"This is the king's triumphant return! Celebrate! The Messenger of God has descended upon this land, and history has turned to a new page!"
No one spoke. They merely looked at Cleo suspiciously. But soon, suspicion turned into belief, and everyone fell prostrate in unison, their eyes filled with fervor and longing.
"Is that so..."
"Yes, God answers people. The scriptures were right..."
"But didn't Schicksal say..."
"Are you ignorant? Schicksal is also a god, no matter how history may have insulted it!"
"God, God..."
"Are you the messenger?"
"You are the Messenger of God!"
Cleo watched their eerily synchronized behavior, so frightened that her mask slipped slightly askew.
The followers gradually raised their heads. Then, inexplicably, identical unfathomable smiles appeared at the corners of their mouths.
They murmured under their breaths, their voices growing louder and louder until, in the end, the prayers became a single word, dozens of mouths chanting the same name:
"Jackal!"
"Jackal!"
"Jackal!"
Amid those abrupt yet devout voices, Jackal Cleo's eyes shifted from panic to confusion, then finally filled with killing intent. She took a step back and roared at the boy:
"That's enough, Otto Apocalypse!"
Who Gave You the Courage?!
"I'm right here,"
Otto's voice came from behind her.
"I'm watching the show, Miss Cleo. Or should I say... Jackal."
Jackal turned around and found Otto standing behind her, a wild smile on his face.
"So that's it. You were playing us..."
Jackal murmured.
"No wonder so many people came. I really thought that Raven fellow's rhetoric was that impressive."
"Pfft!"
Cecilia could not hold back her laughter. Jackal glared furiously at the woman, who glared right back without yielding an inch.
"Just a clone of a dead person..."
Before Jackal could finish, Otto raised his hand. Golden light flashed, and had she not dodged in time, it would have pierced straight through her chest.
"A warning." The man remained expressionless, his voice cold and indifferent. "Don't mistake courtesy for weakness."
This was...?
Since waking up, this was the first time Cecilia had seen Otto so "angry." There was a faint fierceness in his gaze, yet it made sweetness rise in her heart.
Who would not like such unrestrained favoritism?
Jackal panted heavily, experiencing the fear of near-death for the first time in years.
I was still too careless... I actually came in person, using my real body...
Damn it. If Gray Serpent had given me the technology, why would I have needed to put myself in danger? And if World Serpent's resources weren't so limited, why would I have failed to develop a Soul Steel body? At least, that was what I believed...
But why was I able to dodge just now?
Why was I still alive after Otto's sudden attack?
If he had been just a little faster, he could have completely—
Hmph. It seems this so-called Schicksal Overseer is nothing special.
"But you still came, Otto." Jackal struck a victor's pose, though there was still dust on her clothes. "I knew you would never let information about the Previous Civilization slip by."
"Heh." Otto did not deny it.
"This is your failure, Otto." The more Jackal spoke, the happier she became, as though she had forgotten her earlier humiliation. "I used your own thoughts to trap you here. Before long, you will become my defeated subordinate!"
"If you hadn't chosen your words so poorly a few seconds ago, I would have happily played along and replied, 'Yes, yes, yes.'"
The man sighed and shook his head.
"Unfortunately, you overstepped yourself just now."
He gave Jackal a shadowy glance, making her heart tremble instinctively.
"Cleo, a World Serpent scientist and senior operative, codenamed Jackal," Otto continued. "You have long studied the structures of Honkai Beasts and zombies, creating large numbers of synthetic Honkai Beasts."
Jackal's heart tightened as she stared at Otto in disbelief.
How... could he know so much?
How was that possible?!!!
"You want to ask how I know all this?"
Otto saw through Jackal's thoughts and voiced the question for her before answering it himself.
"Is it difficult for Otto Apocalypse to learn whatever he wishes to know?"
—Of course, that was not the real reason, but he did not mind building an image of a powerful Otto in his enemy's eyes, starting from the smallest details.
Besides, in a sense, he truly was "omniscient and omnipotent" in this world, wasn't he?
"Heh." Jackal finally found her voice and spoke with difficulty. "Otto... I acknowledge the glory you possess as Schicksal's Overseer..."
"A self-righteous clown." Otto cut her off without the slightest courtesy. "You are unworthy of acknowledging my glory."
Cecilia listened to Otto's cutting sarcasm and chuckled softly.
Jackal froze again, but this time, fear no longer filled her eyes. They were instead brimming with rage.
"You call me self-righteous?" Jackal's voice turned sharp. "Aren't you just as conceited, Otto Apocalypse?"
"Conceited?" Otto looked as though he had heard a joke. "What you said is like a clown questioning passersby: 'Why are you all so arrogant? Why won't you come watch my performance? Are you arrogant?'"
He looked at Jackal and continued with a deliberately troubled expression:
"Oh dear, I accidentally said what I think of you. But indeed, one needs confidence to judge others. And you... are you qualified?"
The full-force barrage made Jackal's entire body tremble. Her teeth ground together with a rattling sound, and her mask shook as though it might fall off at any moment.
"You... I... you..."
"Tsk, tsk." Otto shook his head regretfully. "A World Serpent operative, and this is your cultivation? This is your temperament? A few words were enough to provoke your anger? Don't tell me World Serpent really consists entirely of emotionally unstable operatives like you?"
He glanced around the River Thames, then seemed to recall something and asked:
"Also, are you sure you truly completed all your preparations? If you want to inspect everything again, I do not mind playing along a little longer—after all, I would like to keep watching the show. Hm? Where did that little boy go?"
He scratched his head.
"That little fellow was quite eloquent. With a little training, he could become better than you."
"O... tto... you..."
Jackal gritted her teeth, spitting out each word one by one, her eyes bloodshot.
When had she ever suffered such humiliation?!
"Are we really tearing off all pretenses now?" Otto continued as casually as if he were chatting. "You do not have a second chance, you know. You can curse me countless times, but if I decide to deal with you seriously, I only need one chance."
The masked woman stood there, her chest rising and falling. She said nothing more, as though trying to calm herself down.
"Hehe... hehe..."
But not long after, Jackal began to laugh, her laughter containing endless fury.
"That's true."
Her mouth split into an ever-widening grin.
"Why should I explain anything to the current you? Haha... hahahaha!"
The woman's hoarse, rough laughter echoed along the riverbank, abrupt and eerie.
"Yes, yes. You think there is no need to explain anything to a dead man."
Amid the eerie laughter, Otto's clear voice responded.
"You preached to me and plastered the city with flyers—wasn't all of that for this very moment?"
He paused, then sneered. "Still, I'm rather happy. Someone actually treated themselves as a clown and invited me to play a round of murder mystery."
"I'm truly happy that someone would extend such an invitation to me. After all, when one gets older, one always likes playing young people's games to prove one has not grown old."
Otto raised his hand, and a black-and-white lance appeared.
"So,"
The lance fell into Cecilia's hand.
"Jackal—or rather, Cleo,"
A golden membrane condensed around the two of them.
"Since you believe you are fully prepared..."
One firearm after another took shape.
"And have kept enough trump cards in reserve..."
Armor was teleported onto Otto and Cecilia, fastening itself around them.
"Then let me see..."
The man looked at Jackal, smiling brightly while green light flickered in his eyes.
"What gave you the courage to perform your suicide for me?!"
You Will Be My Black Abyss White Flower
"Boom!!!"
The sound of cannon fire suddenly came from the river. Violent tremors surged in from all directions, and the surroundings began to shake intensely.
"Shhk—!"
Jackal suddenly pulled out a grenade and threw it onto the ground. Smoke spread out, and she vanished immediately afterward.
Otto saw the woman reveal an eerie smile within the smoke.
"Brother!"
Cecilia suddenly stepped in front of him.
"They're coming!"
"I know."
Otto answered, then quietly watched the rolling clouds of dust in the distance.
One, two, three... countless Honkai Beasts charged rapidly from afar, making the ground tremble violently.
A giant beast more than ten meters tall stood before Otto, who was barely over a meter tall. Its immense presence seemed capable of crushing the man outright, while its densely packed red visual organs resembled drifting starlight in a silent black night.
These were Artificial Honkai Beasts, World Serpent's strongest existing combat force.
Individually, they might not be especially powerful, but with technological modifications from the Previous Civilization and massive numbers to support them, even some of Schicksal's powerful Valkyries had to avoid their edge for the time being.
In the game, these Artificial Honkai Beasts seemed insignificant beneath Kevin's overwhelming power. But before the era when Herrschers roamed everywhere and S-ranks were commonplace had arrived, such a horde of Honkai Beasts could truly cause enormous trouble for any Schicksal squad.
Before you continue