Because of the constant conflict between the Schariac family's Holy Blood and Stigmata, the family had declined to the point where the Schariac bloodline in newborn members was appallingly thin.
To maintain the status of the three great families, the Schariac family chose to form a marriage alliance with the head of the families, the Apocalypse family, using blood ties to preserve their position.
Otto Apocalypse, as a child of mixed Schariac and Apocalypse blood, was supposed to be the great hope, the future light who would inherit the strengths of both families.
But reality dealt everyone a harsh blow. Otto inherited the beautiful features of the Schariacs but not their power… and the aspect of Apocalypse intelligence was also dismissed by the world as idiocy because Otto's thinking was far ahead of its time…
It could be said that if it weren't for his encounter with Kallen, which gave him salvation for a lifetime, Otto would not only have been ostracized and fallen into a deep depression from not being valued, but his body would also have been classified as useless by the family. Even if not directly executed, he would have been sent to the battlefield as a common soldier.
Otto's father, Nicholas, believed that since Kallen was the daughter of the Kaslana family and the first in line of succession, if Otto could marry her, he could smoothly become the head of the Kaslana family. At the same time, with Otto being a child of both Schariac and Apocalypse, the three great families could be held firmly in his grasp through blood ties.
And then, everyone knows what happened.
Otto purified his Schariac blood and used it as a medicinal catalyst, injecting it into Eleanor's body. Otto's Schariac blood reached a balance with Eleanor's Stigmata, thus giving birth to the true "Saintess" of the Schariac family in a meaningful sense.
Eleanor was adopted by the Schariacs and inherited one of the Divine Keys they possessed, the "Black Abyss"…
After that came the exposure of Schicksal's darkness by Kallen, Kallen's defection, and Kallen's execution.
A despairing Otto, after a long period of decline, joined the rebelling masses to overthrow the corrupt Schicksal organization and establish a new order.
After the Kaslana family was nearly wiped out fighting the Black Death, Otto, relying on the Schariac private army under his command, cut down gods and buddhas alike, bringing all of Europe firmly under his control.
Using his talents, Otto repaired the "Black Abyss" and the "White Flower," bringing the true Divine Key "Abyss Flower" back into the world. And through Abyss Flower, he granted himself a nearly eternal lifespan.
Once the situation in Europe and within Schicksal had stabilized, Otto shouldered the coffin sealing Kallen's body, took the alias of Luocha, and traveled across Shenzhou on foot, searching for traces of Azure Empyrea.
What followed was the story of Shattered Swords…
(ten thousand words omitted)
Otto used Void Archives to mimic the Judgment of Shamash and subdued Ma Feima, but the moment Ma Feima came to his senses, he killed Otto with a single sword strike…
Otto found Azure Empyrea, but she was incredibly weak from just being revived and couldn't give Otto the answers he sought. Otto even made an enemy of Azure Empyrea for the sake of Li Sushang.
But the weak Otto could do nothing. He could only rush back to Europe with Li Sushang at top speed and freeze her using Slumber of All Things.
The journey through Shenzhou was a series of relentless blows, and it caused someone whose eyes were filled with only him to be left between life and death for his sake.
For the first time, Otto truly understood what it meant for power to decide everything. In this world, compared to pure intellect, simple, brute force could sometimes solve more problems.
But the world is fair. It gave Otto intelligence, so it would not also give him a strong body. No matter how hard Otto tried, his own strength never improved.
Several hundred years later, after centuries of modifying the Valkyrie Leanna Brigantia, Otto finally created the most perfect, most suitable Soulium combat body for himself.
Afterward, Otto possessed Leanna, gaining the most powerful body. With his physical prowess alone, Otto could single-handedly suppress all the heroes of Anti-Entropy.
But Otto, getting his first taste of the wonderful feeling of power, was careless and got tricked by Anti-Entropy. The Leanna body he had worked on for a hundred years was taken back by Leanna herself… a furious Otto directly launched a Honkai Fission Bomb to destroy everything.
Fortunately, the experimental data was already secured, so Otto continuously created Soulium combat bodies and hid his original body, appearing to the world through these Soulium shells.
But whenever he needed to think or conduct research, Otto would switch back to his own body, because no matter how fast the Soulium computer that made up the brain could compute, it could never replace Otto's boundless and unparalleled intellect.
"My story is finished. Miss Yae Sakura, how was it? Were you perhaps captivated by my charm? It is not unacceptable to indulge a little in a perfect man, as long as you do not betray… Ka… uh… Miss Yae Sakura?"
Otto boasted proudly for a moment, then turned to look at Yae Sakura behind him, wanting to see her reaction after he had been so sincere as to reveal everything.
But Yae Sakura…
"Ah? You're done? Mmm, mmm… very good, the story was very moving, it brought me to tears… *yawn*…"
Yae Sakura, who had been dozing off, woke with a start and quickly nodded and praised Otto, simultaneously wiping her sleepy eyes to pretend she had been moved to tears.
But that final, uncontrollably sleepy yawn completely gave her away. At some point, Yae Sakura had fallen asleep listening…
"Alright… it seems my story did not satisfy Miss Yae Sakura."
Otto held his forehead in disappointment and sorrow, sighing and shaking his head. Next time, he'd tell Ryn instead. At least he wouldn't fall asleep like Theresa, Durandal, and Kiana.
"Is there anything else? If not, I'm leaving. I'm so sleepy right now, I want to go to bed." Yae Sakura rubbed her eyes. Since Otto had already discovered she was sleeping, she dropped the pretense.
"There's a little more. If you didn't hear the earlier parts, then never mind, they weren't important anyway."
Otto said with a blank expression. Inwardly, however, he was screaming, *This is my glorious past, is it really that boring!!*
"Then you can continue."
"My relationship with my Soulium bodies is basically like remote wireless control. Although I've minimized the delay as much as possible, for high-intensity combat, that tiny bit of delay can be fatal.
Just like the slash you sent at me, Miss Yae Sakura. Even if the Soulium body's reaction speed is extremely fast, it would still be unable to respond to your attack due to the delay."
"I don't think it's an issue of delay, because this slash of mine freezes time. Even if Ryn were here, he might not be able to react in time." Yae Sakura brandished the Spirit Blade in her hand.
Her previous sword techniques were merely extremely fast, but by using the chilling aura released by the Spirit Blade to freeze time, this slash had become a space-rending attack that was impossible to react to and impossible to defend against.
"Hehe… I see…"
Otto nodded thoughtfully. He had created the Spirit Blade, so with a little hint, he understood the principle behind Yae Sakura's sword technique.
"I imagine this sword strike must consume a great deal of your stamina, Miss Yae Sakura? If it cannot kill in one hit, then that becomes a clear weakness."
"Uh… I'm a Herrscher now. Are you trying to compete with a Herrscher in a battle of attrition? If one slash isn't enough, I can just deliver a few more."