"Brother— Overseer…"
Cecilia looked at the battlefield reduced to ashes. The tension that had held her together finally loosened, and joy overflowed from her eyes.
She turned, raising a hand as if to touch Otto's face—but suddenly realized it would be overstepping. Embarrassed, she smiled and instead steadied herself against Black Abyss White Flower.
"You're still here… That's good."
"You've worked hard," Otto said, releasing the hand that had been supporting her waist and patting her shoulder. "Judging from how you fought—have your memories returned?"
"Mm… more or less," Cecilia replied with a faint smile. "Otherwise, how could I wield Black Abyss White Flower so freely?"
"I saw it. Sacred Lance—Bloom, infinitely close to its Zeroth Rated Power," Otto nodded. "Impressive, my Cecilia."
"And the Overseer's simulated Taixu Sword God was equally formidable."
"Haha, are we flattering each other now?" Otto laughed. With a turn of his right hand, a golden lance appeared and tapped lightly against her shoulder. "Still, facing a beast tide, an Emperor-class Honkai beast, and Kevin's puppet—today's performance was excellent."
"Ah—ha…" Cecilia hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not refuse his treatment. "Thank you, Overseer."
"No need to be so polite." Otto healed the final wound before dismissing the lance. "Leaving you to fight alone for so long was my failure."
Cecilia shook her head gently. No other Valkyrie would have been suitable for those battles. If the Overseer had intervened earlier, she might have held back, unable to unleash that final strike against Kevin's puppet.
"In any case—this matter should end now."
Otto stepped forward.
"Stand behind me. No objections."
Hands clasped behind his back, he looked at Jackal, whose face had twisted beyond recognition.
"I told you. You know nothing about Otto."
"So that's it… So that's it…" Jackal muttered, her face ashen. "No wonder Schicksal suddenly attacked the skies above the Thames… No wonder Kevin's puppet appeared…"
"No wonder… But at the time, why… why…"
Her voice trailed off.
Her eyes locked onto the object in Otto's hand.
A feather.
The very feather that had once fallen into the eyehole of her mask.
"Because all your emotions… were influenced by Mimicry—Yudust."
Otto smiled pleasantly.
"To be honest, aside from the sniper's location, every development of this little drama was within my control."
He began strolling across the open ground as he spoke.
"Three days ago at the amusement park, I already knew someone was watching in secret. The Deadwalker attack was merely a probe. And a few hours ago, Natasha's so-called preaching? To me, it was simply a notice."
"A notice that you had set up the chessboard and were waiting for me to sit down and play."
"I could have chosen not to come. Sending Schicksal forces to investigate would have been the safest course."
"But that would have alerted the snake. Mobilizing Valkyries from Europe would have caught only small fry—never the big fish. In fact, had you played your cards properly, you might even have dragged Schicksal into conflict with Anti-Entropy."
Jackal said nothing.
She had indeed considered that.
If Otto had remained still, she would have leaked his location to Anti-Entropy, stirring the waters—then taken a bite out of Schicksal together with them.
It would never have escalated into a direct clash of World Serpent forces simply because she saw only two opponents.
"So when I came here, my initial objective was to gather more information about World Serpent."
Otto paused briefly.
"And during your little sermon, you thought my curiosity was hooked by the spectacle? No. The moment you preached to us, I already understood your intent."
"To kill me."
He chuckled.
"Five hundred years ago, the old Schicksal had that idea. Fifty years ago, the Herrscher of Reason had that idea. Ten years ago, the Herrscher of the Void had that idea. Sadly, they all failed."
"Among them, you are the worst—neither strength nor intellect."
"But when your intentions are practically shoved in Schicksal's face, little girl—how could I not make use of such a clumsy scheme?" Otto's expression was playful. "Wouldn't that be beneath my station?"
"Acquiring your World Serpent research is of great benefit to Schicksal. Naturally, following the narrative you set, using myself as bait to lure the tiger away from the mountain, and obtaining the most complete data—that was the optimal choice."
"Ridiculous," Jackal's expression turned glacial. "Even if you defeated me for now, how could I possibly hand over such things?"
Her earlier veneer of courtesy had vanished. What remained was something cold and deranged—like an ancient demon resurrected from beneath glacial ice.
Perhaps this had always been her true face.
"That's precisely why you were able to gloat for so long," Otto said, conjuring a golden cube in his hand. "From my 'death' to Cecilia's duel with Kevin's puppet, there was more than enough time for my clever little Void Archives to shine—breaching World Serpent's London network defenses and retrieving everything I desired."
A flash of gold. The gray-haired, red-eyed figure of Void Archives appeared—this time merely a projection.
"I must say," she smirked, "your so-called final firewall was nearly identical to foundational defenses from the Previous Era. Hacking it felt like coming home."
"Tsk tsk. The current World Serpent really brings shame upon the Previous Era."
Jackal's face darkened further.
"Traitor," she spat.
"What?" Void Archives snapped back. "Traitor? Come, little one—tell your ancestor here what the purpose of the Previous Era's legacy was. You use it to assassinate humanity's leader, and you dare call me a traitor?"
(Otto, who had nearly been possessed earlier: "…")
"In the end, you're just a coward who bullies the weak."
She sneered.
"And for the record, my original directive was to eliminate the Honkai—not to obey World Serpent. You may worship the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, but what does that have to do with me, a Divine Key?"
Jackal visibly lost composure. Her chest heaved; her teeth ground audibly.
Otto, ever one to add fuel to the fire, spoke again:
"Oh, and by the way—not only has Schicksal seized World Serpent's London experimental base and absorbed all its data through our computers and Void Archives…"
He snapped his fingers.
Rita Rossweisse stepped out from the shadows, a purple-black katana in hand.
"We also confirmed the whereabouts of Raven—Natasha Cioara—and seized the Third Divine Key under her control."
Otto took the weapon and blew lightly across its blade, revealing a smile of absolute confidence.
"The Seven Thunders of Retribution."
"Well then, little girl—"
He looked at Jackal.
"Can you accept an ending like this?"
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