KFBRV Pt 2 Ch 9
- 14 hours ago
- 5 min read
[Odette] "......"
[Viktor] "Your hair color changed? It doesn't look like a wig. Of course, it's gorgeous. Everything suits you."
That petite frame. Odette forced her fragile bones through the blizzard for an eternity. Because of that ordeal, she trembled violently even from this distance.
At that sight, he crushed the rock in his grip and let out a low laugh. He harbored only a single desire: to reassure her.
[Viktor] "Odette. You wandered in the snow for too long. Aren't you freezing?"
[Odette] "......"
Displaying his eroding patience, the rock outside the crevice crumbled soundlessly within his grasp.
[Viktor] "I want to go in for a second and light a fire for you. Is that alright? If you find me dangerous, you can tie me up."
[Odette] "......"
[Viktor] "Hmm? You aren't a Transcendent. If you bleed in a place like this, you will die quickly. You shivered so violently just from falling into a fountain in the summer."
Despite his pleas, she offered no answer. She merely retreated deeper into the cave. She desperately wished to hide from him even in this dire situation.
I've finally caught her. Why is she trying to avoid me even here?
A colossal chasm existed between his burning desire and her desperate flight.
Knowing he held no right to complain, resentment still surged within him. He breathed her name like a heavy sigh.
[Viktor] "Odette."
[Odette] "......"
She harbors absolutely no intention of answering. What question should I ask her?
Endless questions plagued him throughout his relentless pursuit of her.
How did you fabricate that fake corpse? How could you jump off a cliff right in front of me? Does my devastation mean nothing to you?
Among those countless inquiries, what was the one he desperately needed to ask?
[Odette] “Don't call me by that damned name! Every time I hear it, I feel disgusted and shudder.”
Were all the actions and words you directed at me absolute lies?
Amidst the roaring blizzard, a bizarre impulse seized him.
If she refuses to answer anyway, shouldn't I ask the one thing driving me mad? The question I need answered so badly that it suffocates me.
Driven by that thought, he parted his lips. But the words escaping his throat entirely contradicted his intended interrogation.
[Viktor] "Have you suffered any injuries all this time? Did anyone torment you?"
Only after speaking the words did he realize the absolute truth. Her well-being remained his sole priority.
Did you suffer any pain? Did you endure crushing loneliness?
Your deceptive mockery means nothing; your physical pain tortures me far more.
I am in love with this woman.
This emotion defied the innate devotion a Transcendent harbored for a Purifier. It directly contradicted that sublime, divine mandate.
Realizing this love stripped him of his strength, leaving him frail and miserable. He recognized this pathetic descent. He had witnessed it countless times in the slums.
If you are the one I love, I welcome becoming an absolute fool. I finally understand the heart of a person willingly plunging into the abyss.
He erupted into a hollow laugh.
[Odette] "Colonel."
She finally spoke.
Viktor flinched, his eyes snapping wide. In stark contrast to his memories, her tone carried an absolute, arid indifference.
Furthermore...... the metallic stench of her blood thickened drastically.
[Viktor] "Odette, what's wrong? Did your wound open?"
His voice rang with panic.
Right. There's no way she could survive in this damned cave.
Calling the crevice a cave was an overstatement. It mirrored a suffocating foxhole. Devoid of light, the interior proved colder and damper than the raging blizzard outside. A physical collapse was an absolute certainty.
An S-class Transcendent with fire abilities stands right in front of her. Yet she stubbornly endures in that freezing pit.
[Viktor] "Odette. Allow me to enter. Just a moment is enough. So I can at least treat your ankle."
He battled the rabid urge to storm the crevice and drag her out by force. Frustration threatened to shatter his restraint, but he relentlessly smothered the impulse.
That bastard Zion hastily tried to earn her forgiveness and nearly killed her. I refuse to repeat his mistake.
Regardless, she lives. I must exercise absolute patience.
[Viktor] "Please, hmm?"
Finally, she answered in a dejected tone.
[Odette] "Did you know? This was my final refuge. I have never once been caught by Transcendents in this place."
A sharp dissonance struck him. This snowy peak never appeared in her escape routes over the past year.
Therefore, she possessed zero prior experience traversing this mountain. Yet, she spoke with the intimate familiarity of a frequent visitor.
Furthermore, her tone lacked any trace of deception or delusion.
[Odette] "There is no place like this. It is a foxhole, so it rarely catches the eye. It is a place cold enough to sustain eternal snow, meaning the stench doesn't travel far. Even if a stench does spread, the beasts will quickly mask it."
Stench? Is she talking about the Purifier's scent? Why would she call such an alluring fragrance...... Wait a minute.
Come to think of it, why is there zero scent coming from her?
His feral intuition blared a deafening alarm.
Odette existed in an entirely different, unreachable realm. A crushing certainty descended upon him: no amount of desperate grasping would ever secure her.
The exact, paralyzing dread from the Meursault cliff resurfaced.
I must not...... lose her.
He instinctively sharpened every nerve. His enhanced hearing caught the distinct, guttural growls of predators closing in from the distance.
An unnervingly low frequency. The menacing resonance paralyzed human limbs.
Yeti.
Jotunn. The massive, muscular beast was also known by the alias Frost Giant.
Just as the sea housed great white sharks, the snowy mountains bred these apex predators—beasts extraordinarily sensitive to the smell of blood.
Highly intelligent pack hunters. Though omnivorous, they relished human flesh above all else.
Recalling the predators' habits, his brow contorted into a fierce scowl. He immediately locked his focus on the crevice.
The sudden thickening of the blood scent... did she plan this?
Would she intentionally summon those crazed beasts?
He desperately wanted to dismiss the thought as pure delusion. However, his instincts delivered a brutal truth: Odette orchestrated this entire deadly scenario.
She stalled using silence and neglected her grievous ankle wound solely to summon those monstrous creatures.
The Yetis arrived. A massive, coordinated pack. Dozens of the colossal snow beasts materialized from the blinding white expanse.
[Viktor] "You are absolutely ruthless. You know that?"
A hollow, drained tone escaped his throat. She had forbidden that specific pet name, but intense resentment completely overrode his restraint.
[Viktor] "Do you know what those Yetis are? In terms of raw power, they are the strongest beasts on the continent. Against a disgustingly large swarm like that, even I will undeniably die. You heartless woman."
He deliberately exaggerated his peril, but she maintained an absolute, frozen silence. Only the dense metallic stench confirmed her continued presence inside the crevice.
Facing a horde that large guarantees a brutal struggle.
The overwhelming numbers proved her lethal intent; she intended to slaughter him on this very mountain. A bitter smirk touched his lips.
I believed she would forgive me in the end.
He had wronged her profoundly, but he still clung to the delusion that their bond remained salvageable.
She remembered his exact birthday. During his agonizing panic attacks from the fireworks, she shielded his ears with her own hands.
More than anything else—
[Odette] “I'm sorry... that someone like me... wants to live......”
She had laid bare her broken, fragile soul to him.
So she didn't find me repulsive from beginning to end.
Consequently, securing her forgiveness would instantly restore their past dynamic. At the very least, he expected a clean slate.
That pathetic hope was shattered entirely. The devastation struck precisely after he finally acknowledged his absolute love for her.
Viktor forced away his devastated expression and hoisted his colossal frame upright.
Eradicating the swarming horde of apex predators required his immediate attention.
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