I Am Honkai

Buzz—!

From the hand of the Herrscher of the End, a searing brilliance overwhelmed all the colors in Otto's vision. Occasionally, faint strands of dim purple-red light seeped from the radiance, resonating with the corroded blotches on his soulium body.

"..."

Otto opened his mouth, seemingly filled with words he wanted to convey to the Herrscher of the End, words to make her understand the value he still possessed. Yet, in the end, all that came out were vague, unintelligible murmurs.

The Herrscher of the End—the ender of civilizations, the harbinger of all conclusions. No wonder the Will of Honkai chose you.

When someone truly seeks to change the world, they will realize just how insignificant individual power truly is. The saint sacrificed everything for the people, only to be repaid with merciless chains and the gallows.

The world is so chaotic, neither fair nor just. It persecutes heroes, nourishes villains, scatters ugliness everywhere, leaving no place for beauty.

"I'm sorry. I failed... I'm still useless, even after five hundred years. I haven't changed at all. Just a discarded pawn..."

Despair and regret finally flitted across Otto's eyes.

So close! Five hundred years of preparation, and it came down to just one more step!

Had he tried and failed, Otto could have accepted it with grace. But to stumble at the finish line, to never even have the chance to make the attempt, to stop just at the brink of the journey's end—how could he possibly be at peace with that?

"Why apologize? Why blame yourself? Otto Apocalypse isn't supposed to act like this."

A voice suddenly rang in his ears, making Otto tremble.

"You deceived your friends, deceived your kin, deceived the world and the rules that govern it... Since you dared to walk this thorny path, then even if you die upon it, you should never regret it."

Selene observed the "bloody tears" dripping continuously from Otto's solitary eye. Her expression remained impassive as she spoke coldly.

A man so ruthlessly rational, whose every action was driven by such a simple and steadfast belief—for the sake of someone, for love?

Selene could not understand it. But she had no intention to delve deeper, nor would she praise or condemn it. It was someone else's private matter, and she had no interest in interfering.

Feeling Selene's gaze on him, Otto was jolted awake. In that instant, his heart felt unbearably bitter. In the end, it was his greatest enemy who truly understood his actions. What a cruel irony.

"Ha... hahaha..."

A rasping, self-deprecating laugh emerged from Otto's throat. He lifted his head. Before him, framed in a radiant shadow, were the crimson pupils of the Herrscher of the End.

Then, the Herrscher's serene and detached voice sounded again: "To the world, you are a villain of unparalleled infamy. But to her, you are a hero—a nameless hero who belonged only to her."

His consciousness began to blur. Gasping weakly, Otto drew a shallow breath, barely able to keep his eyelids open. His face, fractured and covered with terrible fissures, seemed to reflect the disintegration of his very being.

...

Theresa... Grandpa personally sewed the Archbishop's mantle for you. I hoped it would be used to start your era, to cleanse the stains I left behind. But alas, Finality has already descended. Are you all safe?

My old 'friends'—the Phoenix, Li Sushang, Welt... are you still well? I never expected to be the first to go.

'Bianka,' my final student...

It was I who manipulated your life, charted your destiny. Even as I nurtured you with genuine care, I treated you as a pawn to use and discard at will. Heh, I suppose that unmarked grave won't be for me.

And most importantly, Kallen...

Perhaps only at the end of one's life can they lay down their schemes and show their true face.

The former Archbishop, who toyed with the lives of so many, finally discarded all pretense.

In this moment, the man who had never shed a tear in five hundred years, whose heart had been unshakable, broke down and wept helplessly.

Was it tears? Or something else? Could a soulium body even have tear ducts?

Drip.

Like a child's sobbing, "bloody tears" composed of violet-red erosive particles streamed down.

Born into the prestigious House Apocalypse with an Archbishop father, young Otto was frail and sickly, dismissed by his father and brothers. He lacked the talent of a great warrior, had no exceptional abilities, and was regarded by Schicksal as little more than an ignorant young master.

The scorn of his family, the ridicule of outsiders—Otto's childhood was lonely and miserable. Until that day, when she appeared: Kallen Kaslana.

She was the first light in his bleak life.

For the first time, Otto was acknowledged, needed, and expected by someone. And so, he fell in love with this pure and kind girl.

But with that hope came even greater despair.

Otto's attempt to rescue Kallen during her execution inadvertently led to her death. When hope dies, the pain and despair that follow remain etched into the soul forever.

Selene looked down at him. The final words had been spoken. It was time to end it.

"Farewell, great inventor of the Apocalypse," she declared.

Before her words could fully settle, perhaps triggered by her last phrase or her white hair, Otto was overtaken by an illusion.

"Kallen..."

As life slipped away, the buried beauty of his memories and five hundred years of suppressed emotions surged forth. Even as his fractured jaw began to crumble, he mustered all his strength to shout:

"Kallen!"

His vision blurred, and the cold, crimson gaze of Selene was replaced by the gentle, sky-blue eyes of a woman. The stern, sharp brows softened. It was—Kallen Kaslana!

With all his remaining strength, Otto's corrupted hand reached out toward Selene's glowing, destruction-filled palm.

"I love you!" It was a love he could never convey.

His deep, passionate gaze locked onto Selene's face, unmoving. The violet-red trails of "tears" stained his ravaged visage.

What the...? Selene was utterly baffled. For once, she had done nothing to manipulate the situation—she hadn't even added a filter to herself this time!

Poof!

With the final words of his confession, the man who had spent his life chasing after one person, committing countless atrocities, ruling Schicksal like a king, finally reached the end of his story.

Otto's fingertips touched the surging destructive power within the hand of the Herrscher of the End. In the blink of an eye, his soulium body crumbled like fragile paper, erased completely, his soul dissipating into nothingness.

His severed head fell from midair, shedding faint fragments of itself as it descended, scattering into the void before disappearing entirely.

With an outstretched hand, a golden cube emerged from the rapidly dissolving remains of Otto's body and flew into Selene's palm.

The First Divine Key: Key of Revelation, [Void Archives].

Lowering her gaze to the golden cube in her hand, Selene pondered silently.

Crafted by Dr. Mei of the Previous Era using the core of the First Herrscher, the Herrscher of Reason, this weapon typically manifests as a golden cube but can transform into a fluid state. It can replicate weapons and tools whose principles are understood by its user, including Divine Keys, though the replicas fall far short of the originals.

Within it lies an almost infinite repository of knowledge, a space containing the records of the Herrscher of Reason. These archives preserve the knowledge of the Previous Era civilization, safeguarded by the unique properties of the Herrscher core.

"Impressive, little one. You've developed sentience," Selene remarked with a sly grin, sensing the cube's fear.

In the Post-Honkai Odyssey, the real Otto perished during the climactic battle in Kolosten, but twelve years later, after escaping the confines of the Imaginary Space, the Void Archives claimed one of Otto's many soulium bodies. It continued to wander the post-collapse world using Otto's face.

"The single most valuable prize," Selene mused. "Dr. Stylish will undoubtedly be thrilled."

Of course, Selene cared little for the Void Archives' sentience. Following her usual approach, she deeply infused it with Herrscher energy, embedding the imprint of Finality. With that done, she stored it away.

"Let me take a look," she murmured, closing her eyes. Selene had previously planted an erosive virus through Otto's primary consciousness, exploiting the resurrection network Otto had designed for himself. She now located every hidden soulium body he had stored.

The solution was simple. Using the virus to pinpoint their locations, she opened spatial portals and confiscated every remaining soulium body.

Once back in the imperial capital, they would all be handed over to the Imperial Science Bureau—for smelting.

...

"Um... Your Majesty, Alyssa is curious."

Turning her head, Selene noticed Alyssa staring with her mouth agape. She flicked the girl's forehead lightly with her finger. "Curious about what? You're so engrossed."

Hugging Selene's wine glass, Alyssa glanced left and right uncertainly before whispering, "Your Majesty... did that bad guy just confess to you?"

"How were you listening? His confession was directed at Kallen Kaslana, not me."

"Ah, ow, ow, ow! Your Majesty, Alyssa was wrong!" Alyssa cried out in pain as Selene tugged at her ear.

"Enough. Prepare for the return journey. It's over," Selene said, releasing Alyssa with a sigh.

However, as she cast a glance back at the pit marking Otto's demise, Selene silently murmured to herself. A pitiful and lamentable soul, driven by love for a single person. Such devotion is something I could never achieve.

With his qualities, his unwavering passion, and his will, Otto is the kind of lover most women in the world could never refuse.

As for whether Kallen, with her inclinations, was deserving of Otto's boundless affection—it could only be said that one was willing to give, and the other was willing to take. Selene saw herself merely as a bystander to the tale.

No need to speculate, no need to praise, no need to condemn, no need to pity, no need to extol...

Because Otto didn't need it. He didn't need anyone to judge his rights and wrongs. He never cared about how others saw him.

In his childhood, he did not have the grand ambitions he held later in life. Back then, he merely wanted to be her great inventor... and that was all.

At last, for Otto Apocalypse, the great Overseer of Schicksal, for his five centuries of life, and the dream he upheld until the end, raise a toast.

Taking a bottle of rare fine wine from her private stash—locally offered as a tribute—Selene poured it liberally over the gray and blackened earth.

"Here, in accordance with civilian burial rites, erect the simplest tombstone. No inscriptions are necessary. A nameless grave."

"Yes!" the soldiers responded.

Then, tearing open a spatial rift, Selene picked up Alyssa and turned away without hesitation.

Crack... crack...

Just as Selene stepped into the dark cavity, faint, nearly imperceptible sounds drifted into her ears. Her footsteps paused for a moment, and her lips curled into a faint smile.

Hundred Flowers Wine—as Otto's nameless tombstone's marker, it wouldn't dishonor him.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of vibrant blades of grass and flowers timidly emerging from the gray earth, like shy children. Swaying gently in the breeze, they began to sprout and bloom.

In just a few seconds, under the illumination of the surrounding lights, a colorful sea of flowers blossomed, bursting with vivid hues.

Farewell, creator of my fleshly vessel.

...

Elsewhere, at Schicksal's headquarters.

"Kevin and the others are all dead. Now, among our old allies, it's just the three... uh, four of us left." Fu Hua rubbed her temple, noticing Senti's eager "What about me? What about me?" expression.

"Kevin? Meh, dead is dead. All he ever liked was doing pointless things."

"But you!" Senti was clearly displeased. "Hmph! Why is that snake woman here too?"

"Oh my~"

Mobius appeared intrigued, her gaze fixed on Senti—a lively contrast to Fu Hua, yet bearing many similarities. She flicked her tongue playfully.

"Why wouldn't I be? You should know me well. Besides evolution, what else could it be?"

"Cough, still clinging to your godforsaken theories, I see." Senti rested her chin on the table, tossing her head back in a delinquent-like manner, scoffing.

This scene inexplicably filled Fu Hua with a maternal sense of worry.

"Well, since you and Fu Hua share memories, you must be quite familiar with me. We're friends, after all..." Mobius emphasized the word "friends" heavily. "How about becoming my test subject?"

"Dream on! You damned snake, if you dare lay a finger on this immortal, I'll bash your snake head into oblivion!"

"What a brat. Do you even know why you could become a MANTIS? It's all thanks to evolution. Without me, how would you have survived the super-transformation surgery?"

Mentioning evolution, Mobius's excitement grew, her eyes darting around eagerly. "Besides, here—this is where I've found the pinnacle of evolution: the true direction of human progress."

As she spoke, Mobius glanced at the towering figures of the genetically enhanced Astartes. Addressing Fu Hua as if making her case to a parent, she continued with significance, "The super-transformation factors for MANTIS fusion surgery are based on Honkai beast DNA. But these beings—"

Pointing at their dark golden irises, Mobius explained further, "Despite their non-human appearance, their genetic makeup is still predominantly human, without the chaotic addition of extraneous DNA."

"From them, no traces of surgery or experimental manipulation can be detected. It's as if this form was their natural state. Do you understand what this means?"

"They're more human than the MANTIS soldiers, with higher adaptability and scalability far beyond what super-transformation surgery could achieve!"

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