The branch of the Imaginary Tree where Otto's name once shimmered stood empty: even its traces had been erased

At the center of all World Lines, an Imaginary Tree stands silently.

The Tree Canopy supports the Sea of Stars, and its roots traverse countless times and spaces.

On one of those branches, a name once shone.

Otto Apocalypse.

But now, that branch is completely bare.

It's not a break.

It's not withered.

Instead, it was as if it had never existed; even the traces of the name it once bore were erased.

"This is no ordinary death." Gu Yuena stared at the blank space, her expression gradually becoming solemn. "His karma is being reorganized by the New World Line."

"Organize?" Ning Rongrong frowned slightly.

"Changing one person's fate only requires affecting one point," Gu Yuena said. "But changing the entire World Lines requires finding a new outlet for all the contradictions. Otto not only changed Kallen's ending, but also changed the future choices of countless people."

Longbow Wei was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Therefore, he cannot stay."

Lei Xiang turned his head to the side. "Because as long as he still exists, the cause and effect of the old World Lines could potentially be brought back?"

"It's not necessarily that they've caught up," Tian Hen shook his head. "It's more like the two outcomes can't both be true at the same time."

Ye Yinzhu continued, "Kallen lives in the new future, while Otto must become the end of the old future."

After those words were spoken, the space fell silent except for the sound of the flowing river of light.

The smile on Zhou Weiqing's face also disappeared.

In other words, he wasn't killed by anyone.

Rong Nianbing looked into the Nihility: "He himself turned himself into the final piece of the puzzle needed for the world's restart."

"But he could have left something else," Bei Bei couldn't help but say. "A name, Remembrance, legends... even just a forgotten tombstone would be proof that he once existed."

"That kind of proof is meaningless to him," Huo Yuhao said.

Bei Bei looked at him.

Huo Yuhao's voice was soft, yet exceptionally clear. "If Kallen knew all this, she wouldn't just be alive. She would bear a debt of gratitude she could never repay."

"And that debt of gratitude," Tang Wulin said in a deep voice, "Will become Shackles on her for the rest of her life."

Tang San nodded slightly.

What Otto sought was never for Kallen to stay for him.

It's not about making her remember a name, nor is it about making her spend her whole life searching for someone who no longer exists.

All he wanted was for her to move on.

Even if there is no longer a part of myself on that road.

"This choice is cruel," Ning Tian said softly.

"For whom?" Ning Rongrong asked.

Ning Tian gazed at Kallen on the Light Screen. In the image, Kallen was standing in the center of a rebuilt city, surrounded by cheering crowds. She was still dressed in knight's attire, and a bright smile graced her face.

"To Otto," Ning Tian replied, "And to Kallen as well."

"At least Kallen has a future," Dai Hao said in a deep voice, "But Otto doesn't even have a future."

Xue Ye sighed, "Monarch may lose his territory, a general may lose his glory, but if a person's very existence is erased, then he has no right to be judged by posterity."

"Then everything he did, wouldn't no one know about it?" Xiao Xiao asked.

"Just because no one knows doesn't mean it didn't happen." Tang Ya looked at the Light Screen. "The river washes away footprints, but that doesn't prove that person didn't walk there."

Niu Tian crossed his arms and sneered, "But what if even the world doesn't acknowledge that he walked this path?"

Tai Tan remained silent for a long while, then said in a low voice, "Then let those who have seen it remember it."

"Us?" Xu Sanshi pointed to himself, then smiled bitterly, "But we only saw the images in the inventory. Who knows if we'll even remember them after we leave here?"

This time, no one could immediately refute it.

As if hearing his question, the Light Screen suddenly rippled.

[Those erased from the world cannot be preserved in ordinary records.]

The stories that are witnessed can continue to exist in another sense.

The moment the handwriting appeared, Xu Sanshi's expression changed.

"What's the meaning?"

He Caitou stared at the two lines of text, his expression serious. "It means that Otto's name may disappear from that world, but the story we are seeing now will not completely disappear."

"Why?" Xiao Xiao asked.

"Because this isn't his world," He Caitou replied. "The records here don't belong to that rewritten cause and effect."

Zhou Weiqing's eyes lit up. "So, the Imaginary Tree can erase his existence, but it can't erase the witnesses from the outside world?"

"That's true in theory," the Dragon Prince said, "But that doesn't mean we can change his fate."

The Dragon God's gaze fell upon the Light Screen, his voice as deep and resonant as a mountain. "Witnessing is not interference. Remembering someone does not equate to bringing them back from Nihility."

"But at least," Ning Rongrong said softly, "He is no longer a victim unknown to anyone."

In the scene, Kallen walks down a long city street.

She helped up a child who had fallen, moved pebbles blocking the path for an elderly person, and listened to people in the square talk about their new lives. No one knew where this peace came from, nor did anyone know that someone had calculated every step over five hundred years and paved the way for her with their last breath.

Kallen raised her head and looked into the distance.

The sky there was azure, Cloud Layer were dyed gold by the setting sun.

She suddenly stopped, as if she had heard something.

"What's wrong?" the person next to me asked.

Kallen shook her head and said with a smile, "It's nothing, I just suddenly felt... the wind is very gentle today."

This scene made everyone's hearts tighten.

A'Dai lowered his eyes and whispered, "She may not know anything, but she still felt that tenderness."

"That was the last gift he left for her," Lie Yan said.

Ji Dong glanced at her sideways. "No name, no signature, no one even told her who the gift came from."

"True protection doesn't necessarily need gratitude," Lie Yan replied, "But the guardian knows that her happiness is enough."

"That sounds nice," Rong Nianbing gently shook her head, "But if it were me, I might not be able to do it."

"That's why Otto became Otto," Longbow Wei said. "He didn't choose to let go because he had no regrets; he chose to let go even knowing he would regret it."

Lei Xiang frowned. "Five hundred years, just to let go at the last moment?"

"It wasn't that I spent five hundred years just to let go," Tian Hen, looking at the gradually stabilizing World Lines, "But rather that I spent five hundred years fighting for the right to choose this moment."

Tang San's eyes flickered slightly.

"Eligibility for selection?"

"Without sufficient power and a well-thought-out plan, he couldn't even have sacrificed himself," Tian Hen said. "The so-called complete sacrifice wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, but the final execution after five hundred years of accumulation."