Otto Stood at the Center of the Web, Admiring His Own Veins: Only One Final Step Remained

"There was one left," Huo Yuhao said. "The variable Otto had overlooked."

"Who?" Bei Bei asked.

"Kiana herself," Huo Yuhao said. "Otto had accounted for every one of her battles. But there were things even he still feared. For example, some of the warmth within that fire had been borrowed from others. Himeko's smile, her companions' hands, even among the souls swallowed by the Herrscher of Domination, there might have been a Fragment that, in its final moment, refused to be overwritten. Otto could mute a thousand souls, but he could not necessarily guarantee that every speck of ash was truly dead."

"You mean one soul might not have been replaced by him?" The Dragon Prince's eyes widened.

"Yes," Gu Yuena continued. "A Fragment unwilling to be written as 'Otto.' It might already have faded. It might not even remember who it was anymore. But as long as it remained in some corner of that web, not completely assimilated, it would be like a tiny thorn hidden deep within. Normally, it neither hurt nor itched. But at the moment Otto intended to hand the entire web over to Kallen, that thorn might suddenly awaken."

"And what could it do if it woke up?" Xu Sanshi asked.

"I don't know," Huo Yuhao said. "But World Lines hated being calculated to one hundred percent. Otto had spread his consciousness across the entire web, believing that would ensure there was no noise. But some voices in this world did not come from consciousness. They came from hatred, from obsession, from the words 'I refuse to be replaced.' As long as a single speck of light remained unextinguished, one hundred percent would always fall just short."

At the end of the scene, the golden light dispersed. The Theater of Domination had vanished completely, replaced