Chapter 118
“Don’t push yourself to speak. It’s useless. Your memories will vanish soon anyway.”
As he said that, Karl’s eyes glowed red.
“You weak, incompetent father. To think you could only use this on the Fenrir tribe.”
Karl’s eyes shone like a demon’s. His lips moved slightly, but nothing he said could be heard.
“Don’t worry. It’s not some grand command. It only prevents you from remembering this moment.”
My mind buzzed. I didn’t fully understand it at that moment, but I vaguely sensed that I had fallen under some kind of ‘command.’
“Shall I take the key with me? Nameless maid.”
With that, Karl grabbed the key Dolly had been holding and trudged down the corridor, showing no concern for Dolly’s life or death.
‘Someone… please save me!’
Even though I screamed in such desperation, no sound came out.
Then again, even if I had called out, it wouldn’t have mattered. I had personally checked this path several times—it was a route no one used.
No one could save me. Realizing that made Dolly feel tears welling up.
“No. Hold on. You can do this. I have to remember this moment.”
Karl had clearly said, “You won’t remember this moment.” He also said, “I won’t touch the master’s prey.”
So that meant Dolly wouldn’t die just yet.
If I could just remember this moment to the very end, I wouldn’t fall into that demon’s plans.
Clinging to the thought that remembering was my only hope, Dolly repeated to herself:
“Remember. Remember this moment. Focus, Dolly. You can do it. You have to remember. You must remember.”
How could I possibly forget such a vivid, horrific moment?
“I’m under a command, and the key has been taken from me. That Karl bastard brought me down. Again… I’m under a command, and the key has been taken from me. That Karl bastard—”
But no matter how many times Dolly repeated the same words, she briefly felt a dizzy haze wash over her. Her eyes, heavy despite all her effort, slowly closed.
When she opened them again, Dolly was standing perfectly in the corridor.
‘What…? …I feel really spaced out.’
…Had I dozed off standing up for a moment?
“You can’t keep calling me ‘maid,’ can you? That’s why I wanted to know your name.”
Karl, standing behind her, answered quietly. Only then did she remember.
Ah, right. He had just asked, “What’s your name?” and I had responded, “Why do you ask?”
The suffocating feeling that had gripped me vanished. When I turned, the boy with a decadent expression was standing there.
“What’s with that tone? Use proper speech. You can just call me ‘Head Maid.’”
‘What? Why was I so bothered by such a trivial servant just a moment ago?’
Had I been shaken by Courtney’s death? Why had I trembled so over simply bringing a boy into the garden?
“Yes. I will. Head Maid.”
But as soon as Dolly heard Karl’s gentle voice, a strange thought flashed through her mind: He already took the key from me.
Panicking, she quickly checked her apron for the key.
But the key was safely tucked in her pocket.
‘Why did that thought even come to mind?’
Dolly tilted her head and quickened her pace. She had to hurry to keep her appointment with Rudolph.
Karl’s footsteps behind her were as steady and rhythmic as a clock. Everything was going according to Dolly and Rudolph’s plan.
‘Damn it. Of all places, a disaster had to strike right above someone.’
Johan and Zion were already far out at sea. Reaching the disaster before being sucked in was impossible even for them.
‘That person might get hurt a little, but there’s no other choice.’
As Johan flew toward the disaster, he quickly formed lightning with both hands, preparing to strike down the new calamity.
Still, minor injuries were better than being sucked into the disaster. The scale of the lightning had been minimized, so there would be no permanent damage—
But the moment the woman’s robe was stripped away and her face was revealed, Johan’s heart sank, leaving him frozen.
“Odette?”
‘Why… why is Odette here?’
He hadn’t noticed her presence at all.
An overwhelming fear he had never felt in his life washed over Johan.
The electricity crackling from his hands vanished without a trace.
‘I can’t let her get hurt.’
Damn it. Odette. She can’t get hurt.
Rationally, he knew it would be better if she were struck by Johan’s lightning than sucked into the disaster.
The adjustments were precise, so there would be no permanent damage. But logic meant nothing when it came to Odette.
No matter the cost, he couldn’t gamble with that small, fragile body.
Odette’s arm was already dangerously close to being swallowed by the disaster.
His hesitation was brief. Johan quickly shaped the lightning into a blade in his hand, ready to cut off his own arm.
The disaster favored the bodies of transcendent beings as prey. Wouldn’t offering a more enticing target satisfy it?
His body would regenerate anyway, so sacrificing it to buy time for Odette was the better option—
“Damn it! Get out! Your Highness!”
At that moment, Zion grabbed Johan’s arm with tremendous force from behind.
“Let go! Kleist!”
Johan tried to shake him off. Zion couldn’t use his powers; all his abilities were being used to protect the capital.
So struggling with Zion would only waste precious time.
But when Johan turned to push him away, he froze.
Zion’s eyes glowed golden. At the same time, countless golden threads appeared to flow from across the sea into Zion’s body.
‘Damn it. Zion… could he really be doing that insane thing?’
The reckless act of recalling all the mind-control powers being used in the capital at once.
As Johan had suspected, blood flowed from Zion’s nose. His golden eyes rolled back briefly, as if he were pushing beyond his limits.
The capital was three days away by boat. Retrieving all long-distance powers at once would place an enormous burden on him.
The golden threads in Zion’s body stretched toward the disaster. They tangled into a massive chain, coiling tightly around the black calamity like a constricting serpent.
“Stop.”
At Zion’s command, the hurricane-like wind the disaster had been generating suddenly ceased.
“Come to me.”
The golden chains tightened under Zion’s command. The disaster, like a well-trained snake, slithered toward Zion.
“Open your mouth.”
Thankfully, Odette remained on the disaster’s tongue, unconsumed.
“Put the woman down.”
The disaster spat Odette out at the command.
Johan swiftly moved to catch her safely.
“Rip your mouth open and vanish.”
The disaster opened its mouth wide and began enlarging its tongue. It swelled endlessly until its surface became translucent, resembling a giant balloon.
When it had grown as large as the distant moon, bang!—it tore apart, shattering into fragments.
The fragments turned to dust and vanished.
Johan carefully brushed Odette’s face. Luckily, she appeared unharmed.
His tense body, trembling from stress, began to relax. Yet his heart felt heavy.
‘…Damn it. The capital is going to descend into chaos soon.’
Except in rare cases, disasters mostly appeared where people were gathered.
Zion had been suppressing countless disasters targeting the capital with mind control, but just now, he had removed that defense in an instant to save Odette.
Even someone like Zion couldn’t instantly recreate such a protective barrier from afar.
A barrier operating 24/7 that affected no other beings’ minds inside—creating it was no easy task.
It had taken Zion a year of meticulous effort to establish. And now he had removed it all at once to save Odette.
‘Not a wrong choice.’
Protecting the empire’s only purifier was a rational decision Zion could make.
But Johan still felt uneasy.
Had Zion really made that decision purely based on calculation?
