Although Colin was reluctant to admit it, this was the harsh reality, and he had no choice but to accept it.
After seeing that his master and all the Paladin squad captains present didn’t want to return to their original forms, Colin finally forced himself to face reality.
Sivni also had to accept it. Staring at the beautiful Paladin girls before her, she found herself at a loss for words. She had poured her heart and soul into researching a way to turn them back, but none of them actually wanted to go back! Then what had all her research over the past few days been for?
Thinking of this, Sivni took a moment to calm herself.
It’s fine, it’s fine. Even if they don’t want to return to normal, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t originally do this for them anyway; I did it to help Liyami… Liyami?!
As Sivni turned her hopeful gaze toward Liyami, she found that the other’s expression was troubled, as if she truly didn’t know what to do.
But why was she making that face? Didn’t she want to go back? Could it be… she’s just like these Paladins?!
Faced with this possibility, Sivni didn’t dare hesitate and trembled as she asked Liyami, “Um, Liyami? How about you go first and return to normal? You must really want to go back, right?”
Hearing this, not only Liyami but even Colin perked up and looked at Liyami seriously, hoping she would make a choice that wouldn’t disappoint them.
After hearing this, Liyami hesitated, then tried to shift the topic to someone else.
“Uh, I’ll go last. Look, aren’t there other Paladins outside? There’s no way they all don’t want to go back, right?”
Unfortunately, as soon as Liyami finished speaking, Captain Laryan calmly said, “Ah, about that. Actually, I already let them discuss it amongst themselves. After their discussion, they’ll select some representatives to express the group’s wishes. As for their decision, well, you’ve all just seen it.”
As she finished, Captain Laryan pointed at the few Paladin squad captains beside her. Clearly, their opinions represented not only themselves but also all the Paladins in the camp. No wonder Laryan had brought them along.
At this, not only Liyami, but even Colin and Sivni felt as if they had been struck by lightning.
For Colin, it was because things had developed so far beyond his expectations. For Sivni, she was simply left dumbfounded.
Wait a minute—if none of you want to go back, then what on earth did I do all this research for?!
However, Sivni wasn’t ready to give up. She looked once more at Liyami—she was the real reason Sivni had worked so hard. As long as Liyami could return to normal, her research wouldn’t be in vain!
As Liyami recovered from her surprise, she also noticed Sivni’s somewhat pressuring gaze, and broke out in a cold sweat.
“Come on, Liyami! You’re the only one left! Hurry up, let me turn you back to your real self! Quick! What are you waiting for!”
Even though Sivni’s words sounded a little odd, Liyami had no time to care about that. She tried other ways to delay the outcome.
“Uh, wait, are you sure this magic circle actually works? There won’t be any problems?”
“Don’t worry! Nothing will go wrong! I, the genius, put everything I know into researching this! Safety is guaranteed! All I did was redraw the magic circle from the literature, so there’s no way there’ll be a problem!”
Seeing Sivni was about to drag her in herself, Liyami had no choice but to stop stalling and slowly walked to the center of the magic circle Sivni had drawn.
When Liyami finally entered the circle, Sivni immediately became excited.
Although she’d spoken confidently just now, this was actually her first time using the magic circle. As long as what the literature said was right, there should be no problem!
Provided, of course, that the records weren’t wrong, and she hadn’t mistranslated anything.
Standing at the center of the circle, Liyami took a deep breath, then signaled that she was ready.
Seeing Liyami’s signal, Sivni didn’t hesitate for even a moment and directly activated the magic circle beneath Liyami’s feet.
In an instant, the circle shone with a rainbow of lights. Liyami immediately squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to look at what would happen next.
The others below were nervous too; Colin prayed inwardly for everything to be fine while also gathering his strength. If anything went wrong, he’d be ready to cast a “Holy Nova” right away.
As the rainbow lights flickered and faded, Sivni looked toward the magic circle in anticipation.
But to everyone’s surprise, there was no change at all in Liyami, who still stood at the center looking like a beautiful girl—no sign of turning back into a male.
Seeing this, everyone, including Liyami, who slowly opened her eyes, turned to Sivni, waiting for her to give a reasonable explanation.
But when Sivni saw what happened, she stood there as if petrified, mouth agape, completely motionless.
It wasn’t until Colin walked over and gently patted her on the shoulder that she finally snapped out of it.
“What on earth happened?!”
Sivni’s question was exactly what everyone wanted to ask—but ironically, she was the one who should have had the answer.
While Sivni was still baffled, Liyami actually let out a sigh of relief. She’d been pushed up here by Sivni, but she honestly hadn’t decided whether she wanted to return to normal.
Now, this outcome gave her plenty of time to think.
As for why Sivni’s carefully-prepared magic circle didn’t work on her, Liyami had a reliable guess. It was that she wasn’t affected by the magic from the “Iqul” labyrinth, but rather by a new magic that Alik had created as an incomplete replica of the “Iqul” labyrinth’s magic.
That’s why Sivni’s magic circle had no effect on her.
Seeing Sivni looking so dejected, Liyami couldn’t help but walk over to her and softly offer some comfort: “Don’t be so upset. Actually, I’m about the same as Captain Laryan and the others—I don’t really want to go back to how I was. I think I’m fine as I am now? At least I can keep living like this, so don’t be so sad.”
Liyami spoke in a low voice, and with Colin deliberately not listening in, only Sivni heard her words.
But Sivni didn’t cheer up because of it. On the contrary, she cried out in anguish, “Then what did I even do all this research for?!! What am I supposed to be now!!!”
Hearing that, Liyami thought for a moment, then said to Sivni with hesitation, “Uh… you’re amazing?”
Sivni was so exasperated that she actually laughed.