Chapter 158: Vermilion Knight: Otto
The Judgment of Shamash in Otto's hand reverted into a golden cube. The Void Archives remained silent for a moment before looking at Fu Hua on the ground.
"You knew full well what choice she would make."
"Isn't this fine?" Otto looked back at the Void Archives. "Our Old friend really deserves a good rest. She has been tired for far too long, hasn't she?"
"Hmph, I don't even know if you're being sincere or hypocritical anymore." The Void Archives stared at Otto. "You act like you want to kill her, yet you save her in the same breath. It's so contradictory that even I don't know what to say."
"Publicly, I naturally cannot allow my Old friend to interfere with my plans. Privately, she has worked for me for so many years, so it's only natural that I help her." Otto shrugged and smiled at Fu Hua's unconscious form on the ground.
"The promise from back then... She helped me achieve my goals, and in return, I will help her fulfill the promise she had no way of keeping."
Turning his attention back to the project in front of him, Otto continued his modifications. "But let's change the subject for a moment. Void Archives, do you think a promise is better fulfilled by the person who made it, or handed over to someone else?"
"Hm?" The Void Archives paused briefly before speaking in a leisurely tone. "I am an artificial intelligence. From my perspective, I would choose to let the person capable of fulfilling the promise be the one to do it."
"Treating something you cannot achieve as a promise and getting yourself killed over it is not a wise choice. It is irresponsible to oneself, and irresponsible to the promise. Would you say that's an accurate assessment?"
Listening to the Void Archives, Otto raised his hands and applauded. "Oh, my Old friend. It seems you've learned quite a bit over the years."
"You are absolutely right. If one truly lacks the ability to fulfill a promise, finding a way to hand it over to someone who can is naturally a good choice."
"I'm guessing your next word is 'but'."
"My Old friend truly understands me better and better." Otto nodded. "Exactly. I was going to say 'but'. Fu Hua is not entirely without that power; her body is simply unwell. And since I happen to have a method to cure her, why not let her fulfill the promise she made with her friends herself?"
"Even if she has forgotten, those promises remain her final bond with those friends. How could I keep playing the substitute and doing it in her place?"
"If you had the means to heal her all along, why string her along until today?"
"For my plan, of course. I'm not exactly a good person, am I?" Otto replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Then, his tone abruptly shifted. "Naturally, if my Old friend understands my intentions, I will still heal her. I won't hold anything back."
"Keep telling yourself that." The golden light on the surface of the Void Archives flickered faintly. "But what are you going to do next? The Hyperion has already cleared out all of our anti-air firepower. Don't tell me you plan to single-handedly hold off at least four Herrschers and a battleship?"
"Yes, I am aware." Otto nodded calmly. If even the Void Archives had noticed, how could he possibly have missed it?
"The moves that needed to be made have already been played. Besides, I never said I was going to win. How could I possibly use 'victory' as my expected outcome?"
As his words fell, Otto looked up at the freshly modified, brilliant red armor before him. "Although I could use a female prosthetic body to wear this, it still feels like it's missing a little something."
"But if I do win, what's wrong with taking it as a reward?"
Meanwhile, at the airport, Himeko set Tesla down and turned her head. She let out a long sigh of relief as she watched the pillar of Honkai energy gradually dim.
"That was close." Himeko wiped at non-existent sweat on her brow. "I never thought I'd actually witness the birth of a Herrscher. I really don't know what to say."
"You won't want to see it a second time." Tesla clutched her stomach. Being slung over Himeko's shoulder and sprinted with had jostled her quite a bit. "The fewer of those things around, the better."
"But even if we try our best to avoid it, more will inevitably appear later." Himeko shrugged. As long as they were fighting the Honkai, Herrschers like this would continue to be born.
"It's unavoidable by nature." Hearing Himeko's words, Tesla shrugged as well. She couldn't help but think of a certain guy whose dream from the very beginning was to let all Valkyries return to a normal life.
How should she put it? When she and Einstein first heard his dream, they understood it, but they also scoffed at it.
The Honkai wouldn't stop attacking just because humanity laid down its weapons. It sounded unreasonable, but if humanity disarmed, the only path left was death.
Without Valkyries to protect them, there was absolutely no way human civilization could resist the current Honkai using only Titans. And as for trying to brute-force a technological arms race against the Honkai? Nine times out of ten, the outcome would be tragically grim.
"Actually, why did you two drag me away with you?" Just then, Rin, who was still being held by Tesla, finally spoke up in a leisurely tone. "I'm a Herrscher too, you know. I was ready to go over there and take a bite."
"Ah, I forgot to let go." Tesla released her grip, allowing Rin to float up. "Whatever. That battlefield probably doesn't need us anyway."
Of course, Rin wouldn't have left the battlefield for a reason like that. But just as she was preparing to take control of those Divine Machines, Irene—or rather, Little Senti—suddenly sent a message.
She told them they needed to put on a play and couldn't fight at full strength. Thus, Rin had just allowed Tesla to carry her off.
"Even if I'm not needed, I could have still gone over and snacked on some Honkai energy." Rin continued to poke Tesla's head. "Well, whatever. The Hyperion has already started moving in."
"Yeah, it's about time." Tesla nodded. No matter how slow Einstein was, she should be just about finished by now. "Though I'm afraid the Hyperion won't be of much use in this situation anymore, will it?"
They had originally installed the prototype Moonlight Throne on the Hyperion specifically to counter the Herrscher of the Void running rampant. But given the current situation...
It seemed it wouldn't be needed after all.
"Herrschers, huh..." Himeko felt inexplicably emotional. "Speaking of which, I'm starting to wonder if my villa is cursed."
For no other reason than the massive group of Herrschers. How should she put it? On paper, that whole pile of Herrschers belonged to St. Freya Academy, but if you looked closely, they all lived in her villa!
Oh, sure, you had to exclude Teacher Welt. But even putting him aside, instead of calling their academy a Valkyrie training school, she felt like her villa was more of a Devil's Den.
Tesla looked at Himeko for a moment, quickly guessing what she was trying to express. She patted Himeko's shoulder. "I guess you could just chalk it up to the unpredictability of the world."
"Sigh, I really don't know what to say." Himeko shook her head, then tapped her earpiece. "Hey, Theresa, can you hear me? We have incoming..."
Before Himeko could finish her sentence, a violent explosion echoed through the earpiece. This was immediately followed by Theresa's anxious voice: "Himeko, hurry up and bring everyone back! Grandpa is attacking the ship!"
"Holy crap, our home base is under attack." Himeko immediately hung up the comms. "Wait, this isn't right. Isn't the Overseer currently getting ganged up on by Irene and the others? How did he get onto the Hyperion?"
"That guy has more than one body!" Tesla was getting frantic. Who else was staying with Theresa right now? Einstein!
Theresa probably wouldn't be in any real danger; she was Otto's granddaughter, after all. No matter how ruthless he was, he wouldn't kill his own granddaughter. But the same couldn't be said for Einstein.
"Rin, hurry up and tell Irene's group to fall back! Our base has been backdoored!" As Tesla spoke, she gestured for Himeko to carry her again.
Without a second thought, Himeko hoisted Tesla onto her shoulder and began sprinting madly back toward the direction they had initially landed at the airport. After all, she couldn't fly.
Hyperion.
"Ah, Theresa, Grandpa has come to see you." Wearing the brilliant red Vermilion Knight armor, Otto waved amicably at the bridge in front of him. Behind him lay countless Titan Mechas, looking as though they had been violently cleaved apart and scorched.
The sturdy glass of the bridge shattered outward as Theresa leaped through it. Brandishing Judah, she swung it fiercely toward Otto.
Otto hopped backward, the thrusters on his boots spewing flames to propel him out of range. "Oh? Is Theresa trying to play a game with Grandpa? It's been so long since we last had a good chat."
"If Grandpa hadn't done those things, we could have had a lovely chat." Theresa held Judah protectively in front of her, eyeing the red armor Otto was wearing.
"I certainly didn't expect Grandpa to take the field himself."
"What's wrong, Theresa? Aren't you happy to see me?" Otto smiled at her. In an instant, the greatsword in his hand was wreathed in roaring crimson flames, and he slashed it down toward Theresa.
"Not in the slightest." Theresa whipped out her chains, lashing them against the flames. Countless slender threads of light wove through the fire, dispersing its destructive power.
"Give Miss Kiana back to us, Grandpa, and we still have room to negotiate."
"Oh, it seems Irene hasn't told you yet." Otto's face was the picture of relaxation. The greatsword in his grip was now entirely engulfed in fire as he brought it down with crushing force.
A terrifying blaze instantly spread and detonated across the bridge, completely engulfing the front half of the deck in a sea of fire.
"Miss Kiana beat me to a pulp, I'll have you know." Using the flames as cover, Otto flanked Theresa and threw a direct kick at her.
But the moment his leg snapped out, a golden chain swept around his ankle. In a flash, more golden chains materialized, binding Otto and suspending him in mid-air.
Otto paused in slight surprise, but he didn't hesitate with the heavy sword in his hand. Using his momentum, he slashed upward. However, Theresa was faster. The golden bulk of Judah slammed directly into his face.
"I'm not the little kid I used to be." Theresa glared at Otto as he was sent flying by her strike. "If Grandpa is harboring thoughts of using me as a hostage, save your breath."
"Hmm, an excellent suggestion. I'll take it to heart." Otto nodded, his synthetic face showing no sign of distress. "Ah, but that move just now was quite interesting. Is that something you've learned recently, Theresa?"
Otto wasn't angry about the attack at all. In fact, it felt as though he lacked any negative emotions whatsoever, as if he truly were just here to catch up with his granddaughter or play around with her.
"I have no obligation to tell you." Theresa charged forward, lugging Judah behind her. The chains wrapped tightly around her hands. With a fierce tug and a forward heave, the massive weight of Judah swung like a meteor hammer, crashing heavily toward Otto.
She had learned this technique from Irene. Judah's sheer size and mass were among its most important weaponized traits, and utilizing brute force like this suited Theresa surprisingly well.
However, since Judah wasn't originally shaped to be a meteor hammer and wasn't entirely suited for wild swinging, Theresa had actually spent quite some time practicing this.
Watching Judah plummet toward him like a falling star, Otto simply raised his hand. A soaring pillar of fire erupted from the ground in front of him, violently knocking Judah away in mid-air.
Indeed. If Sirin relied on expanding her imagination to fight, Otto relied on his terrifying intellect to rapidly learn exactly how to apply an Authority.
Though, it was still a bit of a pity. The Blank Key merely allowed the user to connect to the Core; it didn't truly make them a Herrscher in the purest sense.
No matter how high his intellect was, he was still limited by this fact and couldn't unleash its full power. Compared to an authentic Herrscher, this method was ultimately inferior.
But it didn't matter. This was more than enough.
As Judah was knocked away, Theresa gave a sharp yank, using the weapon's weight to arrest her own forward momentum. Following the force of her pull, Judah slammed heavily back onto the bridge deck, while Theresa used the recoil to launch herself high into the air.
Mid-flight, Theresa yanked with all her might, ripping Judah out of the deck and bringing it crashing down toward Otto once again.
Otto gave a faint nod of approval as he watched Theresa gradually integrating Judah's unique mechanics into a comprehensive combat system, rather than just relying purely on the weapon's base specs. That was more like it.
He had slightly suppressed her combat potential in the past, but now that his plan was officially in motion, he naturally needed Theresa to grow stronger.
Only with sufficient power would she be able to govern Schicksal after his departure.
But this level of skill was still too green. A fiery glint flashed in Otto's eyes. Scorching flames erupted from his back, propelling him high into the sky.
The greatsword in his hand was wreathed in violent fire. As the chaotic flames coiled around the blade, the stabilizers behind him swiftly deployed, enhancing the fire's output while keeping the inferno perfectly stabilized.
Theresa, watching Otto crashing towards her, bit her silver teeth tightly. With a fierce yank, she pulled the trailing Judah directly in front of her as a shield. The heavy, flaming slash arrived in the very next instant, violently blasting Theresa away and sending her crashing into the bridge's instrument panels.
"That won't do, Theresa. You could have easily aimed that attack at me." Otto stood by the shattered windows of the bridge, looking at Theresa, who was tangled among the ruined consoles.
Otto swept his gaze across the interior of the bridge. "Since Miss Tesla is over at the airport, I assume Miss Einstein must be here on the Hyperion."
"I didn't expect that I wouldn't see her." Otto shook his head, looking somewhat regretful. "It's been so long since we last met. Is she truly not even willing to come out and catch up?"
Theresa dragged herself up from the wreckage of the instruments, panting heavily. "If Einstein were standing in front of you right now, Grandpa, I'm afraid you'd be singing a very different tune, wouldn't you?"
"Oh, Theresa. Hearing you say that truly breaks my heart. In your eyes, is your Grandpa really someone so irredeemably evil?"
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉