Even though the bullet pierced her head, she felt no pain at all. Nevertheless, she felt her body turning into a corpse. Her eyes did not blink, and her heart did not beat.
But the senses and consciousness still remained.
'They say that silver bullets don't kill even if you get hit, so that's what they mean.'
That's why Odette was able to capture their shocked expressions.
Sion shedding tears in a daze, Victor with a pale face and in despair, John and Karl struggling as if they had lost their minds.
Odette's body tilted backwards over the railing and she fell into the sea.
The feeling of gravity pulling her endlessly down the steep cliff was dizzying. She could hear a piercing scream piercing her ears.
Her hair and dress fluttered in the strong sea breeze. As she was falling, she saw a woman climbing up the mountain ridge. It was Charlotte, who had just arrived at the count's villa.
That lovely face was filled with amazement.
'It looks like I've successfully hit the back of the head.'
At that moment, a ringing sound rang in her ear - the status window popping up.
[ ♡ Quest Success ♡ ]
[ Successfully awakened Karl within the 10-minute time limit by causing emotional turmoil ♥ ]
[ Karl receives a 'strong shock'. ]
[Reward: Restore the 'Affinity' function in the status window]
[ Rewards are automatically accepted. ]
[ Congratulations! The status window for 'The Only Savior' has been successfully completed! ]
'What?'
Before she could even read the notification that appeared before her eyes, her body sank into the seawater with a splash.
[ This is the best moment to use the invisible dagger. ]
[ Would you like to use the invisible dagger?
YES/NO ]
[ The owner of the status window cannot judge the status. The status window randomly selects YES. ]
[ The invisible dagger successfully separates the 'Necklace' and the 'Status Window'. ]
[The status window is separated from the ‘Necklace Created by the First Transcendent’ and completely belongs to ‘Odette’.]
[ You can now use the status window without the necklace. ]
Deep in the ocean. The bubbles created by the body falling into the ocean and the fast current obstructed the view.
[ Congratulations! Odette, you are now the owner of the perfect status window! ]
But the text in the status window was still clearly visible.
'...The status window belongs to me?'
She wanted to focus on the status screen a little longer, but her consciousness was fading away. This was due to the effect of the silver bullet, which made her lose consciousness for several hours instead of making her look like a corpse.
Odette felt herself being sucked into the fast current and lost consciousness.
Taang!
As soon as the gunshot sounded, a bullet passed through Odette's head.
At the same time, the gun that had been shining in the blue disappeared, and the life completely drained from her frail body. Her body, which had been shaking precariously like a doll with its strings cut off, fell behind the railing.
“Odette!!”
Despite all the flailing and struggling in terrible frustration, the Transcendent beings' legs simply would not move.
Through the sound of the rough waves, the sound of Odette sinking into the sea could be heard.
A scream, like that of an unknown beast, filled the room. It might even have been Karl's own.
The legs that would not move no matter how hard he tried soon started to move with such ease that it was almost disappointing. All the other Transcendents headed toward the sea like crazy, but Karl could not do so.
It was because his whole body was strangely hot. It was difficult to even stand, let alone move.
He fell to his knees, his feet still wet with blood from his ankles.
'Why on earth...'
At first, it was interesting. Something that gave him something to look back on in a life that had never been looked back on.
Even while trying to gain her favor, she was very wary of him. He observed her as he pretended to be more loyal and obedient each time to please her.
“Karl. Don’t follow me. Just cover me from afar.”
She was the complete opposite of him. Unlike Karl, who was indifferent to everything, she was a woman who was fierce about everything.
The way she held on forcibly was pitiful, then funny, and then at some point Karl became curious. What on earth is she working so hard for? Why is she working so hard for something like that?
“If you happen to find a patient in critical condition, I’ll protect you, so save that person first. If you don’t have enough money, come find me.”
But as he followed her gaze, he began to find reasons to cling to even the smallest things. Those insignificant things seemed worth the effort.
In that new realization, colors came to the black-and-white world as if paint was spreading. In those moments, it felt as if his life was also imbued with meaning.
No, in fact, it may have been like that since he first saw her in the palace gardens when he was little.
A young girl sitting as if buried in lace under a blue sky. She placed a bird of the same color on her finger and carefully whistled. Blue sky, yellow dress, yellow bird.
Why did that memory have color, unlike his other memories? Why did he look back at that girl? Why did subtle waves ripple in his heart at that moment?
Karl thinks he finally knows the name of that wave.
'You listened to me. You did everything I said! I never disobeyed any of your orders... I treated you so diligently as my master.'
He gritted his teeth. You can't leave me like this. I can't lose you like this.
But all he could do, excited by the fever, was to pant on the floor.
It was at that moment. His already hot body suddenly became hot as if on fire. At the same time, a strange amount of blood flowed out from his ankle.
The flowing blood formed a circle as if the sacrifice known as Karl had been placed in the center of a magic circle.
'No matter what I have to sacrifice, I have to get her back.'
At that moment, the blood hardened and became crystals in response to that will.
The thick vein, gloomy, persistent, and unpleasant in color, split into six strands and transformed into six crimson rings.
Then the rings centered around Karl began to tilt, like an armillary sphere.
Karl sat up. The writing on the ring was the ancient language of Fenrir, related to time. He realized it instinctively.
That he had awakened the power of time manipulation. And that he knew how to use that power to stop and reverse the flow of time.
“Turn it back.”
Karl commanded in the ancient language of Fenrir. At his command, the rings surrounding him glowed crimson and slowly expanded.
The rings, which had expanded to a certain radius around Karl, covered the entire villa and even the area just below the cliff. The space within the rings turned black and white, and time stopped.
Then the interlocking rings began to slowly turn in the opposite direction.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
But the senses and consciousness still remained.
'They say that silver bullets don't kill even if you get hit, so that's what they mean.'
That's why Odette was able to capture their shocked expressions.
Sion shedding tears in a daze, Victor with a pale face and in despair, John and Karl struggling as if they had lost their minds.
Odette's body tilted backwards over the railing and she fell into the sea.
The feeling of gravity pulling her endlessly down the steep cliff was dizzying. She could hear a piercing scream piercing her ears.
Her hair and dress fluttered in the strong sea breeze. As she was falling, she saw a woman climbing up the mountain ridge. It was Charlotte, who had just arrived at the count's villa.
That lovely face was filled with amazement.
'It looks like I've successfully hit the back of the head.'
At that moment, a ringing sound rang in her ear - the status window popping up.
[ ♡ Quest Success ♡ ]
[ Successfully awakened Karl within the 10-minute time limit by causing emotional turmoil ♥ ]
[ Karl receives a 'strong shock'. ]
[Reward: Restore the 'Affinity' function in the status window]
[ Rewards are automatically accepted. ]
[ Congratulations! The status window for 'The Only Savior' has been successfully completed! ]
'What?'
Before she could even read the notification that appeared before her eyes, her body sank into the seawater with a splash.
[ This is the best moment to use the invisible dagger. ]
[ Would you like to use the invisible dagger?
YES/NO ]
[ The owner of the status window cannot judge the status. The status window randomly selects YES. ]
[ The invisible dagger successfully separates the 'Necklace' and the 'Status Window'. ]
[The status window is separated from the ‘Necklace Created by the First Transcendent’ and completely belongs to ‘Odette’.]
[ You can now use the status window without the necklace. ]
Deep in the ocean. The bubbles created by the body falling into the ocean and the fast current obstructed the view.
[ Congratulations! Odette, you are now the owner of the perfect status window! ]
But the text in the status window was still clearly visible.
'...The status window belongs to me?'
She wanted to focus on the status screen a little longer, but her consciousness was fading away. This was due to the effect of the silver bullet, which made her lose consciousness for several hours instead of making her look like a corpse.
Odette felt herself being sucked into the fast current and lost consciousness.
***
Taang!
As soon as the gunshot sounded, a bullet passed through Odette's head.
At the same time, the gun that had been shining in the blue disappeared, and the life completely drained from her frail body. Her body, which had been shaking precariously like a doll with its strings cut off, fell behind the railing.
“Odette!!”
Despite all the flailing and struggling in terrible frustration, the Transcendent beings' legs simply would not move.
Through the sound of the rough waves, the sound of Odette sinking into the sea could be heard.
A scream, like that of an unknown beast, filled the room. It might even have been Karl's own.
The legs that would not move no matter how hard he tried soon started to move with such ease that it was almost disappointing. All the other Transcendents headed toward the sea like crazy, but Karl could not do so.
It was because his whole body was strangely hot. It was difficult to even stand, let alone move.
He fell to his knees, his feet still wet with blood from his ankles.
'Why on earth...'
At first, it was interesting. Something that gave him something to look back on in a life that had never been looked back on.
Even while trying to gain her favor, she was very wary of him. He observed her as he pretended to be more loyal and obedient each time to please her.
“Karl. Don’t follow me. Just cover me from afar.”
She was the complete opposite of him. Unlike Karl, who was indifferent to everything, she was a woman who was fierce about everything.
The way she held on forcibly was pitiful, then funny, and then at some point Karl became curious. What on earth is she working so hard for? Why is she working so hard for something like that?
“If you happen to find a patient in critical condition, I’ll protect you, so save that person first. If you don’t have enough money, come find me.”
But as he followed her gaze, he began to find reasons to cling to even the smallest things. Those insignificant things seemed worth the effort.
In that new realization, colors came to the black-and-white world as if paint was spreading. In those moments, it felt as if his life was also imbued with meaning.
No, in fact, it may have been like that since he first saw her in the palace gardens when he was little.
A young girl sitting as if buried in lace under a blue sky. She placed a bird of the same color on her finger and carefully whistled. Blue sky, yellow dress, yellow bird.
Why did that memory have color, unlike his other memories? Why did he look back at that girl? Why did subtle waves ripple in his heart at that moment?
Karl thinks he finally knows the name of that wave.
'You listened to me. You did everything I said! I never disobeyed any of your orders... I treated you so diligently as my master.'
He gritted his teeth. You can't leave me like this. I can't lose you like this.
But all he could do, excited by the fever, was to pant on the floor.
It was at that moment. His already hot body suddenly became hot as if on fire. At the same time, a strange amount of blood flowed out from his ankle.
The flowing blood formed a circle as if the sacrifice known as Karl had been placed in the center of a magic circle.
'No matter what I have to sacrifice, I have to get her back.'
At that moment, the blood hardened and became crystals in response to that will.
The thick vein, gloomy, persistent, and unpleasant in color, split into six strands and transformed into six crimson rings.
Then the rings centered around Karl began to tilt, like an armillary sphere.
Karl sat up. The writing on the ring was the ancient language of Fenrir, related to time. He realized it instinctively.
That he had awakened the power of time manipulation. And that he knew how to use that power to stop and reverse the flow of time.
“Turn it back.”
Karl commanded in the ancient language of Fenrir. At his command, the rings surrounding him glowed crimson and slowly expanded.
The rings, which had expanded to a certain radius around Karl, covered the entire villa and even the area just below the cliff. The space within the rings turned black and white, and time stopped.
Then the interlocking rings began to slowly turn in the opposite direction.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
With the sound of a warped second hand like that of a broken clock, time within the radius of the ring began to turn back. It was the exact same amount of time that had burned through Karl's remaining lifespan.
Even if he was an S-class, it was impossible to turn back time for the entire world. But that limitation didn't matter to Karl.
All he had to do was get Odette back. Just turning back time to the bottom of the cliff was enough.
'Please.'
Life was not a waste at all. Death was better than endless nothingness without Odette.
But even though he turned back time as much as possible, nothing much had changed. He had only returned a few seconds ago, right after he had just awakened.
Karl used his power once again.
“Turn it back.”
Again.
“Turn it back.”
Over and over again.
“Turn it back. Please, turn it back!”
But no matter how many times, dozens, or hundreds of times he repeated it, it was no use.
“Oh my God. Why isn’t it working?”
Then Karl realized that he could never turn back time, even if he tried thousands of times before he awakened.
Because the manifestation of his powers was just a hair's breadth behind Odette's death.
“Again, one more time...”
But Karl did not give up and continued to write his life.
Over and over again, over and over again.
Hoping his master would come back to him again.
The dreamy sound of water bubbles. The distant sound of whale cries.
How much time had passed? Odette opened her eyes to the sea.
Even if he was an S-class, it was impossible to turn back time for the entire world. But that limitation didn't matter to Karl.
All he had to do was get Odette back. Just turning back time to the bottom of the cliff was enough.
'Please.'
Life was not a waste at all. Death was better than endless nothingness without Odette.
But even though he turned back time as much as possible, nothing much had changed. He had only returned a few seconds ago, right after he had just awakened.
Karl used his power once again.
“Turn it back.”
Again.
“Turn it back.”
Over and over again.
“Turn it back. Please, turn it back!”
But no matter how many times, dozens, or hundreds of times he repeated it, it was no use.
“Oh my God. Why isn’t it working?”
Then Karl realized that he could never turn back time, even if he tried thousands of times before he awakened.
Because the manifestation of his powers was just a hair's breadth behind Odette's death.
“Again, one more time...”
But Karl did not give up and continued to write his life.
Over and over again, over and over again.
Hoping his master would come back to him again.
***
The dreamy sound of water bubbles. The distant sound of whale cries.
How much time had passed? Odette opened her eyes to the sea.
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