John wanted to beat up Sion thoroughly, but he still lent him his supernatural powers so he could move on the sea.
Because finding Odette was much more important and urgent.
“Please, Albrecht. I was wrong.”
Where did it go wrong? Sion continued to look back on the past.
'Because I pretended not to know about her abuse even though I knew about it? Because I spoke carelessly?'
But the more he thought back, the more he couldn't figure out what the problem was.
It's not that he doesn't have any regrets, it's that he only has regrets.
The incident where he went to her without permission and trampled on her handkerchief. The incident where he tried to make her cry. The incident where he came to her without fail and brainwashed her.
The more he looked back, the more he realized how harsh he was towards her.
“Damn it, Odette!”
But, even so, Odette. No matter how harsh he may have been to her.
'You shouldn't run away to death. If you run away, you should run to a place where I can follow you.'
So that I can hold onto the hem of your skirt and pray in front of you. But why, of all people? To a death that I can never follow.
If Sion had believed in the afterlife, and thus the possibility of meeting it even after death, Sion would have been willing to give up his life.
But isn't the place where humans go after death nothing?
That's how much I hate you. That's how much I resent you.
Then look at me with your own two eyes as I suffer like this. Confirm that you have successfully punished me, that you have ruined me.
If you want, I can be more broken. I will gladly accept any pain...
While he was wandering like that, Sion's steps returned to the bottom of the Meursault cliff.
It was a dizzying place to look at again. Not only was the water deep but there was also a strong current. If you were unlucky, you would be sucked into the deep sea in an instant, and the current was called the cliff of death in the sea.
'How did I end up in a place like this? How could you find me more horrible than this place?'
Sion felt like she was going crazy. It was so dizzying that it took her breath away.
“Odette-!!!”
Has he ever heard such an ugly, desperate voice in his life? His voice sounded like the final scream of a beast.
Devastated purple eyes scanned the sea. It was a moment when he thought that rather than living his whole life like this, it might be easier to just drown himself in the sea.
Gurrrrung-.
A flash of lightning struck the sea, instantly lighting up the entire beach. Sion turned his gaze to the starting point of the lightning.
"...Your Highness?"
John, standing on the cliff, gritted his teeth and poured all his power out onto the sea.
It was a bold use of his powers, enough to instantly reach the maximum level of contamination. From the way he rained down lightning strikes as if he were a God, it felt like he was mad enough to go berserk.
A madness that would willingly blow up the empire he had cherished and loved his entire life to find Odette's body.
“Fuck... Do you have the time to be lost in useless thoughts right now?”
A sweaty John commanded in a ferocious voice.
After pouring out his power, the seawater surged up like a huge wall and pushed to the left and right. Dry land was revealed between them. The sea was split in half.
“Sion!! Find Odette now!!”
Even if he was an S-class transcendentalist, such a reckless task would not have been easy. It seemed difficult to simultaneously use his supernatural powers and search the ocean floor.
Sion, who had come to his senses at John's rebuke, quickly scanned the exposed floor.
No matter how many times John parted the sea and repeated similar attempts, there was no sign of Odette.
'Did she get swept away by the current and get sucked into the deep sea?'
It was at that moment that Sion's face became horrified.
“...!”
He sensed a faint scent of peach blossoms from somewhere. It was a scent that had disappeared the moment Odette shot herself in the head with a pistol.
Sion's heart sank. No, it seemed to start beating violently again.
'Are you alive?'
Sion's special ability was that of a dog with a keen sense of smell. He could smell the scent of peach blossoms more keenly than other transcendent beings.
"Your Highness!"
The voice calling out to John urgently was trembling. Sion's eyes filled with overwhelming hope as he hurriedly moved to find the source of the fragrance.
“Your Highness! This is the place!”
S-class Transcendent beings have strong self-consciousness, making cooperation difficult. Especially when they use their supernatural abilities at full power, cooperation is completely impossible.
Because the control of the transcendent's body was completely transferred to a supernatural being who was not the master of the body.
But now, John's supernatural power willingly followed Sion's instructions. To save the Purifier.
John, who had come close in an instant, once again dropped a huge lightning bolt with all his might.
The sea split in half again, and a woman’s figure was soon revealed. Sion hurriedly pulled up her cold body and climbed up onto the sea wall.
Sion checked Odette's breathing with trembling hands. He didn't know how many times he prayed to God during that brief moment.
“Odette, come to your senses. Please. Odette.”
But Odette wasn't breathing. There was no sign of life anywhere.
'Why...? I clearly smelled a scent. It smelled sweet, just like when she was alive.'
“Odette. Open your eyes. Please.”
But the woman was dead. Sion couldn't believe it. Clearly, he could smell the scent.
That was when.
“What gives you the right to hug Odette?”
He heard a voice full of displeasure.
It was Victor who found this place, following his intuition.
“Hand it over.”
Victor quickly snatched Odette from Sion's hands. Sion tried to take Odette back but stopped when he saw Victor warming Odette's body with his own.
"Did you forget that this topic is not because of you?"
Victor glared at Sion with bloodshot eyes. Sion didn't respond.
It wasn't because he was doing anything like reflecting. It was just because he couldn't hear a single thing Victor was saying.
'It definitely smelled. It was only for a moment, but she was definitely alive.'
“Albrecht. Take a breath.”
He was only concerned with whether the color would return to Odette's face, whether her breathing would return.
Victor, who had been glaring at Sion for a long time as if he was going to kill him, eventually began to sob while hugging Odette's body.
That's why no one noticed that another Purifier had appeared in the mansion.
Even if they had known, probably no one would have cared.
'I guess I was pushed quite far while I was unconscious.'
It had been quite a while since Odette had swum on the whale's back. But eventually, there was an end. The deep-sea terrain of the ocean began to slowly come into view.
Just when she thought the water was about to get shallow, the whale stopped.
"Yes?"
The sea was pitch black, but when the light from the status window shone on it, a vague shape was visible.
A dolphin was standing right next to the whale. The whale was shaking its body as if telling it to change.
'What... There was a transfer system?'
The dolphin and the whale were close together to make it easier for Odette to move. Odette let out a small laugh when she saw that.
“Thank you for taking me here.”
After saying goodbye to the pod of whales, Odette boarded the dolphin's back. She was now soon at a shallow beach.
As it seemed as if her body would soon emerge above the water, Odette called up the status window.
'Open the store.'
[ Activate store function! ]
'I want to change my hairstyle and eye color.'
At Odette's command, the status window lit up.
[ Change hairstyle (random change) ]
[ Price: 100 Atasha/1 day ]
[ Change eye color (random change) ]
[ Price: 100 Atasha/1 day ]
[ Would you like to purchase and apply?
YES/NO ]
Odette gladly pressed YES. When Odette's face emerged from the waters of Meursault Beach, carried by the dolphin, her brown hair and hazel eyes had changed.
Because finding Odette was much more important and urgent.
“Please, Albrecht. I was wrong.”
Where did it go wrong? Sion continued to look back on the past.
'Because I pretended not to know about her abuse even though I knew about it? Because I spoke carelessly?'
But the more he thought back, the more he couldn't figure out what the problem was.
It's not that he doesn't have any regrets, it's that he only has regrets.
The incident where he went to her without permission and trampled on her handkerchief. The incident where he tried to make her cry. The incident where he came to her without fail and brainwashed her.
The more he looked back, the more he realized how harsh he was towards her.
“Damn it, Odette!”
But, even so, Odette. No matter how harsh he may have been to her.
'You shouldn't run away to death. If you run away, you should run to a place where I can follow you.'
So that I can hold onto the hem of your skirt and pray in front of you. But why, of all people? To a death that I can never follow.
If Sion had believed in the afterlife, and thus the possibility of meeting it even after death, Sion would have been willing to give up his life.
But isn't the place where humans go after death nothing?
That's how much I hate you. That's how much I resent you.
Then look at me with your own two eyes as I suffer like this. Confirm that you have successfully punished me, that you have ruined me.
If you want, I can be more broken. I will gladly accept any pain...
While he was wandering like that, Sion's steps returned to the bottom of the Meursault cliff.
It was a dizzying place to look at again. Not only was the water deep but there was also a strong current. If you were unlucky, you would be sucked into the deep sea in an instant, and the current was called the cliff of death in the sea.
'How did I end up in a place like this? How could you find me more horrible than this place?'
Sion felt like she was going crazy. It was so dizzying that it took her breath away.
“Odette-!!!”
Has he ever heard such an ugly, desperate voice in his life? His voice sounded like the final scream of a beast.
Devastated purple eyes scanned the sea. It was a moment when he thought that rather than living his whole life like this, it might be easier to just drown himself in the sea.
Gurrrrung-.
A flash of lightning struck the sea, instantly lighting up the entire beach. Sion turned his gaze to the starting point of the lightning.
"...Your Highness?"
John, standing on the cliff, gritted his teeth and poured all his power out onto the sea.
It was a bold use of his powers, enough to instantly reach the maximum level of contamination. From the way he rained down lightning strikes as if he were a God, it felt like he was mad enough to go berserk.
A madness that would willingly blow up the empire he had cherished and loved his entire life to find Odette's body.
“Fuck... Do you have the time to be lost in useless thoughts right now?”
A sweaty John commanded in a ferocious voice.
After pouring out his power, the seawater surged up like a huge wall and pushed to the left and right. Dry land was revealed between them. The sea was split in half.
“Sion!! Find Odette now!!”
Even if he was an S-class transcendentalist, such a reckless task would not have been easy. It seemed difficult to simultaneously use his supernatural powers and search the ocean floor.
Sion, who had come to his senses at John's rebuke, quickly scanned the exposed floor.
No matter how many times John parted the sea and repeated similar attempts, there was no sign of Odette.
'Did she get swept away by the current and get sucked into the deep sea?'
It was at that moment that Sion's face became horrified.
“...!”
He sensed a faint scent of peach blossoms from somewhere. It was a scent that had disappeared the moment Odette shot herself in the head with a pistol.
Sion's heart sank. No, it seemed to start beating violently again.
'Are you alive?'
Sion's special ability was that of a dog with a keen sense of smell. He could smell the scent of peach blossoms more keenly than other transcendent beings.
"Your Highness!"
The voice calling out to John urgently was trembling. Sion's eyes filled with overwhelming hope as he hurriedly moved to find the source of the fragrance.
“Your Highness! This is the place!”
S-class Transcendent beings have strong self-consciousness, making cooperation difficult. Especially when they use their supernatural abilities at full power, cooperation is completely impossible.
Because the control of the transcendent's body was completely transferred to a supernatural being who was not the master of the body.
But now, John's supernatural power willingly followed Sion's instructions. To save the Purifier.
John, who had come close in an instant, once again dropped a huge lightning bolt with all his might.
The sea split in half again, and a woman’s figure was soon revealed. Sion hurriedly pulled up her cold body and climbed up onto the sea wall.
Sion checked Odette's breathing with trembling hands. He didn't know how many times he prayed to God during that brief moment.
“Odette, come to your senses. Please. Odette.”
But Odette wasn't breathing. There was no sign of life anywhere.
'Why...? I clearly smelled a scent. It smelled sweet, just like when she was alive.'
“Odette. Open your eyes. Please.”
But the woman was dead. Sion couldn't believe it. Clearly, he could smell the scent.
That was when.
“What gives you the right to hug Odette?”
He heard a voice full of displeasure.
It was Victor who found this place, following his intuition.
“Hand it over.”
Victor quickly snatched Odette from Sion's hands. Sion tried to take Odette back but stopped when he saw Victor warming Odette's body with his own.
"Did you forget that this topic is not because of you?"
Victor glared at Sion with bloodshot eyes. Sion didn't respond.
It wasn't because he was doing anything like reflecting. It was just because he couldn't hear a single thing Victor was saying.
'It definitely smelled. It was only for a moment, but she was definitely alive.'
“Albrecht. Take a breath.”
He was only concerned with whether the color would return to Odette's face, whether her breathing would return.
Victor, who had been glaring at Sion for a long time as if he was going to kill him, eventually began to sob while hugging Odette's body.
That's why no one noticed that another Purifier had appeared in the mansion.
Even if they had known, probably no one would have cared.
***
'I guess I was pushed quite far while I was unconscious.'
It had been quite a while since Odette had swum on the whale's back. But eventually, there was an end. The deep-sea terrain of the ocean began to slowly come into view.
Just when she thought the water was about to get shallow, the whale stopped.
"Yes?"
The sea was pitch black, but when the light from the status window shone on it, a vague shape was visible.
A dolphin was standing right next to the whale. The whale was shaking its body as if telling it to change.
'What... There was a transfer system?'
The dolphin and the whale were close together to make it easier for Odette to move. Odette let out a small laugh when she saw that.
“Thank you for taking me here.”
After saying goodbye to the pod of whales, Odette boarded the dolphin's back. She was now soon at a shallow beach.
As it seemed as if her body would soon emerge above the water, Odette called up the status window.
'Open the store.'
[ Activate store function! ]
'I want to change my hairstyle and eye color.'
At Odette's command, the status window lit up.
[ Change hairstyle (random change) ]
[ Price: 100 Atasha/1 day ]
[ Change eye color (random change) ]
[ Price: 100 Atasha/1 day ]
[ Would you like to purchase and apply?
YES/NO ]
Odette gladly pressed YES. When Odette's face emerged from the waters of Meursault Beach, carried by the dolphin, her brown hair and hazel eyes had changed.
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