Otto Makes a Temporary Exit

Even Immortal Blade would have struggled to deal with them at this stage.

They stood before Otto, radiating the pressure of colossal creatures.

"Honkai Energy release! Kill that bastard for me...!"

Jackal's shout rang out from the sky. The towering beast horde answered with a unified growl, surrounding Otto and Cecilia layer upon layer so tightly that not even water could pass through. They continued to creep closer, shrinking the battlefield.

Dark clouds pressed down upon the city, threatening to crush it!

"A beast-sea tactic... That doesn't seem like World Serpent's style."

Yet before the massive beast horde, Otto remained unfazed. He stood with his hands behind his back and even smiled naturally, as though this were not a battlefield surrounded by enemies, but his Schicksal base, his European headquarters, or one of his past banquets.

"How interesting."

"But before that brat Kevin returns, World Serpent... is nothing more than snake soup on my table."

"Anyone can boast, Otto." Jackal had become much calmer by then. "But you are already my meal." Her final sentence was a statement of certainty.

"It seems your emotions have stabilized considerably, though it looks more like you merely suppressed them. You only appear calm because of some inevitable outcome," Otto calmly analyzed Jackal's state of mind, his eyes still showing little reaction.

Indeed, this overwhelming beast horde would have been a tremendous problem for any Valkyrie squad. But standing here were Schicksal's current second- and first-strongest combatants: S-rank Valkyrie Cecilia Schariac, and Archbishop of Schicksal Otto Apocalypse!

Otto watched the approaching tide of Honkai Beasts, then turned and smiled at Cecilia.

"I've never fought alongside you before, Cecilia."

"I shall become your unbreakable shield, Brother." Cecilia raised her spear tip and replied solemnly.

"No, Cecilia." Otto shook his head. "You were born a warrior. Every part of you longs to charge at the front. So I want you to be my lance, breaking through every obstacle."

"I shall heed your teachings, Brother."

Cecilia nodded and answered earnestly.

"Then, my Black Abyss White Flower." Otto raised a hand, and the weapon he had constructed rose into the air. "Follow me... into battle!"

With that, cannons roared, and the lance struck the ground!

A few minutes earlier.

"The crowds have mostly been evacuated, and every issue has been resolved..."

The brown-haired woman reported word by word to the exceptionally beautiful blond boy before her. An unreadable emotion flickered in her rose-red eyes.

"Well done." The blond boy nodded. "But please stop looking at me like that."

By Kallen, he could actually sense danger in her gaze...

"Rita has no other thoughts. It is merely that I have always held myself to the standards of a maid, so seeing a child with your appearance fills me with maternal affection."

The woman's smile was somewhat strange.

"This body of yours... Rita thinks it would look very suitable in a frilly dress."

And you still dared to call that maternal affection...

"Ahem." The blond boy looked down at his body and coughed a few times. "Don't mind it. This body is simply easier to carry around."

Meeting the woman's eyes, which were written with So cute, I want to squish him, he deliberately struck a pose. "Let's put the frilly dress aside. Look at this face again—there's still some masculine handsomeness to it, right?"

"Mm... my lord." The woman finally could not resist raising her hand. "Rita is willing to exchange two months' salary for the right to be willful just once."

"Give it up, Miss Valkyrie." The blond boy rolled his eyes. "How could I possibly allow you to do something like that?"

How could a man possibly be on the bottom? he silently added.

"Alright." After thinking for a moment, he ultimately changed the subject. "Those tasks of yours... are they complete?"

"Rita has not disappointed your expectations." The woman bent her knees slightly and performed a maid's curtsy.

"That's good—oh, right. Did you find her?"

"My apologies. We did not find Miss Natasha."

"Those little snakes have been hiding for fifteen hundred years," the blond boy sighed. "Their concealment techniques must be quite advanced. It isn't your fault that you couldn't find them. I never expected them to evade this disaster either..."

"Still, this disaster can be played with. I like this kind of excitement."

He said the last sentence softly enough that the woman could not hear it. Then the boy chuckled under his breath again. Even his adorable appearance could not conceal the greed in his eyes.

"I'm definitely eating this snake soup, as an appetizer before I eat that real snake."

He licked his lips and issued one final command.

"I'll rest for a while. Have Amber continue monitoring all of London. Then... stay by my side for now. We'll talk after I finish dealing with things over there."

With that, the blond boy leaned against the wall, and the light faded from his eyes.

Rita Rossweisse looked at the blond boy's body, and an enthralling curve formed at the corner of her lips.

"As you command, Lord Bishop."

Blazing flames burned along the River Thames. Honkai Beasts let out bloodcurdling battle cries as corpses fell one after another and turned into specks of dust.

"Hah!"

With Cecilia's sharp cry, the final Honkai Beast was pierced through the head and vanished.

"Finished."

Otto withdrew the Eleventh Divine Key embedded in the ground and made a few pressing motions in the air. The dust and grime on both him and Cecilia immediately disappeared.

He had contributed a little as well. Though he did not possess Cecilia's flawless combat instincts, clad in Divine Key equipment as he was, he had never needed to follow the path of a warrior.

With Oath of Judah and Void Archives in hand, it would have been a waste of the two Divine Keys' functions if he did not fight as a ranged mage.

And Cecilia happened to make up for his weakness in close combat. Through their cooperation, the Honkai Beast tide was swiftly eliminated. Jackal's voice also vanished, as though she had simply given up.

"Well done, Cecilia..."

Otto opened his arms to embrace Cecilia, but just as he was about to hold her, he swiftly twisted aside and shoved her away. Then, a purple sphere struck his palm!

"??!!!!"

Cecilia only had time to let out a cry of alarm!

Otto grunted and looked at his arm. Centered on the struck area, his hand rapidly separated and fell to the ground. Purple motes flickered from the wound, continuing to corrode and disintegrate upward!

"What a surprising gift..."

Otto calmly glanced at his gradually disintegrating arm, then looked toward the masked woman slowly emerging from the shadows.

He was not particularly surprised.

"I hope this satisfies you, Lord Bishop."

Jackal's gaze suddenly became calm. She bent at the waist in a bow, her excessively respectful manner making her seem as though she were acting the part of a loyal Schicksal guard.

"Lord Otto, this is your end."

"My end? My end?" Otto raised his brows, his voice carrying an inexplicable leisure. "The destruction you have brought me?"

"Of course, Lord Otto." Jackal was not stirred in the slightest. "I may be nothing but a speck of dust among countless people, but I stand backed by my master and World Serpent. Therefore, I naturally possess such ability."

She still appeared so humble and polite, as though everything were no more than a passing cloud.

"The thing you used to kill me proves your standing within World Serpent." Otto let out a long breath and deduced, "The Third Divine Key, Seven Thunders of Repose—ha, come to think of it, this seems to be World Serpent's only Divine Key now, doesn't it?"

"Worthy of Schicksal's bishop." Jackal nodded, unconcerned that she seemed to have been baited into revealing information. "You know secrets buried so deeply."

She paused for a moment, then laughed softly. "But of course. I never expected to truly surpass you in gathering intelligence. This apparent victory is merely the result of exploiting a gap in your knowledge."

"This is quite a lesson for Schicksal." Otto acknowledged her point and looked toward the stunned Cecilia. "Do you see, Cecilia? Never presume that an enemy only understands the world you see."

"You are correct. Therefore, now..."

Jackal bowed again. When she raised her head, her feigned calm could no longer conceal the madness in her eyes.

"Jackal of World Serpent is here to send off the Archbishop of Schicksal."

"You wish to send me off? How interesting..."

Otto let out a low laugh, without any discernible emotion.

He watched his body gradually dissipate, then seemed to recall something and asked Jackal, "So why is World Serpent stationed in London? I have a rough idea, but I remain curious."

"Out of respect for your five hundred years of rule, I am willing to answer that question," the woman replied. "My answer is—out of my own personal will, I refuse to answer."

She smiled teasingly, as though trying to find something on Otto's face, but saw nothing.

"Refuse to answer, ha." Otto smiled in satisfaction. "Wonderful. I'm gradually understanding everything—is there something important here?"

"It is hardly surprising that you could guess it, Bishop Otto." Jackal sounded unconcerned, but her hands had unknowingly clenched. "To outmaneuver Bishop Otto once truly is a fortunate convergence of circumstances, an honor across three lifetimes."

"But the original plan... no longer matters now."

She looked at Otto, seemingly about to reveal an utterly sincere smile. "I am truly sorry, Bishop Otto, for leaving you in such a miserable state."

"Yes, how miserable." Otto smiled as if mocking himself. "Since the Second Honkai Outbreak, this is the first time I have suffered such a great loss."

"Your Divine Key protection plan wasn't particularly grand, but it was quite thorough. Congratulations. At the very least, you have achieved the most glorious victory any other human organization has ever won against Schicksal in this century."

"...Divine Key protection???"

For the first time, shock and confusion appeared on Jackal's previously unruffled face.

No. This was very wrong.

It should not be like this. Nothing unexpected should have happened.

She bit her lower lip as panic flashed through her eyes.

Naturally, she was not as calm as she appeared. Ever since devising the assassination plan, her heart had pounded violently, and warning bells had rung repeatedly in her mind.

Jackal was arrogant, but in 2013, she had not yet become arrogant enough to disregard Otto as she would a few years later—after all, he was a leader-class figure.

She had planned step by step, simulated the arrangement again and again, rehearsed every stage countless times in her mind, yet when the time came to carry it out, both her hands still trembled uncontrollably.

Even after the projectile struck Otto's arm and she saw that hand begin to disintegrate, part of her still felt as though it were unreal.

I... really killed Otto through my own schemes?

After the daze came wild delight, ecstatic joy, and tears brimming in her eyes.

Jackal nearly lost control of her emotions, nearly singing loudly over the River Thames and dancing some frenzied dance that no one could understand.

She desperately wanted to pull out a loudspeaker and tell Schicksal, tell World Serpent, tell everyone across the seven continents and four oceans—she had killed Otto! Yes, she, Jackal, had killed Otto!

Hahahaha! Wahahaha!!!

No, that would be far too unbecoming.

Hmph, she was someone who had killed Otto. How could she be so lacking in grace?

Elegance, elegance, be elegant, Jackal!

I'm happy, but... how can I let them see it?

How could a madman killing someone be more charming than a rational person killing someone?

So... what should I do now?

Mm... heehee, the way I handled that line earlier was pretty good. I'll just remain composed and confident!

Besides, declaring Otto's death while imitating the demeanor he had only just displayed—wouldn't that be the most fitting mockery for that bastard?

Hahaha!

Thus, Jackal had put on this courteous appearance, maintaining what she believed was elegance.

She forcibly restrained the urge to mock Otto and treated him with calm composure. Her voice was unhurried, poised, and natural, as though she did not care in the least that she had killed the supreme figure of the human world.

But... what was that expression on his face?

Jackal could not understand. When she performed her bow properly and raised her head, what she saw was not the tension or any other negative emotion of the Schicksal bishop, but his usual smile—as though everything still remained under his control.

How could that be???