"Pardofelis, Kiana, it's your turn! Go rely on your cheat-level luck to find that final puppet!" Vill-V declared with great momentum.
"Vill-V, you're a damn genius," MEI said, holding her forehead as her eye twitched while looking at the two-toned puff-haired woman.
"Thank you, of course I know that!" Vill-V proudly puffed out her chest—her F-cup headlights nearly blinding.
Although, for a member of the Helixcraft, relying on luck to find the last Herrscher of Million sounded... somewhat like a betrayal of faith and not very reliable.
But they were already out of options!
When people reach a dead end, going a little crazy is only normal!
Besides, leaving Kiana aside, Pardofelis had once casually pointed and found the descent location of the Herrscher of Binding. With that utterly unreasonable cat-like luck, picking a Herrscher out of a mere eight billion people was nothing more than a coincidence.
Trying some mysticism might actually work!
"Sister Vill-V... this is a bit... you know. Which of your genius personalities came up with this idea?"
Pardofelis swallowed hard, feeling immense pressure. She hadn't expected that after fifty thousand years, someone would still think of solving problems through luck... but... she was in!!
With a serious expression, the cat girl stared at the virtual 3D Earth projection before her. She was willing to bet all of her remaining luck on this choice—even if it still might not be enough.
After all, Pardofelis had already given half of her luck to Elias. With only the remaining half, she didn't know whether Lady Luck would be willing to let her pet her again.
But!
"Come on! It's just a one in eight billion chance! For Lia, I can definitely pick the right one!"
And right now, there was another lucky cat on the scene!
Kiana cracked her knuckles while staring at the 3D projection. Although she had also given part of her luck to Elias, it didn't matter. When these two pet girls—each standing at the peak of luck in the Current Era and Previous Era—joined forces...
Forget one in eight billion—even if the possibility only existed beyond the Imaginary, they would still draw it!
"Luck, huh? It might actually be a good idea. In that case, let Elysia cast a little elf magic on you too!"
"Elysia?"
"Activating the authority of Origin—Eli, bless them! Hit, hit, you must hit! I sacrifice Mobius' research funding for the next three years—may Pardofelis and Kiana succeed!"
In the next second, a pink radiance lit up on the Staff of Origin and descended upon Kiana and Pardofelis.
The two lucky cat girls exchanged a glance and nodded firmly. Taking a deep breath, they raised their hands and pressed them onto the 3D Earth projection at the same time—it looked exactly like two cat paws pressing onto a ball of yarn.
Then they swiped across the projection together. The blue planet instantly began spinning in place like a top, while Kiana and Pardofelis closed their eyes.
"This one!!" x2
They raised their hands again and simultaneously poked a certain point. The spinning Earth projection abruptly stopped.
Their slender fingertips landed on the same location.
Everyone's eyes widened slightly—this might actually work. After all, this single point had been chosen by both lucky cat girls at the same time. It really felt like destiny had already decided it.
In the next moment, the Earth projection rapidly zoomed in. When they saw the place name "Kolosten," everyone stared in astonishment.
"Holy hell, it's really destiny!"
"Don't tell me the final Herrscher of Million is Grandpa?"
"Uh... that's not impossible, actually!"
"If anything, the chances are extremely high it's that person!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go grab him!"
At the same time, an extremely punchable figure with golden hair that almost looked green flashed through everyone's minds. Although there were many people in Schicksal, the first person they suspected was Otto Apocalypse!
After all, him being the final puppet—or enemy—felt completely natural! And Schicksal indeed possessed technology capable of masking Honkai energy signatures. It wouldn't be difficult for Otto to avoid detection by Echo of the Sky when becoming the Herrscher of Million!
All units, move out! Head to Schicksal!
Theresa's eyes glowed red, her face darkened.
If Otto really was the final Herrscher of Million, then Theresa didn't mind carrying out justice over kin for once—she would personally crush someone's soulium face to pieces!
Soon, the girls charged toward Kolosten with great momentum.
...However, what awaited them there was completely unexpected...
"Welcome, welcome—such a warm welcome! It's been a long time, my dear granddaughter Theresa. Have you come to visit your grandpa? How delightful. Oh, right—I heard you've been looking for puppets recently. I just so happen to have one here~"
The moment they arrived at Schicksal headquarters fully armed, they saw Otto standing at the base entrance with a wide smile, even holding a welcome banner—as if he had long expected their arrival.
"Otto, what are you planning this time?"
"Ah~ how hurtful, Cecilia. You were once Schicksal's strongest S-rank Valkyrie, yet now you won't even address me as Overseer when you see me?"
"You still dare bring up the past? Do you want my lance to put a few holes through you?" Cecilia's gaze was cold. The saint's gentleness was not meant for enemies.
She held a replica Abyss Flower in her hand. The cold glint on its spearhead made Otto break into a cold sweat as he immediately raised both hands in surrender, claiming he was just joking.
"Calm down, calm down~ Haven't I already been thoroughly taught a lesson by Elias back then? That's all in the past. Why dwell on it? Besides, compared to settling scores with me, don't you have something more important to deal with right now?"
"Otto, you really do know about the final puppet. Hand it over—now!"
"Of course I can~ After all, resisting Honkai and protecting world peace, fighting for all that is beautiful, is also Schicksal's duty. However... if possible, I'd like everyone to hear one of my conditions—no, a request."
Otto spoke with a gentle smile—one that only made everyone more wary.
"Face reality. Do you think you're in any position to negotiate?"
"Heh, that's why I said it's a request. Don't worry, it's nothing that would put you in a difficult position. I simply hope that someday I'll have a chance to have a calm conversation with Elias and repair our relationship."
"..."
After saying this, Otto didn't wait for their reply. He clapped his hands, and several Valkyries immediately appeared, escorting a tightly bound puppet forward.
There were numerous sharp incisions all over the puppet's body. These were not caused by weapons, but by a precise scalpel. Its limb joints, eyeballs, and even parts of its head showed clear signs of disassembly.
Clearly, before the girls arrived, this puppet had already undergone inhumane experimentation—or rather, torture.
Otto Apocalypse had taken apart every single component of its body without killing it.
What a ruthless man.
The girls sucked in a cold breath. Through their specialized lenses, they could see puppet strings wrapped around Otto—this meant he himself was indeed the final host of the Herrscher of Million.
And this final puppet, in a sense, could be considered another Otto Apocalypse. Yet he had still subjected it to such cruel experiments without hesitation, even binding and imprisoning it as a bargaining chip.
As for what he said earlier about protecting world peace and fighting for all that is beautiful—no one, not even an idiot, would believe that. After all, Otto Apocalypse had never cared about the world.
Whether it was Honkai or humanity.
This man, who had lived for five hundred years solely for his singular obsession, could easily use and betray anyone for his goal—even himself was no exception.
When this final puppet had arrived in the real world, it immediately sought out Otto for help, hoping he would hide it. After all, in the puppet's eyes, this fool also saw Elias as a thorn in his side. There was no reason for him to refuse.
However, it had only guessed half correctly.
Although Otto did not refuse to shelter and conceal it, he did not treat it as a companion either. Instead, he regarded it as a rare experimental subject delivered right to his door—a bargaining chip he could use to place bets between Elias and Honkai.
(I didn't expect Theresa and the others to figure out that I'm the final Herrscher of Million. I wonder what method they used... it couldn't have been luck, could it? Ah... I originally planned to observe a little longer, but now I have to place my bet.)
He didn't hesitate for long.
Otto ultimately decided to bet on Elias.
Through interrogating and researching the puppet, Otto had come to understand that the Herrscher of Million was a terrifying existence that would never truly disappear as long as human malice existed.
But...
(With Elias' strength, even if he can't completely eliminate this Herrscher, he can at least remain in a perpetual stalemate with them. Not to mention the existence of the Herrscher of Finality. In other words, the worst possible outcome would still be a draw.)
From Otto's perspective, the puppets currently could not defeat Elias, and Elias could not kill the puppets either. Even if they fought for hundreds of years, there might still be no conclusion.
Under such circumstances, Otto would naturally choose to side with humanity. After all, the Honkai side currently only had the Herrscher of Million, while humanity still had Elias and others.
With the Current Era's present combat strength, even if the Flame-Chaser of [Deliverance] were held back by the Herrscher of Million, the remaining forces would still have a high chance of continuing to challenge—and even defeat—Honkai.
This was Otto's rational decision.
And from an emotional perspective...
Otto: (Although I can't yet think of a way to defeat this Herrscher, even if he must stand against the malice of humanity itself, my intuition still tells me that Elias will win.)
As an enemy of that white-haired boy, Otto had witnessed Elias create far too many miracles. Instinctively, he believed Elias would once again perform a miracle and defeat Honkai.
The fool's reason and emotion both leaned in the same direction.
Thus, the moment the girls came knocking, Otto sold out his puppet without hesitation.
After all, he had already squeezed out all of its value and obtained what he wanted.
Puppet: "Mmm! Mmmmmm!"
Otto: "My apologies. Before you arrived, I was playing a little game with the puppet, and I accidentally forgot to reinstall its vocal module. But this is fine as well—after all, a puppet modeled after me isn't exactly pleasant to listen to."
Theresa: "...Grandpa, at your age, you still enjoy playing with puppets. That's disgusting."
Otto: "Pff—!"
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