Adult Otto crouched to meet his younger self's eyes: wiping the dust from little Otto's face

He simply looked down at the wooden airplane.

Little Otto immediately held the plane protectively in his arms.

"This is mine."

"I know."

"You want to take it away?"

"Won't."

The adult Otto slowly crouched down, looking at his younger self at eye level.

Will you give it to her?

Little Otto glanced at the sleeping Kallen.

"Won't."

"Why?"

"Because this is the first airplane I've ever built," the boy said earnestly. "I want to build an even better one in the future, and take her flying with me."

The adult Otto's gaze shifted slightly.

For a moment, all the onlookers thought he was going to tell the truth.

Tell your past self that there will be war, betrayal, and irreversible death in the future; tell him that the promise will eventually become a chain so long that there is no end in sight.

But he didn't.

He simply reached out and wiped the dust off young Otto's face.

"Then don't forget."

"Don't forget what?"

"Don't forget why you started building this plane."

Little Otto nodded vigorously.

"Of course I won't forget."

The adult Otto stood up and turned to walk towards the collapsing Courtyard.

His figure receded into the distance.

Little Otto took two steps to catch up.

Hey! You still haven't told me your name!

The adult Otto stopped in his tracks.

The wind whistled through the tattered Tree Canopy.

You already know.

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished completely.

The Light Screen switched again.

In the new World Lines, Kallen has grown up.

She stood in a Flower Sea, holding a brand-new wooden airplane in her hand. The airplane's workmanship was still not very refined, but its wings were much more stable than the one she had when she was a child.

She threw the wooden airplane into the sky.

The wooden airplane wobbled and swayed as it flew over the Flower Sea.

Kallen looked up and ran after it, her skirt brushing against the petals, her laughter clear and bright.

No one told her that the aircraft's design came from someone who no longer exists.

No one told her that she had once made a pinky promise with a boy under the tree.

No one told her that the so-called sky of happiness was one where someone used their entire life to shield her from all the falling winds.

[The illusion has ended.]

[The Vienna Courtyard does not exist in the New World Line.]

[The wooden airplane does not belong to any historical record.]

[But the desire remains.]

The last sentence that appeared on the Light Screen was a single sentence.

[Some people spend their entire lives pursuing something other than being with the one they love.]

[Instead, it allows the other person to have a tomorrow where they don't have to remember themselves.]

The space was completely silent.

Tang Wulin slowly clenched his fist.

"If it were me, I wouldn't accept it."

Gu Yuena looked at him.

"Why?"

"At the very least, she should know the truth," Tang Wulin said through gritted teeth. "We can't let one person bear all the choices for another."

"Knowing the truth might become a lifelong source of pain for her," Huo Yuhao said.

"That should be her decision."

Tang San nodded slightly.

"Wulin is right. Protecting someone doesn't mean taking away their right to choose."

"But Otto no longer has the chance to ask." Ning Rongrong gazed at the gradually dimming Light Screen, "He made himself the price, and buried the truth as a tombstone that can never be opened."

Xu Sanshi opened his mouth, but surprisingly didn't immediately crack a joke.

After a long pause, he said in a low voice:

"This guy really... he didn't even leave himself a last resort."

He Caitou glanced at him.

"Are you pitying him?"

"I feel sorry for that wooden airplane," Xu Sanshi said, turning his face away. "It spent its whole life making it, and in the end, even its owner was gone."

Xiao Xiao sniffed softly.

But it flew away.

Everyone was taken aback.

Xiao Xiao looked up at the World Lines that had disappeared.

"Although Otto didn't stay, Kallen really did fly up to the clouds."

Tang Ya's gaze softened.

Therefore, his wish was not completely shattered.

"Those who only fulfill their wishes will never see the results," Ning Tian said softly.

The Xue Ye gazed at the Void, his expression complex.

The cruelest victory in the world is when you finally get everything you want, but you don't even have the right to stand at the finish line.

The darkness did not dissipate immediately.

After the unmanned wooden plane disappeared, a faint golden ripple remained deep within the Light Screen. As if drawn by some invisible force, the ripple slowly spread, eventually covering the entire space.

The tenderness left from the previous scene was gradually pressed into deeper shadows.

Ning Rongrong instinctively grasped Ning Tian's hand.

"There's more to come."

Ning Tian's expression changed slightly. "Wasn't it already over?"

"The real trial has only just begun."

The Dragon God spoke in a deep voice.

As soon as the words were spoken, a line of cold text appeared in the center of the Light Screen.

[Recorded Object: Otto Apocalypse]

[Progress of repaying obsession: Completed.]

[Method of Redemption: Complete Sacrifice.]

[The cost: The erasure of one's own existence.]

Everyone's expression changed simultaneously.

Tang Wulin suddenly looked up. "Complete sacrifice?"

"It's not death." Huo Yuhao's Divine Power swept across the Light Screen, his brows furrowing. "Death is merely the end of life, but this refers to the erasure of existence. Not only can he not return to Kallen's side, he's not even allowed to leave a trace of himself as a human being."

Gu Yuena's silver eyes narrowed slightly.

"Have they even been deprived of the right to witness the results?"

The Light Screen did not respond to her.

A new scene began to appear.

That was a long star trail.

Countless stars slowly rotated in the Void, like an endless court of judgment. At the end of the star trails stood a solitary figure.

White hair, golden eyes.

It was Otto.

But at this moment, he had neither a bishop's robe nor any weapons. His body was semi-transparent, with a dim golden core floating on his chest.

At the other end of the light core, a bright world is connected.

There was no Honkai, no war, no Curse cities, and no inevitable disaster.

Kallen stood in front of a white church.

She wore a simple long dress, her hair tinged with a light gold by the sunlight. Children chased and played around her, the sound of bells drifted from afar, and the wind blew through the flower field, creating soft waves.

She is alive.

Live peacefully.

And until this moment, she still didn't know who had pulled her out of her fate.

New text slowly emerged below the Light Screen.

[New World Line confirmed.]

[Disaster incidence rate: 0.]

[Kallen's survival status: stable.]

[Kallen's Happiness Index: Continuing to rise.]

[Otto's observation license: Rejected.]

The last eight words, like a silent knife, pierced through the entire space.

Xiao Xiao stared blankly at the line of words.

"Observation permit... rejected?"

"He won't even let me glance at him," Bei Bei said slowly.

He Caitou's apple bobbed. "But that was the result he earned with his entire life."

"It's precisely because he earned it that he can't bear to see it," Niu Tian. "If he could stand at the finish line and witness his victory firsthand, then this sacrifice would still be worthwhile."