"So, how do you plan to struggle?"
"..."
That question instantly made Otto choke.
Because indeed, he couldn't struggle. Before an absolute powerhouse, all his scheming and trickery became utterly useless.
As for fighting Elias head-on with a weapon—
If this were a story, the protagonist might, through faith and courage, miraculously unleash unreasonable power at a critical moment and defeat all enemies.
But this was reality, not a fairy tale.
And Otto Apocalypse was no protagonist—just a despicable clown. Someone like him would never receive the favor of miracles.
"Do you understand now, Otto? You can't do anything."
"!!!"
Hearing Elias state that cold truth, Otto's soulium body trembled. His face twisted in anguish, and his clenched fists silently voiced his unwillingness.
As someone who had always toyed with others, using schemes and manipulation to make them feel helpless and despairing—Otto was now tasting that same emotion himself.
Yes, just as Elias said.
At this moment, Otto Apocalypse could do nothing.
Even knowing his carefully prepared plan was about to be stolen, that his only chance to save the woman he loved after five hundred years was about to vanish, he could neither resist nor make amends.
Sure, he could challenge Elias now, even barehanded—but his soulium fists, deadly to normal men, meant nothing before this man.
However...
The one standing before him now was a warrior who, even in an age where Honkai energy was dozens of times stronger than in the Current Era, could still lead humanity to victory—a Flame-Chaser who bore the name of [Deliverance]!
Otto's odds of victory might as well have been negative.
"Ha... hahaha, how pathetic. It seems the only thing I can do now is kneel before you and beg you to spare me long enough to fulfill my wish."
Otto covered his face with one hand, laughing bitterly at himself.
"Seems that's the case. So, will you do it?"
Elias nodded slightly, resting his chin on his hand. He observed Otto with keen interest, admiring the once-formidable villain's pain, frustration, and despair—all tangled together in one pitiful display.
To be honest, it was satisfying. Extremely satisfying.
If Welt, Tesla, and Einstein could see this scene, they'd probably die of joy on the spot.
At this moment, Elias undoubtedly held Otto Apocalypse's life in his grasp.
This terrifying man, who once saw all others as mere chess pieces, was now a fish laid upon Elias' chopping board.
Elias could make Otto do anything—force him to atone for every sin he'd ever committed.
And yet, Elias found himself... strangely disinterested.
(Because he isn't the Otto from my world? Or... do I just not want to become like him?)
Elias pondered the reason.
Meanwhile, Otto let out a long sigh.
He had gone through every possible option in his mind once more.
He could try deceiving Durandal, Welt, Kiana, Raiden Mei, and every powerful figure of this era into banding together against Elias—but even setting aside the impossibility of achieving that...
Otto realized that even if he did, Elias would still crush them all from the front.
Even if Otto somehow advanced his plan in secret, even if he became a false god, he still wouldn't stand a chance. Though truthfully, he'd never get that far in the first place.
However—
"I may not have the means to defeat you, but I suspect there's little you can do to me either, is there? Let me guess... you don't know how to reach the Imaginary Tree, do you? You need me to tell you everything about my plan."
A spark of hope flickered in Otto's eyes.
"That explains it, doesn't it? The reason you haven't killed me yet is because of that. If you knew everything, you'd have already killed me and begun the plan yourself."
Otto stared intently at Elias, convinced he'd finally found his leverage.
Behind the white mask of the Deliverer, however, came a cold, mocking laugh that chilled Otto to the bone.
"Unfortunately, Otto Apocalypse, you guessed wrong this time. I know every detail of your plan. The reason I haven't killed you yet is simply because I want to make things perfect... and, well, to enjoy watching your expressions of despair and fear. Nothing more."
"...That's not something a good person should say, is it, oh great Deliverer of the Previous Era."
"Because I despise you, Otto. As for being a good person—my actions might appear that way, but I know better than anyone how selfish I truly am."
Elias spread his hands, showing that he had no interest in pretending to be a hero of justice. His words sent another wave of cold dread through Otto.
It was bad enough that Elias had no flaws in strength—but to be unshakable in mind as well... that left Otto utterly powerless.
He felt that perhaps this was his divine retribution. The opportunity he had waited for, five hundred years in the making—the chance to save his beloved saint—was slipping away like an illusion.
Despair, unwillingness, and loneliness filled every corner of his being.
Of course, he wouldn't give up. He would inevitably seek another way to revive the saint.
Yet even so, in this very moment, Otto Apocalypse's emotions mirrored the same darkness and hopelessness he felt the day he lost Saint Kallen.
"Alright, that's enough for now. Let's leave it at this."
Elias' tone suddenly shifted.
"What?"
Otto looked at him in confusion.
For an instant, he seemed like that same fool from five centuries ago—the one who, driven into a corner, was led by his sister, Risa Apocalypse, into a trap that caused the saint's death by his own hand.
"Because you're not my world's Otto, no amount of revenge against you would bring me true satisfaction. Besides, fighting for all that is beautiful in the world... that's also part of my creed."
Elias stepped forward, towering over his undeniable enemy.
Though Otto's sins could never be forgiven, the five centuries of unyielding devotion he held toward the saint—a love so pure it resembled faith itself—was, in its own way, something beautiful.
So...
"Otto Apocalypse, I will now grant you an opportunity. A chance to reach a beautiful ending you could never have imagined—a chance that even the Imaginary Tree itself could never give you. This is your one and only chance in this life!"
Elias grabbed Otto by the collar, lifting the fool from the ground as he spoke.
"I can completely save Kallen Kaslana."
"What did you say?!"
In that instant, Otto came alive again.
His despair and hopelessness vanished, replaced by utter shock. His gaze locked onto the golden eyes behind the white mask, searching desperately for any sign of deceit.
But Elias was no longer the same as he had been during the Second Eruption of the Current Era. Even Otto Apocalypse couldn't see through him anymore.
Yet without a doubt, those words rekindled the embers of hope in Otto's heart. Even if it was as fragile as a spider's thread, it was all he had to grasp onto.
"It's a little complicated to explain everything now, but we have plenty of time tonight. And with your intellect, I doubt you'll need much clarification anyway."
Elias then told Otto that he came from the Prime World. Even for a genius of Otto's caliber, the revelation shattered his very understanding of reality.
Yet his eyes only grew brighter, because Elias had truly revealed a possibility—a chance so miraculous and perfect that even Otto himself had never dared to dream of it.
"You really should be thanking me, because your method of using the Imaginary Tree to save the saint is flawed. In fact, one of your approaches is a complete dead end."
Elias' voice turned cold.
Otto's plans to use the Imaginary Tree to save Kallen had two versions. The first was to sacrifice the present, turning back time by five hundred years—back to the moment before Kallen's death—so he could destroy the Honkai Beast that killed her.
The second was to use the Imaginary Tree to create a parallel world where Kallen lived on.
"First of all, the first method—it's a dead end."
"Why?"
Otto's eyes widened in shock.
"Because of fate. Fate dictates that Kallen Kaslana must die at the hands of that Honkai Beast on that very day. Even if you go back to the past and successfully stop it once, the corrective force of destiny will simply try again to kill Kallen Kaslana."
Elias spoke of fate—a vague and elusive word—but it was an undeniable truth. In this world, the only one who could resist the correction of destiny was he himself, a traveler beyond time.
Otto Apocalypse, as a being native to this world, could not defy fate. Even if he went back and saved the saint once, she would still inevitably meet her end.
"..."
Otto swallowed hard, cold sweat dripping down his temples.
If anyone else had spoken to him of fate, he would have scoffed. But the man standing before him now was the Deliverer who had saved an entire era.
Elias' words carried weight—so much weight that, if spoken to a person of the Previous Era, they might as well have been divine truth.
Just imagining the scene—saving the saint, only for her to be killed again by destiny's correction—made Otto tremble. He could almost feel himself going mad when that moment came.
Elias continued speaking calmly.
"As for the second method—it's more feasible. If the parallel world you create exists solely for the purpose of 'keeping the saint alive,' then perhaps it could bypass fate entirely and give you what you desire. However, to me... it's still imperfect. After all, the one who survives in that world would only live in a parallel existence."
"My great Deliverer, please, tell me—what should I do?"
Otto fought to suppress his excitement, forcing himself into a humble stance. He felt, for the first time, that he had truly found hope.
"It's not that simple. Using the Imaginary Tree, you'll send me back to my own era. From there, I will travel five hundred years into your past—and sever the thread of fate that dooms Kallen Kaslana to die."
Elias raised his hand and made a cutting motion, sharp and decisive, as if truly slicing through the strings of destiny.
But Otto frowned.
"How is that different from my first method? Are you saying you can ignore the so-called correction of fate? Deliverer, I need tangible proof."
In all other matters, Otto could maintain humility—but not when it came to saving the saint. On this matter, he needed absolute proof, something he could fully believe in.
Fortunately, Elias had plenty of such proof.
Even without mentioning Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Sirin, or Himeko, there were countless examples from the Previous Era where he had altered the destinies of ordinary people.
Aponia, who could see the threads of fate but not change them, had once turned herself into Elias' eyes—so he could see what she saw. She told him of tragedies she foresaw but could not prevent, and with hands that defied correction itself, he grasped fate by the throat and changed it.
Many of those records were preserved within the Void Archives.
Elias even transferred his memories as a time traveler into Otto's mind using the power of the Herrscher of Sentience.
"Now do you believe me, you sly dog?"
"I do... and it seems I'm doomed."
Otto laughed bitterly, rubbing his temples. With so much undeniable proof and Elias' memories flooding into his head, he was completely convinced that the man before him truly possessed the authority to defy fate itself.
But he also understood what that meant—his death was inevitable.
He knew too much.
Unless he was the beloved of this man, anyone who learned of his true identity as a time traveler would, Otto was certain, be silenced.
And now he knew.
Which meant he would soon be a corpse—one that kept the secret forever.
"Don't make that face. You were going to die after using the Imaginary Tree anyway. This just changes the method, that's all."
"Ah... fair enough, I suppose."
Otto's eye twitched. He couldn't even argue with that logic.
"And after seeing my memories, you should understand—those fates I've changed weren't limited to the Prime World. Even parallel worlds were affected. Otto Apocalypse, you do know what that means, don't you?"
Elias' eyes narrowed, his gaze gleaming with dangerous allure.
Gulp!
Otto drew in a sharp breath. His scalp tingled, and his soulium heart thumped so violently it felt like it might overload.
"As long as I change Kallen Kaslana's fate—her death—in the Prime World... then her destiny and outcome in every parallel world will also change."
"In other words, no matter which time, no matter which world—Kallen Kaslana will live! This is the true resurrection—the perfect ending that even the Imaginary Tree itself cannot grant!"
Each word Elias spoke struck Otto Apocalypse's soul like a divine hammer.
Just imagining it made Otto tremble in ecstasy. To save the saint in every world—that was an ending beyond even his grandest ambitions.
It was perfection—something he could never achieve, no matter the cost.
If anyone could truly grant him such a miracle, Otto Apocalypse would not hesitate for even a moment to offer up his soul in exchange.
Thus...
"Great Deliverer, I—Otto Apocalypse—am willing to offer you everything. From this moment forth, all of Schicksal shall heed your command. I will devote myself entirely to helping you ascend to that false godhood and reach the Imaginary Tree!"
Otto placed one hand on his chest and knelt on one knee before Elias, showing the humblest yet most fervent submission of his life.
Behind the white mask, Elias' lips curved in satisfaction.
"Very good. Then, aside from the body before me now... destroy all of your soulium bodies—and your backup thought data as well. You know exactly what I'm about to do next."
He tossed the Herrscher of Dominance's Core lightly in his hand.
"Of course. Please, do as you wish!"
Having already analyzed the Herrscher of Dominance's powers, Otto knew well what fate awaited him. But in this moment, he hesitated not at all. Without a shred of fear, he destroyed every soulium construct of himself—along with all copies of his consciousness.
Explosions erupted one after another throughout Schicksal's bases across the globe.
Otto had completely stripped himself of all means of survival.
Moments later, the final Herrscher Core of Dominance fused into Elias' body, and he became the complete Herrscher of Dominance.
Then, in the next instant, countless invisible puppet strings—each infused with overwhelming Herrscher power—shot toward Otto.
Those unseen threads coiled tightly around his limbs, binding him completely.
And when the process was done, Otto Apocalypse... had become nothing more than a puppet dancing on Elias' strings.
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