NOVEL NEXT chapter 8
8. The Most Manageable Beautiful Girl in the Game
Minutes later, not only had Valentina failed to touch the statue, but she had also been struck by Noah with the statue countless times. Exhausted and in pain, she finally collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
Thanks to her dragon form, otherwise, with her original human body, she would have likely been unable to rise again after the initial blows from the statue.
Now, aside from the unyielding look in her eyes directed at Noah, she could no longer muster any semblance of resistance.
Feeling the cold floor of the ruined temple beneath her, Valentina experienced more than just despair; it was a sense of powerlessness and grievance.
Why was she being toyed with like some plaything?!
It would be better if they just killed her!
“Oh, look at that expression of yours, as if you’re asking me why I don’t just kill you outright.”
As expected, the fact that he could see through her thoughts only added to Valentina’s irritation.
However, compared to what Noah said next, this was relatively inconsequential.
Noah casually tossed the heavy statue aside, raising a cloud of dust, and deliberately spoke in an ambiguous tone.
“Don’t tell me, Your Highness, that you’re unaware that death is a relatively easy outcome for the defeated? With your extraordinary beauty, what you should be worried about isn’t death, but the humiliation that follows defeat.”
“?!”
Noah’s words left Valentina, who had been thinking that the worst outcome was simply death, momentarily stunned again.
She hadn’t really considered this, not because she was naive and inexperienced, but because she thought that this shadowy evil god wouldn’t do such things to her.
So it could happen!?
“Ha, your face has changed, but don’t worry, I have absolutely no interest in you as you are now.”
Noah was, of course, just saying this to instill a sense of crisis in Valentina. Seeing her pale face as she lay on the ground, he quickly attempted to brush off the topic in a light-hearted tone.
His voice reached Valentina’s ears, and while it initially made her breathe a sigh of relief—after all, she didn’t want to give herself to someone she didn’t like—Noah’s condescending attitude, treating her like a cute little pet, only fueled her anger.
What the hell! That tone made it sound like he preferred the version of her sculpted in stone!
Though she did admit that the statue of her looked more mature and charming, her own appearance wasn’t that far off! After all, they were the same person!
For some reason, Valentina felt an inexplicable sense of rivalry with her sculpted self. Perhaps it was because she was unwilling to admit defeat to the evil god, and the thought of not even being able to surpass her own statue was simply too humiliating.
In any case, Valentina’s resentment towards Noah had undoubtedly intensified.
She even had a rebellious thought, vowing that if she found the opportunity, she would make this detestable evil god her pet, returning the humiliation she suffered tenfold.
The dragon’s resilience was undoubtedly many times greater than that of a human, and her recovery was the same.
Just ten minutes later, Valentina had basically regained her strength, flapping her wings to stir up the dust on the floor, gradually adjusting her posture in the air from that of a defeated combatant.
After all, she was still a princess, and Valentina quickly returned to an elegant demeanor as if her earlier defeat had never happened.
Of course, Noah didn’t look at her at all. Instead, he showered her, like a connoisseur admiring a masterpiece, with praises directed at the sculpture that was her.
Words like “Just as expected of me,” and “It really is better as a sculpture,” dripped with arrogance.
This made Valentina so furious that she wished she could use her tail to wrap tightly around that detestable evil god’s neck, twisting his head 180 degrees to force him to look at her, the original of the sculpture.
Even Valentina herself didn’t realize that she was not only becoming increasingly accustomed to her dragon form but also felt less disgusted than before.
After all, her self-loathing was nothing compared to the malevolent god’s whims.
“Hmm? You’re up already? Quite a quick recovery, I see.”
Noah, pretending to just notice Valentina’s resentful gaze, turned to look at the princess once more.
Although his outward appearance was basically a mass of shadows, at least his two scarlet eyes were visible from the front, allowing others to distinguish his front from his back.
Noah’s feigned surprise naturally made Valentina cross her arms and turn her head away, putting on an impatient demeanor.
Just as she was about to retort, Noah interjected with a mocking tone:
“But judging by your appearance, it seems you still can’t freely display your dragon traits. After all, you’re just a third-rate princess, even less than a sculpture.”
That was a blatant insult to her character.
Valentina was already troubled by this matter, and Noah’s words only intensified the resentment in her heart.
Though she truly didn’t know how to control her dragon aspects, with the evil god saying such things, she was determined to slap his face, no matter what!
In fact, hiding and revealing her dragon traits wasn’t difficult; it mainly depended on her acceptance level. The less one could accept it, the harder it was to control.
Under Noah’s obvious provocation, Valentina felt a surge of determination: “As long as I can slap the evil god’s face, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
This could be seen as a roundabout acceptance of her current body, and it was as if Valentina had suddenly found the switch in her heart.
As her dragon features gradually faded, losing her ability to fly and feeling the pull of gravity, she fell to the ground, her high-heeled battle boots making contact with the earth.
Her first reaction to mastering the ability to retract her dragon parts was surprise, and her second was to show off to the nearby evil god.
Valentina flicked her beautiful silver hair with her hand and then cast a triumphant expression at Noah.
Though she didn’t say a word, her competitive little face clearly conveyed, “Did you see that? I’m not third-rate!”
Clap, clap, clap.
The sound echoing in the ruined temple was, of course, Noah’s applause.
And Noah’s words dripped with cunning.
“Oh, how impressive! But it was just a coincidence, right? You definitely can’t display and retract at will.”
As soon as Noah’s words fell, to prove him wrong, Valentina immediately made her dragon parts float up from the ground again and quickly retracted them.
She chose to slap Noah’s face with action rather than words.
The evidence was the growing pride evident on her face.
And the more Noah looked at her proud little demeanor, the more he wanted to laugh.
This princess truly had no idea she was being played.
—
Look, although it seems like a slap in Noah’s face, isn’t Valentina increasingly accepting the fact that she has fallen into a dragon?
As long as she first accepts the fall of her body, the fall of her soul will follow.
Though it seems difficult to change her gullible nature, once it changes, it will surely turn completely around.
Heh, I really look forward to it—more like the birth of a villainous heroine than those blonde-haired antagonists.
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