Urgent knocking and the angry shouts of someone catching a cheater echoed from Schicksal's Heimdall Labs.
After placing Kika in his Schicksal base, Ryn ran to Heimdall Labs and started pounding on Otto's lab door.
"Open up! Otto! I know you're in there! You have the guts to spread rumors, so have the guts to open the door!"
Hiding behind the door, Otto cleared his throat and shouted back at Ryn.
"Otto isn't here, I'm Void Archives!"
"Who are you kidding, open the door! Or I'm breaking in!" Ryn continued to pound on the lab door.
Click—
The door slowly opened, revealing the scene inside the lab.
Otto was currently modifying a Soulium body, disguising it as "Lü Baihe."
Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Otto threw up his hands and said with a look of regret, "Tsk, looks like you figured out it was me who posted it."
Ryn gave Otto the middle finger while pulling up pictures of Otto in a dress from before.
"Lü Baihe, I knew it was you the moment I saw the name! Otto, why are you spreading rumors about me for no reason!"
"Actually, this is all the work of outsiders..."
"..."
Ryn fell silent for a moment, then inserted Cortana's USB drive into a nearby computer.
Seeing Ryn's action, Otto frowned. Hacking into Schicksal's database right in front of him, was Ryn trying to rebel?
After a stream of data flowed across the screen, Cortana pulled up footage of Otto writing the Schicksal headlines.
"Tsk, looks like the outsiders have even taken control of our Schicksal Overseer, huh? Can't be helped. For the greater good, I'll execute you, you vile creature." Ryn grabbed Otto by the collar and lifted him up.
"Execute me? Then go ahead~ Remember to hit here, or you won't kill me."
Otto craned his neck, exposing his throat, and even pointed to his neck and heart for Ryn.
"..."
Ryn was silent for a moment, then put Otto down and dusted off his clothes.
"What? Not going to do it?" Otto taunted cheekily. "You know, Ryn? I've been having an urge to kill you lately."
"Then take your time with your urges. When you do it, remember to clear the area, I'm afraid the scene will be too graphic for the public.
You're just dancing on my last nerve because you know I won't kill you! But..."
Ryn shook his wrist, then punched Otto's Soulium face.
"First, I'll beat you up to vent my anger."
"How dare you! I am the Schicksal Overseer!"
Pow—
"Is that all? I'm an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal!"
Pow—
Half an hour later, Ryn and Otto were sitting harmoniously in the hallway.
Ryn was looking melancholy, thinking about how to face everyone at St. Freya High School, while Otto was thinking about how many punches his Soulium face had taken.
"Do you mind telling me what happened during the few days you were missing in the Sea of Quanta? We desperately need any data on the Sea of Quanta, no matter what it is."
"I went to a place very, very far away and met some very good and very strong people...
There's not much to say about those experiences, but I did learn a little about Stigmata. Although it's not the same as the Stigmata we know, the end goal is the same, so we can learn from each other. I'll submit a report with the information I have to you later."
Ryn's tone suddenly became serious as he turned to look at Otto.
"Also... Otto, do you know what the Honkai really is?"
"The Honkai..."
Ryn's serious question made Otto immediately become serious as well.
"You should know that we know nothing about the Honkai... It can be a form of energy, or it can be a set of rules. It can be used by us, and it can also destroy us in an instant.
I don't know what it is, and I have no interest in knowing what it is. I only need to know and be certain that the Honkai is controlled by some kind of existence... and if we want to truly defeat the Honkai, we must also defeat the existence that controls the Honkai."
Ryn: "Mm..."
Otto: "What? Why are you suddenly asking what the Honkai is? Did you discover something different in the Sea of Quanta?"
Ryn raised his hands, which displayed two energies of the same color but different fluctuations. His left hand showed the Honkai energy of the current world, while his right hand showed the Honkai energy of Penglaiji Ryn's world.
"Honkai energy... a material energy that exists in countless worlds, but its meaning is completely different in each.
The Honkai energy in our world, while seemingly causing destruction and devastation on the surface, is actually causing the living beings on Earth to evolve... It gives us the ability to control Honkai energy, allowing us mortals to rival the stars.
But that's not the Honkai's purpose...
This widespread dissemination of the Honkai, giving people time to develop and respond, and then completely destroying everything after the situation becomes unsalvageable, only to restart civilization on that foundation and repeat the process.
It means the Honkai has a very strong purpose. It's screening for something among the civilized creatures...
And the Honkai energy I encountered during my time travel this time, its meaning is completely different from the Honkai energy of our world.
It's chaotic, it expands, it assimilates. It strips material things from the material level, allowing matter to exist like a soul in another universe..."
"Converting material existence into soul existence? By shedding material existence, does that mean things that manipulate consciousness like Fenghuang Down would be ineffective against it?" Otto lowered his head, lost in thought.
"Here, take it. I bet you're interested in studying this thing."
Ryn tossed the Honkai from Penglaiji Ryn's world in front of Otto.
Otto jumped up in fright from Ryn's sudden action.
"Ryn! You just threw such a dangerous thing at me like that!!"
Otto looked at the crystal of condensed Honkai energy on the ground with lingering fear, afraid that he had just been accidentally erased from the material world by Ryn.
"What are you scared of? I was able to take it out, doesn't that mean I can definitely control it?"
Ryn picked up the Honkai energy crystal from the ground and slapped it into Otto's chest.
"Besides, even if I lost control and accidentally erased you, you'd only lose a Soulium body, whereas I'd have wasted a whole three seconds condensing this Honkai energy crystal!"
"Hehe, it seems you've been through a lot during your time away. Even your personality has become a bit more unrestrained."
Otto controlled his Soulium body to create a separate area to encase the Honkai energy crystal.
"But the properties of Soulium still work on Honkai energy from another world. It can still be used to isolate Honkai energy, so things should be simple enough."