But Otto shook his head. He did not think the brief brilliance would last.
His sigh was quickly proven right. The simulated Oath of Judah was crushed by the surging Honkai Energy, like a flood bursting through a hastily built dam; the simulated Star of Eden hindered Siegfried's movements, but could not stop Fehu Rune's divine-punishment-like assault at all; the simulated Void Sword Qi and simulated Fehu Rune struck the crimson greatsword in succession, yet showed no sign of changing its trajectory.
In an instant, the weapons Otto had simulated and constructed exploded one after another, while Fehu Rune continued advancing!
"By Kallen."
The man let out a soft sigh, then turned to look at Cecilia. Her face was pale as paper, and blood still trickled uncontrollably from the corner of her mouth.
Yet he was still smiling, so gentle, like an elder brother softly comforting his younger sister after wandering into darkness, using his smile to disguise an imperfect world.
"See you at headquarters."
He spoke.
Then Otto turned, took a step forward, and reached out again to seize Fehu Rune's blade!
Fehu Rune finally slowed its advance—at the cost of Otto's body.
Scorching flames advanced bit by bit with the greatsword, devouring Otto's outstretched arm. Wherever they passed, neither flesh nor bone remained. Yet the corner of his lips curved upward as he looked mockingly at the madness-filled eyes of Siegfried.
The blade burst out from Otto's back, and blazing fire burned across his body. Yet his expression did not change, as though he was not the one being seared by the Calamity Flames.
"Do you remember what I said, Siegfried Kaslana?"
The man allowed the crimson blade and flames to continue sinking deeper. He even took another step forward and pressed his remaining hand against the greatsword's hilt.
"If you attack Cecilia, regardless of the reason, Fehu Rune will be confiscated."
A grating metallic sound rang out. Siegfried let out a beastly roar, his wrist snapped, and Fehu Rune was seized by Otto with astonishing ease.
The greatsword finally stopped sinking deeper, and its flames gradually died away. Yet the Calamity Flames on the man's body continued burning for a long time.
"What a mess. After the Seven Thunders of Repose, I've been attacked by a Divine Key again." Otto stroked the hilt amid the flames and sighed. "Next time, I should disable the pain system in this Soul Steel body."
The pain system... had been on?
Cecilia's eyes widened.
So Lord Bishop had truly... completely taken an attack from Fehu Rune for her, an attack even the Herrscher of the Void would avoid head-on?
Didn't it hurt?
"Yes. He actually showed me the power to part the Earth down the middle. It truly frightened me."
She remembered what Otto had told her at the end of the Second Honkai Outbreak. The reason he had deployed the Honkai Energy Fission Bomb in Siberia was because he feared Siegfried's terrifying madness.
Yet this time, for her sake, the man had forcibly endured the attack with his body. Other than not dying, every bit of pain and physical damage was exactly the same as if he had suffered it himself.
What had she ever done to deserve this... What had she ever done to deserve this?
Cecilia covered her lips, her delicate body trembling slightly as large tears fell in streams.
She wanted to step forward and extinguish the flames on Otto, but at some point, a transparent barrier had appeared before her, blocking her path.
—He could not even be certain that he could withstand Fehu Rune, yet he had done everything he could to create a line of defense for her. Then, beyond that line, he had held back the flames for her, even as heavenly fire covered his entire body.
"Siegfried Kaslana."
Otto finally spoke. Cecilia heard the weakness in his tone and saw him raise his remaining, burning arm. In his hand was the greatsword of heavenly fire he had just taken.
"I don't know your reasons, but I don't need to know."
"I only need to do what best accords with my heart."
A few minutes ago, she might have hesitated to stop him, might have gently tried to persuade him otherwise.
But now, she only wanted her brother's consciousness to leave that body as soon as possible, reducing by even a few seconds the agony of being burned alive by the Calamity Flames.
She had once saved that man, even going so far as to defy her brother. Yet... in the past, he had caused her daughter to fall from an altitude of ten thousand meters, and just now, he had nearly killed her with Fehu Rune.
Cecilia owed Siegfried nothing. After that strike of Fehu Rune, all debts and bonds between them had been severed.
At this moment, even if Otto asked her to kill that man, she might only hesitate for a few seconds before doing it... but her brother would never ask her to do something that tarnished her honor. This time was clearly no exception.
Otto coughed. A golden cross appeared with extraordinary slowness, binding Siegfried where he lay on the ground.
The man who had once wielded Fehu Rune with such arrogant dominance was still struggling. His eyes seemed ready to spit fire as he roared hoarsely.
But that last strike had exhausted all his strength. Using Fehu Rune while injured had already burned out his language center, leaving him only able to make harsh, garbled sounds.
Siegfried's peripheral vision swept toward Cecilia. For one brief moment, he had sincerely hoped that Cecilia herself had returned.
But when he saw her standing motionless, the man had already reached his conclusion.
Of course. Swinging that sword had not been wrong.
He looked into the eyes that had once haunted his dreams, only to find not the slightest trace of affection for him in those sacred azure eyes.
You deserve it.
Siegfried felt that was what she was saying with her gaze.
A person consumed by rage would never reflect on his own faults. He would only blindly shift the blame onto others. Even if it truly was his mistake, he would still hold his head high and recklessly vent his emotions.
That was a weakness of human nature.
A weakness difficult to escape.
Siegfried was an especially stubborn person. In his youth, he had run away from Schicksal over anime, never seeing that the price of his freedom was his mother's desperate pleas to Otto.
Not to mention the divine power that had infinitely magnified his extremism.
He had never considered that his past actions had left such a terrible impression on Cecilia. He had not reflected on how much that strike of Fehu Rune had harmed her in body and mind. He stubbornly and simply concluded that this person, who had not fought Otto and the Honkai Energy Fission Bomb for him like she had in Siberia, could not possibly be his Cecilia.
Yes. Absolutely not.
What he did not know was that from the moment he swung his sword, she had already ceased to be.
From the moment that god descended, she had already ceased to be.
The gray sky twisted violently for a moment, but no one saw it.
Siegfried struggled, immersed in his own "resistance."
But it was futile. Though the simulated Oath of Judah flickered unstably, it still held him firmly in place.
Otto's greatsword was finally about to fall, but at that moment, a black-purple cross suddenly appeared from the side and slammed into his waist. The cross binding Siegfried shattered as well.
"What are you doing, Grandpa?! You're not allowed to hurt Siegfried!"
Otto staggered several steps, and the flaming blade of the heavenly fire greatsword vanished as a result.
He looked at the little white-haired girl rushing over, and a trace of understanding flashed through his eyes.
"Y-You... what are you doing, Grandpa?!"
Theresa rushed over furiously, as though she wanted to punch him. She only stopped when she saw the flames covering his body.
"As you can see," Otto replied weakly, "he tried to kill me, and I killed him instead."
"Stop joking!" the little white-haired girl said angrily. "Everyone knows how many backup methods you have for coming back to life!"
She looked Otto up and down. The concern in her eyes vanished in an instant, and she then looked toward Siegfried lying on the ground. Her small head rapidly calculated a way to send her grandfather away.
Strangely enough, at this moment, her memories became clearer and clearer. Many things about the man before her surfaced in her mind.
"I know you have plenty of ways to stay alive, Grandpa." Theresa tried to soften her voice. "You won't die over something this trivial."
"Trivial...?"
A gentle questioning tone interrupted their conversation. Cecilia murmured Theresa's words, drawing both their gazes toward her.
"Cecili... No!" Theresa jumped up and glared viciously at Otto. "Damn it! Grandpa, you actually dared to do this!"
How could he... How could he do this?!
She felt that she understood everything!!!
"Grandpa!" she shouted. "What right do you have to bring this person to my academy?! Don't think I don't know—she must be a fake you took out from there!"
For a moment, both Cecilia and Otto fell silent. Only Siegfried let out a desperate but nearly soundless roar as he rose to his feet and tried to lunge at the blond man before him.
"She's real," Otto answered. "The real Cecilia Schariac."
"You're such a liar, Grandpa! Do you think I'd believe you?!" Theresa believed she had understood everything. "If she were Cecilia, would Siegfried be this angry?"
"It's just that he thinks she isn't—"
"Enough, Grandpa! Since you dared to do this, can't you at least let Siegfried vent some of his anger?! Besides, you still have so many—"
She seemed to want to say more, but Otto looked at her then. His emerald-green eyes, devoid of all emotion, forced her to stop mid-sentence.
"Oh? Is that so, Theresa?" the blond man replied slowly, his voice strained. "Because I'm powerful, that gives him a reason to hurt me?"
He stared at Theresa. His cold expression made her instinctively take a step back.
"Because I indulge you, that gives you an excuse to act without restraint?"
"..."
Otto slowly moved one finger. The black-purple cross Theresa had reclaimed suddenly surged up and bound her.
It had been a gift he gave her in the first place. How could she possibly use it against him?
"Grandpa!"
"I am the sinner. I will bear it myself."
The man spoke slowly. Amid the burning Calamity Flames, he seemed strangely lonely and desolate.
"I'm the one who intends to kill him, Theresa. You can't stop me."
He adjusted his grip several times, then raised Fehu Rune, which had reverted to its twin-gun form—only one barrel was aimed at Siegfried, while the other was hooked by his trembling little finger.
But just as he was about to fire—
Black light lit up above Siegfried's head, laced with purple patterns. It then swallowed the white-haired man, who disappeared without a trace.
"Finally... Heh heh..."
Otto lowered his arm and watched Siegfried vanish from where he stood. His eyes widened slightly, and an unexpected hint of joy flashed through them, but it quickly returned to its former calm.
He turned around with difficulty and looked at the tear-streaked Cecilia. He raised his arm, and the twin guns traced a faint arc before falling before Cecilia.
"Take them back with you."
The man's entire body was burning, yet he still gave Cecilia a composed smile.
"Go home early."
With that, Otto's burning body slowly fell to the ground and turned into a pool of Soul Steel liquid. In the blink of an eye, it was swallowed by the roaring flames.
The barrier vanished at that moment. Cecilia rushed forward, ignoring the flames that leaped onto her clothes and hair as she searched through the blaze with tears in her eyes. But the Soul Steel had already been completely melted by the Calamity Flames, and even the liquid had seeped into the soil.
"Grandpa... He has lots of bodies." Theresa looked at the disheveled woman. Though she still had reservations, she did not want to see someone with Cecilia's face looking like this.
"..."
Yet the white-haired woman merely knelt there quietly for a long time. Then she gave Theresa a complicated look, picked up the crimson twin guns, and walked forward without looking back.
She was still crying, yet she radiated an extreme calmness.
Theresa discovered in horror that Cecilia's gaze was sharp and her expression was exactly the same as Otto's had been moments ago.
"Cecili... Cecili..."
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something more.
"That belongs to Siegfried..."
Cecilia's figure swayed slightly, and her steps quickened.
"I'm afraid I'll end up taking on every Divine Key sooner or later... Cough, cough..."
In the forest not far away, the blond, green-eyed body staggered and was supported by a brown-haired, red-eyed girl beside him.
"Lord Bishop, please take care of yourself. Schicksal needs you."
"Take care of myself?"
Before you continue