As Otto's memories continued to unfold—
"…You're making pointless things again."
"Did you take your medicine? Your health is this poor, yet you spend all day in that workshop dirtier than a basement…"
"Tch, how did I end up with such a useless little brother!"
"My airplane… my airplane…"
"Ah! It flew so high just now!"
A young girl climbed up onto the wall, smiling brilliantly as she looked toward Otto.
"Is this yours?"
"…I made it."
"Wow… you're amazing! You'll definitely become a great inventor one day!"
"My name's Kallen! Kallen Kaslana! What's your name?"
"…Otto… Otto Apocalypse."
"Then, Otto—can we be friends?"
"O-Of course!"
"Then come help me save the world!"
"—But before that, you have to make sure you get healthy, okay!"
That sunlit afternoon.
Those emerald-green eyes, bright and lively like a fairy's.
That promise—to save the world together.
That first flutter of emotion, marking the beginning of friendship.
Otto's childhood memories flashed by once more.
As white light flooded the scene,
the memories slowly faded.
Within the space of consciousness, Void Archives' voice rang out, tinged with teasing.
"How rare. You're reminiscing about your childhood. Are you feeling unwilling to accept your inevitable death?"
"Haha, you really know how to joke, Void Archives. Didn't I just tell Theresa and the others?"
Otto smiled as he replied,
"I'm going to my death of my own will—and I'll die satisfied. This is nothing more than a carnival at the end of the road, one that's been delayed for five hundred years."
"…In my view, you're just using this attitude to mask your nervousness and fear."
"Perhaps. I am nervous, and I am afraid—after all, my life has been long enough. Being able to see the finish line so clearly… naturally makes one feel a bit excited."
"…Have you never hoped for more?"
"Why wouldn't I? If it's just hope. But you must understand, Void Archives—truly impossible things are impossible from the very beginning."
Otto shook his head with a sigh,
yet his expression remained oddly relaxed.
Walking along, he spoke to the golden cube floating beside him.
"If you're interested, then accompany me a little deeper into these memories, my old friend."
"Before others inevitably collide with us, there should still be time."
As they moved on,
the conversation between Otto and Void Archives left the viewers full of doubts.
What Void Archives was saying…
and what Otto had shown to the outside world…
They didn't quite align.
Inevitable death?!
Otto… was destined to die?
But everything he had told Theresa and the others—everything Durandal and the rest had learned—
was that Otto intended to sacrifice the entire world!
Did that mean Otto himself would also fall into eternal damnation?
What… exactly was going on?!
[Tesla: This guy—why is he reminiscing about Kallen again?!]
[Sushang: Sigh… I said it before—five hundred years ago, Luocha was already like this…]
[Sushang: Standing alone in the barren desert, silently gazing at that coffin.]
[Kiana: B-But… that still doesn't justify sacrificing the entire world!]
[Durandal: Indeed. Such erroneous actions by the Overseer must be stopped.]
[Rita: But… don't you feel that Lord Otto is behaving strangely?]
[Ningguang: You mean… he intends to offer himself as well?!]
[Rita: No… I fear it's far more complicated than that.]
[Theresa: No matter what, we have to stop Grandpa first!]
Before the chat could debate further,
as Otto and Void Archives continued onward,
the next memory unfolded.
"Otto, thank you for seeing me off."
"Don't worry. Whether this campaign ends in victory or defeat, I'll do everything I can to make sure everyone comes back alive."
"No—I've already submitted a request to my father. I'll be deploying with you this time."
"…Huh? You've never been on a battlefield before. Is that really okay?"
"Relax. I won't be on the front lines—just serving as a medical intern. But… you know, I want to contribute in my own way."
"But… Otto, this might be inappropriate coming from someone about to go to war—but I think warfare is ultimately not an effective way to save the world."
"You know how the Honkai threat keeps resurfacing; thanks to Schicksal's deep involvement in national governance, disasters like the Black Death can be contained in time."
"But… meddling deeply in matters we shouldn't interfere with has caused Schicksal, as an organization, to develop ulterior motives."
"Your father used to care deeply about the suffering of the people—he would personally verify whether disaster relief supplies reached their destinations each year."
"But now? Court intrigues from all over the world pile up on his desk. The time he spends meeting spies has squeezed out the time you and he once had together."
"That's wrong. It's abnormal. Don't you think?"
"My only wish is to support you as much as possible. I haven't really thought that deeply about those things."
This memory, too, came to a halt—
lingering on Otto's words of encouragement.
Void Archives chimed in at just the right moment.
"…She was seeking deep emotional guidance from you, yet you answered beside the point."
"Indeed—worthy of the Key of Revelation. That's an accurate assessment."
Otto responded with a hint of regret.
"Treating someone as a superhero—or even as a flawless being… that kind of thinking can be emotionally fatal."
"You see, I really wasn't a qualified childhood friend, was I?"
Otto's self-mocking words surprised Void Archives—
and countless viewers as well.
Even after so many years,
Otto was still scrutinizing those ten-plus years he spent with Kallen.
One could even imagine—
night after night,
him regretting the past, replaying it, condemning himself.
"I never thought you'd be willing to evaluate yourself so objectively."
Void Archives' words echoed the thoughts of many watching.
Otto's reply, however, was open and self-deprecating, accompanied by a faint laugh.
"If I couldn't do that, how could I ever be sure I'm capable of giving another person—someone different from me—a second life?"
"Let's keep going. There should be plenty more chances for criticism ahead."
"After all, in front of her, I was often nothing more than a fool in the truest sense."
[Furina: Otto… did he really regard Kallen as a perfect being…]
[Keqing: From that perspective… maybe Otto placed expectations on Kallen that were too high? Even if she was a Saint…]
[Rita: Lord Otto… has always been like this…]
[Huohuo: Heh, did he turn Kallen into his spiritual pillar?]
[Otto: More precisely, the very meaning of Otto Apocalypse's existence lies there.]
As Otto spoke, the two continued forward.
On-screen—
they arrived at a battlefield.
It was… the eastern campaign of Schicksal,
the battlefield that had been utterly crushed by the Red Kite Immortal alone.
[Schicksal's strongest warrior, wielding the strongest weapon only she could use—
the Divine Key: Oath of Judah]
[This was Schicksal's final trump card]
[Though she doubted the righteousness of the war, as captain of the Valkyries, Kallen ultimately chose to fight for Schicksal]
[However—]
[Even this final trump card was no match for her]
"The weapon you wield exists to protect humanity."
"Without the resolve to protect, no one can truly unleash its power."
Without hesitation, Otto charged forward—
decisive and resolute—placing himself between the godlike being from Shenzhou and the girl behind him.
He spread his arms, shielding her.
"O wielder of the Key—think carefully."
"What is it that you truly wish to protect?"
Moments later,
the powerful immortal turned and left the battlefield.
The retreat was far from smooth.
"Otto… are you trembling? Are you cold?"
"I-I'm fine. Just… my coat got wet earlier while crossing the river."
"Otto, we lost this battle… will your father lose a lot of money because of it?"
"Probably. But we don't really need to worry about that, do we? Those important figures always find a solution."
"Maybe you're right. Still, I should've said this earlier—lately, I feel like Schicksal, as an organization, has some serious issues."
"Like that question I asked just now… should Schicksal really care this much about money?"
"Perhaps not. But… in this era, without money, nothing gets done either."
"Alright, let's not dwell on questions we can't answer. It's so late—are you hungry?"
The memory ended abruptly.
"At the time, I was truly laughable—always believing my self-righteous gentleness could solve everything."
"If you want to blame anyone, blame the you from back then, who never understood her heroic ideal."
Void Archives' critique was, as always, piercing.
Otto showed no sign of anger.
"Yes. When she said 'saving the world,' she was never joking. And she never wavered on that."
"You see—these fatal flaws were misaligned from the very beginning."
"The memories that follow… are nothing more than the gradual transformation of Otto Apocalypse into a pitiful, ridiculous figure."
With Otto's bleak, sorrowful chuckle,
the next memory unfolded.
"Otto, what's this?"
"It's a medicine I'm researching."
Otto smiled as he answered.
"The Black Death may mutate again. We need stronger effects so more people can be saved."
"Eleanor recovered because of this medicine, right?"
"Yes, but her constitution is exceptional. That's why she didn't suffer the severe side effects most people would. Otherwise, my mother wouldn't have let her inherit the Schariac name."
"No matter what, you're still the same as when we were kids—you've invented so many amazing things!"
"Ah… thank you."
Receiving Kallen's praise so suddenly, Otto even grew a little shy.
"I'm just… trying to catch up to someone's silhouette."
"Alright, let's put that aside—are you going out again tonight?"
"Mm. You focus on your work. I'm already very familiar with my part—nothing will go wrong."
"Still, be careful. We're doing all this right under the noses of those old fossils."
"I know. I'll act within my limits—I won't deliberately stir up trouble."
Kallen replied with a smile.
"But, Kallen… society's way of operating isn't something that can be changed just because someone says so, right?"
"Of course. That's why we can only do what we can, and wait for opportunities! If we're not even working hard on the path we believe in, how can we ever persuade others in the future?"
"…You're right. Looks like we both need to keep working hard!"
As Otto's words fell—
Void Archives commented once more.
"I really don't understand how you could be so awkward back then. Why not just tell her everything you were thinking? History itself might have changed."
"Perhaps. But what exactly would you have wanted me to say?"
"That I was researching new medicine through human experimentation?"
"Or that I should lecture her with political economy theories from centuries in the future, telling her that robbing the rich to help the poor doesn't solve the root problem?"
"And if not those—even if I told her plainly why I did everything I did—what would that have changed?"
"Would she have changed herself? Or would I have changed myself?"
"But in the end, neither of you changed the other."
"Of course not. Back then, I foolishly believed that by being that version of myself, I had more means to protect her from the shadows."
"Heh. She was Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, yet you thought you could protect her with your own strength?"
"At the time, I believed our abilities complemented each other. I always wanted to secretly make up for her weaknesses in my own way."
"Strange. Sickly since childhood, yet you were so arrogant in matters like this. History has already proven that you were powerless back then."
"In fact, you only hastened her break from her original world—
and the price was ultimately her very life."
Otto's expression visibly dimmed.
"Yes. That was the day she finally saw Schicksal's true darkness."
"And from then on, our lives spiraled out of control."
"The story that followed became a tragedy cloaked in absurdity."
"I ultimately made the single most foolish decision of my life."
Outside the screen,
the audience fell silent.
In Otto's voice—
there was a pain so profound that even mere observers could feel it pierce their hearts.
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