KFBRV Ch 118

[Karl] "Do not strain yourself trying to speak. It is useless. Your memory will soon vanish anyway."

As he spoke, his eyes glowed red.

[Karl] "A weak and incompetent father. To think this could only be used on the Fenrir clan."

His eyes shone crimson like a demon's. His lips could be seen moving, but his words were inaudible.

[Karl] "Do not worry. It is not a great command. It simply makes you unable to remember this moment."

Her mind buzzed. Doly vaguely intuited that she had been caught in something called a "Command," though she didn't understand exactly what it was.

[Karl] "I will take the key. Nameless maid."

Saying this, he took the key she held and walked down the hallway with heavy steps. With a decisive attitude that showed not a shred of interest in her life or death.

Someone save me! Please!

She screamed so desperately inside, yet not a single sound escaped her throat.

Indeed, even if her voice had come out, it would have been useless. This path was one she had personally chosen after verifying multiple times that no one passed through it.

There was no way anyone would come to save her. Realizing this fact, she felt on the verge of tears.

No. Endure. You can do it. You must remember this moment.

Karl had clearly said, "You won't remember this moment." He also said, "I don't touch the Master's prey."

Therefore, this didn't mean she would die like this.

As long as she remembered this moment to the end, things would not flow according to that evil spirit's will.

As if remembering was her only hope, she continued to ruminate.

Let's remember. Let's remember this moment. Wake up, Doly. You can do it. You must remember. You must.

How could she possibly fail to remember such an intense and terrible moment?

I was caught in a Command, and the key was taken. That bastard knocked me down.

Again, I was caught in a Command, and the key was taken. That bastard—

But Doly, who had been repeating the same words over and over, felt a hazy dizziness for a brief moment, as if everything were fading away.

Despite gritting her teeth to endure, her eyes closed slightly. And when she snapped her eyes open again, she was standing perfectly fine in the hallway.

What is this...? I feel incredibly dazed.

Did she doze off for a moment while standing?

[Karl] "I cannot keep calling you 'maid,' can I? That is why I was curious about your name."

Karl, standing behind her, answered quietly. Only after hearing that answer did she remember.

Ah, right. Just now, hearing the question "What is your name?", she had retorted, asking why he was asking such a thing.

The suffocating, stifling feeling from moments ago was nowhere to be found. Turning around, she saw the boy with the decadent face standing there.

[Doly] "What is with that tone? Use polite speech. You can just call me Head Maid, can't you?"

What the? Why was I feeling uncomfortable around this mere slave just now?

Did she become momentarily faint-hearted due to Courtney's death? Why on earth had she trembled so much over taking just one boy to the garden?

[Karl] "Yes. I will do so, Head Maid."

However, the moment she heard his docile voice, a strange thought suddenly flashed through her mind. 'I already had the key taken by that boy.'

So she hurriedly fumbled with her apron to check for the key, but it was resting safely in her pocket.

Why did such a thought occur to me?

She tilted her head and quickened her pace. She had to hurry to meet the time agreed upon with Rudolf.

Karl's footsteps following behind were as regular as the ticking of a clock.

Everything was proceeding according to Doly and Rudolf's plan.

---

Damn it. For a calamity to occur right above a person.

Johan and Zion were already far out at sea. Reaching the calamity before the woman was sucked in was impossible even for them.

She will get hurt a bit, but there is no other way.

Johan quickly formed lightning in both hands even as he flew toward the calamity. And he prepared to drop a thunderbolt on it.

Still, wouldn't an injury be better than being sucked into a disaster and dying?

He had adjusted the scale of the thunderbolt to the minimum, so there would be no permanent damage—

But the moment the woman's robe was stripped away, and her face revealed, his heart sank with a thud, rendering him unable to think.

At first, he hadn't noticed her presence at all.

[Johan] "Odette?"

Why, why is she here?

An overwhelming fear he had never felt in his life washed over him. The electricity crackling in his hands vanished without a trace.

I cannot hurt her. Damn it.

Not Odette. Odette, of all people, must not be hurt.

Rationally, he knew that being struck by his thunderbolt was better than being sucked into the disaster. He had fine-tuned it, so there would be no permanent damage. But such calculations were meaningless when it came to Odette.

No matter the cost, he could not gamble with that small, fragile body.

Before he knew it, the tip of her arm was close enough to be swallowed by the disaster.

The hesitation was brief. Johan materialized a thunderbolt at high speed, gripping it like a sword in his hand. To sever his own arm.

Calamity preferred the bodies of Transcendents as prey above all else. He had to throw it a more appetizing meal, didn't he?

His body would regenerate anyway, so giving up his limb to buy time to save Odette was preferable—

[Zion] "Damn it, move! Your Highness!"

In the moment of decision, Zion pulled Johan's arm from behind with strong force.

[Johan] "Let go! Kleist!"

Johan tried to shake him off.

Zion couldn't use his ability right now. His ability was entirely occupied with protecting the capital. Given that, being held by Zion would surely only waste time.

But when Johan turned to shake him off, he had no choice but to freeze. Because Zion's eyes were shining gold. Simultaneously, countless golden threads that seemed to have come from across the sea were flowing into his body.

Damn it. Is Zion possibly committing that act of madness?

The madness of withdrawing all the Mind Control ability currently being used in the capital.

As if confirming his prediction, a nosebleed trickled down from Zion's nose. His golden eyes also rolled back for a moment. As if he were committing an act that transcended his limits.

The distance from here to the capital was a three-day journey by ship. Withdrawing all abilities used remotely in a split second would place an immense burden on him.

The golden threads that returned to his body shot out from him again toward the calamity. Countless golden threads tangled together to create a massive chain. That chain wrapped tightly around the pitch-black calamity, constricting it.

[Zion] "Stop."

As he commanded with flashing golden eyes, the typhoon-like wind, the calamity had been sucking in and cut off instantly.

Snap.

[Zion] "Come to me."

At his command, the golden chains wrapping the disaster tightened. The calamity crawled toward him like a well-trained snake.

[Zion] "Open your mouth."

Fortunately, Odette had not yet been swallowed and was lying quietly on its tongue.

[Zion] "Put her down."

At those words, the calamity spat her out.

Johan moved as if flying and carefully caught her.

[Zion] "Tear your own mouth and disappear."

Then it opened its mouth wide and began to inflate its own tongue. The tongue, inflating endlessly until its surface became transparent, looked like a giant balloon.

Finally, when it grew as large as the moon seen in the distance, Pop! With a sound, the calamity tore apart and scattered into fragments. The fragments turned into dust and vanished.

Johan, holding Odette, swept her face with a careful hand. Fortunately, there seemed to be no visible injuries.

His body, which had been tense enough to make his fingertips tremble, began to relax. At the same time, a corner of his heart grew heavy.

Damn it. The capital will soon become a living hell.

Except for special cases, most calamities appeared in places with many people. They were targeting the capital, which had been suppressed by Zion's Mind Control, but he had just withdrawn that defense in a single breath.

No matter if it was Zion, he could not recreate the defense in the capital from this distance. A barrier that operated 24 hours a day without affecting the minds of other living beings within it. Creating that was by no means an easy task.

It was a barrier Zion had painstakingly built step by step over a year. Yet he had withdrawn it all at once to save Odette.

It is not a wrong judgment.

Protecting the Empire's only purifier was a rational choice Zion would make. But Johan felt a sense of dissonance in that choice.

Did he really make that judgment based on calculation?

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