It was a dark dungeon with no light, but Odette had the light in the status window.
So she could see clearly even in this dark place.
Karl's face was sitting in chains in the old blood-stained grate.
When she met him for the first time in two years, he was like a different person. The atmosphere has become even more decadent, the big one that makes her feel ferocious, and the expression with a slightly oblique smile.
It looked more dangerous than Karl when he cut her throat with an axe in her last life. More than when he was so hostile to her in revenge for the dead Fenril children.
Odette was a little confused.
'Why... Doesn't he look like a different person?'
Is that the boy who cried for Odette two years ago, telling her not to abandon him?
It felt as if he had thrown off his mask. Looking back, Karl in the past was somehow unnatural.
Odette had a hunch that Karl's expression was the one he had always hidden.
"Karl..."
"You've become uncomfortable. It's eerie. It's become terrible."
Odette chose other words instead of the words that hovered on the tip of her tongue.
"...You've changed."
At Odette's words, Charles looked at Odette.
"Has it changed? Me?"
The slanted smile on Karl's lips became even more crooked.
The moment she saw his expression, she felt a strange chill.
Is this what it feels like to face an inevitable fate or a natural disaster?
Odette came to see Karl because she thought it was because of Karl that Charlotte came to the Count's Palace... She thought that maybe it was a mistake to come to him right away.
She didn't expect him to be such an ominous person.
Odette grasped the shawl over her shoulders and spoke cautiously.
"Since you had awakened as a transcendental, you would have been exempted from slavery... Why did you stay in this mansion?"
"Look at the restraints, master. I have so many chains wrapped around me, how can I go out?"
Shameless lies. He could break those chains in a short time.
No matter how thick that chain is, it's harder to keep it tied to him than it is to break it.
However, Odette came to recruit Karl. To prevent Charlotte and Karl from meeting.
Therefore, she was deceived by his words on purpose and gave a friendly voice.
"Then I'll release you. Get out of that cold place first."
Odette said that, grabbing the key to the secret passage, she had brought with her. The key to the secret passage that she got here two years ago.
But Karl stared at Odette and spoke up.
"You don't have the authority to order me."
"What do you mean?"
"Now my legal and papery master is the Count. The Count told me to stay in prison, so I have no choice but to obey his orders."
Odette paused.
"I am very loyal to my master. Unlike a master who always abandons his slaves."
If Karl had felt dissatisfaction, sadness, or anger, Odette would have soothed him. But that was not what he had in his eyes.
He was just observing her as if to test her.
"... If it comes out like that, it won't be a big deal."
Still, she was confused because Karl's appearance was very different from what she expected. If the other side were even hostile, it would be better to take a step back and remake the plan.
Odette was about to get up and go back to her room.
Ring. A new notification appeared in the status window in front of her with a sound.
[The 'Master of the Status Window' is caught in Karl's 'Time Regression'.]
[Number of regressions to the current point of view: 4 times (currently 5 times)]
'What is it?'
The moment she looked at the window, a sense of eeriness ran up Odette's back.
'Karl now... Are you repeating this moment?'
Why? Odette was confused.
Karl was not the type to use reason often. He rarely used reason to remove disasters from the Redemption.
'And as far as I know.. Karl has never turned back time.'
When he had to use his senses, he only used them to the extent of stopping the hour of disaster.
It was much more burdensome to turn time backward than to stop it or make it flow faster. Because time should flow in only one direction.
Didn't explain that in the setting of the Redemption?
The reason why Karl was able to be endowed with the ability of time is because he is most similar to the nature of time. Karl never looks back. Because he is the one who only looks forward and flows with time.
'But you are just going to turn back time?'
Moreover, according to the status window, it means that she has already failed four times.
A cold sweat dripped down her back.
'What have I done in the last 4 rounds... I can't remember.'
The problem is... Unlike her, Karl remembers everything. All four episodes to him.
And it means that none of those four appearances were in his heart.
'Hitting the goal, really... What are you going to do?'
Karl's eyes were already filled with boredom. If a human looked at a lab rat, or if God looked down on a human, it would be a look like that.
'But why are you doing this?'
If he doesn't like what she does, he can just ignore it.
As if he wants her to do something, as if he wants her to react... What on earth did he turn back time for four times?
Odette gulped nervously.
'I must have received this notification from the second round. But I'm still trapped in this bondage... It means that there is a problem with the choice that I may have made over and over again.'
A moment ago, she was about to leave. She decided it was time to retreat to avoid the chill and discomfort it gave her.
'Then... Let's stay here for now.'
She should not become overly affectionate. If she suddenly did something that she hadn't done until the fourth episode, he'd definitely think it was strange.
Odette, who had been silent, spoke thoughtfully.
"Throw it away, Karl. I didn't abandon you."
"I did it because I wanted to let you go. It would have been better for you."
She tried to add that, but Karl was faster.
"Then you left for me?"
His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not smiling at all.
Odette realized at that moment. The fact that she had already said that in the previous episode.
Tiring-
The status window popped up another notification.
[Karl considers the fifth 'time regression'.]
[Be careful not to become a target of 'time regression anymore!]
[The more the episode repeats, the easier it is for 'Karl' to choose a regression. The probability of falling into the 'Infinite Loop' increases dramatically!]
[Number of regressions to the current point of view: 4 times (currently 5 times)]
'Damn.'
She can't back down. Odette put the key in the lock.
The door opened with a crunching sound, and the latch was released. The door of the grate opened, and his eyebrows rose lightly. The boredom seemed to have faded slightly.
'At least this behavior seems to be different from the last episode.'
Comforted by this, Odette walked into the grate.
"I'm sorry. Karl. I shouldn't have left you like that."
Then she knelt carefully in front of Karl. To free the chains that bound his body.
But before she could try, she heard a grumbling. The chains that had wrapped around Karl's body had broken into pieces.
"Pick up whatever you want, throw it away as you please. Is that something you can just say sorry for, master?"
Before Odette could bite into a panic, Karl squeezed her chin lightly with his hand. Odette's cyan eyes shook.
'What the hell is this kid?'
When it comes to physical strength, the other transcendents are also overwhelming in one way. But what is it? Why is this guy the only one who scares people so much?
'Crazy... Status window, shop. Open the Shop!'
Odette reflexively went into the store and bought a gun. She doesn't think she'll be able to deal with him, but in the worst case, she's going to shoot him as a defense.
It was that moment.
"Oh no. You're scared again."
At the same time, a notification window sent a warning.
[Karl prepares for the fifth Time Regression.]
[The probability of falling into the 'Infinite Loop' increases dramatically! ]
A circle appeared beneath the soles of his feet, and he floated into the air. Then the numbers interlocked and circled him and her in the shape of a soul cloth.
The surroundings became dark as if they were trapped inside. There was a very faint ticking sound from the rings around them.
The ticking sound was about to stop.
"Damn, damn it! I can't afford to think about any other way!"
Odette hugged Karl.
"Karl."
Then he immediately purified. If she's going to go back anyway, she'll use all the cards she can use.
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