…
"Cecilia, long time no see. Do you need me to restore your title as an S-rank Valkyrie?"
Otto appeared, and the method he used was still the Second Divine Key, Thousand Worlds in One Ride. Seeing a dead person return once again, his mood was indescribably excited.
"Bishop Otto…"
Cecilia looked at the man she had once admired most, her expression complicated. But it was also because of him that her family had suffered so much damage. Their home had been destroyed, their loved ones lost.
Yet her own daughter had been treated and taught by Otto. She truly didn't know how she should view this Archbishop of Schicksal.
"Haa… no need. I'm not a Valkyrie anymore. I'm just a mother."
She had never really felt anything about the title of "Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie," and she didn't need it either.
If she had to have any title at all, then it would be this:
A mother who wanted to make up for everything.
"I respect your choice." Otto's words carried a deeper meaning, and he didn't force the issue.
The current Cecilia had long since lost the mindset she'd had back then, and that kind of change had a major impact on combat strength.
"Otto, are you confident you can solve the Honkai?" Koji asked.
"I can only say I'll do my best." Otto shook his head. Solving the Honkai wasn't something you could do just by talking.
He possessed Void Archives, and he knew which Herrschers would appear. The first twelve Herrschers were still manageable. There were ways to counter those "numbers and mechanics."
But the Herrscher of Finality?
That was a monster whose raw values and mechanics were both absurdly overtuned.
Facing the Herrscher of Finality, even now, he had no method he could claim with absolute certainty would work.
But for Kallen, even if there was no way, he would create one.
And it wasn't as though there were truly no options. World Serpent's leader, Kevin, was a powerful piece of combat strength. Their current goal was the same: to defeat the Honkai. Cooperation wouldn't be a problem.
"Grandpa, what kind of deal did you make with him?" Theresa asked in astonishment.
Otto being willing to fight the Honkai with everything he had was far too rare.
"A person… and my world." Otto said softly.
To him, there was only one world.
That world was Kallen.
In the game's story, he was the only one who twisted an imperfect tale into the ending he desired. The price was merely one person's death, and three people vanishing forever.
"Senior Kallen?" Theresa knew who he meant.
Otto nodded, smiling faintly. "You should call her Grandma Kallen. If those things back then had never happened… then actually, the name 'Theresa' was meant to be the name of the daughter Kallen and I would have had."
The social climate five hundred years ago had doomed someone as pure and hot-blooded as Kallen to be out of place.
If it were the modern era, Kallen would absolutely have been a hero.
"Grandma?"
Theresa didn't feel awkward about it at all. Kallen was from five hundred years ago. Calling her "Grandma" was only natural.
"Do you want me to let you meet Kallen right now?" Koji didn't mind paying the reward early.
"Forget it." Otto shook his head. "I want Kallen to see a world where the Honkai has been defeated."
As a warrior of pure love, he had to consider Kallen first. He did want it, desperately.
But he wanted even more for Kallen to witness a world that had been saved.
That day, Kallen climbed over the wall and invited him to save the world together.
He would fulfill that promise.
He would save this world.
"Bishop Otto, my opinion of you just improved a little." Cecilia said.
Otto often did things that were beyond inhuman, but his faith in Kallen was so pure it made people sigh in awe.
"It doesn't matter." Otto's voice remained calm. "What I've done, I won't deny. Even if you want to vent your rage on this Soulium body, I have no objections."
If he dared to do it, he dared to admit it. There was no need to shirk responsibility.
People who hated him were countless. People who wanted his head were countless. Otto had long since gotten used to it.
"Forget it. I don't have that kind of thought." Cecilia shook her head. "You cured my daughter, and you raised her into the strongest Valkyrie."
"Heh." Otto smiled faintly. "You mean Bianka. She is indeed my most outstanding disciple. She inherited the monstrous talent of both the Schariac and the Kaslana lines. If she has enough time to grow, she can become the savior who defeats the Honkai."
Over the past five hundred years, he had raised so many "strongest Valkyries," but Bianka was the most exceptional of all.
At the same time, she was also the youngest.
And her talent was the best.
Hearing that, Cecilia smiled with pride. "Bianka is really that outstanding?"
"Bianka still has potential talent that hasn't been unearthed yet."
What Otto was referring to was the power of "Apocalypse," the power gained after fully subduing Kaslana's power using Schariac's power.
"Kevin knows how to drive Kaslana's power." Koji said.
Kevin was the source of the Kaslana line. He could provide Durandal with plenty of experience.
"Kevin Kaslana. The bloodline ancestor of the Kaslana family. The strongest warrior of the Previous Era." Otto nodded. "I know he exists. I just haven't had the chance to meet him."
"Right. Otto, you should know Dr. MEI, yeah?" Koji asked.
"Of course. The genius of the Previous Era. She also participated in the creation of Void Archives."
If we were talking about the materials for the main body, those had been prepared by Vil-V.
As for the vast amount of knowledge inside it, that was recorded by MEI.
"Dr. MEI is another ancestor of Kiana's. Since that's the case, can we awaken MEI's genius-level intellect in Kiana?"
Otto froze for a moment. He hadn't expected a question like that.
As for the Kaslana line, whether it was Kallen or Kiana, they tended to be rather hot-blooded… and kind of airheaded.
Trying to turn that sort of person into a genius was difficult.
So difficult it was practically impossible.
"My friend, you're really planning to make Kiana awaken that… thing?" Otto gave a dry laugh.
After letting a supercomputer brain run the numbers, the probability was simply far too low.
"Kiana, do you want to become smarter?" Koji asked with a grin.
"Am I that stupid?"
Kiana glared at Koji. Her grades might be bad, but she was definitely smart.
Himeko and the others didn't comment.
Whether she was an airhead or not… wasn't that already common knowledge?
"Become a genius like MEI, and you won't fail classes anymore. You can become an S-rank Valkyrie, and you can even become a great scientist."
Genes related to intelligence were probably recessive. Maybe there was a chance they could be activated.
"Forget it." Kiana shook her head. "I don't want to become some so-and-so. I'm me."
She really did feel tempted for a moment.
But there was no need.
And she didn't like the idea of human experimentation.
Himeko and the others wore relieved expressions.
Yes. This was Kiana.
If she really changed herself just to become a so-called genius, they would all be disappointed, at least a little.
"Looks like I'm not needed." Otto nodded to Koji. Through Thousand Worlds in One Ride, he left St. Freya and returned to Schicksal Headquarters.
Seeing Cecilia today gave him even more motivation.
(End of Chapter)
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