At that moment.
The real Otto Apocalypse appeared: "Perhaps so. But the reason the Saint is a Saint is precisely because the spiritual power she represents is, in fact, far stronger than she herself ever imagined."
Theresa was startled by the voice.
This tone was completely different from the Otto of the other world—it was unmistakably her own extremely familiar grandfather.
She exclaimed: "…Grandpa?"
Otto looked at her: "Ah, Theresa. You've worked hard these past days. I know you have many things you want to say to me—but first, allow me to settle the important matters properly."
"I have already seized 99.9% of the Herrscher of Domination core; and the remaining 0.1%, the final piece of the puzzle, is about to fall into place right now."
"Come, everyone: let us enter the interior of this church ruin together and welcome this landmark moment."
Amber, standing beside him, said: "Please come in, everyone. I will remain outside the church to stand guard."
The group followed Otto into the church.
In an instant.
Several of them were stunned by the sight before them—countless fragments floated within the church like a starry sky.
Theresa: "This is…"
Otto explained: "Nine hundred and ninety-nine distributed Herrscher cores. Using the spatial manipulation technology of the Second Divine Key, I re-disassembled their aggregate into the current form."
"…The purpose, of course, was to lock onto the position of the final piece."
Durandal said: "Dr. Tesla from Anti-Entropy said she will soon be able to deduce the Herrscher core's location using her test data as well."
Otto laughed: "Haha, I believe she can do it. It's just that… I, Otto Apocalypse, have my own much more convenient method. And there's no need to unnecessarily dirty her hands."
"—It's time, Rita. Retrieve our experimental subject."
A cold scythe sliced through the shadows, leaving behind a sound that was neither muffled nor crisp.
By the time the two unprepared Valkyries reacted—
The guest they had brought earlier had already turned into a lifeless, heterogeneous shell.
Durandal asked urgently: "Rita! What have you done!?"
Rita said: "Calm down, Lady Durandal. It was merely another one of His Excellency the Bishop's soulium bodies."
Otto extracted a fragment from the other Otto's body: "Indeed. This is the more convenient method. Look— the final piece of the puzzle, I've collected it for you."
...
This twist directly stunned the audience, but what followed was mostly outrage.
In the tavern, viewers slammed their glasses hard onto the table: "Fuck! That infuriating feeling—sure enough, it's that damn Otto!"
"Damn it, I'm drinking today! Don't think the director can just kill off the soulium Otto and call it done!"
"Exactly! Either the real Otto dies today, or the damn director dies!"
"I'm so pissed—this bastard Otto always manages to give me high blood pressure every time he shows up."
"He's really despicable, playing everyone like puppets in the palm of his hand again."
"Fuck, this Otto really deserves to die—even his past self isn't spared?"
"Even if it's just a soulium body, those memories are the real deal. In a way, it really is his past self."
"So infuriating! Can that damn Otto just hurry up and die already!"
"…"
Ever since this Otto appeared, the viewers who had originally been celebrating were all furious, unable to even eat.
But the plot continued.
Theresa asked in agitation: "What exactly have you done!!?"
Otto said calmly: "This is a long story, so before that—you won't mind if I first wipe my hands clean, right?"
He took out a handkerchief and wiped the core fragment along with the blood-like oil from his hand.
He continued: "Let us go over the whole thing from the beginning. Several months ago, the experimental subject K-423—the person known as Kiana Kaslana—defeated the Herrscher of Domination and saved her companions."
"But although the Herrscher of Domination perished, its core disappeared without a trace. Fortunately, using the power of the Second Divine Key, I managed to enter the wreckage of the Theater of Domination—"
"—and there I discovered the key clue."
"The core of the Herrscher of Domination, due to its special structure, was partially concealed within the Imaginary space, searching for a new host, a new opportunity."
"As everyone knows, what the Herrscher of Domination is most interested in is precisely those who harbor despair and are willing to let the world fall into failure."
"…And from there, my complete retrieval plan was able to unfold."
Durandal still carried anger in her heart: "I don't understand. What does this have to do with the Mr. Otto that Rita just assassinated?"
Otto said: "Please calm down, Durandal. Consider my situation like this—"
"When I entered the ruins of the Theater of Domination together with you, I had already collected 999 distributed Herrscher of Domination cores; yet at the very last moment, it cunningly lingered deep in the dimensional rift, making it impossible for me to lock onto its trace."
"So I decided to throw it a bait—an irresistible host… Yes, that was none other than myself, Otto Apocalypse in person."
Theresa quickly asked: "Why???"
Otto said: "Didn't that Otto already tell you? His Saint died because of him, which made the rest of his life feel like that of a walking corpse."
"Perhaps the me of today is no longer so fragile… but the Otto Apocalypse of five hundred years ago—I know very well that no one's heart was darker than his."
"So I decided to use that as the foundation, to build an unparalleled stage, an exquisite trap for the fleeing core of the Herrscher of Domination."
"First, using the Second Divine Key that I controlled, I projected observational results from a specific spacetime on the Imaginary Tree into the Theater of Domination that I had already taken control of."
"Then, I drove the 999 cores already under my command to present that transcribed information from the Theater of Domination into the real environment."
"In this way, I neither caused any disorder in spacetime itself, yet I truly allowed information from another time to leak into our side."
"All that was needed was to prepare a real Otto Apocalypse from five hundred years ago, and this trap custom-made for the Herrscher of Domination's preferences would be completely ready."
Theresa was utterly shocked: "You're saying—the past we saw was really just fragments of information? Pure replicas?"
Otto nodded: "Correct. Everything was merely a side effect created to lure the snake out of its hole; aside from information, nothing more could penetrate."
"Everything you saw and collected was regenerated within our own world."
"You can think of it as me cheating to simulate a result that even exhausting the entire world's energy could not achieve."
"And from the outcome… I did indeed deceive the fleeing core of the Herrscher of Domination."
Durandal gradually calmed down. She truly had never imagined that everything before had been entirely fake.
She looked at the Otto on the ground and asked: "Then this soulium life lying on the ground…"
Otto said: "Of course it was merely a simulation program. Of course, the subject of the simulation was collected from real, complete historical information that crossed through time—"
"Precisely because of that, that individual firmly believed himself to be Otto Apocalypse from the year 1491."
"He firmly believed he had just led the righteous army to overthrow the old Schicksal, firmly believed everything he did was for the Saint in his heart—"
"And therefore, he perfectly retained the fatal darkness buried deepest in that heart."
"Shall I remind you of the real history?"
"A new Schicksal leader who rose to power through rebellion, in order to compensate for the unspeakable wound in his heart, betrayed all his comrades over the long five hundred years—"
"—and ultimately became the archetype of evil in Anti-Entropy's eyes, with even his confidants serving him only for the sake of maintaining order."
"…And the other him you met is precisely standing at the starting point of this long and dark journey."
"He is like Macbeth after meeting the witches—because of nothing more than his own delusion, he presumptuously decided the fate of everyone."
"And the result is exactly as you see: the only fleeing Herrscher core, without any suspense, took up residence in his body."
"The fusion was so seamless that it almost escaped the eyes of those genius scientists from Anti-Entropy."
Durandal said: "But… from the outcome… you artificially created such a consciousness, and then… for your own purposes, personally strangled it."
Otto admitted frankly with a laugh: "Yes. But is this the first time you've heard that I would do such a thing? For example… five hundred years ago I once saved someone's life, yet five hundred years later I still pointed a gun at her—that sounds much more like something Otto Apocalypse would do."
"Another example… in order to study the power of Herrschers, I once took the Second Herrscher from Anti-Entropy's hands. At that time, Mr. Welt almost eliminated her on behalf of humanity."
"Afterward, I killed her, revived her, and tormented almost everyone on the Hyperion for the sake of her power. Those are also things Otto Apocalypse has done."
"Durandal, you more or less know the causes and consequences of these things—yet now, at this moment, you're concerned about a mechanical consciousness that only existed for a few hours?"
"…" Durandal could not refute, only able to look at him with emotion.
Otto laughed: "Oh? Are you angry because of what I just said? Then I can apologize—because in my view, being cautious and avoiding certain things is not a shameful behavior."
"I know you're no longer a child, Bianka."
"Over these years, you have held fast to your mission, choosing to tolerate the darkness of this world, to tolerate the necessary evils I have carried out… I must say, that is not shameful."
"In this matter, you have shown a maturity and endurance far beyond your years. Because of this, I will tell the entire world without hesitation—you, Durandal, are the finest student I have had in these five hundred years."
At this moment.
Everyone present could feel that Otto was not lying.
He truly felt proud of this!
And precisely because of that,
it made Durandal even angrier: "You…"
She didn't even know what to say. Otto was clearly enumerating his own sins, clearly aware of everything he had done, yet he didn't care.
Instead, at the very end, he was praising her?
Otto spoke as if coaxing a child: "Alright, alright, don't sulk anymore. My good children—Theresa too—why are you staring at me so fiercely, like I'm some murderer?"
"Your grandfather isn't a devil. No matter what, I wouldn't just kill people at random."
"In the past, I did indeed do excessive things to you and your subordinates for unavoidable reasons—"
"—but my child, haven't you noticed? All those awful things have now completely passed?"
"My resignation is serious, and my departure from Schicksal is serious. You must understand—over these five hundred years, I crossed mountains and rivers to finally find my ultimate belonging—"
"—something priceless that nothing can replace, worth dedicating everything I have."
Theresa panicked instantly: "What exactly did you find?"
She couldn't imagine that a grandfather like this would really abandon everything just to find so-called "belonging"??
Otto answered: "I found a period of time, and I found a sacred soul that has not yet died. You know—many people die too late; while some die too early."
"She thought she had found her death, but everyone knows that was absolutely not the right moment. On the contrary, if I can decide my own death—"
"—I will use my death to prove to her what a magnificent final note a truly voluntary death, a truly willing death, can be for life."
"At that time… she will realize that in that originally stagnant future, her life can still release such brilliant rays of humanity."
"Come! So that our relationship can continue in the future, please first accept this gift… my dear Theresa."
Like a sky full of stars, the Herrscher cores now fused into one in Otto's hand.
He lightly flicked his sleeve, tossing it like an apple to a child—
and dropped the gem into Theresa's palm.
"Here, try using its power as well, Theresa. It might become quite a perfect weapon."
Theresa said without courtesy: "Thanks for the reminder. Anti-Entropy's scientists will study it."
Otto nodded: "Mm, I'm not worried about that. After all, they always produce excellent research. They will certainly help you solve those most difficult intellectual problems."
"You don't need to be too angry with me, Theresa. The power transition ceremony will proceed as scheduled. I guarantee you will become the Archbishop of Schicksal with full authority."
"As for me…"
"I will soon embark on the final leg of my journey, to the other shore of the world to seek that one and only existence—a hero whose name is familiar to every single one of you."
He turned and walked toward the outside of the church.
Only that faint voice drifted back: "Kallen Kaslana… the only one worthy of me offering everything."
???
???
At this moment.
Viewers across the entire country were stunned.
"Kallen? Everything this damn Otto did was actually for Kallen?"
"Holy shit! So what the Herrscher of Sentience said was true? That damn Otto really only ever had one dead woman in his heart all this time."
"What the hell—so all the evil he's done up till now was just to revive Kallen?"
"This demon… is actually a pure love god of war. I can't comprehend it, I really can't understand."
"No… why do I feel a little moved? That last line was so sad."
"This segment feels like he's settling his last affairs no matter how I look at it. What kind of person is Otto exactly? I can't understand, I really can't understand."
"No way, I can't tell anymore. I completely can't tell what's good and what's evil—this Otto is way too complicated."
"What the hell is the other shore of the will? Hell? Where is he going to find Kallen?"
"Seriously, in this moment I actually feel moved for an utterly evil demon."
"…"
At Fire Moth Interstellar Entertainment Company.
Kalpas was dumbfounded: "Wait… this damn Kevin, really just for one woman? And a woman who's been dead for five hundred years? I don't get it, I really don't understand—what's so good about women?"
"…"
All the female actresses in the company looked at him with contempt.
How could a musclehead like Kalpas possibly understand women!
Elysia was just about to educate him on how wonderful cute beautiful girls are,
when she suddenly heard Kevin crying with emotion: "Wuwu, I can understand, I really understand Otto so well. If it were for MEI, forget five hundred years—even fifty thousand years I would persist, and I would do everything possible to bring her back."
Kalpas said in disgust: "Almost forgot—there's still this idiot love-brained fool here!"
Eden interrupted them and said: "I'm also finding Otto harder and harder to understand now. Why does he care so much about Kallen?"
Hessian said: "Keep watching and you'll know."