KFBRV Pt 2 Ch 63

Her pulse throbbed beneath her skin where his gaze rested. Odette could track every frantic beat. Karl noted her tension, a lazy smile spreading across his lips.

[Karl] "Am I that repulsive? This seems like a small price to pay compared to the agony I suffered when my Master abandoned me."

For a fleeting second, his voice carried a hint of self-mockery.

[Odette] "I told you to move, Karl."

The soft trace vanished instantly, replaced by a predatory glint in his eyes.

[Karl] "How cold. You came to find me because you need me, didn't you?"

He is doing it again.

Since their first meeting in the Fenrir containment zone, he had always been like this—a chaotic variable that pulled her under the moment she lowered her guard.

I must secure him before Charlotte does. But if I let him lead me now, it is over.

The current Karl was far more dangerous than the boy she had first met. He possessed dark desires, grew bored easily, and used any means necessary to grab what he wanted. If she surrendered now, she would remain his puppet forever.

I don't know if this threat will work......

He had regressed four times just to hold onto her, so perhaps it would.

She swallowed hard.

[Odette] "No matter how much I need you, I will never visit you again if you continue to act this way."

The threat hit its mark. He froze. She reached out and cupped his face, her hands resting near his neck.

[Odette] "Look at me while I speak."

She pulled his face toward hers until their eyes met. Even without the light of the status window, Karl stared directly at her through the darkness.

[Odette] "A forced apology through submission is no apology at all. I intended to apologize to you even without this."

Her voice was firm, yet it held a spark of warmth.

[Odette] "Forgive me, Karl. I mean this. I shouldn't have left you."

[Karl] "......"

[Odette] "I'm sorry for hurting you. But even with the guilt, I will not apologize in the way you want. Not even to earn your forgiveness."

She caressed his cheek. Karl stared at her in silence, a faint smile finally touching his eyes.

[Karl has deleted the 'Regression Point'.]

Relief washed over her.

The notification means my apology satisfied him.

The threat of regression had passed. She could finally breathe. But the peace lasted only a second.

[Karl] "......You said you would never visit me again?"

His voice, now dripping with mockery, shattered her relief.

[Karl] "You said I was precious. You said you were my Master."

An ominous dread filled the air.

[Karl] "Do you have any idea how it feels to wait for you? I spent my days wondering if you would come back to see my corpse if I just died right now. Do you know that feeling?"

His voice remained flat and emotionless, but the words were sharp.

[Karl] "Yet you say it so easily. You say you'll never see me again so—"

His low murmur cut off.

Odette looked at him and realized the truth. The "smile" she saw earlier was pure mockery. Her threat to abandon him had struck his most sensitive nerve.

Even if I'm sorry, I can still throw him away.

His whisper echoed in the dark.

[Karl] "Shall we see? Shall we see if abandoning me is actually within your power?"

Ding!

A status window flashed like a red warning light.

[Karl designates a new 'Regression Point' at the 'Present Moment'.]

[If Karl attempts to regress, he will return to this exact second.]

What?

The dark red sphere that had vanished earlier suddenly surged back, surrounding them.

Karl yanked her toward him with brutal force. She struggled to break free, but his arms locked around her like iron bands.

[Karl] "It's useless."

Ding! Ding!

The status window chimed rapidly, signaling a crisis.

['Master of the Status Window' is caught in Karl's 'Time Regression'.]

[Regressions to this point: 8 (Currently the 9th loop)]

[Stop the regression! The loop has repeated too many times. The probability of an 'Infinite Loop' is high!]

His red eyes burned with rage and a terrifying obsession to engrave himself onto her soul.

Chills ran down her spine. She had no memory of the previous loops, and she would have no memory of what was about to happen. The "Infinite Loop" meant she might be trapped here forever, watching numbers rise while frozen in this moment.

Karl gripped her face, forcing her to look at him. His mockery twisted into something unrecognizable. Just as his face began to look like a stranger's, a massive crash echoed. The door shattered open.

[Johan] "You lunatic."

Odette was ripped away from Karl. Her vision cleared as light flooded the room.

Viktor and Johan stood there.

---

Viktor had hesitated to enter Odette's mansion without permission. He had sworn not to act selfishly. However, the constant aura of an active ability coming from the Albrecht estate bothered him. Among S-class Transcendents, only Viktor possessed the sharp intuition required to sense it.

In the end, he had brought Johan along to storm the place.

What is this crazy bastard doing?

Viktor regretted every second he had spent hesitating. Breaking the dark red sphere in the dungeon had taken time. Inside that sphere, time had stood still before dawn, even though the sun was now high in the sky outside.

Viktor scowled at the traces of power clinging to Odette. This damp dungeon, the way Karl had been clinging to her in that frozen pocket of time—it turned his stomach.

He didn't know what had happened in the futures that were now erased, but the reason Karl used his power on Odette was clearly disgusting.

[Viktor] "You disgusting animal."

Rage boiled in his mind. Odette was a woman no one should dare touch. Johan clearly shared the sentiment; the Prince ground his teeth, his voice low and dangerous.

[Viktor] "Using abilities on a civilian and forcibly stealing Purification from a Purifier? These are grounds for immediate execution."

Imperial law was usually lenient toward S-class Transcendents, and such extreme laws didn't exist. But Viktor, acting like the outlaw he was, changed the law on the spot. Johan didn't argue.

As Viktor reached for the blade on his back, Johan drew his sword first.

[Johan] "Secure Odette first, Colonel. I will handle this one myself."

Viktor nodded. Using his own powers here might hurt Odette, so Johan would take the fight elsewhere.

[Johan] "Immediate execution."

He spoke through gritted teeth. He was the Crown Prince, the one person in the Empire who could order an execution at any moment.

For the first time, that stiff royal actually looks like a ruler.

Viktor watched with satisfaction as Johan grabbed Karl by the collar and leaped into the air, vanishing into the distance. A massive roar echoed from far away.

Viktor turned his attention back to Odette.

[Viktor] "Odette, are you all right?"

She looked dazed. She squinted against the bright light outside the cell, as if her eyes weren't used to the daytime.

[Viktor] "Take my hand. Can you stand?"

She took his hand. Fortunately, she didn't seem mentally broken.

Is it better that the future was erased?

He felt relieved she wasn't hurt, yet he wanted to kill Karl for putting her in this position.

[Viktor] "Should I take you to a physician?"

She remained silent, lost in thought.

[Odette] "Colonel König. I'm sorry, but I need to check something. Can I purify you for a moment?"

[Viktor] "What?"

[Odette] "I'm sorry. I just need to confirm something quickly."

She cupped his cheek. A wave of Purification surged through her palm. The shower of light cooled the pain and heat in his body instantly. This was a level of power far beyond their encounter at the Imperial Palace. It felt holy.

The sensation of salvation slowed his thoughts. He had visited a tailor specifically to look good for her after coming back from the sea.

I planned to seduce her, but I didn't think it would actually work this well......

Perhaps dressing up was the right move after all. Viktor basked in the sudden gift of ecstasy.

[Odette] "As I thought, there must be a Beast."

She whispered words he couldn't understand.

Viktor looked at her, the ecstasy fading instantly. He saw the emotion swirling in her teal eyes.

---

To support the original author and publisher, please consider rating the official release on Kakaopage.