Chapter 5

The Last Sacrifice

Her body felt lighter. Her breathing, incredibly, grew easier. At the same time, the frail body in his arms grew colder and colder.

"…Hey. Stop this right now."

He tried to pull her hand away, but her fingertips were already as cold as ice.

"Stop it, Odely! I said stop!"

"I can't."

But Odely shook her head desperately, clinging to him with what strength she had left.

"If not now…"

"…I’ll never get the chance again."

"Don't! I never asked for this!"

Ludville screamed until the veins in his neck bulged. But the outburst didn’t last long. It soon turned into a desperate plea.

"Please… stop. I'm begging you…"

But it was already too late. Odely gave him one last faint smile, then crumpled in his arms.

"It's okay now."

Before he could even ask what was okay, before he could tell her that nothing was okay, she continued.

"If you go straight that way, you can escape. …You must live."

Summoning the last of her strength, she pointed somewhere with a hand that trembled like a dying leaf.

"Live. That's my last request."

Her lips still held a gentle curve, even as the light faded from her eyes.

For someone who had confidently declared she would live longer than him, Odely died far too meaninglessly. She was much younger than the average lifespan of a Purifier. Now that she was dead, a new Purifier would undoubtedly be born soon. The Cardel family would surely click their tongues, lamenting that they'd have to train a newborn from scratch.

Her death was merely a slightly earlier end to the unchanging fate of a Purifier, a destiny that had endured for hundreds of years. It had always been this way, and it always would be.

That should have been the end of the story.

But…

There was one person.

One person who refused to accept the flow of that fate.

The Beginning of a Cycle

"You said you'd live longer than me…"

His blood-caked lips trembled. His fingertips traced the cheek of Odely, who lay cold and still in his arms. 

"…You liar."

"Odely."

"Please… say something…"

His shoulders shook. It didn't take long for his suppressed, ragged breaths to turn into sobs. The moment he finally unleashed his tears, he broke down completely, weeping openly.

Having spent his life as a test subject, Ludeville remained thin and frail even as an adult, nothing but skin and bones. He was completely different from the image Odely held in her memory. However, his eyes were still alive, gleaming intensely even in the darkness.

"God, demon, whoever. It doesn't have to be a miracle. A contract, a curse, anything is fine, just please, just one more time…"

Tears streamed down his face, falling past his lips. He prayed desperately, as if wringing his souldry.

"Take everything. My name, my memories, my soul. Just please, bring her back…"

At that moment, the air rippled. Time seemed to stop, the atmosphere twisted, and a radiant gem appeared. It was a palm-sized blue crystal. It pulsed and vibrated subtly, like a living heart.

"This…"

One of the many sacred artifacts of the Cardel family. The Cardels, having cultivated an image as descendants of dragons for centuries, had collected many sacred artifacts and stored them underground. One of these suddenly appeared before Ludeville.

The Gem of Regression

The floor was stained with blood.. Ludeville lay on the ground, covered in blood. In his hand, he still clutched the blue gem. Knights of the Carmel family, clad in silver armor, surrounded him, as if to corner him. Someone snarled, grinding their teeth.

"How dare this lunatic test subject steal a sacred artifact of the family!"

The knight at the front drew his sword and plunged it towards Ludeville's heart, where he lay as if dead. Odely Cardel instinctively gasped and rushed forward.

But at that moment, the gem glowed brightly, unleashing a blue flash. The intense light consumed Ludeville's body, like a blazing star. Brilliant and cruel.

And then… everything vanished. The blood, the pain, the sword blade piercing him. In the quiet darkness, time began to flow backward for the first time. The red blood pooling on the floor was sucked back into his body, and the knights surrounding him sheathed their swords and retreated, backing away. Everything rewound like clockwork.

And when he opened his eyes again, Ludeville Ecsepsion was back ten years ago. Back to the very day he was sold in the slave market and dragged into the Cardel family's underground laboratory.

'The Gem of Regression.'

That was the true identity of the gem embedded in the ring Ludeville Ecsepsion always wore. What triggered it, he didn't know. The gem simply responded to Ludeville Ecsepsion's desperate prayer before Odely Cardel's corpse that day. He was chosen, gaining the ability to turn back time.

"This is insane."

The first time the regression occurred, Ludeville Ecsepsion denied reality.

"…I can fix everything."

Next, he felt hope.

"I can save you."

Ludeville Ecsepsion laughed in ecstasy.

"We can live together."

This time, he tried to escape with Odely Cardel. But being merely a powerless slave, he was captured and executed on the spot before they could even leave the Cardel estate, and Odely Cardel was dragged back underground.

Time reset again. The gem was subtly smaller than before.

'I need to gain power.'

Ludeville Ecsepsion chose to escape the Cardel family for now. Serving a retired knight, Ludeville Ecsepsion held a sword for the first time in his life. The boy, who could barely hold a sword and stumbled, became stronger than his peers through arduous effort. But it wasn't enough to become a knight. Ludeville Ecsepsion decided to dedicate this life to mastering swordsmanship. He trained relentlessly until he became an old man. When he died, time reset again. The gem was even smaller than in the previous regression.

In a new life, he became a knight of the Cardel family. He seized an opportunity and escaped with Odely. The two, hidden aboard a cargo ship, fled to another country, building a small cottage in a rural estate and living together.

"Odely."

Ludeville Ecsepsion took out a newly bought pair of silver rings from his pocket.

"I can't offer you anything expensive or a grand promise, but…"

They were the most expensive rings he could buy, scraping together all the money he'd saved. With trembling hands, he slipped the smaller one onto Odely's finger and the larger one onto his own.

"This is a token that I will be by your side forever."

He slowly and deeply kissed the ring on her finger. With the face of someone suffering a bitter first love, he whispered, "I love you, Odely." His raw, unadorned confession held pure, unadulterated affection. Ludeville Ecsepsion embraced her desperately, pouring his entire being into it, as if this moment, once returned, would be the very last.

But Odely Cardel's body was already beyond repair from years of exploitation. She died at the age of twenty-nine.

Ludeville Ecsepsion despaired, but he was okay. Many opportunities still remained.

'I need to find a way to heal her body.'

Ludeville Ecsepsion traveled across the empire, searching for remedies that could cure Odely's body. But the information a knight of humble origins could obtain was limited.

'I need power.'

Time reset again. The gem was even smaller.

He joined the war as a child soldier. He threw himself recklessly into battle. Absurdly, he was pierced by an enemy's sword and died immediately.

Time reset again.

The stench of countless battlefields. The screams burning in the flames. The names of comrades who fell to the sword. He died countless times. He broke down countless times. He earned merits and became a viscount, then a count, then a duke. These titles were minor accomplishments among the thousands he had achieved. He had saved this land, conquered enemy nations with advanced medicine, learned magic to perform miracles, and even became the leader of the underworld, dabbling in all sorts of forbidden arts.

But he couldn't save her. No matter what he did.