"Seal him?"
No... Bernadette immediately shook her head and looked to Anne, then Angel, as though seeking help. Seeing that both wore grave expressions and remained silent, she cautiously asked:
"Can we just keep him in this state?"
Though she was not yet an angel, she still held Pale Death. Through its status, she could sense that a certain corruption within her father's body had temporarily reached a balance with his power. If this state could continue indefinitely, perhaps...
"No. 'Rebirth' will appear again soon. Since you've come to this island, you must have witnessed what happened outside. That isn't something you or Anne can stand against," Roselle said solemnly. "Aren't you always saying, 'Do as you will, but do no harm'? If you leave me alone, the entire world will be threatened."
So he never changed. He hasn't resurrected all these years because he couldn't control the corruption inside him... Bernadette's pupils widened slightly as she came to understand a great deal.
She hesitated no longer. Raising the mask in her hands, she pressed it against her face, allowing its hard metal surface to soften and take on that Southern Continent face, turning Bernadette's sorrowful blue eyes pitch-black.
An extremely complex three-dimensional symbol appeared in those eyes, resembling a coiled Feathered Serpent. It swiftly detached from the mask and took physical form in the air, spreading its wings like a real Feathered Serpent. It closely resembled the mythical creature Angel had seen in Salinger's mausoleum deep within the Berserk Sea.
The black stone walls around them, which she had destroyed only for "rebirth" to restore them, began to weather. It happened so quickly that they seemed to age a thousand years in mere seconds. Their surfaces became mottled and decayed, shedding showers of dust, while feathers coated in pale