In the deserted village.
With her strength exhausted, the Spring Fairy could no longer maintain her form. With a splash, she turned into a puddle of clear water and spilled onto the ground.
She had not vanished. It was just that the strength she had accumulated over hundreds of years had been spent.
As the Oceanid in Qingce Village had said, as long as rivers flowed and rain and dew continued to fall, water would never disappear.
As long as she returned to the water, she could slowly gather strength and recover.
But that process would take a very long time.
It had taken her hundreds of years to accumulate the strength she possessed now, so starting over would take at least several hundred years as well.
"Hundreds of years... By then, you will have long since passed away..."
"I'm so sorry, Diona. I couldn't keep my promise to you."
"I'm sorry I won't be able to chat with you beneath the moonlight anymore."
"I'm sorry I won't be able to share your worries or listen to your stories anymore."
"I'm sorry I won't be able to stay with you as you grow up..."
The clear water spilled on the ground slowly stirred, gathering into a water fairy only three fingers tall.
Compared to before, her body was so tiny, so helpless-helpless enough that a single footstep could crush her.
The little fairy looked up at the intact village and smiled. At least she had protected their homes.
When the disaster ended and they returned to find their homes untouched, they would surely be happy, wouldn't they?
Her gaze turned toward a little house on higher ground, filled with reluctance to leave. That little house was Diona's home...
"I'm sorry, my dearest friend."
Her strength depleted, the little fairy trudged