KFBRV Pt 2 Ch 82

[Rosaline] "Aaaagh! It hurts, it hurts! S-save me!"

Screams exploded from her as pain shattered her mind.

[Rosaline] "Please, please! Bring me that fruit! The one on the World Tree, hurry!"

Among the bound monsters, a B-rank sea snake slithered toward the World Tree. It plucked a ripe fruit and handed it to Rosaline. She bit into the fruit with desperate hunger.

The blood flowing from her stopped.

The life force inside the fruit apparently healed her wounds. Odette saw no reason to stop her. By chance, the fruit bore the face of Count Albrecht.

It doesn't matter. As long as she doesn't kill him.

Being eaten a little wasn't the worst fate. He was a healthy man, after all.

[Ulrich] "I don't want to be eaten! Let me go! Aaaagh!"

His wails echoed alongside the wet sound of crunching. Odette treated his cries as background noise and gripped a branch. She held the limb of the World Tree, which now looked like a pillar of black rot.

A sharp sting buzzed in her palm. Suddenly, a mountain of corpses filled her vision.

Odette stood frozen. The stench of rotting meat finally revealed its source: the center of the World Tree.

She had assumed the Calamity always spat out the dead, but she was wrong. The Calamity swallowed far more than it ever released. Dead bodies packed the giant tree to the brim.

Children, the elderly, pregnant women, heroes, and prophets. Piles of bodies and vengeful ghosts towered disgustingly high.

The World Tree screamed in agony. It hated its role as a factory for the Calamity—a hell where ghosts rotted for eternity.

Heavy despair flowed through the branch and into Odette.

[World Tree] "Ah. Odette. You finally arrived."

The distorted, slow voice sounded like nails scratching a chalkboard. The tone was bizarre and warped, but Odette recognized it. This was the same voice that spoke to her during her dreams.

The World Tree began to sob. It felt as though the long years of waiting for its only salvation—Odette—had finally reached their end.

I came to purify you.

The moment Odette's will connected with the tree, a wave of light rushed out like a massive tide. The light in her inner world vanished instantly. The absorption was so powerful that it left her inner ocean dry. Dizziness hit her as her power drained.

If it needs this much, my strength won't be enough—

Just as she reached her limit, the well of light in her inner world poured into the roots. Purification power filled her again instantly.

Odette realized right then that her power would never run out. The light would rise and overflow forever. She could purify the World Tree and the entire deep sea. With that certainty, she hugged the tree trunk tighter.

The light first touched the rotting corpses. As the wave washed over them, the bodies and ghosts vanished from the tree as if finding peace at last.

Once the final corpse escaped the cycle of pain, the light spread through the trunk. It climbed the branches, reached the leaves, and flowed into the hanging fruits.

[Rosaline] "H-how? How is this possible?"

Rosaline, having barely recovered her body, gasped in horror. The spreading light reached the fruits that were crying like infants. They dissolved into dust and scattered as if they never existed.

[Rosaline] "Stop! Stop it! Do you know how hard I worked for that life force? Eternal life! Will you take responsibility for my eternal life?"

Rosaline shrieked, but Odette ignored her. She focused only on the heartbeat of the World Tree.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound was faint but grew stronger. Then came the sound of popping.

Pop. Snap.

Flower buds burst open along the branches.

Light reached the very tips of the withered roots. Suddenly, a roar shook the sea. Odette had heard this sound in her inner world before. She knew exactly what would happen next.

Whoosh!

Water exploded from the roots of the World Tree. Crystal-clear seawater, filled with light and scent, gushed out. The stench of the deep sea vanished, and the murky water turned bright. A dizzying, sweet scent of peach blossoms filled the air.

Odette looked up. The World Tree stood in full bloom, covered in light pink peach blossoms.

[Rosaline] "No! No! Stop this right now!"

Rosaline screamed, but the moment the purified water touched her, her voice turned into the raspy croak of an old woman. Wrinkles carved deep lines into her face. Her body shrank until she looked like a piece of dead wood.

The monsters that had served Rosaline moved toward the purified water as if under a spell. Their melting, wax-like bodies dissolved and vanished the moment they touched the clear water. Not a single one remained.

[Rosaline] "Damn you, Han Suwan! Eternal life was right—! Ack! Cough!"

As the Kraken vanished, the gills on the old woman's neck disappeared. Rosaline began to choke painfully.

Drowning is painful, but it isn't the death she deserves.

Odette knew the time had come to end her enemy. She called for Karl.

[Odette] "Karl. Open the Prison of Time."

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A massive eyeball appeared right in front of Rosaline. Even as she choked on the water, she recoiled in terror. The eyeball looked hideous beyond words.

W-what is that? An eye?

The white of the eye showed thick red veins. A dark red iris sat in the center, locking its gaze on her.

So disgusting!

The grotesque stare froze her limbs. Rosaline forgot to struggle as pure terror consumed her.

The dark red iris split down the middle and slowly pulled apart. Behind the split iris, an abyss full of gloom appeared. It was a black pit that felt like hell.

Rosaline swallowed hard. Suddenly, the eye began to suck in the seawater with incredible force.

Driven by primal fear, she flailed her limbs. She threw away the fruit with the Count's face.

No! Get away from me!!'

She was an expert at swimming in these polluted waters, but her withered, wooden body had no strength. No matter how hard she struggled, the force pulled her backward.

Save me. Save me! Please, I want to live!

Panic took over as she begged for her life. She looked exactly like the victims she had sent into the Calamity.

The black abyss beneath the iris swallowed her ankles. As the eye prepared to gulp her down completely, Rosaline had a thought for the first time.

Did the others feel this way too?

She had killed countless people, but she had never considered their feelings.

Was it always this scary?

The iris doors began to close. Through the narrowing gap, she saw Odette's face.

[Odette] "Enjoy your hell. Have all the eternal life you ever wanted."

Odette gave her a bright smile, like a blooming peach blossom. It was a curse wrapped in a greeting.

The thin thread of light vanished as the door shut. Rosaline was left in utter darkness.

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