Otto managed to create a sprout from the Imaginary Tree.
His Majesty, Emperor Noldrei, tearfully accepted the new world created by the Overseer. The mere act of traversing the Imaginary Space had forced the Overseer to burn himself out completely.
Just looking at the vigorously growing sprout was enough to tell how much the Overseer cared about Kallen.
Based on Noldrei's observations of the various parallel worlds, most of them were full of "Kaslana-cons"—people with a particular fondness for the Kaslana family.
In one of them, Kiana had even grown up to become the Honkai Emperor, a fact that made Noldrei intensely jealous!
He thought about his own idiot and felt a deep regret for picking the wrong person back then. If he had chosen Raiden Mei, she would have probably become a queen by now, dominating everything in her path.
With this in mind, Noldrei couldn't resist using the Imaginary Tree to stir up a little trouble for that Kiana.
Noldrei thought for a moment and decided to launch a verbal assault on the Kiana who had become the Herrscher of Finality.
"Kiana Kaslana! You paramecium, you moron, you idiot, you pig-head!" he shouted three times.
He sent the verbal attack through the Imaginary Tree three consecutive times. He figured anyone in that world with Honkai Energy or a Herrscher Core probably heard him.
Noldrei felt much better after that. Next up was the task of connecting to and receiving the parallel world.
The new world Otto had created for Kallen was one where she was clearly the protagonist of her own destiny. This was likely Otto's way of protecting Kallen's future.
Kallen herself probably had no idea that she had been blessed by a new fate.
Without hesitation, Noldrei decisively merged into the new sprout Otto had created. This avatar of his would become the anchor for locating the parallel world. Once the world's anchor was set, the rest of the work would be much easier.
---||---
The main world was in an uproar, but none of this had anything to do with the heroes of the Previous Era hiding in the Elysian Realm.
They were busy playing cards, eating, drinking, and having fun. They no longer had to worry about the Honkai; all that mattered now was enjoying themselves.
"Sakura, did you hear what Gray Serpent said? Someone out there tricked the Herrscher of Binding out of its authority. The Will of the Honkai really has it rough, huh!"
Vill-V clicked her tongue in amazement, finding the whole affair rather extraordinary.
Even if the Honkai gets dumbed down after gaining a consciousness, to be pushed this far—to the point of mutual destruction with Noldrei only to be betrayed in the end—was truly something else.
Now, its only option was to summon the Herrscher of Finality.
But the Herrscher of Finality wasn't something that could be summoned so easily, which meant the Will of the Honkai would have to get personally involved.
The whole idea was just absurd!
"The humans of the Current Era are incredible!"
Sakura sighed. She felt that sending Mobius and Elysia out to scout was the right move after all.
"No wonder you were hiding in here, Aponia! You had it all figured out. You must have foreseen humanity's inevitable victory!" Pardofelis was full of admiration for Aponia's abilities.
Aponia had come out to meet with her old friends, but she denied Pardofelis's claim.
"No, that's not what I foresaw. In truth, I was simply hiding from that so-called man from the future." Aponia wore a rare, troubled expression.
"Huh? Why? He seemed like a nice guy to me. He even said he'd take us all out to see the world!" Pardofelis thought Noldrei was a good person, especially with how well he treated the heroes of the Previous Era.
Aponia hesitated, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn't. After a long pause, she finally said, "A vision appeared in my mind back then. It showed that if I were to meet him, he would ask me a question that would make me deeply uncomfortable."
"Hm? A question that could make you uncomfortable?" Kalpas sounded surprised. He couldn't imagine any question that could bother Aponia.
"Yes, I saw it..." Aponia said in a low voice. "He would ask me if I could predict when my predictions would become inaccurate."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Everyone looked at each other, a flicker of grudging admiration appearing on their faces for the person who came up with that question.
What kind of bullshit question was that?
If she predicted it, it would prove that her predictions would one day be wrong.
If she couldn't predict it, it would prove that her predictions were already wrong.
Either way, she was guaranteed to be wrong. What a bastard, exploiting a prophet's bug like that.
Eden touched her lips, musing for a moment before saying, "That is... quite the troublesome question, isn't it? What do you all think?"
"Y-Yeah! I never would have thought of that!" Pardofelis was stunned. She then turned back to Aponia and asked, "So, can you predict that question?"
Look at you, Pardo! Can't you read the room?
Aponia looked extremely troubled. If she could actually predict it, why would she have been hiding from Noldrei in the first place?
Kosma cleared his throat. "Alright, alright, let's not ask about this anymore. Let's talk about something else. Aponia, you must have seen more than just that one scene, right?"
"Yes. The other visions were strange, too, and they always left me with a sense of unease. It was a rare feeling, a mix of fear and excitement. It was a different kind of unease than when I faced the Honkai. The Honkai only brought me feelings of death and destruction."
"But the unease I felt when facing the man from the future was different. It was as if humanity had become something other than human, yet was still struggling endlessly in an abyss of its own creation."
Pardofelis's cat ears twitched. She asked, confused, "But I heard the Current Era outside is doing great, right? Elysia and Mobius said it was nice out there. I heard that once we get out, we can make lots of money."
Is making money the only thing you care about?
Sakura looked a bit taken aback and felt compelled to remind her, "I remember Mobius saying that the most valuable thing out there is 'gene points,' which are tied to your genetic ID. And they're divided into bound points and tradable points. Making money might not be as easy as you think."
"When it comes to making money, it's only a question of 'can I or can't I,' not whether it's easy or hard." Pardofelis was already looking forward to her life in the new world.
She had been stuck in the Elysian Realm for long enough; all she felt now was anticipation for the new world.
Don't say we didn't warn you.
Sakura was still a little worried about her. Just from hearing Elysia's stories, Sakura had a feeling the outside world was not what Pardofelis imagined.
"Aponia, can you try to predict what the future outside will be like? Is there any chance of huge wars or other violent upheavals?" Pardofelis pressed.
Aponia shook her head. "Human civilization will enter a state of prosperity that I cannot calculate. And then... I can't quite describe what kind of world it will become. I only know that the conflicts between people will morph into something incredibly twisted and bizarre."