Otto staggered forward, his steps slow—yet incomparably firm.
And ahead of him…
Within that stretch of ruined architectural remains,
countless fragments floated in the air.
A tree that did not seem real at all—
a radiant, luminous tree that pierced the heavens—stood there!!
As their gazes followed that distant focal point,
everyone watching the screen was struck with shock!
Their eyes trembled, disbelief unmistakable!
In the chat group, after a brief, breath-held silence, everything exploded—
[Klee: Such a biiiiig… tree!!!]
[Keqing: What a strange place…]
[March 7th: W-wait, wait… th-this can't be…]
[Keqing: …No way, right?!]
[Raiden Mei: This tree… could it be…]
[Yanqing: The Imaginary… Tree!]
[Star Rail · Himeko: —The Imaginary Tree?!]
[Honkai · Himeko: —The Imaginary Tree?!]
[Honkai · Welt: …So it's real after all…]
[Kiana: Th-this can't really be the legendary… that thing called the Imaginary Tree, right???]
[Silver Wolf: Otto… actually made it here…]
[Ruan Mei: So this is the form in which the Imaginary Tree exists.]
[Herta: This is probably only a more visualized representation.]
[Herta: This entire Imaginary Space—and the manifestation of every bubble world—are all existences that can't truly be presented in ways we can comprehend.]
[Durandal: Archbishop… in the end, he really did it… He's about to reach the Imaginary Tree itself…]
[Rita: What Lord Otto wishes to accomplish… he will accomplish it in the end.]
[Tesla: Th-this… that bastard really won his bet…]
[Einstein: Setting aside likes and dislikes, Otto truly explored… a realm of the unknown none of the rest of us ever reached.]
[Einstein: Everything we've learned through fighting Otto—everything he revealed—will likely become priceless records for humanity's struggle against the Honkai.]
[Herta: Is he really going to complete it… in his own way…]
Across countless screens,
the radiance surrounding the Imaginary Tree illuminated the awestruck faces of innumerable extraordinary beings.
Even those from the Star Rail universe—whose technological level and development far surpassed many others—
could not suppress the shock in their expressions or hearts as they watched Otto's faltering advance.
Even though Otto's past atrocities and the harm he caused others could never be erased,
once personal feelings were set aside, everyone had to admit—
What Otto had achieved… was beyond anything they could have imagined.
What Otto had reached was the legendary Imaginary Tree—
an existence that, in every world, extraordinary beings could only claim the most rudimentary understanding of.
And Otto, after centuries of pursuit—
after reaching the end of countless paths and finding no answers—
through means no ordinary person could even conceive,
using the entire world as his stage,
deceiving the rules and the Honkai, deceiving everyone in the Honkai world—
At the end of his journey,
he stepped into a realm no one had ever even heard of.
That colossal tree in the distance
was the origin and the end of countless worlds.
Reality.
Inside Schicksal Headquarters.
The moment this scene appeared,
Otto suddenly rose to his feet.
In his emerald-green eyes flickered trembling, barely restrained excitement,
locked unblinking onto the image on the screen.
More precisely—
onto the direction of the gaze of the other him within the image.
That radiant, world-centered giant—
The Imaginary Tree!!
The very place that both Ottos—inside and outside the screen—had pursued all their lives.
"Archbishop… you… succeeded…"
Amber's voice came, trembling slightly.
Otto, however, merely curved his lips into a faint smile, still gazing at the great tree.
"Yes, Amber. I succeeded. And I… will succeed."
Otto's voice fell—
gentle, yet resolute.
And now—
Under the trembling-filled gazes of countless extraordinary beings,
on the screen—
Otto's staggering steps pressed into the crimson sands.
Though this was no ordinary desert,
the faint rustle of sand and the whisper of wind were still the only sounds that reached the ear.
Aside from them,
there was only Otto's weak breathing—
like a low murmur,
like a summation of his entire life.
In this moment of profound silence, both inside and outside the screen,
Otto slowly spoke:
"Life… truly is a fragile thing…"
"When I was young, my sister died on the battlefield…"
"They told me her soul would not perish…
…that her spirit would ascend to heaven."
"Heh."
"Generation after generation, humans have always delighted in deceiving themselves with such lies…"
"Believing in so-called afterlives, believing in the eternity of consciousness."
"They disguise the world as though death does not exist…"
"Until death suddenly intrudes upon their lives, descending upon those they love!"
"And even then… they deceive themselves all the more—"
"—believing love can transcend all things, firmly believing emotion can last forever."
"Heh."
Otto's soft chuckle was filled with mockery and faint self-derision—
as though scorning such ignorance,
and laughing at the child he once was, who had believed in those words.
Outside the screen,
the audience still maintained that carefully restrained silence, as though even their breathing had softened.
Otto's sins—they would not forget.
But with a mortal body, he had defied the divine.
With a burning obsession, he had achieved a pioneering act for humanity.
Otto Apocalypse deserved their respect.
And his final performance—
every word of it—
deserved to be listened to with utmost care.
[Ningguang: So Otto… encountered death from such a young age…]
[Silver Wolf: A sister fallen on the battlefield…]
[Furina: That must've been a huge psychological blow for a young Otto…]
[March 7th: This might sound rude… but someone like Otto probably wouldn't be especially… attached to family, right?]
[Rita: No—quite the opposite.]
[Rita: I believe it's precisely because the Archbishop lacked familial love that he treasured the Holy Maiden all the more.]
[Tesla: How can you be so sure? Maybe Otto was just born cold.]
[Rita: The Archbishop's sister who died in battle… was named Bianka.]
[Kiana: Wait… Bianka?!]
[Jean: Lady Bianka?!]
[Durandal: ]
[Kiana: You mean… Otto kept that name… all this time…]
[Sparkle: Hahaha—one can imagine Otto's inner world being just as barren as this desert, huh?]
[Furina: Indeed… when faced with death, people often prefer to deceive themselves with all kinds of lies.]
[Kafka: But for someone as intelligent as Otto, he does not accept falsehoods.]
And just as Kafka said—
Otto did not accept lies.
What he sought
was truth.
The truth that the Holy Maiden still existed in the present.
"Indeed… love… and emotions more broadly—they can give rise to miracles…"
"But the creators of miracles can only be those who are still alive in that moment."
"As an ordinary man once deceived by such tales,
I too once fantasized that the human soul exists in a higher dimension."
"I fantasized that one day, the one I love…
could return to the world in a new body, and live on in a better future…"
"But alas."
"The rules of the world are not so kind."
Within the pure white space,
Kallen watched everything, listened to everything.
Utterly focused—and utterly silent.
Even as tears blurred her vision again and again,
Kallen still tried to see clearly.
Everyone—
even the Will of the Honkai—knew with perfect clarity,
and had heard Otto's ultimate wish more than once.
And now, at the end of this journey filled with countless twists and turns,
Otto was about to arrive.
Would he finally obtain the ease and release he had never known in five hundred years…?
Kallen wanted to know—
she had to know.
[Keqing: Kallen's death must've been nothing less than the collapse of the entire world for Otto…]
[Kamisato Ayaka: Those days at the monastery were likely Otto's last moments of illusionary hope.]
[Kamisato Ayaka: And after leading the uprising to overthrow the old Schicksal—when Kallen's spirit and name spread far and wide—]
[Kamisato Ayaka: perhaps only then did Otto truly feel the pain of her loss.]
[Furina: The rules of the world… are not like that…]
[Furina: Death may truly mean the end of everything…]
[Hu Tao: In Otto's world… death must be truly terrifying…]
[March 7th: If only souls really could exist in a higher dimension after death…]
[Star Rail · Himeko: Any amount of comfort or lies would probably just deepen Otto's obsession in the end…]
[Aventurine: Rather than indulging in beautiful fantasies, it's better to hold the chips to defeat fate in your own hands.]
[Aventurine: What Otto has done… deserves immense admiration.]
[Rita: The Archbishop truly accomplished feats worthy of countless people's reverence…]
[Tesla: …]
[Ningguang: This belief has been etched into Otto's heart for over five hundred years…]
[Raiden Ei: Yet he did not submit to fate. He is a strong one, worthy of my respect.]
[Sushang: If destiny truly exists, then is Otto's destiny to overcome the world itself?]
Amid the scrolling text,
everyone remained silent.
Otto's tone was still gentle.
In just a few steps, a lifetime had been reviewed—
that past he could never accept, yet which replayed itself again and again.
"Death is indeed the dissolution of consciousness—the end of everything."
"We cannot rekindle those stars that have already gone dark."
"Unless—"
"—we reverse time."
"Awaken the silent island of graves;
pour the evergreen waters of life back into the past that buried all things."
"There, the bifurcated path will unfold once more."
"The choice between life and death will form two worlds from that point on."
"And the price is merely the death of a single person—
the destruction of an individual."
"And the Honkai, which already seeks our annihilation."
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