Otto entered the battlefield as the Joker during the Second Honkai Eruption: he deliberately pushed a girl to the brink of collapse
But at this moment, Otto's gaze had already moved beyond the immediate battle and landed on the more distant future.
"You must take another step forward," Otto said.
Welt frowned. "That would put countless people in danger."
"Danger is the price you have to pay to become a hero."
"You push others into a desperate situation just because you believe you can save them at the last minute?"
Otto answered calmly:
"As long as the result is correct, the process is meaningful."
Welt's gaze turned completely cold.
"What do you consider correct?"
Otto did not answer.
The wind passed between the two, swirling the ashes from the ground into the sky.
"Bring Kallen back," he said after a long silence.
Welt gripped the heavy hammer tightly.
"If your miracle requires stepping over the bones of everyone else, then it is not a miracle."
"It is a crime."
As that note fell, it seemed as if even the Organ paused for a beat.
The next moment, Otto turned around.
Will you stop me?
"Meeting."
Even if that means you have to become an enemy of your former comrades?
Welt remained silent for a few seconds, then raised his weapon.
"Precisely because we were once companions, I cannot bear to watch you continue down the wrong path."
Two figures stood facing each other on the ravaged battlefield.
There was no immediate roar, nor any further threats.
Only they both understood that from this moment on, they could never go back to the past.
Huo Yuhao let out a soft breath.
"He pushed Welt to the brink, not just to defeat him."
"It's to see how the hero will choose," Ye Yinzhu said. "He wants to push everyone to their limits, and then find a way to revive Kallen through the narrowest gap."
He Caitou couldn't help but ask, "But what if a lot of people really die on that road?"
Tang San looked at the Light Screen, his voice low and deep.
He would tell himself that this was a necessary sacrifice.
Xu Sanshi gritted his teeth. "In the end, it's about putting your own wishes above everyone else's."
"That's right." Ning Rongrong watched Otto's retreating figure. "At first, he only wanted Kallen to live. But later, what he wanted was more than just to resurrect her."
"He also wants the whole world to acknowledge that his choice was right," Gu Yuena added the second half of the sentence.
The Light Screen finally focused on a face.
That face still wore a gentle smile, but its eyes held an unmelting ice.
He once believed the world would grant miracles.
Later, he decided to create a miracle himself.
[For this, he became a bishop, a schemer, a sinner, and a dead man whose journey has never ceased for five hundred years.]
The Organ faded slowly.
Otto stood in the boundless darkness, still clutching the dilapidated model Jet Plane in his hand.
It has long been unable to fly.
But he never lost it.
Tang Ya's eyes were slightly red.
"He kept that model until now?"
"That was the last proof that he was still like a child," Xiao Xiao said softly.
The Dragon Prince gazed at Otto in the darkness and suddenly spoke:
"What if he actually succeeds in the end? What if Kallen finds happiness, and everyone survives? Can everything he did in the past be forgiven?"
No one answered immediately.
Xue Ye slowly shook his head.
Merits can be recorded, and so must crimes. The fact that things ended well doesn't mean those who were hurt can simply disappear.
"But he's already paid the price," Dai Hao said. "He's made himself disappear completely from Kallen's world."
"That was the price he chose for himself," Tang San said calmly, "Not a reason for others to absolve him of his Sin."
The last line of text appeared on the Light Screen.
The cruelest thing is not that no one knows how deep his feelings are.
[But when the miracle finally happens, she will never know...]
[The boy who once watched airplanes with her in the Courtyard of Vienna has walked through five hundred years of darkness for her.]
The darkness did not dissipate after the Organ stopped.
The wobbly model airplane disappeared into the distance, as if it, along with the last trace of Otto belonging to the boy, had fallen into an unknown depth.
While everyone was still immersed in that somber mood, a line of cold words suddenly appeared on the Light Screen.
[Emotional trajectory retracing complete.]
[Loading: Traces of Sin.]
[WARNING: The following records involve large-scale experiments, the birth of Herrscher, and Civilization Continuation Plan.]
Xue Ye's expression changed slightly.
"It's not over yet?"
"That was just the answer to why he became a sinner," Tang San stared at the Light Screen. "Next, we'll see what he actually did."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Light Screen suddenly lit up.
The Vienna sunlight, the models in the Courtyard, Kallen's smile—all shattered.
Instead, there was a dimly lit Laboratory.
The cold metal walls were covered with complex runes, and dozens of Cultivation Pod were arranged in the darkness, with scarlet liquid flowing slowly. The instruments emitted a regular beeping sound, like the heartbeat of some emotionless machine.
Otto stood in front of the lab table.
The white gloves were spotless.
He was flipping through the records when a burst of exaggerated laughter came from behind him.
Hahaha... Welcome to center stage!
A man wearing Joker mask falls from a great height, his cape tracing an arc in the air. He holds a thin cane in his hand, his movements comical, yet his tone is chilling.
The next moment, the mask was removed.
That face still belongs to Otto.
Only the smile has become unfamiliar.
[Second Honkai Eruption.]
Otto intervenes in the battlefield as the "Joker."
[Objective: To observe the extreme effects of Honkai Energy on human spirit and will.]
Tang Wulin suddenly stood up.
"He went on stage himself, just to observe?"
"It's not a battle." Huo Yuhao's Divine Power swept across the screen, his voice slightly deep, "He's guiding some kind of change."
Within the Light Screen, the city was enveloped in Honkai Energy.
Crowds fled, and alarms blared through the Cloud Layer. Otto stood atop a tall building, like a magician awaiting his performance. He waved his cane, and several energy trails intersected in the sky above the city, forcibly pushing the already calming Honkai reaction to its peak once again.
A young girl lay fallen in the center of the light.
Her body was enveloped by immense power, and her consciousness struggled between pain and chaos.
Otto watched her from a distance.
"Don't be afraid."
He said softly.
"Once you become Herrscher, you will no longer be Domination by anyone."
Zi's brows furrowed.
He was seducing her.
"Yes." Tian Hen's tone was icy. "He deliberately pushed someone to the brink of collapse, then observed whether she could withstand the force."
"That's not forcing birth," Lie Yan said, watching the girl's increasingly out-of-control figure. "It's using despair as soil to forcibly plant a seed that shouldn't sprout."
Ji Dong grasped Lie Yan's hand.
"How many people would he be willing to sacrifice to verify the laws governing the birth of Herrscher?"
The Light Screen did not respond.