In the large crater, a blonde young man dressed in the attire of a Magician picked up the shovel he had brought and started digging a hole in the surface.
A pile of dirt and a headless corpse were beside him. It was quite clear that The Magician was going to bury her, and although he was the perpetrator of her murder, he didn't feel any ounce of guilt.
There was no justification for Otto to send out a Honkai Fission Missile on the Siberian Plains during the Second Erupiton to kill Sirin the Second Herrscher and Siegfried
So instead of dwelling in the gloominess of his actions, he would instead live with those Sins of the former Otto, and if anyone wanted to bring their so-called Justice on him, he would accept, but not without a fight.
Right now thought he was but a simple Magician, one that would massacre a Church of Monsters until there was nothing left.
He would give each of their Shepherds an unfulfilling death, one that would make them distort into despair and crash out. Like how he did to Sinthea, showing her the face of the man who took everything from her life and village.
Was it evil? Yes, it was...Otto had accepted it long ago; he was nothing but a Sinner.
Finishing with his digging, Otto wiped away the nonexistent sweat of his forehead and saw his masterpiece. A well-dug hole in the already massive crater.
Just as he was about to bury the Lady, covered in confetti, he heard the sounds of cars rolling up, helicopters buzzing, and alarms rolling.
'Oh, right, it was the French Police.'
Otto quickly cast an illusion on his face and voice to cover it in a gray fog that was constantly shifting everyone's perception of his face.
As for why he didn't do it for his clothes, the crowd had to know he was but a Magician.
'They must have seen the massive explosion or black hole that hit the place.'
France has one of the more complex police systems in Europe because it splits responsibilities between different forces, and since they were pulling up with the big guns, Otto assumed it was the Police Nationale and Gendarmerie Nationale.
The former was a Civilian force under the Ministry of the Interior, and worked mostly in cities and larger towns. They're the "everyday police" most people in cities encounter.
While the latter is a Military force with police duties (part of the Armed Forces, but works with the Ministry of the Interior).
A sudden spotlight was shone on the Magician, revealing his figure to the surrounding forces. Along the top edges of the crater were several policemen in black tactical vests, headgear, riot shields, and some high-tech defense gear.
When fighting Sinthea, Otto wasn't worried about the fight affecting the surroundings since her warehouse was in a barren area, and she condensed her Suffering to mainly damage him.
There was one tidbit of info he got from the dead Emily Rose. Sinthea's big attacks can be condensed into a single point or spread out to have wide coverage, but lower DPS.
For her first Suffering, she condensed the explosion to the size of her warehouse to damage Otto and give him the status of Honkai Radiation, but as an experienced Magician...Explosions were still flames, even if made from Honkai Energy, and the Invincible Frames from Flame Jumping negated the damage
Otto's thoughts stopped as he heard the sounds of someone speaking through a megaphone in a rough accent from a disgruntled man.
"Put your hands up and do not make any attempts to resist! We have the entire place surrounded. You are being charged with Terrorism, Possession/Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction, Destruction of Property with Explosives, Endangering Public Safety, Violations of International Law, and...Is that a body you're trying to bury? I am also adding Murder."
Hearing those accusations, Otto shouted at the man with an ever-changing voice.
"Who said I was the one who caused this massive a*s crater? I was just a passerby who saw an unattended corpse and decided to give her a proper burial. What happened to innocent till proven guilty? Wasn't that enshrined in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 and the French Code of Criminal Procedure?" Otto shouted with an ever-changing voice.
"You can tell that to the Judge or something...I am f*cking too old for this s*it. Nice trick with that voice changer, might reduce your sentence if you tell us how you do it...Magician."
Otto wanted to make a joking remark, but his Spiritual Intuition told him to dodge the incoming attack from behind.
His shovel shone brightly as five rings of Mang (望) wrapped around the blade and increased its overall conceptual level of sharpness, durability, and hardness by 140%.
The sound of metal clashing exploded into his ears as Otto blocked a white Épée from a white haired woman.
His new opponent wore a white button-up coat that drifted into a skirt that covered her legs, which were adorned with stockings, and on her back was a flowing red cape. Seeing her appearance, he was quite familiar with who he was dealing with.
"Oh, that outfit choice! Aren't you Rosa Sergeyevna from Snow Sandwich Squad...Doesn't it get a bit hot when you're in a full coat? What's a Squad Member that deals with the cold doing here?"
Her eyes shifted in surprise, but she recomposed herself and muttered with cold venom
"Firstly, it's Snow Lotus Squad, the name doesn't mean we're stuck in the cold, and secondly, how do you know about me, you imbecile?"
'So they sent a Schicksal Valkryie instead of risking it with armed police men...How Elysia(Human) of them.'
The Magician teasingly said to her, "I won't rat on my informant, but I bet all the boys and girls call you Mommy when you speak so elegantly. Are you sure you're not trying to cosplay as a Young Lady and have all of your Servants scream out Mistress when they tend to your needs?"
He twisted his head as a sudden Rosa started unleashing a flow of sword strikes with a flustered face.
"Stand still!" She yelled out in frustration as the Magician's body stretched into numerous clownish poses to dodge her attacks.
"Your blade is quite easy to dodge since your intent is quite open." He gleefully hinted towards her.
Rosa gritted her teeth and pointed her sword at the Magician as a white silhouette of a snow bear started to emerge from behind her figure, and frost started to converge onto her blade.
She thrusted forward with a mighty voice and shouted out her attack.
"Nanook Avalanche Breaker."
A wave of illusory snow bears started a stampede and crashed forward towards their target. Snowflakes littered the sky, and winter snow was painted on the ground with each step they took.
The Magician let out a hearty laugh at the move, "What a beautiful display of your Stigma, but isn't that name uncloth towards the God of Bears?"
His ring-covered shovel shot its blade at the pile of dirt and swung it like a baseball. Dark brown pellets pierced into the wave of snow bears, the stampede turned into a gentle breeze, and the force behind the attack disappeared into cold dust.
Despite the failure of her attack, she resorted to Plan B and pulled out an azure blue pistol and pulled its trigger, but a thrown combat knife pierced the barrel, thus jamming it.
"Чёрт! сука блять!" Rosa cursed out.
"What an unclothed lady, but you do have some charm. I'll be leaving now, Miss Rosa. I hope we can see each other again." The Magician bowed gracefully, then held his hands as a shower of charming crimson roses started raining down onto the Valkyrie's figure.
In response, Rosa latched her hand onto the sleeve of the Magician, and at the moment of first contact, his cloaked figure exploded into hundreds of laughing clown masks.
Their voice was echoing throughout the crater, chanting the phrase, "Our Fool will never give you up, never let you down, or run around and desert you. THEY will never make you cry, say goodbye, or tell a lie and hurt you."
The Valkryie seethed with her anger, but despite her rage, she didn't have the heart to stomp out her anger onto the beautiful garden of roses.
Rosa, who took pride in her status as an A-Rank Valkyrie, was humiliated in a single battle with a suspected criminal and supposed terrorist who committed property damage. She let out a heavy sigh as she had only one thought on her mind.
'Vengeance!'
Having been raised in a noble upbringing, she couldn't stand those flustering comments about her. Being called a 'Mommy' did bring some satisfaction to her pride, but it was uncouth and improper.
"That Magician will rule the day when he messes with me! I'll chase him to the very pits of hell till the day you are brought to Justice, and when you are, I'll be indulging in my black tea, seeing you in utter despair till your heart is frozen because of me! Rosa Sergeyevna!"
On that day, the unnamed Magician would soon get an adversary (Stalker) who would hunt him down like a God named Lan.
...
Outside of an unkept building, the Magician pulled out a rusty key and twisted it into a common apartment space.
The living room was a common setup of several couches and a coffee table. Placed on said table was an assortment of metals, candles, ritual materials, and a metal knife. Though he could have gotten a better place, it brought out a homey feel and a Remembrance back into his College days.
Other than being addicted to gambling for PNGs, he hung out with his roommate, Lira. She was a very good friend, but he didn't quite know if friends would borrow each other's clothes, get drunk together till they blacked out, and suddenly jump on him for a piggyback.
Well, Lin wouldn't know since...He technically died and transmigrated into a blonde man. Life wasn't so bad right now; he had the freedom to do "anything", meet some of his favorite characters, and get into the complicated fights that might endanger his life.
How fun!
And to be more honest, as a Gacha Gremlin...He had some perverted thoughts for certain characters, but he wouldn't act on them...Because of the Sword of Damocles called the Honkai, Aeons, Lord Ravagers, Stellarons, and the threats encompassing the Imaginary Tree (Universe)
Along with that, he was now the man called Otto Apocalypse, who was cursed to be forever Loveless by Mihoyo themselves. It seemed no one would embrace him with love once more, other than the Pink Elf, who would want to shank him.
Out of his rambling thoughts, since it had been a day, he decided to make himself happy by torturing himself with a daily dose of power fantasy.
Otto suited himself onto one of the couches and sorted out which Pathway would suit his current needs.
Right now, Otto felt it was necessary to increase his overall Spirituality because replicating Sequence 3 abilities and higher was costly. It was like trying to drain an ocean of water with a straw, and so he decided to focus on the last Pathway of the Cowardly Trio.
[Sequence 9 Apprentice of the Door Pathway is ready. Would you like to advance?]
Accepting the illusory message, Otto felt a black, viscous bubbling concoction go down his throat and into his stomach. The lingering taste resembles a traditional herbal concoction and was quite absurdly bitter.
His senses started to shift into a familiar out-of-vision hallucination. His pupils dilated to the extreme as several colorful orbs started to morph into various doors.
As they started to overlap in a maddening dance, Otto imagined a golden cube with distorted lines and used Cogitation to focus his mind.
He took in the sight of insanity like a student and engraved the mysterious symbols that oozed out of the tenebrous doors.
At the last moments, those same doors lined up with one another, and soon a yellow-and-black stone shaped like a key opened a voided keyhole within those passages of doors. What was beyond those doors was a gray fog that composed all that was inconceivable.
That was the last sight Otto went through as reality started to return to normalcy, and he reined in his outpouring Spirituality till it was in perfect balance.
Since there was no sensation of his Soul cracking and digesting. The potion hadn't been fully digested, so Otto had to use the Acting Method to properly become an Apprentice.
He let out a heavy breath after the colorful experience and started to review his newfound information on abilities that were crammed into his head.
Sequence 9 Apprentice had the main ability of Opening Doors and anything related to a door. Even locks were counted as a target to open, as long as they didn't contain any mystical powers or were reinforced with any abilities.
Phasing through walls was also an option, and other big obstacles by opening a symbolic, incorporeal Door.
It was a starting minor ability for this current Sequence, but would ramp up till Spatial Manipulation was the norm for this Pathway.
To test his newfound ability, Otto stood up from the couch and went to a nearby wall. It was covered in brown paint that showed signs of peeling off.
His gloved hand pressed into the dry paint, and suddenly, a turquoise illusory door formed under his touch. It was constantly shifting from real to false as its particles were undergoing shifts in their existence.
It wasn't using the unique traits of the Spirit World, but instead substituting it with the Sea of Quantum, and that's why its appearance was quite different.
Otto went through the door as his current state of existence shifted into a transparent state before emerging into a regular bedroom and turning back to his normal, filled state.
"That was a bit nauseous but I can get used to it...I wonder if I can open a door to the Sea of Quantum."
He went through that intrusive thought as his hands grasped onto the air and shifted his fingers to open a Door through the fabric of reality.
His prayers were answered as a small door opened to a realm filled with countless Bubbles that seemed to contain numerous and infinite worlds filled with infinite possibilities.
The Opening Door skipped the process of having to traverse through a dimension to get to the Sea of Quanta. Said dimension that is between the concept of reality and possibility, a crevice that is between cognition and existence.
Outside those Bubble Worlds was an emotionless void representing suffocating darkness, one that absorbs and erases everything it comes in contact with.
"Nope..."
Otto quickly closed the door so he wouldn't unleash some abomination from the depths of the Quantum Sea or worse....Some Venus Lady senses his Doors.
After a day of scouting, murder, fighting, and evading the Police, Otto decided to go to sleep and tuck himself into his modest bed.
Tomorrow...He would like to indulge in some pasta.