KFBRV Pt 2 Ch 77

The beast of god received a punishment that stripped Karl of hope. Consequently, his supernatural power refused to work at the exact moment he needed it most. This meant he could never turn back time for Odette again.

Reviving her was, unfortunately, his desperate and only hope.

But... why?

Karl was lost in confusion. Odette was a fake, not a true Purifier. That was why she had been sentenced to hang and why a bounty had been placed on her head.

The reason they played this cursed game of hide-and-seek, and the reason she lived such a lonely, isolated life in that fragile body, was all because she was a fake.

Yet, he couldn't lose himself in questions. Odette was slipping away into true death.

[Karl] "Odette..."

He pulled her body into his arms with trembling hands. He frantically clutched her head, his grip full of longing.

[Karl] "Return."

His voice, commanding time itself, was terrifyingly thick with grief. The Emperor's watchers were likely nearby. Acting this way would surely spark their suspicion. But he no longer cared about the Emperor or his spies.

[Karl] "Return. Return! Return!"

He had only cared about their gaze for the sake of Odette's freedom. If she didn't revive, it didn't matter what they reported to the Emperor.

Before he could even make that judgment, his reason had already vanished.

[Karl] "Stop. Please stop. Please... Please..."

Karl poured his power into Odette. The dozens of coordinates he had engraved on her dead body remained. Those marks glowed dark red every time he commanded time to turn back. But in the end, nothing happened. Her time didn't move backward; it only flowed toward the future.

[Karl] "No, no. Don't do this. Please."

Time dragged Odette toward death. For the first time, he found the flow of time cruel.

Karl was never a man to look back on his life. He had no regrets for the past and no expectations for the future. He had always been indifferent to the passing of seconds. Even after gaining the power to stop or reverse time—a power anyone would envy—he had considered it nothing more than a chore.

Only after loving Odette did he understand the use of stopping and turning back time. Only after loving her did he realize what time actually meant. The present was brilliant, the past was precious, and the future overwhelmed him.

To understand the meaning of time was to love life. When he thought of it as a path to meeting Odette, his once-boring existence felt valuable.

How could it end like this?

[Karl] "Odette, no. Please. Return. Please."

Desperate sobs tore from his throat. Tears fell onto Odette's pale, bloodless face.

No. This can't happen. This can't be.

[Karl] "I was wrong. I was wrong. It's my fault. Please."

He babbled mindlessly, not even knowing who he was apologizing to. Tears streamed from his eyes as he held her.

[Karl] "I will kill you with my own hands. No matter how noble your position. Whatever it takes."

The oath he had made long ago had fulfilled itself. It happened after Odette became his everything, after she became his only hope, after she became the only meaning in his time. It happened the moment he wanted to save her at any cost.

She was the true spring that melted the frozen snow and let the rivers flow. She was the only thing that gave his life meaning.

[Karl] "Don't die. Odette. Please. Please. I was wrong."

I thought it would work. I didn't mean for this to happen. I wanted to give you freedom. I wanted to see you smile again. I didn't want to end your life like this.

Stop. I said stop! Turn back. You have to obey me, time. That's what a god-given power is for.

Though he knew it was useless, Karl repeated the same command. He couldn't stop.

Nearby, he heard the sound of Johan collapsing and Zion dealing with the Emperor's watchers.

How much time had passed?

[Zion] "I killed them all. There is no need to please the Emperor now that Odette is dead. Karl, you revive her, whatever it takes. It's disgusting that I have to pin all my hope on your failing power."

Zion spat the words at Karl.

[Johan] "We can't leave Odette in this hot desert. Turning back time will be harder once she rots. Even if you can't turn it back yet, we must move her now."

Following that command, the broken Karl and Odette were moved. From the desert to a carriage, and from the carriage to a private house Karl had prepared. Her body was placed in a room designed just for her.

The room featured the finest bed, dresses, jewels, and comfortable shoes that would never hurt her heels. It was a room filled with everything Karl had wanted to give her.

Karl ignored the calls to hunt Calamities. He poured all his power onto her corpse. The other Transcendents took over his duties, believing his power was the last chance to bring her back.

[Karl] "I’m sorry, Odette. Let's try one more time. Okay?"

But even as her body rotted and turned to bone, he couldn't stop or turn back her time. Karl stroked her skeletal cheekbones with a tender touch, as if they were soft skin.

His power refused to work, yet his corruption levels rose eagerly with every attempt.

Karl refused to stop, undergoing Charlotte's purification multiple times just to keep trying.

And when Odette's bones grew worn and turned yellow-brown, Charlotte finally revealed her true self.

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[Charlotte] "Karl, your affection level reached 100 first, didn't it? This is absurd. Was it all an act?"

She asked irritably in front of the corpses of Johan, Zion, and Viktor.

[Charlotte] "You disgusting Fenrir brat. You dared to trick me? What did you do to the status window?"

With a hollow laugh, she threw Karl's heart to the floor. She seemed furious that there were no reins to be found, no matter how much she searched.

[Charlotte] "You planned to have all these elite Transcendents die, wasn't it? You filthy Fenrir—!"

The S-class Transcendents had clearly offered their reins to Charlotte. Therefore, the moment the Transcendents were torn apart, the beasts should have emerged. Instead, the beasts died along with their masters.

Charlotte believed this was Karl's doing. But Karl knew better. He remembered Johan, who had gone mad with guilt over Odette's death. Johan hadn't given the reins because he loved Charlotte. Since S-class Transcendents can't die easily, he had simply used it as a chance to commit suicide.

Karl had never been able to turn back time for Odette, even as her bones crumbled. They had staked everything on a hopeless dream and finally gave up.

Viktor and Zion were likely the same. They had worn the same expressions as Karl when she died.

It was the look of men who realized their love too late.

I envy them.

Karl was certain that they, who were now in the same state as Odette, were happier than he was.

Karl wanted peace, too. He finally accepted it: he couldn't revive Odette with his own hands. He wanted to die with her.

But the moment he viewed death as a hope, the thunderous voice echoed in his mind again.

JUDGMENT.

It was the voice of god, informing him that because he desired it, even death was taken away.

[Karl] "Haha..."

He could only laugh. Now, for eternity, he couldn't meet Odette even in death.

What followed was a hollow struggle. Charlotte mobilized every beast she had to kill Karl, but the Divine Punishment was stronger than any beast she possessed.

In the end, Charlotte and every beast she owned died by Karl's hand.

During the battle, the World Tree showed him the truth. He saw how Odette's purification power had been stolen, what her past life was like, and how miserable she had been because of the Transcendents—including himself.

Watching that tragedy, he felt a searing regret for every word and action he had ever directed toward her.

And so, Karl—unable to die—lived alone through billions of years after killing every last beast of god.

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