Chapter 357

"It's because of the disaster in 2010..."

Kiana felt a pang of nervousness and lowered her head in guilt.

The Herrscher of the Void was right about this; she did indeed destroy things important to Himeko more than once, ruining her life.

Himeko Murata patted Kiana's head. "Kiana, it's wrong that the Herrscher of the Void always blames you for the disasters. She can't see humanity's own choices and ignores the beautiful glimmer of hope."

"And this is what I want to tell you."

Teacher Himeko paused.

"After Captain Ragna's sacrifice, I sorted through her belongings. Among the clothes, books, and snacks that reflected her daily life, there was also a letter at the bottom of a drawer."

--If anyone finds this letter, it probably means I'm already dead.

All my personal assets can be handled according to the organization's regulations, and there's nothing to worry about regarding the pension.

Finally, let me share a story in this letter.

A few years ago, when I first became Valkyrie, I often did post-disaster relief work in disaster areas. To be honest, at that time, I felt that participating in this kind of work was a complete waste of my talents.

Chapter 579 Otto is missing

[It is the Valkyrie's duty to eliminate the Honkai, rather than to rescue the weak and short-sighted civilians.]

I used to think that way.

Until one day, I mustered up the courage to question the bishop who came to inspect the area: Could sending Valkyrie to offer comfort and reassurance, even after the damage was done, truly eliminate the Honkai?

The bishop glanced at me and said decisively, "No."

I was stunned. I thought my impulsiveness would inevitably lead to a lecture or even punishment, but what that person said next completely changed my view of my profession.

He said, "Schicksal has always conveyed its beliefs in this way."

Comrades, this is also what I want to tell you.

The work we do while upholding our beliefs, regardless of whether the outcome is as we wish, will never be meaningless!

We protect the beautiful things, the things that will become beautiful, and the things we consider important.

They may seem small and futile, but that's only because they are currently just seeds.

These seeds, which hold promise for a bright future, will one day blossom into a field of flowers.

So don't be sad for me, comrades.

Though I have withered, I have become the soil and fertilizer that nurtures growth, and the flower of hope for the future will one day find what it wants to protect.

Elysia: "The will of the Valkyrie is sacred and radiant. Hope is the only weapon against Honkai. Perhaps there was a reason why we lost so badly in the past."

Durandal: "What do you mean?"

Elysia: "Actually, it's also a problem of the Previous Era itself. We were too radical, so radical that we wanted to kill a Herrscher tomorrow to prove to everyone that humanity had won once again."

And the results have proven that.

While they achieved victory through radicalism, the people of the Previous Era lost what was most important to them as human beings.

Harbor noble aspirations and provide fertile ground for survival.

Su: "Since we've made a mistake, there's no point in hiding it. It's easy to go to the extreme of revenge, but the difficult thing is to retain the goodness in humanity's heart even in the face of Honkai."

Trust, beauty, unity, and friendliness.

These most fundamental human desires, because of the disasters brought by the first nine Herrscher, have continuously intensified the evil of revenge within humanity.

The birth of the Tenth Herrscher shattered the last hope and tore humanity apart from within.

Elysia: "So, this time we'll learn from our mistakes and won't be so easily defeated again! The Tenth Herrscher, huh? I'll be waiting for her!"

Although they had guessed that the Tenth Herrscher would most likely not appear before a large-scale human casualty occurred.

However, such guesses are not always accurate, and the threat posed by the Tenth Herrscher is too great to be ignored.

Gray Serpent: "Sometimes I really admire Bishop Otto, or more accurately, I admire the Valkyrie organization, Schicksal."

Theresa: "What, you want to betray us?"

Gray Serpent: "No, what I mean is that the human heart isn't simply black and white, but it's undeniable that it's far easier to incite hatred in a person than to preserve their goodness."

Gray Serpent: "But you Valkyrie of Schicksal actually believe in 'transforming the imperfect world into the one I desire' in droves. Such sweet talk might fool children, but how did you manage to do it?"

It is all too easy to incite evil in people's hearts.

The world is not inherently beautiful. Everyone living in the world has their own suffering and the potential to do evil. Those who firmly believe in beauty, truth, goodness, and beauty are definitely a minority.

Gray Serpent, however, always felt that those simple-minded fools seemed to have all gathered in Schicksal.

Mobius: "That's what they mean by birds of a feather flock together, Gray Serpent. You're the one spreading religious beliefs; you should be better at this than I am."

Gray Serpent: "I'm sorry, but Fifty Thousand Years of religious experience has made me fully aware that it's far easier to incite faith with hatred than with love."

If he were truly to learn about Schicksal and use truth, goodness, and beauty to influence the cadres of World Serpent would probably have gone bankrupt long ago.

Apponia: "So, both the Stigmata Project and our return as the thirteen of us stem from resentment, regret, and hatred towards the Honkai, right?"

Chakravartin: "Why use a question? It is a question!"

Sakura: "Bring a little bit, more or less."

For Sakura, her younger sister is the most important person, but it is undeniable that defeating the Honkai, avenging her sister's death, and taking revenge for past tragedies are also among her motivations.

So how did Schicksal manage to have Valkyrie believe in truth, goodness, and beauty everywhere?

Fu Hua: "You'll have to ask Otto about that; he managed Schicksal for five hundred years."

Pardofelis: "Oh right! Bishop Otto, how did you do that? Can you share some of your secrets with us?"

"..."

There was no response; the Chat Group was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Pardofelis: "What's going on? There's no response. Wasn't Bishop Otto always obliging?"

Amber: "I haven't seen Bishop Otto. Wait, let me check... He's not even in the entire Schicksal Headquarters?!"

Holy crap!!!

Bishop Otto has disappeared.

After only a short while of watching the exposure, Amber used the control terminal to search and found that Otto was missing. Such a high-ranking bishop had completely lost contact with him.

Amber: "Oh no, all my communications with the bishop have been cut off, Lady Durandal, what about you?"

Durandal: "Out of contact."

Rita: "The communication terminal doesn't even have a backup, and I just checked the surveillance footage and found that a period of footage was deliberately deleted not long ago."

Clearly, the period that was deleted is the key to Otto's disappearance.

Theresa: "Grandpa, he wasn't harmed by some bad guy, was he?"

Amber: "Lady Theresa, the bishop is still your grandfather."

For the sake of whether Bishop Otto is giving you funding, watch your mouth, Lady Theresa!

Durandal: "However, it is now confirmed that Bishop Otto is missing. Order all Valkyrie at Schicksal Headquarters to be on high alert until the Bishop returns."

Rita: "Yes, Lady Durandal."

Bronya: "Bronya is puzzled. Who could make Bishop Otto disappear without a trace? Especially on the territory of Schicksal Headquarters."

Amber: "World Serpent!"

Almost without considering, or rather, Amber had long suspected that it was someone from the World Serpent who was secretly sabotaging things.

Raven: "Don't look at me, I'm not one of the World Serpent."

Jackal: "Gray Serpent, have we officially started a war with Schicksal? When did this happen?"

War, war is good.

She had long disliked the Valkyrie of Schicksal wanted to teach them a lesson, but how come she didn't know when the decision to make a move was made?

Who cares? Just do what Schicksal has in store.

Your Majesty is unparalleled! Your Majesty is invincible!

Chapter 580 Awakening of Thousand-Man Herrscher

Gray Serpent: "Actually, I didn't receive any news either. To be precise, the Lord has never said anything about going to war with Schicksal."

Kevin: "It's not made of snakes."

The Herrscher of Reason: "You think you can just say it's not true? Where's the evidence? Right now, you're the only one in the whole world who could make Otto disappear without a trace!"

Kevin remained silent.

Indeed, there may be many people who can break into Schicksal and cause a ruckus, but he is the only one in the world who can make the heavily protected Bishop of Schicksal disappear without anyone noticing.

But if it wasn't done, it wasn't done.

Kevin: "If I had decided to take action, I would be at Schicksal Headquarters right now, and your corpses would be lying at my feet."

Amber: "This... it doesn't seem to be the work of the World Serpent."

Kevin, a dignified Flame-Chasers Deliverance the world, would never resort to underhanded tactics when targeting the World Serpent.

The Flame-Chasers are still watching in the Chat Group. Bishop Otto may be a joker who doesn't care about his reputation, but Kevin is a man who cares about his image.

Kevin crossed his arms, then suddenly frowned.

Beside him, a spatial rift slowly opened, and the blond, Soulium man stepped out.

"I'm new here, old friend, aren't you welcoming me?"

Bishop Otto greeted Kevin as if he were visiting his own home, ignoring Kevin's cold expression.

Kevin sat on the throne, his face still cold.

Otto walked over and patted the armrest next to the throne.

"My old friend, what kind of inferior material is this? Is World Serpent having some kind of financial trouble? If you don't have the money, just tell me. Given our relationship, I should at least get you a gold one."

"..."

Kevin remained motionless and asked without turning his head, "What are you doing here?"

Kevin wasn't surprised that Otto could suddenly appear at the World Serpent's base, a thousand meters underground.

Otto wouldn't be surprised if he could appear in the basement of the Schicksal Headquarters at any time.

Kevin got straight to the point, and Bishop Otto also dropped his frivolous demeanor and became serious.

"My old friend, don't you think there are some things we should talk about? The relationship between Schicksal and the World Serpent, my long-cherished wish, your desire."

"Kevin, my friend, some things need to be decided."

Kevin said coldly, "What do you want?"

"My friend, don't be so serious. I'm here to help you, and also to help myself. Yes, I came with good intentions, Kevin, I'm not lying."

Otto walked to the corner of the room and patted the dust off the wall.

"And don't you think this place is too crude? The negotiation between the two of us is related to the future of mankind, and every word can affect the pattern of this world."

Otto slowly extended his arm from behind his back, and in his palm he held the First Divine Key, the Void Archive.

Kevin stared at Otto, remained silent for a long time, and then slowly stood up.

Golden light enveloped the two of them.

[In the scene, Himeko Murata leads Kiana on a stroll across the bridge. At this moment, time seems to stand still, everything stops flowing, and only the sound of their footsteps remains.]

The door opposite them drew closer, Himeko Murata patted Kiana on the shoulder. "The road ahead is still long, but it seems I can no longer walk it with you, Kiana."

"From here on, Kiana, this is your path."

Kiana stared at the door in front of her, knowing that as long as she opened it, she could leave the memory space created by the core and arrive at the real reality.

But her outstretched hand seemed to lose its strength in an instant, unable to even extend it, let alone push open the heavy door.

"After we leave that door, everything here will disappear, right?" Kiana asked, looking up.