Of course, Hokuto was referring to the upcoming Herrscher of Corruption.
But Elysia clearly didn't catch the subtext right now.
After a brief exchange, she continued progressing the main story.
Led by Otto, Theresa and the others entered the church.
Throughout the process, Theresa and the others remained on high alert—until they were left stunned by the scene within the church.
The interior was filled with countless stars scattered across the sky—and each of these stars was a dispersed core of the Herrscher of Dominance.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine were already gathered here. Only one remained to complete the retrieval of all Herrscher cores.
And Otto had his own way to locate that final core.
"It's time, Rita. Retrieve our [test subject]."
As his voice fell—
Two lines of narration flashed in the game.
As before, Elysia softly read them aloud.
"A cold scythe sliced through the shadows… and when the unguarded Valkyries came to their senses—the [guest] they had brought along had already become…"
Her voice cut off. After a pause, she continued.
"…a lifeless heteromorphic shell?"
Turns out the Otto everyone thought was decent just now… was merely a soulium construct.
It was a decoy Otto had created to bait out the last Herrscher core.
He had projected the despairing self from five hundred years ago into this soulium body to lure the last core into parasitizing it.
"So... everything was part of Otto's plan?" Elysia's voice was filled with disbelief.
The live chat was quickly flooded with comments.
[So ruthless, he even sacrifices himself.]
[Otto doesn't just use others, he uses himself—beyond ruthless.]
...
"But still..."
Durandal found it hard to accept.
Even if that "Otto" was just a memory-infused construct, it was still a being with its own consciousness.
Otto paid Durandal's displeasure no mind.
"Is this your first time hearing I'd do something like this?"
"For instance… five hundred years ago I saved someone's life, and five hundred years later, I still pointed a gun at her."
"Another example: to research the Herrscher's power, I once took the Second Herrscher from Anti-Entropy—back then, Mr. Welt was nearly forced to destroy her on behalf of humanity."
"After that, I killed her, revived her, and tormented nearly everyone on the Hyperion for her powers."
"That includes the Captain."
"..."
Seeing this—seeing Otto's detached tone—players could feel their blood pressure rising.
The chat was already full of furious curses.
But Elysia noticed something off.
Otto never did anything without a reason.
Yet now, everything he said served no purpose other than to enrage Durandal.
Unless... he meant to provoke her?
Otto kept speaking.
This time, his voice was subtly trembling, laced with self-mockery.
Under the backdrop of piano music, it even carried a sense of sorrow.
As viewers vented their rage in the chat and slowly calmed down, their expressions also started to shift.
Why does Otto feel... strange today?
Did he take the wrong medicine?
But then Otto's next lines shed some light on the mystery.
"These five hundred years—I crossed countless mountains and rivers to find my final destination. It is a treasure beyond all price, worth giving up everything for."
"You know—many people die too late, and some die too soon."
"She thought she had found her moment of death, but everyone knew it wasn't the right time. Instead, if I could choose my own death—"
"—I would use it to show her what it truly means to die willingly. To show how magnificent such a voluntary end can be—as a final rest for life."
So Otto was… saying his final words?
[Wait, wait, is Otto saying he's going to die?]
[Is he sacrificing himself to bring Kallen back?!]
[Feels like he's also trying to take the blame voluntarily, so that Theresa's destiny with Schicksal won't be tarnished?]
[Such a gentle grandpa... talking about cooking magic again… Maybe, at least when it comes to Theresa, Otto really had genuine feelings. Kinda complicated now.]
The foreshadowing Hokuto planted earlier began to surface.
Otto didn't even need to do anything—players could already find the knife that cuts deepest all on their own.
[I didn't expect the writers to be Nietzsche fans—this part is probably from Thus Spoke Zarathustra, right?]
[Now that you mention it, this chapter is titled The Birth of Tragedy, another Nietzsche work... And the next one, Dusk of the Fool = Twilight of the Idols... Wait, are we really getting a Thus Spoke Apocalypse next?!]
...
The comment section was ablaze with speculation.
Elysia also fell deep into thought.
Otto had always left the impression of being a scheming manipulator.
So—even if Otto now openly stated that he was going to die, even if he set up flag after flag, and the atmosphere grew more and more tragic…
One couldn't help but doubt—is this just another trick?
With that suspicion in mind, Elysia tapped the screen.
Before leaving, Otto said he had a gift for Theresa.
Elysia, already uneasy, widened her eyes.
"Otto's gift? What gift?!"
"Don't tell me it's a knife?"
"miHoYo don't do anything crazy—please..."
No one knew what she was so afraid of. What, would Otto pull out a severed head as a present?
Well… it wouldn't be that out of character if Otto did something like that.
The scene shifted.
The countless scattered Herrscher cores merged into one in Otto's hand.
He flicked his sleeve and, like tossing candy to a child, dropped the gem into Theresa's palm.
Elysia's anxiety had clearly been unnecessary.
Otto had simply handed Theresa the Herrscher of Dominance's core, then turned and walked away without looking back.
Elysia immediately controlled the character to chase after him—but Otto vanished without a trace in a blink.
"How did Otto run so fast? Like he really did owe someone wages and was on the run."
Of course, she was just joking.
There's no way Otto was actually running from debt like she'd said in the intro.
Maybe he provoked Durandal earlier to make her quit so he wouldn't have to pay her severance...
Then get chased by Durandal and Kiana all over Kolosten…
...Why did she suddenly think of something so ridiculous?!
Elysia was startled by the nonsense drifting into her mind and quickly shook her head.
There's no way Honkai Impact 3rd would include such absurd plotlines.