Otto held up his hand. In his palm rested a pale green, mysterious rune.
"The Equation of Life. That's what I call it." The man's tone was tinged with pride. "Its ability is simple: to grant a self to something that has none, allowing it to ignore all innate limitations and become a true, one-of-a-kind lifeform."
"Sounds... kinda average, doesn't it?"
"I didn't say that," Fuli shrugged.
For this man to describe it in such a tone, a secret treasure developed over countless cycles... he wasn't foolish enough to underestimate it.
Putting everything else aside, just the property of "ignoring all innate limitations to achieve its condition"—
"Wait a minute? It ignores everything?!"
"That's right." Otto held up the rune, his voice taking on an ethereal quality. "The Equation of Life can grant a self to any individual, regardless of the target."
Hearing this, Fuli sucked in a sharp breath.
He pointed to the ground beneath his feet.
Otto nodded wordlessly.
He then pointed to the sky above.
Otto smiled.
Fuli fell silent for a moment before blurting out a series of terrifyingly profound words: "A planet? The solar system? The Milky Way? A supercluster? Or... the universe itself?"
"I've never had the chance to test it, but in theory—" Otto's expression was relaxed, leaving the last two words unsaid.
This was the miracle a genius, scouted by the Void Archives at the age of six, could achieve when given a near-infinite amount of time!
The Equation of Life. From 0 to 1, a true creation from nothingness. It was a divine feat equivalent to striking the Imaginary Tree with one's own power and carving out a brand new timeline!
"Of course, there is a price to pay to achieve this." The man pointed to himself. "After using the Equation of Life, I will lose this sentience born from countless cycles. I will offer up this tiny miracle that breaks the fundamental logic of the universe and revert to being an ordinary background NPC."
A lifetime to save the world, or a lifetime to save one person.
Kallen chose the former; Otto chose the latter.
Neither path was superior, but both were immeasurably precious.
"So that's why you were even more excited than Kallen when you found out about an outsider like me arriving," Fuli said. "And the reason Kallen rejected my invitation back then was because she couldn't understand what I was talking about at all."
"Yes," Otto admitted. "I used you. I wanted to use you to get Kallen out of here."
How was he so familiar with the lowest levels of Schicksal? Why were Fuli and Kallen able to pass through the seven perilous gates to the Heaven of Saturn almost unscathed?
This was the answer.
Over countless cycles, this man had long since committed it all to memory.
"I acted like we were kindred spirits, subtly guiding you from the shadows to achieve my goals."
One only needed to look at his upbringing.
In the life of Otto Apocalypse, the word "brother" had never meant a loyal companion you'd die for. It meant a tool, a pawn.
But—
Otto glanced at the boy lying on the grass, then lowered his gaze, swallowing the rest of his words.
"Unfortunately, due to the intervention of a fourth party, your entire plan has gone up in smoke." Fuli, lying with his hands behind his head and a blade of grass in his mouth, seemed utterly unconcerned by any of this.
"Right before we were separated, Kallen said a name that really stuck with me. Since you've been stuck in this virtual space, you probably don't know who Ella is, do you?"
After giving him a brief rundown on the grand steward of modern-day Schicksal, Fuli continued, "I was wondering why she would suddenly burst in here, but now it makes sense. She probably wants to steal the Equation of Life from you, to transform from an AI whose life and death are controlled by others—despite the fancy title of 'Celestial Neuron Assembly'—into a truly free living being."
He had guessed right.
That was exactly the case.
Fuli's father, Fu A, was the undisputed world number one when it came to personality programming.
Ella, his creation, possessed all the desires of a normal human.
Including greed. And the fear of death.
Ella had coveted the Equation of Life for a long, long time.
The reason?
That fickle, unpredictable bastard of a Schicksal Overseer could reset her personality into any shape he desired with a single click. Wasn't that reason enough?
If not, how about adding the fact that this same man could plunge human civilization into an endless abyss at any moment?
One must understand: "Eradicate any fatal factor that poses a threat of total annihilation to the human race" was a directive written into her neural network before her personality was even born.
For someone like her to be around a dangerous element like Otto all day... it was a miracle she hadn't made a move on the bastard until now!
And for an AI of Ella's level, ordinary technology was insufficient to make her a truly free lifeform.
Therefore, she had set her sights on the Equation of Life in the virtual Otto's hands.
She attempted to descend upon Kallen at a critical moment through a "deal" (deception), changing the target of the Equation to herself.
As long as she could become an independent lifeform, even the Otto of the outside world would be powerless against her.
That said, Ella had originally planned a more meticulous operation, with her descent scheduled for a later time.
However, her earlier attack on Fuli had already alerted Otto to the anomaly, and on top of that, Durandal had come knocking on their door in a rather unreasonable fashion.
Unfavorable factors piled up one after another, forcing her to move her plan forward.
Fortunately, fate was still "benevolent" enough to favor Ella.
"Kallen was planning to forcibly send us both away," Fuli stated his theory. "By devouring the dragons, she expanded her data volume in a very short time, delaying Ella's hostile takeover by an instant shorter than a heartbeat."
It takes time to read a file. The larger the file, the longer the read time.
"Kallen used that sliver of time to activate Ella's authority as the 'will of the world' and teleport us back to reality."
Otto sighed. "If she had succeeded, Ellas plan to obtain the Equation of Life would have been a complete failure. The 'me' on the outside who had noticed the problem would have activated the backdoor program and quickly reset her personality before the crisis could spread."
"But no one expected that I would have a way to block that attack without taking any damage." Fuli stood up, patting the dust off his back. "I imagine right now, everyone in this world is heading our way under her control... as enemies."
"Are you scared? If you are, you can leave." Otto smiled. "Ella's target is me. As long as she achieves her goal, I believe she won't give you too much trouble."
Fuli turned his head and studied the man's face.
There was no trace of ridicule or mockery. It was surprisingly sincere.
True. If this man had really intended to use him to the very end, he wouldn't have been so honest just now. He would have at least tried to sweet-talk him.
Perhaps all the banter and fighting side-by-side along the way had allowed this man, who had never had a friend in his life, to truly feel the bonds of companionship.
Of course, it could also just be a higher level of mind games.
Fuli closed his eyes, a corner of his mouth curling up.
"What about you, then? If I leave, what will you do?"
"A person grows three times in their life," Otto said. "The first is when you realize the world doesn't revolve around you, because you are not its center. The second is when you're at your most helpless and powerless, because you discover that no matter how hard you try, it's all in vain. The third is when you know it's all in vain, but you still fight with everything you've got."
"That's a real poetic way of saying you're still going to fight that shrew Ella to the death, isn't it?" Fuli scoffed, looking at the army of monsters appearing on the horizon.
The situation was crystal clear. The Otto on the outside was trying to break through the firewalls Ella had erected to wipe her personality clean.
AL needed to obtain the Equation of Life before that happened to escape her shackles as an artificial lifeform.
And the Otto of this virtual world needed to reach the Heaven of Saturn where Ella was, to free the kidnapped Kallen from her clutches.
However, he couldn't possibly do it alone.
Just look at the army of monsters in the distance!
Suspended in the dome of the sky were countless Schicksal Knight Mechs. They hovered on the flanks of the battle formation, as dense yet orderly as a beehive, their steel armor shining under the sun like monuments singing praises of great deeds!
The most elite Valkyrie squads of the Middle Ages advanced in silence, their hands on a full array of swords, spears, axes, halberds, clubs, and scythes, ready to strike. The glint of tens of thousands of sharp edges filled the sky, shaking the very atmosphere. The scythes, spears, and crosses were an undisguised display of glorious might, like the heavenly host welcoming the savior's return in the Bible!
In the end, NPCs were just data. To Ella, who held authority over this world, they were nothing more than useful puppets she could control with a flick of her finger.
And now, she was controlling them—controlling the invincible army that had once swept across the continents of Asia and Europe 500 years ago—and marching them towards the two of them!
But so what?
"We promised little Vera that after we lifted Kallen's curse, we'd go back to her place for another round of feasting and drinking. And you promised Eleanor that when this was all over, you'd go back to the Heaven of Mars to see her." Fuli rested his hand on the hilt of the longsword at his waist, his tone as unrestrained as ever. "It took so much effort to turn the word 'brother' in your head into something positive. If it changes back to that filthy meaning, wouldn't I be guilty of a great sin?"
He turned around and extended a hand to Otto, who was still sitting on the ground.
"I'm with you."
Just then, a crack appeared in the gray, fog-shrouded sky.
Sunlight poured through the clouds, shimmering and dancing in the thin mist, its flickering light illuminating the boy's handsome face.
—But this semi-digital bubble universe is special! If you die here, you'll—!
Noticing the look in Fuli's eyes, Otto paused, swallowing the ill-timed words.
"Yeah!"
SLAP!
He reached out and clasped Fuli's hand firmly.
To fight to the death knowing you're outmatched... it was the folly of a hot-blooded fool.
But then again, who wasn't a fool?
...
The scent of wild grass drifted on the autumn wind. But within that mixed fragrance was a thick, murderous intent.
The wind blew across their faces. Moonlight shone on the reeds of Tara. The wind and moon were equally warm.
With a slight tug, Fuli pulled Otto up from the ground.
Surveying the terrifying Schicksal army drawing ever closer, along with the hundreds of thousands of controlled, mindless medieval civilians charging like zombies, he said with a headache, "We need to figure out a way to deal with these things before we can return to the Heaven of Saturn and have our final showdown with AL in Kallen's body."
The enemy: a mere million!
Our side: a whopping two!
They weren't the Azure Empyrea, a grand Herrscher of the Sequences. They couldn't just take on the whole damn world with just the two of them.
This time, however, Fuli had underestimated Otto.
"Regarding the Divine Keys, I've actually had a theory for a long time!"
For the first time in his life, the slender, blond man wore an expression of absolute fanaticism. "And now, by a stroke of luck, we just happen to have met the conditions to use it!"
He took out the genuine Cleaver of Shamash that Fuli had obtained in the Heaven of Venus and pointed the barrel at his own temple.
BANG!
A scorching beam of light fired from the gun, piercing through the man's head. The headless corpse staggered and finally collapsed, unmoving.
Fuli: ???
What? Why'd he just off himself without another word? Was this "suicide by Skyfire" for real?
Before he could react, the Key of Destruction on the ground, the Key of Creation he had gotten from Eleanor, and a mysterious golden rectangle floated up from Otto's corpse.
Otto's voice came from the golden rectangle: "Catch!"
The boy instinctively reached out and gripped the item that floated out of the Void Archives.
It was a device with three slots for inserts, looking suspiciously like a Z-Riser.
—The Blank Key. A special Divine Key created by Dr. MEI of the Previous Era. It was a set of external armor that could be embedded with Herrscher Cores.
Based on the law that "A Herrscher's Honkai energy exists in Imaginary Space, and the Herrscher Core is the key to opening Imaginary Space," the Blank Key connected the Herrscher Core to the human body through the armor, allowing a human to connect to Imaginary Space for a short time and become a Herrscher.
"This is a Blank Key Riser that I mimicked using the Void Archives." Otto, inside the Key of Revelation, was ecstatic. "Next, you will insert the three Divine Keys—Abyss Flower, Void Archives, and the Cleaver of Shamash—into it simultaneously, and briefly become a powerful Herrscher with three complete Previous Era Cores!"
Becoming a Herrscher required extremely high Honkai energy adaptability, let alone three complete cores at once.
This was a prerequisite that Otto could not meet. He was not the Second Herrscher, beloved by the Honkai. The rejection from a single Herrscher Core was enough to kill him!
But who was Fuli?
"Become a Sequence (serial) Herrscher with three cores? Sounds powerful enough, brother!" Hearing this, the boy's face also broke into a fanatical grin.
"Then let's soar to the heavens, me!"
An intensely electrifying piece of music echoed between heaven and earth as he reached out with lightning speed and grasped the Blank Key Riser!
With his other hand, he took the three Divine Keys, now in the form of circular medals, and inserted them into the slots one by one!
"Key of Creation—Abyss Flower!"
[THE DIVINE KEY—ABYSS FLOWER!]
The pure white lance transformed into a torrent of energy circling his body, embedding into his left wrist and blooming with the light of rejuvenation.
God's left hand creates.
"Key of Destruction—Cleaver of Shamash!"
[THE DIVINE KEY—CLEAVER OF SHAMASH!]
The flaming dual pistols merged into one, becoming a greatsword that could end eons, fusing steadily with his right wrist.
God's right hand destroys.
"Key of Revelation—Void Archives!"
[THE DIVINE KEY—VOID ARCHIVES!]
The guiding scripture forged a magnificent halo that appeared behind his head, symbolizing the Lord's divinity and majesty.
God's wisdom is boundless.
"Paint the future, O Flame-Chaser's Light! Sound the golden storm that devours the darkness!"
"OOOOOOOOOH!!!"
The great powers of creation and destruction enveloped his entire body, harmonized by the divine mind and transformed into blazing white armor as brilliant as starlight!
The light was like a radiance shed from a distant galaxy, every inch exuding a sacred and powerful aura. Endless space-time shattered and re-formed, the gates between the real and the imaginary thrown wide open, constructing within Fuli a Creation-Destruction Spiral several times larger than that of a normal Herrscher!
Otto, coordinating everything, shouted: "Now! Call out our name!"
It was a glimmer of hope that shone in the infinite cycles! It was the light of salvation in pursuit of a miracle!
Fuli / Otto: "BURNING TRIUMVIRATE: GENESIS, APOCALYPSE, SAMSARA!!!"
Endless flames gathered beneath his feet, forming a sea of fire collapsed to its limit.
—Behold the darkness ahead, it must be the villains' lair!
Facing the assembled army of a million, the hero bathed in heavenly light leaped into the air.
—Just watch as I charge in and slaughter them all, until not one remains!
...