Kallen: You've Changed. Otto: As If. / A Complete Reversal

Kallen immediately perked up.

"Otto— "

Gwen said succinctly.

"Otto?"

Kallen was taken aback at first, then nodded.

"That's right, he was there at the time, and with his intelligence, he should be able to figure out the outcome..."

Even as she said this, Kallen's expression couldn't help but fall low—

If it weren't for Otto... and the trouble he caused, things wouldn't be this complicated...

Just then, a complex voice came from behind the door, immediately catching Kallen's attention—

"Kallen..."

Under Kallen's gaze, a figure that was both familiar and unfamiliar to her slowly entered the room.

"Otto ..."

She called out the other person's name, but looking at that face, which was definitely Otto's, but was very different from the Otto in her Remembrance, Kallen had a feeling that the other person was no longer the Otto she had slapped away.

However, no matter what happened to Otto, Kallen never forgot the question in her heart—

"Have those monsters been dealt with?"

How are the people?

"..."

Upon hearing Kallen ask the same two questions again, Otto felt a sudden calm wash over him from his complex and unfathomable heart.

This is Kallen ... the Kallen he has been searching for for five hundred years...

"Feel sorry..."

Looking at Kallen, Otto sighed deeply and lowered his head.

You bastard!

Her newly revived body suddenly burst forth with tremendous force, allowing Kallen to leap in front of Otto and slap Otto to the ground, causing her to fall to the ground as well.

Kallen, however, didn't care about anything else and grabbed Otto's collar, shaking him violently—

Do you even know what you're doing?!

Even though the rampaging Honkai Beast were no longer there, and there were no more monster roars or people's wails in her ears, Kallen's eyes still instantly filled with tears.

"I didn't care back then..."

Otto, whose cheek was already swollen, looked at Kallen and said in a heavy voice—

"Now I understand..."

Chapter 693 Kallen: You've changed. Otto: As if changed.

"Kallen, she..."

Outside the door, Yae Sakura leaned against the wall. Although she could no longer hear the sounds from inside the room, Kallen's weeping still echoed in her mind.

That was an expression she knew Kallen would never show; even when crying, Kallen shouldn't look so haggard and weak...

"The terrible world she was living in was already unbearable for someone like her who saw herself as a shield for humanity. The person she trusted most and her best friend even released the imprisoned Honkai Beast to hurt ordinary people who spoke out for her in order to rescue her. You can imagine how she felt."

Gwen sighed and shook his head slightly.

"Otto, he..."

Yae Sakura froze, momentarily at a loss for words.

After a long silence, Yae Sakura ultimately couldn't say anything, only letting out a soft sigh before asking—

"After something like this happened, will Kallen be alright?"

"I left some of my forces to calm her down; there shouldn't be any major problems..."

Gwen shook his head, indicating that Yae Sakura didn't need to worry.

"Um..."

Yae Sakura nodded slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then said—

"Thank you, Gwen..."

"You're still being so polite to me?"

Gwen laughed.

"Certainly."

Yae Sakura said seriously—

"You freed me from the endless purgatory of Hiyori, and even brought me back to this world, and resurrected Kallen..."

Each and every one of these acts of kindness deserves my heartfelt gratitude and will be etched in my memory.

"I mean... are you being so polite to me?"

Gwen moved closer and stared into Yae Sakura's icy blue eyes as he asked.

"..."

Yae Sakura remained silent for a moment, then looked away after exchanging a glance with Gwen, and whispered—

"Even as a shrine maiden, one should offer gratitude to a god who bestows blessings..."

"Although my power has reached that level, I have never been a god, and you should not treat me as one—"

Gwyn lightly brushed his fingertips across Yae Sakura's cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin, Gwen said seriously,

I am just a person—

A person with flesh and blood, who can cry and laugh.

This was true then, it is true now, and it will be true in the future.

Although she was once a shrine maiden, Yae Sakura has absolutely no good impression of gods or anything like that.

"Um..."

Yae Sakura paused for a moment, then realized that Gwen was trying to ease her feelings. She smiled gently, and the heaviness in her heart eased considerably.

The two leaned against the wall and chatted idly. Sometimes Yae Sakura would talk about how Ling had to go to school under Sakura's insistence and was doing her homework at the table every day, asking Yae Sakura to help her plead for help. Other times, Gwen would demonstrate some applications of Honkai Energy to Yae Sakura in an attempt to give her some inspiration.

However, although they were having a very open conversation, their eyes kept glancing at the closed door, as if they were worried about what was going on inside.

Just as Gwen's gaze swept across the door again, the tightly closed door suddenly opened, and Kallen poked her head out.

"Sakura, and Gwen, you guys..."

As Kallen spoke, she paused when she saw Gwen and Yae Sakura chatting and laughing.

"It seems you've been convinced by him."

Gwen didn't seem to notice Kallen's hesitation and asked with a smile.

Otto's ability to persuade Kallen was exactly what Gwen had anticipated.

Kallen is a good person, and good people care about many things. Otto has an incredibly rich experience in dealing with this kind of good person.

"Forehead..."

Kallen snapped out of her daze and felt a little embarrassed.

"He was physically abusing Otto when they left, but now he's been persuaded. Doesn't that seem a bit strange to them..."

"Let's go inside and talk."

Seeing the hesitation on Kallen's face, Gwen did not ask any questions, but simply pulled Yae Sakura into the house.

Seeing the two holding hands naturally, Kallen blinked, looking surprised, but then seemed to realize something and didn't ask anything.

"This is truly the first time I've seen you so disheveled, Your Lord Bishop."

Upon entering the room, Gwen saw the bruises on Otto's face and mocked him mercilessly.

"Are you in a sorry state?"

Maybe so, but I'm very happy right now, happier than ever before.

Otto didn't seem to care, and his smile was genuine.

Kallen...

His Kallen...

No, the Kallen from his Remembrance had come back to life, standing before him alive and well, personally completing the punishment that had not been finished five hundred years ago!

How could he not be happy?

"Are you happy that you fooled her?"

Gwen said, "I'm arguing."

While it might be appropriate to congratulate her on achieving her long-cherished wish, Gwen still chose to tease Otto to remind Kallen that her old friend's words could not be trusted—at least not entirely.

"Um...

What you're saying isn't entirely wrong.

Otto stroked his chin and nodded in agreement.

"Well..."

Kallen sighed and sat down next to Yae Sakura, gazing at Otto across from them—

"Otto, you've really... changed too much."

"Have I changed a lot...?"

When facing Kallen, Otto no longer displayed his usual warm and welcoming smile; instead, he gave a subtle, reserved smile.

"Perhaps..."

Or perhaps I've never changed, I'm just more authentic now.

"Don't try to beat around the bush with me!"

Kallen, her eyes still slightly red, raised her fist, giving off a "you dare to talk back? I'll give you a good beating!" vibe.

"Clearly..."

You weren't like this back then...

As she spoke, Kallen's voice choked with emotion—

His best childhood friend, the great inventor who promised to help him change this damned world, has now become the very thing they used to hate the most, and has committed countless crimes because of him over the past five hundred years...

How can she possibly remain calm?

"I obviously don't think you would do that, but just to be on the safe side, what did you say?"

"Let Yae Sakura comfort Kallen, "Gwen said, turning to Otto.

Kallen's Remembrance and life are still stuck on the execution ground five hundred years ago, the moment when she, at the age of twenty-two, stood up to stop the Honkai Beast. He needs to know what Otto told her.

"I said some things that should have been said and some things that shouldn't have been said—"

Otto shrugged, a hint of nonchalance in his smile—

"Now it is 500 years later, and many of the things we once hoped for have come true."

I became the Archbishop of Schicksal and did many things. Almost no one will go hungry anymore, and no one will be forced to leave the city to die after falling ill.

But the threat of Honkai still exists, and people are still suffering because of Honkai. In these five hundred years, I have also used Honkai to do many evils, killing many innocent and kind people, and I am countless times worse than Viktor whom we once defeated..."

Chapter 694 Bipolar Reversal

"But at the same time, he also helped many people, reducing the number of Viktors in the world and allowing more poor people to suffer less oppression and survive the threat of Honkai..."

Kallen picked up where Otto off, staring intently at Otto as she spoke.

"So you forgave him?"

Gwen an eyebrow.