With the power of the False God broken—Otto Apocalypse's life also reached its end.
But this was not yet the conclusion, merely the beginning of the final journey.
A towering, faintly glowing, extremely magnificent Imaginary Tree reflected in his green eyes.
The blond man, clad in tattered clothes, his steps faltering, walked with difficulty across the blood-red dunes. Though his pace was incredibly slow, there was not a hint of hesitation; he moved steadfastly towards his goal.
However, this path was clearly not smooth sailing.
After all, what he aimed to do was unequivocally an act against Heaven itself.
Turning the world, granting new possibilities to the past—this was something neither the Honkai nor even the Imaginary Tree would permit.
They could tolerate this man resetting the world, but... now.
If these two entities possessed consciousness, they would likely curse—You cunning old geezer.
We had an agreement: give you power, you reset the world, buy time for this era, everyone gets a bright future.
But this old geezer, completely shamelessly, misappropriated public funds, diverting the power meant for resetting the world to fulfill his own private wish—saving Kallen.
In this regard alone, he had indeed successfully deceived the rules and the existence above the rules, causing them a significant loss.
Could this be tolerated? Absolutely not!
A mere human dared to fool them, play badger games with them? This was beyond ordinary rebellion; a heavy blow must be struck!
For this reason, upon the desolate blood-red dunes, figures resembling Otto slowly rose. Their faces wore grotesque smiles, somewhere between crying and laughing, blocking Otto's path forward.
—As long as he couldn't overcome them, Otto's wish could not be realized.
Otto clearly understood this—in fact, he had long been prepared for battle.
This was, for him, the true, and also the final, battle.
Similarly, this was perhaps also a form of retribution for him.
Once, he rallied under the Saint's banner, surrounded by countless supporters.
Now, at the end of his life's road, facing this obstacle, he was utterly alone.
"Hehe..."
Otto smiled wryly, shaking his head.
One chooses one's own path.
That he would meet such an end now could only be said to be self-inflicted—retribution for the man named Otto Apocalypse, who betrayed his comrades-in-arms one by one.
Fortunately, he was already mentally prepared... already... without lingering attachments.
Of course, to say he had absolutely no regrets wouldn't be entirely true.
If possible, Otto actually really wanted to see [Theresa]'s appearance upon succeeding him as Overseer—wearing the Overseer vestments he had meticulously prepared for her long ago, becoming the new, far superior, much stronger Schicksal Overseer under the watchful eyes of the masses.
Unfortunately, such a wish could not be fulfilled.
Nor did he extravagantly hope for it to be fulfilled.
"...Let the darkness be buried with me; the light... will extend to the future because of you."
"This is the last time we fight side-by-side, old friend."
Otto greeted Void Archives thus, then... his pace gradually quickened. Wielding the weapon the latter transformed into, he faced the 'clowns' blocking his path forward.
Abyss Flower, Judgment of Shamash, Oath of Judah... Xuanyuan Sword—one by one, the Divine Keys etched into Void Archives' memory were wielded to their fullest potential in this man's hands.
Yet, this clearly held little meaning.
After all, this was the domain of the Imaginary Tree.
The creation of those 'jumping clowns' was utterly trivial for it.
A hundred, a thousand... even ten thousand—a number sufficient to make one's scalp tingle, send shivers down the spine.
And this... was far more than what Otto encountered in the original storyline, ten times... no, perhaps even hundreds of times more!
They surged forward wave after wave, lunging at him, leaving wound after wound upon his body.
Blood flowed freely... and the movements of the blond man, initially agile like a war god, became increasingly strained.
"It seems you are about to fail."
Void Archives spoke, its tone laced with cold mockery, schadenfreude, yet beneath the words lay worry, helplessness, and regret.
Although it held grudges against this man, honestly, it also hoped he could succeed—willing to fight alongside him one last time for this purpose.
Unfortunately.
The act of attempting to rewrite the world was ultimately too defiant of Heaven, intolerable to the Imaginary Tree.
The resistance faced was proof enough.
Let alone taking another step forward... at this rate, it wouldn't be long before Otto became just another grain of red sand, another one of those 'clowns'.
This was a reality that even Otto at his peak couldn't overturn—let alone now, having already exhausted himself in the previous battle.
To this, Otto, struggling to swing his weapon, merely replied with a wry smile:
"...I have no path of retreat."
Things having reached this point, his only options now were to succeed in saving Kallen, or fail and die with regret.
Void Archives clearly understood this too and fell silent.
After a long time, Otto's movements ceased.
Not voluntarily, but simply because... he had no strength left.
Forget moving forward; he could no longer even break free from the restraints, overpower the 'clowns' pinning him down.
An intense weariness made even blinking an arduous task... his vision blurred immensely.
He gazed longingly at the distant Imaginary Tree.
"Kallen..."
It seems... this is as far as I can go.
How laughable... five hundred years of obsession, ending in such a manner...
Indeed, I am still like that unlooked-for self from long ago... achieving nothing...
Bitter feelings, unwilling feelings, yet they couldn't negate the cruelty of reality.
Even if he could achieve spiritual transcendence, erupting with astonishing power in his final moments...
Faced with such a vast disparity... Otto, having already flared up repeatedly and burned out completely in the previous battle, how could he possibly reignite?
Enough... enough...
Images from the past five hundred years surfaced in his mind. An irresistible fatigue washed over him.
He was too tired.
...This is fine too. Perhaps in the world beyond, I might be reunited with her...
His vision gradually blurred, consciousness fading away, like a paper airplane thrown in childhood.
"Kang—"
As the lamp of his life flickered, a crisp metallic clang echoed beside his ear, followed by a rapid succession of similar sounds, like a continuous chain.
"Is it really alright to end like this?"
A young girl's questioning voice sounded in the air, pulling his consciousness back from the brink, allowing the now-clearer-minded Otto to see at a glance the white-haired girl bearing a cross.
Though the face was familiar, Otto didn't mistake her. He subconsciously gasped in astonishment:
"...Theresa?!"
"You... how are you here?"
"There's an old saying in Shenzhou: 'Good deeds see you through to the end; escort the Buddha all the way to the Western Paradise.'"
"At least for this moment, I count as your 'precious granddaughter.' Since that's the case... how could I possibly leave my 'Grandpa' to fight alone?" [Theresa] chuckled softly.
"..."
Otto's feelings were incredibly complex.
Honestly, his attitude towards this [Theresa] was quite subtle—after all, knowing she wasn't his Little Theresa, merely a transient guest borrowing the body.
Therefore, the feeling that she was his granddaughter lacked real substance.
But...
At this moment, that subtle attitude clearly transformed—so much so that if his heart wasn't already completely filled by Saint Kallen, he might have let this person reside within it too.
After all...
Not only did he see Kallen's shadow in her, but he also saw the shadow of the fully realized Theresa he had hoped for—it could be said that Jiang Qiao-type [Theresa] perfectly matched Otto's expectations of an ideal figure.
Except for not being the real [Theresa], she was perfect in every aspect: as an heir, as a granddaughter, even as the inheritor of Kallen's will he once believed her to be. Simply unbelievably perfect.
"Speaking of which, things turning out like this is somewhat related to me..."
"Since that's the case, how could I possibly ignore the chaos I caused?" 'She' gazed at the distant Imaginary Tree, calmly glancing at the slowly approaching 'clowns,' and sighed softly.
"Alright... Grandpa, from now on, just keep moving forward."
"I will clear the obstacles for you."
"...Alright."
Although Otto believed the power of the Herrscher of Binding wasn't sufficient to handle this crisis—while this authority was the nemesis of Honkai Energy and various other energies, it clearly wasn't invincible or limitless.
Otherwise, could this single authority stand against the Herrscher of Finality, or challenge the Imaginary Tree itself?
Yet, looking at her calm demeanor, even though he felt something was amiss, Otto chose to trust her.
Without a moment's hesitation, he raised the Cleaver of Shamash formed by Void Archives and proceeded towards his predetermined goal with faltering steps.
And [Theresa] quietly watched the gradually approaching 'clowns'.
She made her move.
She whispered softly:
"Elysion Pedion Chain Lock, full power deployment."
The next moment, the air seemed to freeze, stagnate.
Then, accompanied by golden ripples.
Chain after chain shot out with a scalp-numbing sound—one, ten, a hundred... a thousand.
"Clank."
The teeth-grinding sound of piercing seemed to compose a solemn symphony.
Endless chains of Divine Prayer bound and pierced every 'clown' attempting to obstruct the path forward. Before this power, even the regenerative ability connected to the Imaginary Tree paled—[Theresa] fully demonstrated one concept.
What does it mean to get instakilled the moment you show your head?!
Let's see if you recover faster, or if I kill faster!