said, "What for? "You only make it harder for everyone."
Ery panicked when he saw that the Ouroboros Queen was about to leave. Without thinking, he dropped to his knees, which caused a loud sound that reverberated through the hall and begged the other party.
"Please… I beg you..."
As shaful as it might seem, Ery's drastic actions paid off as the Ouroboros Queen stopped in her tracks. Seeing such actions, she took a deep breath before saying, "I will let you see her as long as you answer my question truthfully."
"Anything!"
***
It was an unexpected question. Fortunately, Ery's answer satisfied the Ouroboros Queen and was released and allowed to et Silva one final ti.
He made his way towards a familiar pavilion, one that lay outside the Ouroboros Palace. Upon arriving, he saw Silva once again sitting next to a pond. His heart ached terribly, seeing her figure paler than ever.
This ti, there were other people with her. Her brother Vizla and his little daughter Shinta.
When they finally noticed his presence, Silva looked taken aback. On the other hand, her brother's smile imdiately disappeared, replaced by a deep frown. It was clear the man was still angry as he picked up his daughter and started walking away.
"I'll see you later, auntie." Shinta said to Silva, before turning to Ery and saying similar words. "I'll see you later, uncle."
With that, there were now only the two of them in the pavilion. Silva looked at Ery and said, "You have returned already? It's only been a few days! Did you succeed?"
Ery fell silent at those words. It was obvious no one told her that he was locked up in the Ouroboros prison. However, it didn't matter now. What was important was the person in front of him now.
Seeing Ery's expression, a frown appeared on Silva's face as she had an inkling of what happened. With a sigh, she said, "I see… My mother told you already, didn't she?"
Ery nodded slightly as he went and sat down next to her. But before he could say anything, Silva spoke again.
"I'm sorry that I lied to you. I just didn't want you to put off what's important to you because of my conditions."
"No, you're wrong." With certainty, Ery spoke as he stared into her eyes. "You are what is important to ."
His answer seed to surprise the girl. She let out a small smile as she said, "You don't need to be cheesy like this."
The two of them sat side by side, watching the fish swim in the pond in silence. There was a certain sense of serenity, but at the sa ti, an unspoken pain started to resurface in the chest.
Silva said, still facing the pond, with a smile. "You should know that... I am happy to have t you and I don't regret what I did."
Just as Ery was about to reply, she suddenly added, "Well, there is one thing I regret."
Ery's body involuntarily tensed up after hearing that. He asked, "What is it?"
Turning towards Ery, Silva looked into his eyes and said, "To know about your people on Earth... to prove that we are not so different."
Ery was stunned by her words. It was a conversation they had in the past about the condition that would make Ery agree to join Ouroboros. The thought that she was still thinking about this once again made his heart ache imnsely.
The wind blew across the garden and Ery noticed the pale girl shivering. He quickly put his arm around her. In response, she laid her head on his shoulder. Her voice then sounded again.
"Ery, you know, I have always been a selfish princess since I was young."
Ery didn't say anything, he could feel she still had more to say.
"Can I be selfish one more ti?"
Hearing that, Ery nodded slightly, saying, "Yes, anything."
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