Chapter 159: Otto's Threat
Theresa climbed out from the shattered instruments. Her white nun's habit was scorched in multiple places, but the fighting spirit in her eyes had not diminished in the slightest.
"Irredeemably evil?" Theresa wiped the trace of blood from the corner of her mouth. "Grandpa, do you know what I hate about you the most?"
Otto tilted his head with great interest, looking at his granddaughter with a smile as he asked, "Oh? Well, it seems my granddaughter really does have some grievances with me. What is it, then?"
"It's this attitude of yours, always acting so effortlessly in control." Theresa gripped her chains tightly and fiercely hurled Judah forward, smashing directly into Otto and sending him flying.
"No matter the time or place, it's always like this!"
"Oh, Theresa..." Otto sighed softly as he was knocked backward. The greatsword in his hand ignited with flames once more, and the thrusters on the back of his armor spewed fire to stabilize his posture.
"If this is the extent of your abilities, Theresa, you won't be able to accomplish anything—just like how you could only watch helplessly as she died back then."
Hearing Otto's words, Theresa's eyes widened, and her movements faltered for a moment. Seizing this opportunity, Otto brought his greatsword crashing down heavily.
The scorching flames slammed into Theresa once again, viciously blasting her away. Panting heavily, Theresa stood back up on the bridge.
There was a sharp wound on Theresa's left hand, shimmering with a faint golden light. Irene had taught her many techniques, but she had only ever been able to use one of them—Binding · Stasis—for emergency defense.
Theresa couldn't keep it constantly active on her own body like Irene did, but fortunately, as long as her reactions were fast enough, she could still use this move defensively.
Theresa's gaze swept over the ruined bridge. Thankfully, the Hyperion wouldn't completely lose its mobility just because the bridge was blown up, but continuing to fight here would definitely lead to a disaster. So...
Theresa's eyes looked past Otto to the outside of the bridge. Otto noticed her gaze, chuckled, and continued to provoke her. "What are you doing? What are you hesitating for? Are you worried about hurting me? You don't need to worry about that, Theresa."
"Don't be so kind-hearted. Come on, give it your all. This is only the first step you need to learn."
Otto looked at Theresa like a parent instructing a child. This was exactly why he had come to the Hyperion. He needed to push Theresa to make her understand a few things.
"What I'm afraid of is you hurting more people!" Theresa tightened her grip on the chains and violently hurled Judah forward again. This time, Otto seemingly didn't have time to dodge and was smashed directly out of the bridge by Judah.
"Grandpa, stop. It's not too late to turn back," Theresa said as she swung Judah like a war hammer, bringing it down toward Otto.
A massive number of chains burst forth, chasing after Otto in an attempt to bind him. But then, Otto smiled—that gentle yet distant smile Theresa was so familiar with.
"My dear granddaughter, you seem to have misunderstood something." Flames erupted from Otto's body, and he crashed heavily to the ground like a falling meteor. The boots of his armor hissed as they stepped on the molten metal.
"Someone will always need to be hurt." Otto stood his ground, looking at Theresa. Right at that moment, a sphere of black light shot out from behind him, rocketing furiously toward his back.
Flames burst from Otto's side, propelling him out of the way. He raised an eyebrow as he watched the black sphere vanish to the side. "Oh, this attack looks familiar."
Otto turned around, looking at Bronya in the distance. "It's just that the person using it isn't quite as familiar."
While Otto was focused on Bronya, a scythe manifested from the shadows beside him, swinging down viciously to chop off his head.
Otto raised a hand to parry the scythe, turning to look at the blue-haired, red-eyed young girl behind him. "Oh, it seems we have a newcomer. Little friend, who might you be?"
"I have no interest in answering you." Black Seele, seeing her scythe blocked, simply raised her foot and kicked Otto, trying to force him to crash onto the blade of her scythe.
But Otto's reaction was even faster. He jumped and flipped outside the scythe's reach, immediately swinging his greatsword down toward Black Seele.
However, Black Seele's entire body instantly turned into a red shadow that passed right through Otto. The scythe in her hands also turned into a phantom, as if it didn't exist in this world.
She phased directly through Otto's body, yet the blade of her scythe quietly materialized to carve a deep gash into his armor, slicing off two fingers from his hand.
"Oh." Otto looked with some surprise at Black Seele as her body phased back into reality. "Quantization, is it? Truly quite formidable. It seems, Theresa, that you have indeed amassed a strong force over these years."
Bronya instantly rushed forward, using Project Bunny's broad chassis to shield Black Seele, who had just collapsed back from her quantum state. "Where are Kiana and the others?"
"Oh, it seems they haven't synchronized their information with you yet." Otto nodded at them, a trace of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.
Although his own carelessness and holding back played a part, the abilities of the individuals before him had indeed surpassed the level of an A-Rank Valkyrie.
Much better than he had imagined. It seemed Theresa had been pulling quite a few strings behind the scenes over the years. This was excellent.
Then he should apply a bit more pressure. Otto clenched his fists, and the armor covering his entire body began charging with crimson flames, spewing from every joint and exhaust port.
The apparatus on his back used to house the Gem of Haste also erupted with scorching fire, looking as though it were struggling to suppress the power of the Herrscher Core.
Otto unhesitatingly used the Blank Key's overload function to increase his output. The armor wouldn't shatter that easily while fully engaged, and the gem was something he had intended to give away anyway.
Just as the flames swelled, a fierce gale kicked up around Otto. Countless wind blades began slicing at his body, and even the flames clinging to him were swept up by the squall, becoming a part of his opponent's attack.
Otto looked up at Wendy, who was stirring up the hurricane in the sky. The crowd was really growing. It seemed Irene and the rest would arrive soon as well.
"Hand them over, Overseer Otto." Wendy stared at Otto, her hurricane blowing incessantly, constantly suppressing the searing flames on his body.
"Ah, Kiana." Otto nodded. Just as he was about to say something, a golden spatial portal opened in front of him, bringing a smile to his face.
"Oh, there she is, isn't she?"
Irene and Kiana leapt out of the spatial portal alongside Mei. In that instant, Otto and Irene's eyes met, and Irene's gaze swept over Otto's face.
Right now, she truly held the advantages of time and terrain. Countless people were gathered here against Otto, and she had numerous cards to play—whether it was Little Corruption or Rin's power of Corruption.
Even she herself had countless ways to keep Otto's current body stranded here. Even if she couldn't kill him, relying on the Corruption virus would be enough to make him suffer a massive blow.
Without a doubt, she currently had enough power to pull Otto down from his high horse. If the conditions were right, blasting him sky-high on the spot wasn't impossible, and all his subsequent schemes would vanish into thin air.
But the problem lay in the cost.
Otto would never allow someone to constantly scheme against him. Right now, he was merely cooperating with Irene's plan, putting on the required performance.
In other words, Otto was actually cooperating with Irene's plan to execute his own, and in the process, providing a reasonable premise to help Irene address the emotional issues she had previously overlooked.
His battle against everyone would serve as the premise for them to see that Sirin was willing to cooperate. Kiana and Sirin working together would also allow the two to start accepting each other.
Of course, such cooperation wouldn't be easy, but if they didn't even have a starting point, how was Irene supposed to make up for their differences over time?
As for how Otto guaranteed Irene would cooperate—he wasn't a desperate gambler. He wouldn't hand his trust over to another person without reservation.
Nor could he possibly believe that someone else would so easily play along with his plan. Therefore, Otto had a bargaining chip—one that Irene could absolutely not refuse or gamble against.
Missiles were locked onto St. Freya and Anti-Entropy's bases. Leaving aside the people at the Anti-Entropy base, whom she wasn't particularly familiar with, there were the people of St. Freya.
She couldn't push them onto the gambling table. Yes, Irene held many cards in her hand, but Otto was standing outside the chessboard, holding a hammer and speaking to her.
You can use the means on the board. You can play against me. You can even use me. But if you try to flip my chessboard and ruin my plan...
Then you must be prepared to make your sacrifices. This was a naked threat.
Otto was using his actions to tell her: I can cooperate with your play. I can act as the villain. I can help you sort out the emotional issues between Sirin and Kiana.
"But if you try to cross the line—if you truly intend to eat me like a pawn—then think about those innocent students at St. Freya, and think about the researchers in the Anti-Entropy base."
Even after Kallen appeared and beat him up, Otto's mindset hadn't changed. His declaration of 'I won't disarm the missiles' also made one thing clear to Irene.
Your Kallen is very important. She is very important to me. The story of Kallen you told is also very touching, and I'm very glad that a version of me could die to save her.
But if you think you can rely on this Kallen to persuade me to do anything, then drop that wishful thinking.
[I am going to save my Kallen. Even Kallen herself cannot stop me from reaching my goal.]
Therefore, Irene couldn't gamble. The cards in her hand could certainly flip Otto's chessboard and reject his rules, but Otto was standing right there with a hammer pointed at the hostages.
If you dare flip the board, I'll smash this down. Holding the hammer, he was essentially asking Irene if she dared to take the bet.
Did Irene dare? No. She understood Otto too well. This guy could do absolutely anything for Kallen, and sacrifice absolutely everything for Kallen.
If she truly forced him to the point where all his plans were ruined, he wouldn't hesitate to press the launch button, and then it would be a disaster.
Moreover... there was an even more practical problem.
The Herrscher of Binding. Or rather, the Tragedy of Binding—that unimaginably brutal battle. Historically, there were only two ways to defeat it. One was to overwhelm it with attacks exceeding its upper tolerance limit.
To keep piling on attacks until it exploded, until its Barrier of Binding was forced into a ceasefire, allowing for effective counterattacks.
The second was to blast it with a Barrier of Binding of the same magnitude. That might force it to shut down, but only shut down; it didn't mean the enemy couldn't recover.
The Previous Era had already used the first method. Even under constant external bombardment, it still cost the lives of nearly all the MANTISes to pave the way and pile on the damage, barely creating a single opening for Kevin to strike.
Blood had dyed Kevin's ice crystals red. If they switched to the Current Era, how many would they have to sacrifice to reach that level of magnitude?
The other method—clashing with an equally powerful Barrier of Binding—was also viable. But who on her side could unleash such an attack?
If Theresa used it once, she herself would be severely injured by the Barrier of Binding. Irene? Her abilities might be capable, but that would only result in a shutdown.
It didn't mean she could outright kill the Herrscher of Binding. If Otto's plan was gone—if he wasn't there to tank Binding—then this problem would fall squarely on Irene's head.
She could try. She could make plans and mobilize all resources. But what about the risks? What about the people who might die under the Binding Authority? Could their lives simply be used as bargaining chips?
Irene couldn't do it.
Thus, Irene could only put down the cards in her hand and obediently play chess with Otto on his board. At least until his plan was complete, this was her only option.
The group completely surrounded Otto. Sirin glared at him, her voice blending with the echoing reverberation of Kiana's voice. "You won't escape this time."
"That's not necessarily true." Otto offered Sirin an apparently friendly smile. Then, his gaze swept over the glaring Herrschers surrounding him. "Well, though it does look like I truly have no way to leave."
How to put it? The scene before him was truly peculiar. They were the Herrschers—theoretically the ultimate villains—yet there were at least six Herrschers surrounding him.
After all, Irene alone counted as multiple Herrschers.
This scene looked exactly like the brilliant and martial Overseer Otto donning his armor to fight against six Herrschers despite suffering heavy injuries. Even if the reality of the situation was the exact opposite.
"Hmph. I suppose I have to thank you for delivering my other half to me." Sirin snorted coldly. "Irene, do it."
"Yeah, it's already done." Irene nodded. She stared at Otto and enunciated every word clearly, "The virus has been deployed. He can no longer transfer his consciousness."
Hearing Irene's words, Otto raised an eyebrow. He didn't feel any restriction preventing him from transferring his consciousness. It seemed Miss Irene was still cooperating with him very nicely. This was excellent.
Consequently, Otto cooperatively feigned an expression of shock. Upon seeing the surprised look on Otto's face, Irene simply waved her hand. "Charge. Beat him up."
With Irene's command, everyone launched their attacks. Wendy unleashed a massive flurry of wind blades, while Mei clumsily bombarded him with lightning from a distance.
After a round of attacks, Otto's armor had become somewhat battered. Feigning weakness, Otto plunged his greatsword into the deck. And right behind him, a yellow spatial portal appeared.
Sirin's hand reached out from it, violently piercing through the back of his armor and bursting out from Otto's chest. Held tightly in Sirin's palm was the glowing red gem.
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