Otto said: "Indeed. As expected of the Key of Revelation—the answer is quite accurate. Treating the other person as a superhuman, or even a perfect being… that kind of factor is extremely fatal on an emotional level."
"You see, I really wasn't a qualified childhood friend, right?"
The Void Archives said: "I never expected you to be willing to evaluate yourself so objectively."
Otto said: "If I couldn't even do that, then how could I be certain that I could provide a second life for another person—for her, who is different from me?"
"Let's keep watching… There should still be plenty of opportunities for us to criticize. After all, in front of her, I was often nothing more than a fool in the truest sense."
The scene from memory emerged.
In the darkness of night, fierce winds howled.
The two sat around the only small campfire.
Kallen asked with concern: "Otto… are you shivering? Are you cold?"
Otto spoke with some trembling: "I-I'm fine… it's just that my coat got wet when we crossed the river earlier."
Kallen became anxious: "…Hey, sleeping in wet clothes in weather like this could easily lead to frostbite! Get up—I'll set up a clothes rack. Take off your coat and dry it first."
Otto said: "But… when we were retreating, there weren't any extra coats or blankets left in the supplies…"
Kallen said: "What are you talking about? Here, wear mine first. Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie won't be defeated by a little cold!"
She took off her own coat and gave it to Otto.
Before she could finish speaking, she sneezed loudly!
Otto said: "This… you're sneezing too…"
Kallen laughed: "It's fine! Instead of taking care of me, take care of yourself first… honestly."
"Ah… okay." Otto could only do as she said, take off his clothes, and put on Kallen's coat.
By the flickering firelight,
Kallen spoke again: "Otto, we lost this battle… Will your father lose a lot of money because of it?"
Otto answered: "Probably. But do we really need to worry about that? After all, those big shots will always find a way to deal with it, right?"
Kallen said: "…You might be right about that. It's just that I think I've told you before—"
"—I feel that recently Schicksal, as an organization, seems to have some problems with its stance. Including the question I subconsciously asked you just now… Should Schicksal really care so much about money like it does now?"
Otto said: "Maybe it shouldn't, but… in this era, without money, you really can't accomplish anything."
"Alright, let's not talk about these unanswerable questions anymore. It's so late at night—are you hungry?"
Looking at this memory,
Otto himself couldn't help but mock himself: "Back then, I really was ridiculous, always thinking that self-righteous gentleness and consideration could solve every problem."
The Void Archives said: "But generally speaking, that really is important. If anyone's to blame, it should be you back then—you fundamentally didn't understand her heroic complex."
Otto said: "Yes… When she talked about saving the world, she really wasn't joking. She never wavered in that conviction."
"You see, from these fatal points, we were mismatched from the very beginning."
"The memories that follow… are nothing more than turning the person Otto Apocalypse into someone increasingly pitiful and laughable."
The memory scene appeared again before the viewers.
In the laboratory,
Kallen asked Otto: "Otto, this is…?"
Otto said: "This is the medicine I'm researching. The Black Death might still mutate, so we need to strengthen its effectiveness… that way, more and more people can be saved."
Kallen said: "Eleanor recovered thanks to this medicine, right?"
Otto nodded: "Yes, but her constitution is extraordinary, so she didn't suffer those very serious side effects that normal people would."
"…Otherwise, my mother wouldn't have let her inherit the name Schariac."
Kallen said somewhat happily: "No matter what, you're still the same as when we were kids—you've invented a lot of amazing things!"
"Ah… thank you." Otto looked at Kallen and said: "I'm just… trying my best to catch up to someone's figure. Alright, let's not talk about that anymore—"
"Are you planning to go out again tonight?"
Kallen nodded: "Mm. You go ahead and do your work. I'm already very familiar with my side—there won't be any problems."
Otto said: "Still, be extra careful. After all, we're doing this right under that old fossil's nose…"
Kallen said: "I understand. I'll only act within the limits of what I can manage and won't deliberately make a scene."
"After all… if the goal is to guide people to resist the way society operates according to those old guys' rules, it really is still too early."
Otto said: "But Kallen… the way society operates isn't something that can just be changed because someone says so."
"Yes."
Kallen was also well aware of this: "So we can only do what's within our power and wait for the right opportunity."
"If we don't put in enough effort on the path we believe in… how can we possibly convince others in the future?"
Otto nodded: "Mm… you're right. It seems we both need to keep working hard."
"Mm!"
In response to Kallen's voice,
the memory scene disappeared.
The Void Archives commented: "I really don't understand. How could you have been so awkward back then? Why didn't you just tell her all your thoughts outright? The whole course of history might have changed because of it."
Otto said: "Maybe. But what exactly do you wish I had said to her back then?"
"That I was researching a new medicine through human experimentation?"
"Or do you wish I had cited political-economic theories from centuries later to enlighten her that robbing the rich to help the poor doesn't solve the root problem?"
"If it wasn't any of those… even telling her straightforwardly the reasons behind everything I did—what good would that have done?"
"Would she have changed herself because of it, or would I have changed myself?"
The Void Archives said: "…But in reality, neither of you changed the other."
Otto said: "Of course. Because back then I naively believed that the version of myself at that time had more ways to secretly protect her."
Hearing such words,
even the Void Archives laughed: "Heh. She's Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, and yet back then you actually thought you could protect her in return with your own strength?"
Otto said: "After all, back then I believed we complemented each other perfectly. I always wanted to secretly make up for her weaknesses in my own way."
The Void Archives asked puzzledly: "Strange. You, who were frail and sickly since childhood—how could you have such high self-regard in these matters? History has already proven that back then, you actually couldn't do anything."
"You even accelerated her break with her original living environment—and the ultimate price was her own life."
"…Yes." Otto sighed with emotion: "That day, she finally discovered the truly dark side of Schicksal. From then on, the trajectory of our lives spiraled out of control."
"The story that followed turned into a tragedy cloaked in absurdity."
"I ultimately made the most foolish judgment of my entire life."
The memory scene appeared.
A woman in an ornate gown looked at Otto: "What's wrong, my dear little brother? Shouldn't this be the time to keep vigil for our father in the church?"
Otto countered: "…Then why are you here, Sister Lisa?"
Lisa answered coldly: "Hmph. Because I hate that old bastard and don't want to put on an act over there—does that reason work for you?"
Otto said calmly: "Father was poisoned. I know who the culprit is."
Lisa pretended to be curious: "…Oh? Who is it? I'm actually quite interested."
Otto stared at her: "Let's stop the obvious probing here. You need the seat of Archbishop of Schicksal… and I need to complete a deal."
Lisa directly stated his purpose: "Kallen Kaslana, right? You really do like her. What a pity—she's going to be hanged tomorrow, swinging on the rope until she becomes a corpse that will never wake up again."
"—And this is something she chose herself, isn't it?"
Otto said: "…We were the ones who forced her onto this path of no return. Every single one of us is guilty."
Lisa waved her hand impatiently: "Alright, I know you don't want her to die. But what exactly are you planning to trade with me? Her death sentence was jointly approved by our parents and that parliament."
Otto said: "Since our father could be murdered like this, I believe you also have a way to save Kallen. Once it's done, we guarantee we'll leave far away—we will never covet the position of Archbishop that you value."
Lisa said: "Mm… what you're saying does make some sense. However, my dear little brother—even if the previous Archbishop is dead, the next Archbishop cannot casually revoke such an important death sentence on short notice."
"This concerns that person's prestige in certain circles… Do you understand?"
Otto asked: "…You won't help me."
Lisa said: "Oh dear, don't rush, Otto Apocalypse. I didn't say I'm not planning to give you a way out, did I? As long as… you're willing to dirty your own hands…"
After watching this memory,
the Void Archives said: "You know, Otto… sometimes I really envy your sister. Back then she set so many traps for you, big and small, and you never fell for them—"
"—Yet she only handed you a shovel, and how did you manage to dig your own grave?"
"…They say human emotions can make people lose their reason, but your performance really is a bit beyond comprehension."
Otto said calmly: "Try putting yourself in my shoes, Void Archives. Other than closing my eyes and believing in her… what other options did I have back then?"
"Or, if you had been willing to let me use the full power of the Divine Key at that time—for the sake of saving her, I would surely have agreed to any other condition on the spot."
The Void Archives said: "Tch, so it's all my fault? That's the real reason you've kept me bound for over five hundred years?"
Otto chuckled lightly: "Heh… who knows? In any case, neither of us has any regret medicine to drink, right?"
Seeing this,
viewers across the entire country fell silent.
From these fragments of memory, they did not see the so-called great villain, the damn Otto who absolutely had to die.
They only saw a young boy who wholeheartedly struggled and fought for the person he loved, for the one he admired.
"Otto… really is pitiful. Just like I was back then."
"Yeah. When we were young, we often didn't understand what girls really needed. We wholeheartedly did what we thought was good for them, yet it only caused more trouble."
"I see my own past shadow in Otto. I thought it was a ray of light, but in the end I lost her too."
"To be honest, I always thought Kallen loved Otto, which is why Otto persisted for five hundred years to revive her. But now… I feel like Kallen didn't have those kinds of feelings."
"Yes. What could have been such a perfect childhood sweethearts ended up drifting further and further apart… Poor Otto."
"Damn it!! These past events are too real. It feels like countless men have gone through this. How am I supposed to keep cursing Otto now?"
"Fine! After seeing these memories, I only have one hope now—succeed, Otto."
"I think I'm starting to understand Otto too… I hope he succeeds."
"Sigh… Watching the two of them gradually drift apart really hurts my heart. Otto clearly loved Kallen so deeply."
"Damn Otto! From today onward, you are the one and only pure love god of war in my heart!"
"…"
Countless people sighed with emotion. Those who had once shouted for Otto to die now all hoped he could succeed.
And not just the viewers—
Even the actors felt the same.
Eden sighed: "No wonder Otto envies Kevin. He loves Kallen so much, and he wanted so badly to be with her… but in the end… the two of them never even confirmed their relationship. Kallen probably didn't even know he liked her, right?"
Theresa was also deeply moved: "Is this what love is? Should we call it so great? Or so difficult?"
Kiana also said: "This Otto is completely different from what I thought before."
Theresa kept shaking her head: "I don't understand. I really don't understand what kind of person Otto is."
Elysia thought for a moment and said: "Maybe… he's just an ordinary person. That kind of persistent obsession with love, giving everything for the one he loves—isn't that exactly one of humanity's beautiful qualities?"
SAKURA also said: "Yes. I have a little sister, so I feel the same way."
Li Sushang regretted it deeply: "So… Otto is this kind of person. I was actually shouting for him to die earlier. I really deserve to die!"
Amid everyone's sighs,
the television screen arrived at Kallen's tombstone.
The Void Archives said: "Oh, she died. That truly was your doomsday."
"Five hundred years passed in the blink of an eye… Now, you finally have the chance to change that one instant."
"Ah. Or rather, for you, has time actually never passed at all?"
Otto let out a deep, forceful sigh: "Yes… she died."
"…Hm?" Sensing something off about Otto, the Void Archives hurriedly asked: "Hey, are you even listening to me properly?"
Otto continued speaking to himself: "In many languages, people avoid mentioning death itself."
"Death. The permanent dissipation of subjective will. The concept that makes existence itself cease to exist—this is naturally an eternal terror before all wisdom—"
"—But when we, in order to dispel this terror, act blind in the face of death… a grand and self-deceptive form of self-delusion arises."
"We always subconsciously believe that the ones we love are immortal and eternal."
"Even though our reason understands that the other person is merely flesh and blood, emotionally we refuse to accept it no matter what."
The Void Archives asked: "…Are you trying to say that humans are always terrified by death in some form?"
Otto said: "Yes. We are so afraid of death itself that the panic and desperation this fear brings… create even more unnecessary deaths that didn't have to happen."
"Discrimination, abuse, murder, war… Which of us isn't controlled by the fear called death, only to cast that shadow onto others ahead of time?"
The Void Archives said: "But can you really claim to be exempt? You're more deeply mired in this quagmire than anyone—except what you fear isn't your own death."
Otto's tone carried sorrow and emotion: "Yes. That's why, at best, I am merely a Bishop… while Kallen became the Saint in people's hearts."
"Do you remember the letter I once wrote to that Welt?"
He recited the contents of the letter: "We are too fragile—so fragile that we can only exchange brief peace through mutual threats, and we even have to use grand words like order and ethics to cover up motives that are utterly despicable."
"That statement still holds true today. After all, humans always repeat the same mistakes—and even turn a blind eye to the fact itself."
The Void Archives said: "I think I must remind you—these words can also be used perfectly to criticize yourself."
"Correct, Void Archives."