The More Durandal Hated, the Harder She Struck; the Freer Otto Became-Being Used as Someone's Hammer

"So Kallen was both his illness and his medicine," Lie Yan said softly. "Without her, he would have become a Tree long ago. With her, he managed to hold on until now. But this medicine was too poisonous. It kept him alive, yet also made him treat every living person as medicine dregs."

On the screen, Otto suddenly took a step forward. Just one step, and the entire land of Kolosten seemed to have been lifted an inch from the universe. The orb of light spun and expanded above his head, solar-flare-like tongues of fire surging across its surface. His eyes no longer showed pupils, only two blazing tree patterns burnt white-hot. Yet he still stood perfectly straight, as if resisting something, or welcoming something.

"I don't need to fully control it," he said softly. His voice was made almost weightless by the vast radiance, yet remained exceptionally clear. "I only need a little. Enough to reach the Tree. Enough to cross her name off that page of death. As for the rest, let it do as it pleases."

"He doesn't even care if he gets swallowed up himself," Ye Yinzhu said quietly.

"That's why he's more frightening than a puppet," Huo Yuhao said. "A puppet that still has a will. A messenger who knows he will die, yet remains awake. The last remnants of humanity in his body are all staked on the final step. But that final step just happens to require someone else to push him. That person is Kiana."

"What if she doesn't come?" Xiao Xiao asked.

"Then Otto will walk on his own," Huo Yuhao said. "It will just be slower, heavier, and easier for the Tree to swallow him. It's not that he lacks strength. He has infinite strength. What he lacks is his