A few days earlier — Schicksal Headquarters.
After Otto obtained the world-bubble data from Nagamitsu.
"Mm…"
The girl's consciousness slowly floated upward from darkness as deep as a bottomless abyss.
The most intense memory of her life surfaced first.
"Who… is he?"
Before her lay a blond man collapsed upon the ground.
[…Did I kill him?]
She looked down at her own hands, and a sudden, inexplicable pain pierced her heart like a blade.
Though her memories were fragmented… the thorns of guilt had already begun to draw blood from her heart.
He must have been—
No.
Whoever this beautiful man lying in a pool of blood was… she had undoubtedly betrayed his trust and goodwill.
Suddenly the scene blurred. Dizziness overwhelmed her.
A drop of water struck her cheek, jolting her awareness.
The man was standing now, staring past her with hollow eyes.
Following his gaze, she tried to turn—
But her body would not obey.
[Ah… so that means… he also…]
[…]
[But… why does he look as though he's crying?]
[Is it because of… that promise?]
[Because I cannot witness that moment… is it truly such a sorrowful thing to you?]
[But your eyes… aren't even looking at me…]
[What is it… that you're grieving for?]
Another drop of water fell against her cheek.
Darkness claimed her once more.
[…]
"…Don't be nervous. You were only having a nightmare."
A calm voice drifted toward her from somewhere far away.
She tried to open her eyes.
There was nothing but darkness.
"Ah, your vision hasn't recovered yet. That's normal during revival from deep hibernation. There's no need to worry."
The mysterious voice overlapped with the man in her dream.
She slowly realized—
The man "outside" and the one in her dream were the same person.
"In about an hour—ah, half a shichen—your body will return to an excellent state of health. Before that, allow me to help you confirm some basic information about the current era."
"By the way… do you know who I am? If you do, try nodding."
[…]
She searched for the feeling of controlling her muscles.
A few seconds later, her head slowly moved up and down.
She wanted to stretch—but her arms still refused to respond.
"Very good. But there's no need to rush. Sensation will gradually return on its own."
"Now then, to the point. Today is December, 2013—ah, my apologies. That phrasing likely confuses you."
"Let me put it another way."
"This is the era five hundred years after you fell asleep."
"Welcome back to this world, Li… Su…shang."
Above drifting clouds, beneath the vast heavens—
A colossal sword swept away layers of gloom, scattering wind and mist, stretching across ten thousand miles of righteous qi as it descended from the horizon!
Through blurred vision, Welt glimpsed a young girl dressed in ancient Shenzhou attire standing high above.
Yellow robes fluttered.
Left hand behind her back. Right hand forming a sword seal.
A confident smile curved her lips.
Between her brows, a red-and-black light ignited—
As if heaven itself had unleashed killing intent.
"Li Sushang, senior disciple of the Supreme Freedom Sect, entrusted by another to slay demons and eradicate evil!"
Welt did not hear the rest of her introduction.
The Tai Xu Sword God had already enveloped him.
The enormous orange blade pierced through Welt Yang's shattered body, detonating in explosive devastation.
The body that had once been destroyed by the Herrscher of the Void Sirin during the Second Honkai, then reconstructed through the power of the Herrscher of Reason, and painstakingly restored over years—
Was torn apart once more.
His vertebrae burst one by one.
The Godslayer bullets fused within his blood and exploded, ravaging his organs.
Power rivaling a Honkai fission bomb drove him into the earth, sending dust billowing skyward.
He did not even have time to scream.
Crackling sounds rang out—indistinguishable whether from shattered weapons or splintering bones.
When the dust settled, a massive crater remained.
At the bottom writhed a mass of crimson flesh, no longer recognizable as human.
The Divine Key Star of Eden, forged from soul steel, lay destroyed once more.
The Previous Era Herrscher Core protruded halfway from the wreckage, glowing with brilliant violet light.
"Li Sushang?!"
Fu Hua reacted first, looking toward the girl who had leapt to Otto's side, confusion in her eyes.
Why did that name sound so familiar?
And the technique she used…
Was it of the same lineage as hers?
Tai Xu Sword God… Tai Xu Sword God…
"Ah, Grandmaster!"
Li Sushang clasped her fists respectfully toward the gray-haired woman.
"It's been a long time!"
"Grandmaster?"
Fu Hua pressed her lips together, searching her mind.
After a moment, she looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry. My memory is… rather poor."
"Is that so?"
The brown-haired girl scratched her head awkwardly.
"In the martial world," Otto interjected lightly, patting Sushang's shoulder, "reuniting is fate."
He gestured subtly to Rita, who moved to manage the students that had gathered earlier.
"The Rakshasa speaks wisely!"
Li Sushang nodded in agreement.
"There were many unpleasant matters back then. Five hundred years have passed. Dust returns to dust, earth to earth… so perhaps we should simply…"
"Let bygones be bygones," Otto supplied smoothly.
"How remarkable! Rakshasa, how are you so fluent in Shenzhou sayings?"
She gave him a thumbs-up before turning back to Fu Hua.
"Indeed! Who can truly untangle old grudges? But in the end…"
Her tone softened with faint sorrow.
"Since we've met again, let's smile and forget the past."
Fu Hua blinked, faint sadness stirring within her.
"I'm sorry. I don't remember much of the past. But for someone like me, who relies on memory to fight… perhaps I cannot dwell on it either."
Li Sushang looked puzzled.
Otto, however, understood all too well.
This was someone who had lost her past.
He patted Sushang's shoulder again.
"Your grandmaster means she's getting old—somewhat muddle-headed, forgetful, and easily swindled. If anything happens in the future, as her disciple's disciple, you'll have to look after her."
Fu Hua: …
Li Sushang: …
"Now then," Otto clapped lightly, cutting off their reactions, "two sword immortals of Shenzhou—and little Bianka."
"Our campaign isn't over yet."
He crouched at the crater's edge and tapped lightly.
Black-red Honkai energy flared, forming a thin protective layer over the writhing flesh.
"This humanoid demon still has strength left? No wonder you said he was nearly immortal!"
Li Sushang exclaimed.
"Sushang's Tai Xu Sword God has indeed surpassed her predecessors," Otto said mildly.
("Hehe… it's still not as good as Grandmaster or Master," the girl scratched her head sheepishly.)
"But a centipede does not stiffen even after death. The Herrscher of Reason is not to be underestimated."
He paused, pride flickering in his tone.
"Though that is all it is."
Golden light shimmered at his fingertips as he analyzed the structure of the protective barrier.
"As expected of an opponent I value."
Less than half a second later, he smiled.
"Even reduced to this state, you can still defend yourself."
"But, my old friend Welt the Second… no matter what contingencies you've prepared, what experiences you've had, or how many times you've risen from death…"
"There is one truth."
Purple ripples gathered in his palm.
They condensed into—
A slingshot.
"…Well then."
He raised an eyebrow at the whimsical form, then smiled and gripped it.
"When someone is truly targeted by Schicksal…"
He aimed at the writhing flesh.
"It is not rebellion they should consider—but hiding, groveling, surviving by any means necessary."
A flawless violet sphere formed upon the humble weapon, gleaming like crystal agate.
Yet the aura it emitted made everyone present frown.
Otto flicked his wrist.
The sphere shot forward—
And bloomed upon the flesh like a flower of death.
Radiance erupted within the crater, rivaling even the Tai Xu Sword God.
At the microscopic level, matter began to unravel.
Electromagnetic forces vanished.
Welt's body disintegrated into atoms, scattering into the air.
In the crater, only a crystalline blue Herrscher Core remained.
This was the true power of the Third Divine Key.
One strike.
Judgment upon all things.
"Otto!"
Welt's furious roar echoed faintly through the wind.
Otto clicked his tongue.
"My, my. You can still speak while being decomposed? I wonder how you would have escaped had I indulged you a little longer."
He smiled faintly.
"No matter what… the one who defies erroneous destiny—the leader of Anti-Entropy—ends here."
Strategically, he belittled his enemy.
Tactically, he respected him completely.
Even now, he did not dare underestimate Welt.
After all—
In the future, Welt would trap Kevin Kaslana for two full years in Sea Abyss City.
He would later stand face-to-face with Finality itself.
Thus Otto had laid plan upon plan.
Oath of Judah to restrain.
Key of the Abyss to sever the Core.
Godslayer Spear to disrupt physiology.
Tai Xu Sword God to destroy the body.
Cleansing Seven Thunders to decompose it entirely.
Every Divine Key at Schicksal's disposal—save the Saint—stood ready.
This had been a ten-deaths-no-life ambush.
Even now, with only the Core remaining, Otto could not guarantee Welt was truly dead.
But—
From this day until Finality descended—
Welt Yang would pose no threat to him.
"That is enough."
He placed the Herrscher Core into a Honkai-isolation container and stored it, along with the shattered Star of Eden, inside Void Archives.
"From this day on, there will be no actor on this Earth capable of stepping beyond my stage."
(Some fusion warrior was still riding toward Earth.)
Otto stepped forward to stand before the gathered students.
Rita had already calmed them.
"Greetings, Valkyries of St. Freya."
He smiled gently.
"I am Otto Apocalypse, Overseer of Schicksal. It is my pleasure to meet such talented and spirited young Valkyries."
Whispers spread.
"Is that the Overseer?"
"He's so handsome…"
"Didn't he just—?"
"Shh! Do you want to be silenced?"
Otto sighed softly, adopting a faintly sorrowful expression.
"I know what you saw."
"I'm sorry. I fear I have made a rather poor first impression."
His voice was soft, yet carried clearly.
"I killed your history teacher, Welt Yang."
"What?!"
"That was really Mr. Welt?"
"Why would the Overseer kill him?"
Murmurs filled the air.
Otto's smile widened slightly—almost theatrically.
"I'm sorry, Valkyries."
"I am not as benevolent as you might imagine."
And amid the rising uproar—
He smiled as though about to reveal everything.
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