The black figure froze, releasing its grip on Bernadette's neck, seemingly staring at the " Mystery Queen " with eyes that were not actually there.
A dry, hoarse voice then echoed in the hidden space:
"Home..."
The voice carried a hint of hesitation, a touch of confusion, and a desire for confirmation, as if it were coming from another world.
The corruption that Bernadette suffered disappeared, and her connection with her own Sealed Artifact was instantly restored.
The " Pale Death " began to kill her slowly again, which helped her fight against the growing confusion in her thoughts and maintain basic clarity and rationality.
Just as she opened her mouth to say something more, the black figure suddenly stretched out its hand again.
But this time, instead of grabbing Bernadette by the neck, it gave her a hard shove.
Accompanying this push was the collapse of the hidden space, and a sound carrying obvious pain, as if resisting something:
"Leave!"
As the sound echoed, the black figure vanished into thin air.
A moment later, it appeared on the central platform and sat on the huge, iron-black high-backed chair.
Two slits immediately appeared on its face, as if two asymmetrical eyes had grown out.
However, those "eyes" had no pupils; they were entirely blood-red.
Immediately afterwards, another crack appeared below the two "eyes," filled with the same pure Red Light.
This finally gave the black figure a "mouth".
It faced Bernadette, and the sound, clearly filled with pain and as if resisting something, echoed around it again:
"Get out of here!"
After being pushed more than ten meters, Bernadette easily regained her footing, but she did not follow the voice's command to leave the " Black Emperor's " mausoleum. She stood there, staring blankly at the central platform and at the black figure, her expression revealing a sadness that she could not and did not want to hide.
She could sense it, and she was certain that the black figure was her father, the man who called himself " Caesar," Roselle Gustav.
The next second, more cracks appeared on the black figure, and blood-red flowers bloomed from its head down on different parts of its body.
This left Roselle as if he were only shrouded in shadow, within which was a crimson entity radiating pure light.
Seeing this scene from above the Gray Fog, Klein naturally thought of the red moon high in the sky.
At this moment, Roselle seemed to have transformed into a shadow, trying to obscure the red moon, but it was torn open again and again, allowing more and more Moonlight to shine into reality.
Once these openings connect, the dark shadow will completely split open, giving birth to a brand new red moon.
At that time, something extremely terrifying will inevitably happen.
Just then, Roselle's black figure became more ethereal, seemingly transforming into some kind of illusion.
This made him seem as if he were isolated from another world, with an invisible barrier between him and reality.
Then, Roselle laboriously raised his shadowy right arm and pinched his forehead.
The frequency of the crimson cracks on his body suddenly decreased to an extreme, but the "eyes" that had been there before began to blink, one blink after another.
However, this did not have any negative impact on the surrounding area; it seemed to be just a simple change in order—the trend of new, blood-red cracks being "born" was Distortion and the original, gradually active cracks were replaced.
After finishing this task, Roselle raised his head, looked at Bernadette a few dozen meters away, and laughed in a dry, hoarse voice:
"You've truly become a big shot in the mysterious world, able to come here all by yourself."
"Come here, let me see what my little princess looks like now."
Bernadette's eyes suddenly reddened, and she took a step forward.
Roselle chuckled again:
"When I was making picture books, compiling teaching materials, and inventing all sorts of little games for you, you were just a tiny little thing. Now you're old enough to save your poor old father."
"I remember you loved all the clothes I designed for you when you were little. It's a pity you can't wear those tiered dresses anymore now that you're grown up..."
The emperor started rambling on and on, as if he had reached the twilight of his life and always liked to reminisce about the beautiful scenes of the past.
Bernadette walked faster and faster, Klein, standing above the Gray Fog, frowned almost imperceptibly.
Suddenly, Emperor Roselle lowered his head slightly and said with great force:
"Stop!"
His voice was filled with unspeakable pain.
Bernadette paused for a moment, then quickly slowed her pace and stopped.
An indescribable sorrow gradually crept into her gaze as she looked at the dark figure.
Roselle raised his head again, coughed lightly, and said:
"You're probably wondering why the order and trends he established are inscribed outside the ' Black Emperor's' tomb. Actually, it's not necessary. I just want those who see it to remember my greatness..."
Before he could finish speaking, the emperor gripped the armrest tightly with one hand, and said in a low, extremely pained voice:
"No, come any closer!"
"I've been contaminated..."
The sadness in Bernadette's eyes deepened.
Her earlier guess was finally confirmed.
At this moment, the bright red slits on Roselle's face became chaotic, sometimes "closing" and sometimes "opening," no longer showing a unified will.
The emperor seized the opportunity, straightened his body slightly, looked at Bernadette, and called out with considerable difficulty:
Seal me!
"Seal..." Bernadette, the " Mystery Queen," silently repeated the word, her azure eyes quickly becoming moist and misty.
Even though she had lived for many, many years, and even though she was no longer the little girl she once was, she still couldn't suppress the changes in her inner emotions at this moment.
However, she did not ask why, nor did she hesitate. After a slight struggle, she firmly and unwaveringly raised her right hand and placed it on the pale metal mask.
As she had done in the years when facing the various major events that " Element Dawn " had encountered, she made a decision with exceptional calmness.
On the surface of " Pale Death," the metal softens instantly, Reorganization a new face with a pair of black eyes.
Within those deep black eyes, pale lines stood out, outlining an extremely complex and mysterious three-dimensional symbol, resembling either a bird with abnormally long feathers or Feathered Serpent coiled up.
The symbol absorbed the surrounding light, quickly took on a physical form, then detached itself from Bernadette's eyes, unfurled its "body," and flew toward Roselle Gustav on the iron-black chair.
Along the way, these strange symbols made the surroundings even darker, and caused the paving stones and stone walls to weather and decay once more, as if the god who held the reins of death had made the final judgment.
The falling pebbles and rising dust followed the materialized symbol to Roselle's side, then coiled up, enveloping the rather illusory black figure that seemed to belong to another world.
During this process, Roselle lost control of himself several times and tried to leave the iron-black chair, but he always sat back down, unable to resist the seal placed on him by Bernadette.
As the symbol merged into his figure, he was instantly connected with " Pale Death," seeing an illusory deity perched above countless undead, and a swollen body wandering like Water Ghost in a dark river.
Roselle's presence vanished immediately, and the bright red cracks closed one after another.
What awaited this great emperor was a peaceful slumber, as tranquil as the night.
That symbol will remain etched within Roselle's figure, exerting its influence until " Pale Death " ceases to respond here.
In the blink of an eye, several more blood-red cracks appeared on Roselle's body. After his aura had declined to the extreme, it gradually revived and fiercely resisted the materialized symbol.
Seeing this, Klein, who was above the Gray Fog, sighed, clenched his fist, and pressed it against his lower mouth.
The " Curtain " draped over him suddenly billowed up, and the entire " Sefirah Castle " erupted in a noticeable "boiling" atmosphere.
Silently, the newfound vitality that Roselle had just gained began to fade away once again.
After disappearing to a certain extent, it is reborn, then affected by " Pale Death," and continues to disappear.
Klein used the Beyonder Characteristic of the " Attendant of Mysteries " and the power of the " Sefirah Castle " to directly " Grafting " new life and death together, omitting the intermediate process.
In this way, Roselle's contamination could not be restored to a level that would allow him to break through the pale seal.
Then, Klein extended his right hand, mobilizing the power of the " Sefirah Castle," and sketched the mysterious symbol behind the " The Fool's " high-backed chair in front of him—it consisted of half an " Pupil-less Eye " and half a " Line of Distortion."
The symbol absorbed the aura of " Sefirah Castle," quickly materializing. With a flick of Klein's wrist, it fell into the prayer light representing Bernadette, onto Roselle's black figure, and merged into his body.
--Whenever that " Grafting " is about to disappear, the symbol directly associated with " The Fool " and " Sefirah Castle " will attract new power and complete the Grafting again.
In the constant cycle of passing away and being reborn, the outline of features appeared on Roselle's pure, shadow-like face. Then, he looked up at the top of the mausoleum, as if gazing at the infinite heights.
He immediately looked away, then at Bernadette, and laughed in an unusually weak voice:
"This seal is good, now I can finally get a peaceful night's sleep..."
At this point, he frowned slightly and asked in a different tone:
Why are you dressed like this? Who taught you to?
Bernadette felt a moment of disorientation, as if she had returned to her youth.
Back then, whenever she dressed up for other nobles' balls, Roselle would ask a barrage of questions with a similar expression and tone.
The mist in her eyes suddenly became more pronounced, and she could no longer control herself, letting out a low, suppressed cry:
"Dad..."
Roselle's face, with its barely defined features, softened instantly, then hardened, and he said sternly:
Leave.
"Never come back!"
Bernadette opened her mouth, as if to say something, but everything went dark before her eyes, as if she saw the shadow of order.
The next second, she found herself back on the edge of the original island.
Bernadette stared blankly at the mountain peak in the middle of the primitive island for a few seconds, then slowly turned around and walked towards the sea.
This time, she no longer stubbornly refused to look back. Every few steps, she would stop and turn around to take a look.
Soon, she returned to the " Dawn," went into the captain's cabin, and opened the room that was used specifically for collecting items.
At a glance, Bernadette saw picture books, stacks of textbooks, clothes, skirts, chess (a game played by only a handful of people in the world), and neatly stacked building blocks.
She leaned against the wooden door, slowly shrank back, and sat down on the floor.
She looked up at the gloomy sky outside the captain's cabin window, pinched her lower lip between her right thumb and forefinger, and whistled a melodious, gentle tune, tinged with a touch of sadness, that could bring peace.
As the melody echoed, droplets of water slid down Bernadette's face and dripped onto the floor.
After an unknown amount of time, a voice, as if suppressed in a throat, echoed from the captain's cabin:
"Dad..."