During the ensuing exploration of the labyrinth, Liriel visibly noticed that the Decayer's face was slowly changing.
The Decayer had once been extraordinarily withered, like a candle flame about to burn itself out. Most striking of all, atop its thin, bamboo-pole-like body sat an enormous, heart-shaped head.
Like some big-headed monstrosity.
It looked utterly terrifying.
Although during their time together, Liriel had gradually come to understand that the Decayer was someone whose true qualities lay beneath an unassuming exterior, she still had to admit that its face startled her every time she saw it.
But after the Decayer had "cried"—
Liriel noticed something strange. The Decayer's head seemed to be shrinking. Its face, once swollen and puffed up like steamed buns, now revealed discernible features.
It was still not pleasant-looking, but its face was clearly far less lethal now.
Moreover—
Liriel noticed that, though the change was slow, it continued without pause.
She recalled having gathered information on the Decayer before. According to those records, the Decayer had once been high-spirited, upright, and dashing in Believers' Academy City. Yet overnight, it had become hunched and ugly, its head as large as a massive fruit.
And now, the Decayer's head was slowly shrinking. Though its body remained just as withered, did it seem to be gradually returning to what it had once looked like?
Liriel could see this, and as the person concerned, the Decayer naturally sensed its own changes as well.
Especially when the crushing weight on its neck suddenly lightened. The force it had maintained through countless years to support that enormous head and keep itself from being completely crushed had finally eased.
The relief in its neck did not bring the Decayer even a shred of comfort. Instead, it felt a wave of discomfort spreading from within. Long