Before Otto Disappeared, He Seemed to Return to the Vienna Courtyard, Where Kallen Held Up a Model Plane: "You'll Be the Best"

The next moment, a colossal tree shadow, indescribable in words, emerged from the depths of the Void.

Branches pierce through the Sea of Stars, roots extend to countless worlds without end. Each leaf seems to carry a civilization, and within each ray of light, countless lives are born, struggle, and perish.

Otto stood before the shadow of the tree.

Compared to that colossal existence, he was as insignificant as a speck of dust.

But he still raised his head.

[The Ultimate Plan is launched.]

[Deceive the Will of Honkai.]

[At the cost of self, to impact the Imaginary Tree.]

Ning Rongrong's expression suddenly changed.

"Self as the price?"

"What is he going to sacrifice?" Ning Tian asked.

On the Light Screen, Otto's body began to be Entanglement countless ribbons of light.

His Remembrance, name, experiences, and even his very existence, all transformed into streams of light, peeling away from the world bit by bit.

A boy in the Courtyard.

A bishop on the battlefield.

Joker in the Laboratory.

All traces that once belonged to him are being erased by the same invisible force.

[To unlock World Lines, an equivalent price must be paid.]

[Kallen is unable to return to her original world.]

Therefore, Otto chose to create a world without himself.

Tang Wulin's pupils contracted.

He didn't resurrect Kallen in her original world.

"Instead, I'm sending her to a world where she's never known him," Huo Yuhao said in a low voice.

"Then what's the point of everything he's done?" Xu Sanshi blurted out.

No one answered.

Within the Light Screen, Otto's body had become transparent.

His voice remained calm.

"As long as she can live..."

"As long as she can live her life with a smile..."

"That's enough."

The snowstorm subsided.

The light from the Imaginary Tree completely engulfed him.

In the instant before he disappeared, he seemed to return to the Vienna Courtyard.

Young Kallen stood by the stone table, held up the simple model airplane, and smiled as she said to him:

"Otto, you will be the greatest inventor!"

The boy looked up.

This time, he did not answer.

Because there is no longer a place for him in that world.

The final recording appeared on the Light Screen.

[It begins with Devotion.]

[Using Sin as a means.]

[Ending in Nihility.]

[Otto Apocalypse achieved the only true victory of his life.]

He brought Kallen happiness.

[And may this happiness forever remain irrelevant to me.]

A deathly silence descended.

As the Lie Yan watched the gradually fading Light Screen, they whispered:

He saved her, but erased his own life in the process.

"So he's a hero?" the Dragon Prince asked.

"No," Lie Yan shook his head, "What he did is still a sin."

Ji Dong gripped her hand tightly.

But he did indeed love.

"Love and sin can coexist," Tang San said. "A person cannot be exempt from all consequences simply because they have loved; nor can they deny the sincerity they once possessed simply because they have committed a sin."

Gu Yuena stared at the last remaining specks of light on the Light Screen.

"The saddest thing is that he knew all along he would not be forgiven."

"Then why does he still do it?" Tang Ya asked.

Tang San remained silent for a moment.

"Because from the very beginning, he never intended to live in a world where he is forgiven."

The Light Screen completely disappeared.

But the next instant, a slight tremor suddenly came from the space beneath everyone's feet.

From the edge of darkness, a strange voice slowly rose.

"Recording complete."

"Observed object: Otto Apocalypse."

"Evaluation results..."

The sound stopped.

A door that had never appeared before opened silently in front of everyone.

There was no light behind the door, only countless intersecting World Lines.

In one of the World Lines, Kallen is standing in the Flower Sea.

She turned around, as if she heard a familiar name that could never be spoken.

"Otto?"

No one responded.

But suddenly, a model Jet Plane flew across the sky above that World Lines.

This time, it flew very high.

The World Lines behind the door slowly closed before everyone's eyes.

The wooden airplane that streaked across the sky eventually turned into a faint ray of light and disappeared into the darkness.

There was no explosion, no screams.

There was only a very faint sound of the wooden wheel turning.

Squeak...

It's as if someone, from a faraway place, pushed open an old window.

Immediately afterwards, the Light Screen lit up again.

This time, the scene did not return to the Laboratory, nor did it show the battlefield.

What came into view was a Courtyard bathed in the golden light of the setting sun.

Vines climbed all over the stone wall, and the wind blew through the flowerbeds, carrying a shower of petals. In the center of the Courtyard, an old tree spread its broad branches, and a faded blanket was spread under its shade.

The two children lay there side by side.

The blond boy, clutching a makeshift wooden airplane, slept restlessly. His brow was slightly furrowed, as if he were even pondering in his dreams how to make the airplane fly farther.

The girl beside him curled up, her head resting gently on his shoulder.

She was fast asleep.

Her fingers were still gripping the corner of the boy's sleeve.

[Vienna Courtyard Illusion.]

[Recorded time: When Otto and Kallen were still young.]

[Image quality: An overlap of lingering Remembrance and projected desires.]

A line of small text appeared below the Light Screen.

[This is not the actual past.]

This was Otto's lifelong dream, a dream he could never realize.

Tang Wulin stared blankly at the tree.

"Not a memory?"

"At least not entirely." Huo Yuhao closed his eyes, his Divine Power close to the Light Screen. "The emotions here are too pure, so pure that they don't resemble Remembrance, but rather thoughts that a person forcibly retains after exhausting their entire life."

Gu Yuena looked up.

"An illusion formed by wishes?"

"And it's a wish he himself is unwilling to admit."

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, his voice lowering slightly.

"What he wanted wasn't to change the world, nor to make Kallen someone's Savior. He just wanted to go back to the beginning, back to the day before fate had pushed them apart."

Tang San looked at the two children in the picture, his gaze gradually darkening.

Unfortunately, fate never stops for one person's wishes.

In the Light Screen, young Kallen suddenly turned over.

She sat up sleepily, rubbed her eyes, and looked at Otto beside her.

"Otto?"

The boy did not respond.

Kallen reached out and poked his cheek.

"You're sleeping in again, being lazy."

Otto suddenly opened his eyes, as if someone had caught him in a secret, and sat up in a panic.

"I wasn't slacking off! I was just testing whether I could sense the direction of the wind with my eyes closed."

Kallen tilted her head.

"Did you get the results in the test?"

"Certainly."

Otto pointed seriously to the wooden airplane next to him.

"With further improvements to the wings, it could fly into the clouds."

Kallen looked in the direction he was pointing.

The plane was crudely made; the edges of the wood weren't even sanded smooth, the wings were uneven, and there were a few thin threads wrapped around the tail.