Chapter 37: For the Saintess, I Will Face God
["How... is this possible..."
Sirin, who had been stabbed through the abdomen by the Key of Sentience, was seen kneeling on the ground, completely unharmed. Her expression was blank, like a robot. From the conversation between Otto and Fu Hua, it was revealed that they had already used Fenghuang Down to control her consciousness.
"Otto, hurry up and do what you need to do. Then we'll kill her together."
"Thank you, my old friend."
Otto placed his hand on Sirin's head. A golden feather drifted down, and he entered her illusion. In a sea of white flowers, Sirin's mother smiled at her. But in the next second, in the illusion, a young Sirin stood helplessly before her mother's hospital bed.
"Heh heh, found it. This is it." Otto's lips curved into a smile. He used Fenghuang Down to alter Sirin's memory of her mother's final moments.
Sirin woke up startled in bed, seeing a worried Bella by her side. The idea and memory of resurrecting her mother suddenly appeared in her mind. Her mother's memento, which Bella was holding, constantly reinforced the memory that had been forcibly implanted in her.
Watching Sirin's retreating back as she headed for the top of Babylon Tower, Benares's gentle smile vanished, replaced by a malicious sneer. Behind her stood a phantom of Otto.
"I have implanted the idea of 'resurrecting your mother' into your subconscious, making you actively show me the true power of the Herrscher of Death—"
"—Do everything in your power to save your mother."
"And then, I will be able to find a way to resurrect Kallen."]
"I still can't stand Otto. Although Sirin is an enemy of humanity, to use her most painful memories to achieve his own goals after defeating her... isn't that a bit..." Kevin thought for a moment, unable to find the right word.
"Despicable," MEI said.
"But, this is all to resurrect that woman named Kallen. What a reckless love," Mobius's tone was unreadable, making it impossible to discern her true meaning.
Yàqīng just smiled without a word.
[Sirin used all her strength. The authority of the Herrscher of Death extracted DNA from her mother's memento. Based on her mother's DNA, Sirin used the power of creation, starting from cells, to tissues, to organs. Finally, her mother returned to the human world.
Sirin happily threw herself into her mother's arms.
But Otto felt no joy at all. He looked at Sirin, reunited with her 'mother,' with resentment, his clenched fists trembling. What he had hoped for, what he had anticipated, what he had expected... this so-called authority of the Herrscher of Death, how was it any different from him cloning Kallen's DNA?!
What kind of Herrscher of Death was this?!
What kind of divine power was this?!
Otto composed himself and, taking on the form of Bella, walked forward to ask Sirin, "My Queen, forgive my impertinence. But I don't understand, is the one you're hugging truly your mother? Does she really have your mother's soul?"
"Bella, what nonsense are you spouting? She is my beloved mother, she..."
Perhaps Otto had done something, or perhaps it was because of Sirin's inner turmoil, but her "mother" turned to ash before her very eyes. At that moment, Sirin was like a helpless child. She understood. Her mother hadn't been resurrected. She had only revived her mother's body, but she hadn't found her mother's soul.
Otto, still disguised as Bella, kept encouraging Sirin to try again, but Sirin interrupted him with a single sentence.
"Bella, I don't understand... What is a soul..."
Otto froze. What is a soul? This was a question he had been pondering for 500 years. He had not found the answer. Even if he could clone Kallen's body, even if he could implant Kallen's memories into her clone, he knew it wouldn't be Kallen, because, because, because...
It was her essence, the reason she was who she was, her smile, her tears...
At this moment, both Sirin and Otto fell silent. They both wanted to resurrect their loved ones, but neither of them had the answer.]
"A soul... what is a soul?"
This was a question that even Mobius couldn't answer.
Where do people go after they die? Is there a heaven? If souls don't exist, then what is the meaning of life? Is it truly just ashes to ashes, dust to dust once you die? How empty that would be.
"If Otto can really resurrect a person, it means his wisdom has surpassed everyone else's," Vill-V said.
To be honest, after a loved one passes away, instead of wallowing in self-pity, to go so far as to upend the cause and effect of the world's timeline to resurrect them... how many such beings exist in the world?
"Something's wrong. Miss Pink Elf♪ thinks something is very wrong o>_
["Bella, I don't understand... what a soul is... Perhaps, only God knows the answer."
Sirin's mutterings sent a jolt through Otto, who was disguised as Bella. His reason told him he had to remain calm. He had no absolute confidence when facing an existence that transcended human wisdom.
Reason told him he couldn't take this risk. He should use Fenghuang Down to stagnate the Second Herrscher's consciousness and then slowly research a way to resurrect Kallen, even if it took another few hundred years...
But, at this moment, the Fool decided to take a risk.
"My Queen, I believe that God will understand your sorrow and will surely help you."
As long as it was for Kallen, Otto had the courage to face anything. Even a so-called 'god' would no longer be feared.
"Please, seek the answer from God."
Otto, disguised as Bella, said so.]
"Ah, so the voice acting here wasn't for my character." Bella had a sudden realization. When she was doing the voice-over, she felt the lines were a bit strange. It turned out it was Otto disguised as her. That made sense...
Made sense my foot!
Why are you so good at impersonating a little girl, Otto?!
"Mama..." Sirin murmured, tightly gripping Cecilia's arm.
Cecilia pulled Sirin into her embrace, gently comforting her trembling body.
"Sirin, Mama's here. Mama will always be here."
"Otto, why are you so good at impersonating a little girl? Do you have some strange hobbies?" Kallen asked strangely. If it weren't for Otto's inner voice occasionally popping up, she really wouldn't have been able to tell it was him in the movie.
"Kallen, I didn't say..."
"Alright, alright, don't say it." Kallen covered Otto's mouth. She had a feeling that if she let Otto finish, something bad would happen.
"He actually plans to communicate directly with God," MEI said. "Otto is truly bold when it comes to matters concerning Kallen. The Will of Honkai makes Herrschers destroy human civilization, so will it give Otto the answer?"
"What if the so-called god tells Otto he needs to destroy human civilization to resurrect Kallen?" Sakura asked.
"Otto isn't an idiot," Mobius said irritably. "Once human civilization is destroyed, what's the point of resurrecting Kallen? So I think Otto will definitely put in a considerable effort to deal with the Honkai."
"Of course," Yàqīng said. "But destroying the Honkai is still secondary to resurrecting Kallen."
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