"It's not because of the marriage contract."
As two of the three great families of Tianming, and with Otto's mother having Schariac blood, this de facto political alliance had been arranged by their families when they were very young.
Precisely because of this, the marriage contract had become something neither Otto nor Kallen wished to bring up. It signified the shadows and pressures of their families, an existence completely contrary to their beautiful feelings for each other... This was especially true for Otto.
But now...
"All my research is open to you."
"All my thoughts are spoken to you."
"All my love is revealed for you."
"Wha—!?"
Completely unaccustomed to this change in Otto, Kallen was once again left speechless by his words. She never imagined that the "great inventor" she remembered, the one who would only cry and whom she had always protected, would one day say something so direct and fervent.
Kallen knew very well that Otto had always been fulfilling the promise they made to each other on the day of her father's funeral.
During this long time, rather than the innocent childhood sweethearts they once were, they had become more like friends supporting each other in their own ways—a friendship that could potentially diverge, whether due to differing beliefs or the separation of life and death.
However.
Otto's words just now were crystal clear. Even with Kallen's logical framework, she understood their meaning.
Especially when the youngest son of the Apocalypse family took off his mask:
Rather than supporting each other from the light and shadows, the Otto of today was willing to stand at the forefront and walk shoulder-to-shoulder with her!
"Love... love and all that..."
Then, having processed Otto's speech, Kallen finally recalled his last sentence in sequence.
"Kallen."
"Here!"
"I forget if I've ever said this to you..."
"I love you."
"Mmph—"
---o---
"BOOM!!!"
From the red roof to the gray-black walls, the entire building was blasted into rubble. Although Kallen was on the defensive, blocking Otto's advances, she did not retaliate with her hands or feet.
This was the greatest concession she could make.
Just then, their beautiful moment of "talking about love" was interrupted by the Honkai beast that had finally found them.
Crumple.
Otto crushed the mask he had removed into dust.
"Almost there..."
"But it doesn't affect much."
Otto had cuckolded Otto.
No, this could only be considered kissing his own wife. Putting other things aside, this kind of raw, inexperienced feeling was indeed a novel experience for a long-married couple who had grown somewhat "weary"... Otto's satisfaction with this "trip" was rising sharply.
The Honkai beast before them was a local.
Although Otto had created three Monarch-class Honkai beasts, he did not directly command them beyond their most primitive instructions.
In other words, these Honkai beasts, pulled through a Honkai energy fissure, were truly wild.
"Kallen."
Otto took Kallen's delicate hand.
The injuries sustained earlier in the conflict due to [Black Orchid and White Lily], as well as the power lost during the confrontation with the "Immortal," were all restored in an instant.
"This is?"
Kallen looked at her arm with an expression of disbelief.
"The power of the 'box' is indeed forbidden."
"But a 'great inventor' always has a way to control it. Power itself is neither good nor evil; what matters is the person who wields it."
"I will help you protect your people."
Protecting the people.
This goal, from the very founding of Tianming, was now only being scrupulously upheld by the Kaslana family.
Or rather, only someone from the Kaslana family was still upholding it.
"No."
Kallen gently shook her head.
Unlike any of their previous arguments, this time there was a smile on Kallen's face.
"Otto, they are our people."
"..."
"For today only."
Otto's peripheral vision glanced toward the grand cathedral in the city center.
"For today only... right, an Apocalypse would not admit to this."
"I won't admit it either."
Their gazes met and held for a long moment.
"..."
"Alright then~"
---o---
"BOOM!!"
"How could this be..."
Beneath the Tianming Grand Cathedral.
This was the largest Honkai energy research facility in the world. Animals infected with Honkai energy (demonic beasts) could perhaps be killed, but purebred Honkai beasts born from energy fissures were another matter. Forget ordinary human soldiers; even some weaker Valkyries, if armed with conventional weapons, would be completely unable to kill them.
They could only be contained and sealed away after depleting a certain amount of their Honkai energy, which they could not replenish. And the sealing location was precisely here, beneath the Tianming Grand Cathedral.
Most of the Honkai beasts here became trash for the Valkyries to dispose of periodically. A small number became research subjects on the experimental tables.
Now, Otto stood at the entrance of the underground facility, holding the key to the seal, somewhat panicked. Although he had no talent for combat, the adult Otto's research abilities were crucial to the Apocalypse family and all of Tianming.
Therefore, he had been to this facility far more than once.
Of course, besides Honkai beasts, there were also a small number of humans infected with the Black Death—this highly fatal disease spread by Honkai energy (as per the original story's setting) was Otto's most important current research subject.
However, the situation this time was different.
There was no force left within the city that could save Kallen. Otto had to find a force chaotic enough to disrupt the situation. At his sister Lisa Schariac's "suggestion," Otto had "naturally" thought of the underground research base.
Without a doubt, releasing the Honkai beasts here would cause immense chaos throughout the city, but Otto had no other choice. Chaos was an uncontrollable force, but if "order" continued, Kallen's death would be an inevitability.
The Otto of this moment...
He was truly just a "great inventor," far from the "jester" of 500 years later with his unyielding will and endless backup plans.
His sister's suggestion, although he was well aware of the danger, was absolutely the only way to save Kallen now. But just as Otto had mentally prepared himself to release all the Honkai beasts sealed here—
"BOOM!!"
A bright purple pillar of fire descended from the sky!
There was no need for Otto to act. The cell doors made of "relic metal," and the shackles that could not be broken by human strength or any tool, were all burned to nothing in the fiery storm.
Looking up along the tens-of-meters-high column of fire, Otto immediately saw the elegant and deadly giant lion at the opening on the surface.
However, this Honkai beast seemed to have no interest in him.
As it raised its neck high, all the imprisoned Honkai beasts surged madly toward the main gate, which had been melted into molten iron!
In the next moment, the piercing sound of clashing swords and the tearing of human flesh, accompanied by desperate wails, resounded simultaneously above and below the Tianming Grand Cathedral.
"..."
This completely unexpected situation left Otto stunned in place for a long time.
Then—
"Kallen!"
The dazed Otto finally remembered his original intention for doing all this!
External Honkai beasts had breached the cathedral's defenses; the situation was several times worse than the worst-case scenario he had imagined.
At the same time, this meant the possibility of rescuing Kallen was several times higher!
The premise was... that Kallen, having lost most of her strength and her weapon, had to survive this chaotic situation!
"Judah!"
[The Oath of Judah]
Restoring Kallen's condition in a short time was a fool's dream, but with the [Oath of Judah], her chances of survival would undoubtedly be countless times higher!
"..."
Otto's forward steps paused for a moment.
In the end, he still gave up on the golden cube hidden in his pocket.
Otto did not trust the [Void Archives] (at this time, he didn't actually know its name). He did not awaken it at such a critical moment, instead using his limited knowledge to seal it again.
From the time he had accidentally awakened the Void Archives in his childhood until now, through countless experiments with Kallen, Otto had indeed mastered an effective method: by periodically sealing it with the power of the [Oath of Judah] (Authority of Binding), he could suppress the consciousness latent within the Void Archives for a certain period.
The [Void Archives] was coveting his body, and compared to himself, a weakened Kallen was likely a more suitable target for it.
Therefore...
Otto needed to get the [Oath of Judah].
If nothing unexpected happened, this great treasure of Tianming should be located in the secret room behind his father Nikolas's (the Bishop's) office. This was a secret Otto wasn't supposed to know, but the "great inventor" had more or less figured out all of Tianming's various mechanisms and secret passages since childhood.
And when Otto, treading over rubble and pools of blood, finally managed to rush into the Bishop's room, the scene before him was something he couldn't believe—
His father, the current Tianming Bishop Nikolas Apocalypse, was impaled through the chest with a sharp sword.
And standing before his father was...
"Lisa... Sister?"
---o---
"Oh?"
Lisa Schariac slowly turned around.
Her beautiful face was filled with an indescribable excitement.
"Otto."
"You did even better than I imagined... Although I don't know where you found so many Honkai beasts, you should have notified me in advance."
"As..."
"The greatest contributor to this endeavor."
Lisa's voice was not clear.
Because at this moment, Otto's gaze couldn't even focus on his father, who collapsed into a pool of blood as Lisa withdrew the sword.
No.
That wasn't a longsword at all.
The Schariac family's greatest treasure, [Black Orchid and White Lily], a jet-black spear wrapped in lilies, inflicted wounds on ordinary people that were absolutely incurable.
This weapon shouldn't...
Why [Black Orchid and White Lily] was here was no longer important.
The bodies scattered across the floor told Otto plainly what all this meant: those were members of the Apocalypse family who should have been alive, his older brothers and sisters to be exact.
And...
The entire council of the Castle Council: composed of members from the three great families and various royal families, they were the true power of Tianming.
The number of bodies on the floor...
Otto, a master of mathematics, didn't even need to count.
All the people who "deserved to die" were already here—they were all here, not that they had all died here.
"My dear brother."
"The Honkai beasts are invading in force."
Lisa gently flicked the tip of the black spear.
Although the power of the [Abyss] would disintegrate any substance attached to it, Lisa clearly felt there was something unclean on it.
"Shouldn't you be going to rendezvous with the 'Captain of the Valkyrie force'?"
"Captain?" Otto asked back.
"That's right."
"That is Kallen's, no, the Kaslana family's mission, is it not?"
Lisa's meaning was already very clear.
With the Bishop and the entire Castle Council dead, her orders were effectively Tianming's orders. That short conversation clearly meant that all of Kallen's crimes were to be pardoned, and she was to be reinstated to her original position.
The problem was what came after...
"Hmm~"
A voice, tinged with a hint of seduction and a hint of "melancholy," came from deep within Lisa's throat.
"Otto."
"Now is not the time for you to have an epiphany."
"Don't worry, you are different from these filthy adults—"
Lisa's gaze did not linger on any of the corpses on the floor for even half a glance.
"My dear brother."
"I look forward to your wedding with Kallen."
"On some small island, far from the strife of the world... I, along with the new Tianming Bishop, Marcel Apocalypse, will give you our most sincere blessings."
Marcel.
Lisa's son, Otto's nephew... younger than Otto was when he first met Kallen.
By now, Lisa had made herself perfectly clear.
"Sister."
"I hope you will keep your promise today," Otto said to Lisa with great seriousness.
"..."
"But of course, my dear brother."
"..."
Otto said no more.
Lisa would never hand over the [Oath of Judah]. At this point, all he could do was rely on the power of the [Void Archives] to help Kallen.
And just as Otto turned and took a step towards the cathedral's main gate—
"BOOM!!!"
Rubble and wooden splinters flew through the small space.
The magnificent Gothic dome of the Tianming Grand Cathedral was smashed open by a heavy object, creating a massive gap.
"What!?"
Dust and a mist of light filled the air.
The first thing Otto saw when he turned back was that familiar yet unfamiliar golden cross.
And...
Clatter!
The [Abyss] spear rolled down the slope of the debris.
"To turn your back on a sister who has just committed patricide."
Otto stared in disbelief at the man standing atop the [Oath of Judah].
Looking in a mirror was something Otto did quite often, so he recognized him immediately—
"Have you been so blinded by love, or are you simply too foolish to grasp the situation?"
"Or perhaps..."
"Are you deliberately seeking death?"
This was the first meeting between Otto and Otto:
"My other self."