Chapter 241: The Long Note on the Distant Horizon
"Actually, I've been trying to reach Kallen this whole time, but..." Einstein held up his communication terminal, displaying Kallen's number with the call still unconnected.
"Miss Kallen has already learned how to use a phone, so it shouldn't be that she doesn't know how."
"So Otto probably planned this from the very start." Tesla had figured it out too. It was already a wonder Otto had left Theresa alone — and that was only because Theresa had been staying with them this whole time.
Tesla had a feeling that otherwise even Theresa would have been disposed of. After all, both Kallen and Theresa possessed Judah — although Kallen's Judah was actually one Irene had synced out using Mirror Sync.
So its duration of existence was very limited, but before it dissipated, the Mirrored Judah was no different from the real Judah.
If that Otto really was acting for Kallen's sake, then he'd probably want Kallen kicked out of the picture too — they just didn't know where Kallen was right now.
"Hey, hey, hey, we were only gone for a little while — how did things end up like this?" Little Senti's voice rang out from the side as he and a grim-faced Fu Hua walked over.
And behind them was Li Sushang, looking somewhat dejected with multiple injuries across her body. In the original story, a gravely wounded Fu Hua with a damaged Sword Heart naturally could not have beaten Li Sushang, who was the Sword God.
But unfortunately, the Fu Hua of now was at her absolute peak — peak martial skill, peak physical condition, and on top of that she was currently in her Honkai Form.
Fu Hua had even reclaimed her most peak Sword Heart. With all these buffs stacked together, it would be a miracle if Li Sushang could win. As it turned out, the Grand Master was still the Grand Master.
"A Barrier of Binding... I could hardly believe it when I first saw it." Fu Hua looked at the barrier before her with a troubled expression. As people of the Previous Era, no one understood the terror of Binding better than they did.
"If I may ask, Senior Fu Hua, how did the Previous Era deal with Binding?" Durandal looked at Fu Hua. She had learned a few things back when Kiana was vacationing in Haiyuan City.
For instance, that Fu Hua was a Flame-Chaser of the Previous Era.
"...Throwing bodies at it." Fu Hua looked at Durandal. "Using countless people to pile on — that is, directly filling up the carrying capacity of the Barrier of Binding, and at the same time finding and pinpointing the location of the Herrscher of Binding."
Fu Hua did not continue any further. The Tragedy of Binding truly should not be allowed to play out again here and now.
Hearing Fu Hua's words, Durandal tactfully asked no more. She could already discern the principle behind that method — it was entirely a matter of piling up human lives.
She could not even accept Otto's plan, let alone this method. Anyone who would devise such a plan — how would they be any different from Otto?
"We already have a plan now." Einstein pointed at Joyce and the two others. "Since a certain irresponsible Miss Irene won't pick up the phone, and given the current situation, we roughly have a—"
Before Einstein could finish, the barrier's size suddenly expanded considerably in an instant, its rate of expansion now several times faster than before.
Inside the barrier, golden structures began creeping over the cathedral, gradually covering the entire cathedral at an extremely rapid pace. In no time at all, the cathedral's original appearance was completely unrecognizable.
Up in the sky, golden gear phantoms appeared one after another, blanketing the heavens. Einstein fell silent for a moment, then looked at everyone: "All right, we probably have a little under half an hour left to stop Otto."
"Then let's keep it short. Right now we need as many Moonlight Thrones as possible." Einstein looked at the others. "But whether it's Bronya or Joyce, their Honkai energy is limited at the moment."
"Understood." No one here was a fool; saying this much was enough. The current situation had to be resolved as fast as possible, and the biggest problem in front of them was the Barrier of Binding.
For now, since this was the only method available, they would simply do it as best they could.
"But who's going to take out Otto?" Little Senti raised his hand. Supplying Honkai energy was no problem, but at the end of the day, someone still had to deal with Otto — who would it be?
"Me." Kiana raised her hand, a trace of killing intent in her eyes. As it happened, both she and Sirin had plenty of scores to settle with Otto.
And as a Dual-Core Herrscher, she definitely had the advantage against a Single-Core Herrscher, even if that Otto had possibly obtained the Binding Authority through the Herrscher of the Legion Core.
But when it came to facing the Herrscher of the Legion, Kiana really didn't feel the Herrscher of the Legion was anything all that impressive.
"I'll go too." Durandal raised her hand as well. Since her little sister was going, she had to go along too — and besides, there was the matter of Mama to have words with Otto about.
Some things had to be settled in the end.
"Such touching solidarity."
A familiar voice suddenly came from the direction of the cathedral, carrying a hint of laziness and mockery.
Everyone looked toward the voice and saw a figure slowly walk out from the edge of the golden barrier. It was yet another Otto, his refined features wearing that signature, unpleasant smile.
Seeing him step out of the barrier, several completely different attacks instantly flew toward him, and the explosive smoke and dust swallowed Otto's body whole.
"Oh, don't waste your energy." Otto's head, struck off in that attack, flew out of the smoke and rolled across the ground, yet it still spoke. "This is just an insignificant little clone. The Herrscher of the Legion Core really is convenient."
"It lets me appear in many places at once, and... chat with many people."
Just then, Rita's anxious voice suddenly came through the communicator in Durandal's ear: "Captain! The Immortal Blades squad is under attack! It's... it's Overseer Otto! There are so many of them! We can't hold out much longer!"
Durandal's expression changed in an instant.
The Otto puppet still wore a smile on its face: "See, I really am quite busy — chatting with all of you on one hand, while dealing with those disobedient little girls on the other."
"You—!" Tesla stamped his feet in fury. He understood at once: Otto wanted them spread too thin to cope. For ordinary Valkyries, Otto's surprise assault would likely be very hard to resist.
What's more, Otto was nothing like that bunch of utterly incapable puppets — he could have rigged anything onto his own puppets.
"I'll go." Fu Hua stepped forward, faint flames swirling around her in her Honkai Form. "Leave the Immortal Blades to me. And — Li Sushang too."
"Hey, you old relic, are you really going to bring this traitorous disciple along?" Little Senti looked at Fu Hua with some concern. He wasn't worried that Fu Hua couldn't handle Otto, but he was worried about this rebellious disciple.
"Don't worry." Fu Hua, for once, let a faint smile show, turning her head toward Li Sushang. "I trust Li Sushang. Don't hold any prejudice against her."
"Let's go."
"No problem, Grand Master." Li Sushang nodded at once and followed Fu Hua toward the Immortal Blades' garrison.
"Well then, now it's our turn." Joyce looked at Bronya and Welt. "Ready?"
The two nodded immediately. Mei was the first to step forward, placing her hand on Bronya's shoulder to channel Honkai energy into her. Though she couldn't make use of the Authority within the Honkai energy the way Irene could, at least simple channeling was no problem.
The three of them raised their hands at the same time. Three differently colored lines gradually took shape in the air — sketching, converging, forming.
Of course they weren't planning to construct complete Moonlight Thrones — that would waste far too much Honkai energy. What they were making was a simplified Moonlight Throne, something Vill-V and a few others had worked out after deliberation.
The simplified type had almost no production value. It had many flaws — lacking functional facilities, lacking cooling systems — problems that doomed the simplified version from ever truly taking the field.
But this only meant it had no production value, not that it had no combat value. Before the Herrscher of Reason, none of those problems existed at all — after all, these were disposable items anyway.
As long as it didn't misfire, even if it blew itself apart, they could still offer a word of praise: nicely blown.
Before long, a full fourteen Moonlight Thrones appeared in the air, gleaming with a metallic luster.
"Fire!"
The fourteen Moonlight Thrones simultaneously burst with dazzling light. Fourteen golden pillars of light converged into one and slammed against the Barrier of Binding, and under the relentless bombardment of the beams, the Barrier of Binding began to crack.
One crack, two cracks, three...
The fissures spread like a spiderweb until at last it shattered completely. Golden fragments rained down and dissipated midair into specks of light.
The cathedral was revealed once more, but by now it was completely covered in golden structures, utterly unrecognizable.
"Now's our chance!" A glint flashed in Kiana's eyes as she charged in without hesitation, Durandal hot on her heels, rushing straight inside.
The others outside hurried to recover their Honkai energy and prepared to go lend a hand to the members of the Immortal Blades squad.
The interior of the cathedral had completely transformed.
The once solemn and dignified chapel was now covered in countless golden patterns, with an enormous gear phantom hanging from the dome, slowly turning.
And in the deepest part of the cathedral, before a cross constructed of golden crystals, Otto stood, quietly watching them.
"Welcome." Otto spread his arms slightly, smiling at the two before him. "Two most beautiful young ladies — to have you come here in person is truly my honor."
"Cut the nonsense." Blazing flames ignited around Kiana, and several Lances of the Void appeared at her side — the Authority of the Herrscher of Flame and the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void activating at the same time.
"Otto, today is the day you die."
Durandal said no more, merely raising her lance as she looked at Otto: "Overseer Otto, stop what you're doing now. Others should not be made sacrifices for your plan."
"Durandal, don't be so naive. What's so wrong with my plan? Five hundred years ago, the billions of people alive now had not even been born — why should I live for their sake...."
Before Otto could finish, Durandal had already charged forward, her lance thrusting out fiercely. The strike was fast as lightning, reaching Otto in the blink of an eye.
But Otto seemed to have anticipated it. He tilted his body slightly, dodging by the narrowest of margins, and at the same time a golden longsword appeared in his hand.
"Such an impatient one." Otto sighed, swinging his sword to block Durandal's second strike. "So be it. The Barrier of Binding still needs some time to recover, so I'll just play along with you for a while."
The moment he finished speaking, the surrounding space suddenly distorted — that was Kiana's Authority of the Void. Countless spatial rifts opened up around Otto, and from each rift surged blazing flames, forming a cage of fire.
But Otto reacted faster. The Binding Authority activated in an instant; golden light erupted violently from the ground, and several chains shot out from the golden glow, slamming into the flames and freezing them in midair.
"Then let's see how long you can stall!" Durandal lunged out from the side, her figure weaving around the chains, dazzling light gathering on her lance.
Otto swung his sword to block, but Durandal's strength far exceeded his expectations. After knocking the golden longsword aside with a single blow, before the chains could arrive, she delivered a vicious kick that sent Otto flying.
"Ngh—" Otto let out a muffled grunt, staggering back several steps. Kiana seized the opportunity, activating the Authority of the Void once more. This time, she completely sealed off the space around Otto.
The frozen space locked Otto's figure in place like amber, and then the flames condensed into a colossal sword of fire that came slashing down from above.
BOOM!
The sword of flame struck Otto, unleashing a terrifying shockwave. The entire cathedral trembled, and the golden structures began to shatter.
Otto barely managed to stand. He had multiple burns across his body, and the space around him appeared somewhat fractured from Sirin's earlier handiwork, but he was still standing, still wearing a smile.
"As expected of you." His voice was somewhat weak but still steady. "An attack like that would have killed anyone else long ago. A pity... it's still not enough...."
He didn't finish, because Durandal had concentrated all the strength in her body into her lance and hurled it fiercely. Otto tried to intercept it with chains, but the moment the chains extended, they were knocked aside by the flaming Sword Qi.
The sharp lance pierced clean through Otto's body. This strike had used up all of Durandal's strength; Otto was sent flying and slammed heavily into the golden cross behind him.
"Sirin, I'll leave it to you." Kiana closed her eyes, then abruptly snapped them open. Her once azure-blue eyes had turned completely golden, brimming with killing intent.
"Otto!" Sirin's voice issued from Kiana's mouth, carrying a bone-deep hatred. She suddenly raised her hand, pure space sealing off any possibility of Otto's escape.
Under Sirin's gradually mounting pressure, the fractures in space grew more and more numerous. Otto's body seemed to be carved apart by the shattering space, yet the smile on his face seemed to grow ever brighter.
"Goodbye, Otto." Sirin said coldly, then abruptly clenched her fist — crack — the space, already on the verge of breaking, instantly shattered under Sirin's merciless pressure.
Only a golden void was left in its place, but Otto's figure, beneath the flickering golden light, was not swallowed by the space. Otto's eyes seemed somewhat disappointed.
'Just a bit short?' Otto, fallen to the ground, felt a touch of disappointment. He could sense he was almost there, but unfortunately it was still just a bit short. Was the output of the two cores still just a little lacking?
But just then, a long train whistle suddenly sounded outside the cathedral — wooooo~~
"That's..." The three of them looked up toward the source of the sound at the same time — two of them puzzled, one of them smiling.
The cathedral wall was violently smashed open as a massive locomotive came charging straight in — it was the Cosmic Juggernaut!
And upon the locomotive, a suffocatingly heavy mass of Honkai energy had gathered, forming a dazzling orb of light aimed squarely at the depths of the cathedral.
Otto struggled to his feet, a genuine, heartfelt smile of gratitude appearing on his face.
"Many thanks."
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