Far away, a Herrscher-level Honkai energy suddenly erupted at the Schicksal Headquarters, and alarms blared instantly.
Crimson warning lights flashed wildly through the corridors. On the surveillance screens, a familiar figure shrouded in overwhelming resentment hovered above the headquarters.
Gigantic phantom gears manifested one after another in the air, slowly rotating.
In the next instant, a golden barrier inscribed with runes rose from the ground, enveloping the entire Schicksal Headquarters like a massive dome.
The sudden news instantly alarmed everyone at St. Freya.
Kiana sprang to her feet, her voice filled with exhaustion and a resigned sense of despair, "Huh? Another new Herrscher already? Isn't this way too frequent? Are we supposed to live or not?!"
Otto's fingertips hovered over the cool rim of his red teacup. The last trace of leisure vanished from his face as his expression darkened, his knuckles striking the stone tabletop heavily.
"Gear patterns… a golden sealing barrier… Could it be… the Herrscher of Binding?!"
Soon after, his face changed drastically. He shot to his feet, the usual calm elegance completely gone, blurting out in shock, "No, my… Theresa!"
Fu Shi's mouth twitched violently when she heard that, her eyes filled with disbelief, "Wait, Theresa became the Herrscher of Binding?!"
Fu Hua suddenly stood up. The atmosphere around her grew heavy as she spoke in a low voice, "We can't ignore this. We must immediately, "
"Bzzzt, " A sharp burst of static interrupted her. Himeko's urgent shout suddenly came through the communicator,
"Kiana! Mei! Stay away from Otto, now! Theresa has been working under overload for days. Her resentment reached the breaking point, and she suddenly awakened the power of the Herrscher of Binding. And… her target seems to be only Otto. She's heading straight for St. Freya!"
Kiana's expression changed abruptly as she cried out, "What?!"
In an instant, everyone's gaze snapped toward Otto.
Otto silently sat back down, raised a hand to brush nonexistent dust from his clothes, then lifted his teacup and took an unhurried sip.
"Well then, it seems my 'retirement life' is temporarily ruined. Before that, allow me to enjoy one last moment of peace."
As soon as Otto finished speaking, Himeko's panting voice came through the communicator again, "She's already broken through the Valkyrie encirclement at Schicksal Headquarters. Her speed is absurd, Lord Otto, you'd better think about how to explain those mountain-high stacks of documents to her!"
Fu Shi crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow with schadenfreude, "Oh? So this isn't some Schicksal crisis, it's Theresa's revenge battle? I'd say you'd better pray for yourself."
Fu Hua frowned, her gaze sweeping toward the faint golden glow in the sky as she spoke gravely, "We can't be careless. We need to prepare for the worst."
Kiana rubbed her hands together, unable to hide the excitement of watching the drama unfold, "Hey… how about we just tie Otto up right now and send him to Auntie? Maybe Auntie will calm down that way?"
At that moment, the golden phantom gears in the distant sky had become clearly visible. Along with faint roars of rage, even the air itself seemed to tremble.
Cecilia and Siegfried hurried over as well. Staring at the increasingly distinct golden streaks in the sky, their expressions turned grim, "She's already here? The students haven't fully evacuated yet!"
Otto took a deep breath. There was an unexpected hint of solemn resolve in his back as he spoke, "What must come will come. You all… don't interfere. Let me face Theresa alone."
The group exchanged glances, then collectively stepped back, consciously creating distance.
Otto looked at the empty space behind him, the corner of his mouth twitching, "Hey, I meant don't stop me, did you really have to run away so decisively?"
Golden light suddenly tore through the clouds, descending with a thunderous crash above St. Freya.
Theresa hovered in midair. Terrifying Honkai energy surged within her small body, her golden cross-shaped pupils, unique to the Herrscher of Binding, locking onto Otto below.
"Grandpa! Your vacation is over. Come back to Schicksal and get back to work immediately!"
Cecilia hurried forward, "Theresa, calm down first. Let's talk this through."
"Calm down?" Theresa let out a cold laugh and sharply pointed at Otto, her trembling voice filled with grievance and fury.
"When he dumped mountains of paperwork on me and hid here at St. Freya drinking tea in peace, did he ever think about telling me to calm down?!"
Otto still wore his usual elegant smile, though it was stiff at the corners, "My granddaughter, anger is bad for your health. Those are just trivial matters, why get so worked up over them?"
"Trivial?!" Theresa roared as she dove downward. Golden power transformed into multiple chains that lashed toward Otto with piercing force.
"Three weeks straight! You shoved all approvals onto me! Even on my days off I was working past midnight! Today, I will drag you back to Schicksal to work!"
Fu Lin nodded in agreement, "Absolutely brutal."
Otto narrowly dodged the chains, still trying to argue, "Theresa, I thought you had grown up, able to shoulder responsibility and handle all of Schicksal's-"
"I can handle it, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to be exploited like this! I don't care about being Archbishop anymore!" Theresa cut him off sharply, clenching her fingers hard. The binding power tightened instantly, sealing off all of Otto's escape routes like an inescapable net.
Kiana whispered to Mei, "Auntie's really worked herself insane this time… Otto's definitely doomed."
Mei shook her head helplessly and pressed a hand on Kiana's shoulder, "Don't stir things up. Let's just watch."
Within the binding domain, Otto was tightly bound by the chains.
Looking at Theresa, dark circles heavy under her eyes, clearly worn down by days of nonstop overtime, he finally shed his usual nonchalance and sighed softly.
"This is Grandpa's fault. I'll give you a three-month vacation. I'll personally handle all the documents. How about that?"
"Really?"
Theresa froze for a moment. A hint of wavering flashed in her eyes, yet she still said stubbornly, "Wait, don't try to fool me! I don't believe Grandpa's nonsense!"
"I swear it in the name of the Apocalypse family head," Otto said solemnly, rare seriousness in his voice. "And I'll also prepare your favorite bitter melon juice, three servings a day."
At that, Theresa's momentum instantly dropped by half. Her clenched fists loosened slightly, and the Honkai energy around her began to fluctuate.
[Honkai Will, ???]
Theresa turned her head aside and muttered, "Cough… fine, that's more like it. But Grandpa has to return to Schicksal Headquarters first and resume being Archbishop."
The golden binding power gradually dissipated. The barrier slowly faded away as Theresa landed on the ground, still glaring at Otto, but without her earlier hostility.
Otto stepped forward and raised a hand to pat her head, only for her to slap it away, "Don't touch me! If you ever dump an overload of work on me again, I'll throw you off a cliff!"
Otto chuckled softly, a trace of fondness flashing in his eyes, "As you command, Lady Theresa."
The surrounding crowd finally let out a sigh of relief.
Fu Shi whistled, "Hah, all that trouble and she's swayed by just a few words from Otto? Figures. As long as Otto isn't dead, Theresa will always be a little girl. No matter how much potential she has, it's useless."
Kiana scratched her head and burst out laughing,
"Yep, Auntie's still Auntie, so easy to talk into things. Does this mean we survived the Binding?!"
Theresa flushed red and glared at Kiana, "Kiana! Laugh again and I'll throw you into the document pile too!"
Above St. Freya, the golden gears vanished completely, leaving behind a clear blue sky. A Binding disaster that once devastated the Previous Era had, in the Current Era, turned into a childish farce.
Just then, a chilling aura suddenly swept in, Kevin appeared behind them at some point, Judgement of Shamash blazing with fierce flames in his hand. His icy gaze swept over everyone present as he demanded in a deep voice, "Where is the Herrscher of Binding?!"
The crowd fell silent instantly, swallowing hard, even their breathing subconsciously growing lighter.