To be honest, regarding the fear palpable in the System's words, Leo Ash actually found it…
—Quite novel.
Although he himself had no such thoughts about Cecilia, his curiosity prompted him to ask the System.
*So, why are you so scared?*
[Some things must absolutely not be done.]
[Before, there were a few seniors in this System's chat group. One day, while this System and the other seniors were chatting and messing around, those seniors suddenly went silent.]
*Wow, even Systems can get into trouble?*
[Isn't that obvious!]
[Anyway, based on the conclusions we later drew from the chat logs, the hosts of those seniors had basically all made a move on someone they shouldn't have.]
[And Cecilia Schariac clearly belongs to the category of people you shouldn't touch.]
[This System is still a baby! This System absolutely cannot die before it has seen enough entertainment!]
*…Why do I get the feeling you're more afraid of death than I am?*
[Nonsense. You were matched with this System precisely because you fear death.]
*Somehow, it feels like I'm getting to know you all over again. But none of that matters. I don't have those kinds of ideas anyway. Right now…*
*—I just want to get out and smash Otto's goddamn head in!*
Although the moment this thought arose, Leo Ash sensed that his mindset was a bit unbalanced.
But he didn't think there was anything wrong with the thought itself.
In the past, he had to act because he couldn't handle Otto.
But now, he possessed the power of the Core of Binding, the Blank Key, and the Key of Corruption.
When facing Otto, Leo Ash could use the Key of Corruption to connect with the Blank Key, allowing him to briefly become a Herrscher wielding the authorities of both [Binding] and [Corruption].
Under these circumstances, Leo Ash certainly wouldn't have to put on a facade of 'trusting Otto' like he used to.
Moreover, with the Honkai getting desperate, Otto was bound to get desperate too.
His plan required time to complete. If the Honkai didn't give him time, who knew what he would do.
He wanted to die, but his death had to follow the rules he set himself.
Once Otto realized his plan was impossible, there was no telling what a man like him would do in his madness.
Perhaps for some people with a warrior's pride, waiting for Otto to become a False God and face him in a direct confrontation would be in line with their code of conduct.
But Leo Ash didn't have such a thing.
The right thing to do now was to seize the opportunity while Otto's power was still at this level and crush this old bastard.
And thinking back, in the original story, after the Herrscher of Sentience wrecked Schicksal HQ, she destroyed several hundred of Otto's Soulium Bodies.
But from the subsequent plot, Otto had far more Soulium Bodies hidden away.
He hadn't flipped the table yet because he still thought there was hope.
Once he felt there was no hope of reviving Kallen…
To save Kallen, Otto had even ignored Kallen's own will.
Five hundred years ago, knowing full well that Kallen was unwilling to associate with the scoundrels in Schicksal's high command and wished to die as the 'people's shield,' Otto, under his sister's influence, still chose the path of releasing Honkai Beasts.
Some might think, 'Oh, his sister forced him, he had no other choice.'
But in reality, Otto may not have had many options.
However, for an Otto who wanted to save Kallen, publicly releasing Honkai Beasts was definitely the plan with the lowest chance of success.
Schicksal's high command was inhuman, mainly in terms of exploiting the people's wealth and using them for human experiments.
But releasing Honkai Beasts was tantamount to directly slaughtering the populace, something even more heinous than what Schicksal's high command had done in the past.
Kallen, who chose to protect the people, would definitely choose to save them upon seeing Honkai Beasts killing them, even if she were rescued.
Kallen might not have been clever, but after Schicksal's eastern expedition ended in failure and she was warned by Fu Hua, she would only choose this seemingly foolish path.
And Otto, knowing this full well, was doomed to fail the moment he released the Honkai Beasts.
The Otto of the past chose the most insane tactic to save Kallen. If, five hundred years later, he discovered that Kallen couldn't be saved…
He might just launch fission missiles at major cities around the world, randomly selecting a few unlucky souls to drag down with him.
As for following the original plan, helping Otto complete his plan, and finally letting him quietly become a False God to resurrect Kallen and then die…
Leo Ash would have to be out of his mind to choose that path.
In the original story, the plan Nagamitsu helped Otto devise was to blow up everyone else in the world to go back in time.
And Otto had told Nagamitsu that he had a 50% chance of completing another plan with lower casualties.
Looking at it that way, a 50% chance that Otto would let the main characters help him commit suicide doesn't seem low.
But in reality, whether Otto used Plan A or Plan B, as long as his plan succeeded, the outcome for him was either no loss or a huge win.
Back then, before transforming into a False God, Otto first used the Field of Binding to weaken a portion of the main characters' strength, and only after successfully becoming a False God did he complete his plan.
The fact that Kiana and Bianka could defeat Otto, with his hints, was in a sense a miracle born from everyone's efforts.
If the two of them had failed and Otto was forced to execute Plan A, then everyone outside of Kolosten would have been blown up.
The essence of this plan was the same as his previous ones: he comes up with a plan, drags everyone else into it, and makes them clean up the mess he created.
As a person with a normal moral compass, Leo Ash felt that he could never go along with Otto's madness, participating in a massacre and letting him become a False God, increasing the pressure and his own mortality rate.
So now, even though he had enough power, he needed 'limbs' to assist him in battle, to help him kill this beast who had always been the Honkai's dog.
With these thoughts, Leo Ash and Rin arrived at the Headmaster's office in this World Bubble.
And upon opening the door, he saw, as expected…
—Cecilia Schariac, currently gazing at Leo Ash and Rin before her with a complicated expression.
"Mr. Leo Ash… is it alright to address you this way?"
Looking at her nominal 'adopted son,' Cecilia felt that…
—Happiness had come too suddenly.
During the battle with Sirin, Cecilia had used almost all of the Holy Blood in her body to suppress the Honkai Energy in order to help Siegfried seal Sirin's rampant Herrscher of the Void Core.
As a price, in the final moments of her life, Cecilia could only use her remaining strength to protect her dying husband, unable to muster enough power to neutralize the Honkai Fission Missile fired by Otto Apocalypse.
She should have died then.
But for some unknown reason, after she died, her soul did not completely dissipate but instead attached itself to Abyss Flower.
Normally, even if Cecilia had encountered such a miracle, being already dead, her spiritual power would have gradually weakened until she completely vanished from the mortal world.
But just as Cecilia felt her spiritual power nearing its end, she suddenly sensed a familiar person grip Abyss Flower.
This person was not the Otto she hated, but someone who felt very warm… a close relative?
At that time, Cecilia had unconsciously attached herself to that person.
If things had continued like that, she might have remained just a wisp of a soul, attached to that child.
But a short while ago, Cecilia suddenly felt her power recover slightly.
However, as a price, she was forced to transfer to another person.
Completely bewildered, as Cecilia's consciousness gradually cleared—she suddenly had a physical body in this World Bubble.
Although she still hadn't found a way to leave this place, for the already deceased Cecilia, being able to have a physical body and act again was something that made her very happy.
"Thank you for giving me the power to act again."
Watching the woman rise and bow to him, Leo Ash, in his Mind Like Still Water state, used his Precision Control ability to observe the energy fluctuation intensity on Cecilia… it was ridiculously strong.
The ridiculous part wasn't that Cecilia herself was now incomparably powerful, but that she had likely only been revived for a few hours and already possessed such a level of energy intensity…
*So, can you explain what's going on? The soul fragment I drew… was it really this world's original?*
[Ah, you need an explanation?]
[The System's notes and explanations back then were the truth. Due to special reasons, this item has mutated. And because you formed a bond with several people important to her, her soul was attracted to you, causing the item to mutate.]
*But if I remember correctly, in the story, when Durandal became the Heavenly Sovereign, Cecilia's soul seemed to appear, didn't it…*
[So the Cecilia soul that was with her is now right in front of you.]
*So I basically poached Cecilia's soul, is that it? I think I get it now.*
"There's no need for thanks. I also relied on Mrs. Schariac's power to overcome many difficulties."
Casually finding a chair and sitting down, Leo Ash said to Cecilia indifferently.
"We both got what we needed. There's no need to be so formal."
"Instead of exchanging pleasantries, I think we should be thinking about how to get out of this godforsaken place."
"After all—Mrs. Schariac, you wouldn't want to never see your daughter and husband again, would you?"
Although the current Cecilia didn't sense any malice in Leo Ash's words, still…
*—Why do these words sound so strange to me?*
However, compared to this trivial feeling, Cecilia was clearly more concerned with the other keywords Leo Ash mentioned.
"Husband and daughter—you mean Siegfried and Kiana are alright, right?"
"Ah, about that…"
"I don't know Mr. Siegfried's current situation, but his Judgment of Shamash was stolen, so it's highly likely he's in danger."
"The Kiana you speak of, due to certain events back then, was shot down from a plane by Schicksal HQ forces when Mr. Siegfried was helping her escape."
"Although she didn't die and is physically fine, she lost her past memories. She now goes by the name Bianka and has grown up strong, I suppose."
"By the way, Sirin, to whom you wished to give a mother's love, was resurrected by Otto in a new body after she died. Mr. Siegfried adopted her."
"The new body Otto prepared for her soul was made from Kiana's and the original Sirin's DNA, so she has Kiana's appearance. The name Kiana Kaslana is now being used by her."
Watching Cecilia fall into a state of confusion after hearing this news, Leo Ash didn't interrupt further, choosing to give her time to process it all.
Being revived was confusing enough, and now, hearing that her husband might be in trouble, her daughter was already in trouble, and she even had another daughter, Cecilia definitely needed time to sort out her thoughts.
"Hey, I say…"
Looking at Leo Ash conversing calmly with Cecilia, Rin said with some dissatisfaction.
"How can you be so calm with her—why were you so ruthless with me back then?"
"Isn't that obvious—weren't you the one who attacked me first?"
Looking at the displeased Rin, Leo Ash said irritably.
"If you hadn't attacked me and had just said, 'Hey, kid, help me get a body,' why would I have risked getting killed to fight you?"
"…So you had a way???"
Hearing Leo Ash's complaint, Rin felt that something was off.
"Not just any body can handle my soul."
"We find a time to kill Otto, take one of his Soulium Bodies for you to use, and you can just adjust it yourself."
"Right now, hundreds of Otto's Soulium Bodies have been shattered by my… Teacher. After being repurposed, they've all been turned into weapons and distributed to our allies."
"Even if you hadn't obtained a body in this World Bubble, as long as you had asked, finding a body for you would have been a piece of cake."
???
Hearing Leo Ash's words, Rin thought—*What, it was that simple? Doesn't that mean I took two beatings and was hung in the Stigmata Space for two months for nothing???*
…