Through the attacks of the Endless Jizō Blade, Leo Ash could feel himself steadily and smoothly seizing control of the Theater, relying on the Power of Corruption.
But at the same time, he confirmed one thing.
At this moment, he had to rely on Precision Control and a Mind Like Still Water to push his command over his powers to the absolute limit, only then could he wrest control of this Theater from Otto, who was being supported by the Honkai.
He couldn't afford to be too distracted right now. In other words, this was his only 'weakness' at the moment.
Of course, if a real problem arose, Leo Ash could use the Field of Binding to trap his enemies' movements.
But the issue was, he wasn't a lone wolf.
Among the companions by his side, the weakest... was his daughter, Isla Ash.
And in the current situation, Leo Ash suspected that even Isla could probably take down an Otto puppet.
He was not alone, so why should he waste energy on things he shouldn't?
His trusted companions would protect him anyway. At a time like this, concentrating on sending Otto off as quickly as possible was what he should be doing.
Faced with the predicament of his Theater about to be stolen, how could Otto just continue to 'watch'?
The figures that appeared in the distance were the best proof of that.
Before entering the Theater, Otto had already prepared a great many 'Herrscher of Domination: Ottos'.
And now, to make a final, desperate struggle, the normally incomparably selfish Ottos, for the sake of letting the original Otto seize that last sliver of opportunity, unhesitatingly chose to rush out from all directions.
Even though they knew this would mean their death as 'Otto', they still made this choice without any hesitation.
After all, if they lost this final chance, Otto's wish to resurrect Kallen would likely never be realized in this lifetime.
At this moment, facing the hundreds of Ottos before him, Siegfried, having clearly seen his opponent's face, truly...
—could not contain the ecstasy in his heart.
In the past, Siegfried had always chosen to endure and avoid a direct confrontation with Otto for various reasons.
And now, after Otto had been pushed into a corner, having abandoned Schicksal, he could only resort to such a method for a final death throe.
He still couldn't figure out Otto's objective.
But—did that even matter now?
Killing Otto was one of the wishes Siegfried had always hoped to fulfill.
And now—with so many Ottos, he could slash to his heart's content today. Just the thought of it made him feel so thrilled he was on the verge of transforming into a Honkai Beast.
As for the others, although they didn't show such blatant excitement as Siegfried, no one looked at Otto with any regret or pity.
Even Bianka, who had the best relationship with Otto among them, had already given up the last shred of thought she should never have had after learning what Otto had done to the members of Schicksal.
Otto had undoubtedly become a villain threatening the safety of humanity. In the face of such a villain, any mercy or regret was superfluous.
"Haha, everyone, the expressions on your faces seem a bit too excited."
Seeing that Leo Ash hadn't sent those energy blades imbued with corrosive power slashing toward him, the leader among this group of Ottos revealed a smile.
"What's wrong? Are you all this happy to see me?"
Looking at Leo Ash, who was still continuously eroding the Theater, Otto shrugged helplessly.
"What, does persecuting an old man who just wants to fulfill his wish make you all this happy?"
Leo Ash couldn't be bothered to respond to Otto's provocation.
Leo Ash knew very well that ever since he led the Schicksal anti-Otto squad into the Theater, the initiative of the battle had shifted into their hands.
Whether he berated Otto or mocked him now, Leo Ash might get distracted by excessive emotional fluctuations.
And that was exactly what Otto wanted.
Ignoring him was the best choice at a time like this.
Besides, even if Leo Ash didn't deal with Otto, the others wouldn't want to let him go.
For example, right now...
"Otto, you really have the nerve to show your face in front of us."
Siegfried fired a shot directly at the Otto who had spoken, then said viciously.
"You haven't forgotten what you did to us, have you?"
"Oh, what did I do?"
After narrowly dodging Siegfried's precise shot, although Otto was already uneasy about Siegfried having completely recovered his peak strength, he still tried to feign a very curious expression.
"Are you referring to me protecting Schicksal for five hundred years? Or to me training so many Valkyries? Or perhaps..."
Sweeping his gaze over the Herrscher girls before him, the smile on Otto's face instantly grew brighter.
"—Are you referring to the fact that I let you Herrschers go?"
After saying these words, Otto shook his head with feigned exaggeration.
"Alas, you all always want to imagine me as an unpardonable villain, but now, don't you think you're being a bit too harsh on me?"
"I have made some wrong decisions, and I did cause some chaos in this world for my own selfish desires, but for this world, my existence has been positive on the whole."
"Sigh, if I hadn't spent so many years researching with the data from Void Archives, raising Schicksal's weapon technology to a point where it had a chance to suppress the Honkai, Siegfried, how many more people do you think would be dead now?"
"And my old friend, your civilization had technology far superior to ours, but in the end, the 'results' your civilization achieved were not as good as the results of our era."
"Also, Wendy, don't glare at me like that. After you and the other Valkyries had your accidents, I made sure to pay my respects to the Valkyries' families. The families of Schicksal members are all well-treated. In this regard, I should have been good enough to you, right?"
"These are all the results of my hard work. To be so murderous toward a Schicksal Bishop who has made such great contributions—isn't that inappropriate?"
Listening to Otto's sophistry, everyone except Leo Ash was momentarily stunned.
To be honest, by now, everyone knew Otto was a shameless person.
But for someone who had just announced at Schicksal HQ, 'Hey, I'm framing loyal subjects and letting the Honkai run rampant,' to say such things inside the Theater now was truly a bit too shocking for them.
Honestly, at this moment, an idea popped into everyone's head simultaneously.
For a person to be this shameless, it was a talent in its own right.
Of course, what followed the astonishment was, naturally, anger.
Leo Ash could feel that everyone, except for himself, was filled with a surge of rage that multiplied countless times after their initial shock at these words.
But unlike the others, Leo Ash was now even calmer.
As someone who had seen the plot, Leo Ash knew very well that Otto himself was quite self-aware.
In the Thus Spoke Apocalypse arc, Otto had stated with great certainty things like 'all my comrades in the long five hundred years,' 'a collection constituted by sin and desire,' and 'I know morality yet I do not abide by it, I know ethics yet I trample upon them.'
Unlike those who excessively praised or denigrated him, to the point of distorting the truth, Otto knew very well in his heart what kind of person he was.
So, for him to say such nonsense now, did it mean Otto had completely lost his mind?
The answer was obviously no.
Leo Ash, who was continuously eroding the Theater, looked at the 'innocent' looking Otto and knew very well that these words, on the contrary, were further proof that Otto had run out of options.
In the original story's Thus Spoke Apocalypse arc, that was the event where Otto was closest to realizing his plan.
For the Otto of that time, having a fifty percent chance of achieving what was, for him, the perfect plan, was already a super-favorable situation.
An Otto in a favorable situation would naturally be more relaxed to a certain extent.
This relaxation didn't mean he underestimated the allied anti-Otto force of that time, but rather it referred to his mental state.
In the time leading up to the plan's fruition, Otto didn't mind verbally guiding others while also revealing some of his innermost thoughts he had never spoken of before.
In Leo Ash's view, this could perhaps be considered a form of 'a dying man's words are good.'
But now, the situation was completely different.
Unlike the Otto from the original story who was about to realize his plan in three years, the current Otto was not only not in a favorable situation, but could even be said to have been forced into adversity, even a desperate situation.
An Otto in a desperate situation would definitely not be as relaxed as he was when he was about to die in the original story.
The current Otto was definitely trying to use every means possible to increase the odds of his plan succeeding by even a tiny fraction.
At a time like this, if spouting some bullshit could give Leo Ash high blood pressure, then it would be a very worthwhile trade.
This technique, to put it bluntly, was a means of provoking the enemy to reveal a flaw.
It was simple, but most of the time, it was genuinely effective.
However, Otto's plan was a good one.
But in a sense, Leo Ash was already the person in this world who understood Otto the best.
Under these circumstances, how could he be angered by these few words from Otto?
Seeing that his words had failed to have any effect on Leo Ash, Otto truly realized that he might have never understood this subordinate whom he had once regarded as a 'lucky charm'.
From the moment Leo Ash appeared before him today, Otto, who had expected the other party to have extreme emotions, now felt a little frightened as he reviewed Leo Ash's performance. The man was just too calm.
From the moment Leo Ash appeared at that base, the original Otto, who had survived thanks to the God of Honkai interfering with the power of the Herrscher of Binding, was forced to deploy his ill-prepared backup plan.
The plan launched by the original Otto did indeed achieve excellent results.
After throwing out the facts that 'Schicksal's Archbishop is a lackey of the Honkai,' 'he has harmed many loyal subjects of Schicksal in the past,' and 'Otto let the Honkai develop unchecked,' he launched missiles and then showed the image of Kolosten being blown up while everyone was still emotionally unsettled.
After this series of operations, Otto, as the Herrscher of Domination, successfully threw Schicksal into chaos by exploiting the trait that 'the Domination Core makes it easier for people to fall into despair.'
According to the original Otto's thinking, this plan should at least buy him some time.
After all, while Leo Ash was an Avenger, he was also a good person.
The fact that he would always be the first to charge ahead when on missions with people from other branches was enough to show that he defined himself as both the divine scythe that destroys the Honkai [Harpe] and the holy shield that protects his comrades [Aias].
With Schicksal in chaos, it was impossible for Leo Ash to abandon its people. And by holding Leo Ash back, Otto would have a chance to launch his new plan after obtaining the power of the Herrscher of the Void.
But the idea was beautiful, yet reality told Otto—he was overthinking things.
His judgment of Leo Ash's character was not wrong. Leo Ash did indeed immediately go to Schicksal HQ after a large number of Schicksal members were driven to despair by the Domination Core.
But he truly hadn't expected that damned Wraith to have started her own plan long ago, trapping one of the Domination Cores with her own methods.
And Leo Ash, having obtained a Domination Core, took less than ten seconds to completely awaken all the despairing members of Schicksal.
Their awakening didn't mean they had forgotten their hatred for the Honkai and the traitor Otto.
But these people were, after all, elites selected for Schicksal HQ. Their mental fortitude was already stronger than that of ordinary people, and the reason they fell into despair so quickly was because of the Domination Core.
After waking up, this group of elites immediately made a very rational judgment for themselves.
Those who could suppress their emotions immediately reported to others, letting them know that they were a threat and must be strictly monitored as Herrschers.
Those who still couldn't control their inner emotions were even more direct and brutally simple, going to Dr. Magi for a shot and suppressing the power of the Herrscher Core with diluted HSN serum.
Otto's plan to buy time only delayed Leo Ash for a few minutes.
And in a situation like this, a few minutes... was jack shit!
Otto, still sorting through the intelligence, really hadn't expected Leo Ash to have made such thorough preparations in secret.
What terrified him even more was that when Leo Ash used his quantum entanglement ability to awaken others, the original Otto, as the holder of the Domination Core, naturally felt the emotions in Leo Ash's heart.
Leo Ash's disgust for the Honkai was undoubtedly all real.
And for Otto, this lackey of the Honkai, Leo Ash was naturally filled with rage.
He had thought that a rage-filled Leo Ash would go berserk upon seeing him.
But now...
Even with his heart full of anger and hatred, he could still calmly suppress these two emotions and focus all his attention on eroding the Theater?
Is that the kind of mental fortitude a seventeen-year-old kid could possess?
But now, as Otto was pondering the problem, the others, faced with Otto's shameless words, had already reacted.
As the person who had suffered the most at Otto's hands, Siegfried felt like his blood pressure was about to explode.
"How the fuck do you have the nerve to say something like that? I was out there fighting for my life, and after sealing the Herrscher Core, you fed me and Cecilia a Honkai Fission Missile—and you have the goddamn nerve to call that 'some wrong decisions' and 'causing some chaos'?!"
Ah, Leo Ash didn't take the bait, but Siegfried took it immediately.
Sigh, if Leo Ash were as easy to deal with as Siegfried, I wouldn't have been forced into this situation.
"Yeah, Uncle Siegfried has a point."
Wendy had already placed her hand on the Jizō Mitama at her waist.
Gently stroking the tachi that emanated a malevolent aura, Wendy stared coldly at Otto, wishing she could draw her weapon and chop his head off right now.
"I believed that as the Bishop, you wouldn't harm us Valkyries, so I participated in that experiment, but you—you never intended to seriously fight the Honkai from the very beginning!"
"You never took the lives of us Valkyries seriously at all!"
"And you talk about treating our families well—after getting us killed, you offer a few hypocritical nice words, and you want to call that 'kindness'?"
Wendy... her reaction right now was how a normal teenager should feel.
As for Fu Hua, who had known Otto for five hundred years, she didn't waste her breath on him.
She knew this man's sophistry definitely had another purpose. Instead of wasting time berating him now, it was better to concentrate on guarding against his next move.
As for Bianka, who had the most complicated feelings at the moment, after hearing Otto's shameless speech, she had truly cast aside all her past affection for him.
The witch Medea had already revealed her venomous scorpion heart. All Durandal could do now was send this witch to the underworld, so she could no longer harm others.
Everyone emanated a terrifying aura of rage and killing intent, but until now, Leo Ash, the primary target of Otto's provocation, had actually remained more and more composed.
The calmer Leo Ash was, the more anxious Otto became.
It seemed like a standoff to buy time, but if this continued, Otto's Theater would really be stolen by Leo Ash.
I'll probe a few more times, and if it doesn't work...
—I'll just have to make a move!
If they fought here, these hundreds of Ottos would definitely be wiped out by such a strong lineup.
But at the same time, as long as it could disrupt Leo Ash's erosion of the Theater, the deaths of hundreds of Ottos... would be worth it.
Otto Apocalypse was undoubtedly a selfish villain. If it were for any other purpose, the independent individuals would never fight so desperately for the original Otto.
But now, the original Otto, who controlled the Theater, was undoubtedly the one among them with the best chance of turning the tables.
For the sake of resurrecting Kallen... what was a mere life worth!
"Speaking of which, before we start fighting, I think you ladies should introduce yourselves."
Looking at the two women in black robes at the edge of the group, and another one who was constantly pulling on Siegfried's protective suit to stop him from rushing in to get his head blown off, Otto said with a smile.
"You ladies don't seem to be Schicksal Valkyries. Getting involved in this mess... isn't very appropriate, is it?"
"If you're so curious about our identities, then..."
After taking off the hood of her black robe, Ji Lin was the first to reveal her face.
"Ji Lin, you should have heard this name."
"Hua is my friend, and Leo Ash is my benefactor. I don't think it's hard to understand why I'm fighting for them."
This woman... is the real Ji Lin?
Why is a hero of Shenzhou who was supposed to have died five thousand years ago here????
Upon seeing Ji Lin, a strange feeling suddenly arose in Otto's heart.
And in the next moment, all the Ottos present suddenly widened their eyes.
"My turn."
Taking off her own hood, Yae Sakura said coldly to Otto.
"Yae Sakura, I think you should know this name."
"Otto Apocalypse. Five hundred years ago, Kallen once told me about you. But at that time, she still believed you were the one in Schicksal who could understand her the most."
"But now..."
Looking at the man before her, Yae Sakura shook her head in disappointment.
"If Kallen saw the things you're doing now, she would only become even more saddened."
Yae Sakura!!!!
This woman...
This woman...
How could this woman be here!!!
Did she become a Pseudo-Herrscher because she came into contact with Herrscher powers???
Although Otto had put this woman in a game to beat her up every day, his feelings for her were actually very complicated.
On one hand, he believed that Kallen ended up so weak because of Yae Sakura, but at the same time, Otto was very grateful to Yae Sakura for saving Kallen.
It was precisely because gratitude and aversion were both emotions Otto held for Yae Sakura that he would both put her in a game to beat her up daily and craft a pair of dual pistols, [Spirit Guns - Yae], to commemorate this miko he had never met.
However, now, looking at the disappointed expression on Yae Sakura's face, Otto really wanted to question her...
—Why the hell is Kallen dead, while you, you damn woman, are still alive!!!
"As for me..."
After taking off her hood, Cecilia said coldly to Otto.
"Your judgment was wrong, Otto."
"Unfortunately, I am a Schicksal Valkyrie."
"It's been fourteen years, Otto Apocalypse, I think..."
"—There's no need for introductions between us."
"Who... Who the hell are you!!!"
Looking at Cecilia's face, Otto roared at her with a ferocious expression.
"Cecilia Schariac is definitely dead!!!!"
The commotion caused by hundreds of Ottos roaring in unison made everyone cover their ears in disgust.
Wow, this guy's voice is so loud.
"Ah, about that..."
At this moment, Leo Ash, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke.
"No one ever said... that the dead can't be resurrected."
"What's wrong, Lord Bishop Otto? Why did you lose your composure so badly after seeing someone you killed appear before you?"
"You, who have been trying to resurrect Kallen Kaslana all this time, haven't forgotten that she was killed by you, have you?"
"And now... your reaction makes me feel that your mental fortitude over the past five hundred years hasn't been up to par."
Upon hearing Leo Ash's words, all the Ottos simultaneously stared intently at the young man.
Otto had never expected that he, who had intended to interfere with Leo Ash, would almost have his composure shattered by a few words from Leo Ash after those three revealed their identities.
"Leo Ash..."
Forcibly suppressing the hatred in his heart, Otto said to Leo Ash in a cold voice.
"Tell me how to resurrect Cecilia."
"Don't you want control of the Theater? As long as I can confirm this method works, I will hand the Theater over to you directly."
"Ah, about that... let's forget it."
Faced with Otto's outlandish idea, Leo Ash seemed to hesitate for only a second before giving his answer.
"You were able to throw fission missiles at your own subordinates in the past. For someone like you who has betrayed his allies, betrayed his subordinates, betrayed Schicksal, and even betrayed all of humanity, I have no intention of trusting you in the slightest."
"Lord Bishop Otto... I suppose I'll call you that one last time today."
Feeling that his erosion of the Theater had exceeded sixty percent, Leo Ash suddenly showed Otto a warm smile.
"Perhaps you did have some merits in the past, but your betrayal of all humanity has long since amounted to sins that outweigh those merits by an unknowable number of times."
"The reason Schicksal has been able to protect humanity for five hundred years is not because you were a dog for the Honkai, but because of the selfless battles and painstaking efforts of our Schicksal predecessors over five hundred years."
"And now, with things as they are, I think it's about time for you to make your exit, so..."
At this moment, Leo Ash spoke to Otto with utmost sincerity.
"Your subordinate, Leo Ash, has come to ask for your death."
"Everyone, stop wasting time with him—let's show him the trump card we've prepared!"
"Oh!" *N
At Leo Ash's command, everyone who had been assigned a Jizō Mitama pressed the button Welt had used to activate and deactivate the camouflage.
As everyone revealed their weapons, the Ottos, who already felt something was wrong, truly felt... like they had seen it all today.
And Himeko, Bronya, and Isla Ash, who had no idea what everyone had gotten from Anti-Entropy, widened their eyes even more.
As the hardworking intelligence officer who spent her days poring over databases, Bronya exclaimed in shock.
"This is Jizō Mitama, why..."
Then, Bronya, as the Herrscher of Reason, and Otto, who had been at odds with the Herrscher of Reason his entire life, simultaneously understood where so many Jizō Mitamas came from.
This was all the result of the Herrscher of Reason's efforts!
Previously, Otto hadn't thought that Welt could replicate a Divine Key.
But Otto's impression of Welt was still stuck at the time when Welt almost died after taking a full combo from Fu Hua.
In Otto's eyes, even if Welt, whose injuries were so severe they were difficult to heal, had the ability to replicate a Divine Key, he would be unable to perform this feat that Joyce could accomplish with ease due to his poor condition.
But what he didn't know was that after Welt took the medicine Leo Ash had entrusted to Su, not only did he fully recover from all his injuries, but he also entered his peak state.
Welt, who had been replicating Jizō Mitama until today, might have been a little tired.
But compared to Otto's fantasy of 'Ah, Joachim is so heavily injured yet looks so well, he must be putting on a good act,' Welt was actually in the best possible shape, aside from not having a core.
If Leo Ash's rebuttal had just broken Otto's composure, then now, seeing the Jizō Mitamas, the Ottos were completely drenched in sweat.
At this point, it was already too late for them to run.
But if they fought head-on, a Soulium Body against Jizō Mitama... was there any point in fighting?
Bronya, knowing she wasn't the main force, had already sheltered Isla Ash behind her.
And although Himeko didn't have a Jizō Mitama, as the Herrscher of Flame, even if she didn't dare use her full power, she could still easily win against an Otto without a Divine Key by fighting with the Power of Flame, which had the highest destructive power.
As for Stan, who wasn't originally a member of Schicksal but had joined early on, after waking up and seeing Leo Ash's current lineup, he truly felt...
He was glad he made the right choice back then.
Just a few months ago, he was at least the seventh strongest in the Far East Branch, after Leo Ash, Theresa, Kiana, Yuna, Mei, and Fu Hua... as a cat.
But now, he deeply understood one thing, and that was...
—On this battlefield, an Emperor-class is useless.
Whether it was on their side or the enemy's, everyone was radiating a Herrscher-level pressure.
Although there were differences between Herrscher-levels, even the unlucky guy who was unconscious next to him gave Stan the feeling that 'beating it up would be no problem.'
If he hadn't seen that his side seemed to have a slight advantage, Stan might have started trembling by now.
No matter how much Otto pretended to be calm now, everyone could tell from his previous words and his current subtle movements that Otto's composure had been completely shattered.
And now, facing an enemy force where almost everyone wielded a Jizō Mitama, Otto was shocked to find that these replicated swords were all emitting a portion of their power.
This emitted corrosive power was now ignoring its masters' will and slowly drifting toward Leo Ash, entering his body.
This... It's over.
After Leo Ash connected the Jizō Mitamas and the Blank Key, he had temporarily become the Herrscher of Corruption.
And for the Key of Corruption to be near the Herrscher of Corruption and actively emit power for the Herrscher to absorb... didn't seem that far-fetched...
This is bad!
At this moment, the Ottos, who were temporarily unsure of how to act, suddenly received a message from the original Otto via quantum entanglement.
[There's a problem with the Theater, retreat!]
After so many Keys of Corruption emitted their power, although Leo Ash was a fake Herrscher of Corruption, he still absorbed a portion of that power.
With his corrosive power strengthened, his speed of eroding the Theater naturally became faster.
And now, when the last straw that broke the camel's back appeared, Leo Ash completely overwhelmed the original Otto and temporarily became the master of this Theater.
The moment Leo Ash accomplished this, he liberated Kiana and Isla Ash's powers, allowing them to regain their strength.
"Eh, this power is?"
Feeling the power return to her body, Kiana looked at herself in disbelief.
"My power is back?"
And after the power of the Herrscher of the Void returned to its host, the Ottos no longer had any hesitation and chose a tactic that no one had expected.
In front of everyone, these Ottos...
—without a second word, they simply started to flee in all directions.
"Hey, wait a minute."
Seeing the Ottos try to run after coming out so aggressively and spouting a few lines of bullshit, Siegfried really became anxious.
Wait, what's with these guys? They came out just to say a few words?
Since when did Otto go from being an insidious villain to such a moron?
As for the current Ottos, they couldn't be bothered with the bullets Siegfried was firing from behind.
After Leo Ash became the master of the Theater, even their permission to enter and exit was suppressed.
According to the Ottos' original plan, they were to launch a fierce attack, then interfere with Leo Ash's state of mind or even directly interrupt his move to seize the Theater.
But now, Leo Ash had already successfully seized the Theater.
And at the same time, after everyone revealed their Jizō Mitamas, the Otto army completely lost its last chance of victory.
At a time like this, they naturally had to change their strategy from [Assault and disrupt Leo Ash's actions] to [Run first, every one that escapes can buy time].
Siegfried had been locked in the Kaslana Stigmata by Kevin during this time, so he didn't know how many preparations Leo Ash, Su, and Welt had made.
The current Otto, after Leo Ash disabled his 'Rebirth Program,' had actively abandoned the support of Schicksal HQ to make a final gamble.
But because Leo Ash and the others' preparations were so comprehensive, all of Otto's delaying tactics only held Leo Ash up for a few minutes.
And in the end, because of the large number of Jizō Mitamas that Welt had prepared in advance and the plans he had laid out, the situation Otto faced changed from 'if I don't work hard, I'll lose the initiative' to 'if I don't run, I'm done for'.
In Siegfried's eyes, Otto suddenly popping out and running away was like a moron.
But Otto himself knew that if he really stayed here to clash head-on with this group, he would be the real moron.
Although the Theater of Domination had been temporarily seized by Leo Ash, Otto was not completely without a chance to counterattack.
He still had a way to concentrate the power of the Domination Cores, and if all the cores he held erupted with power at once, he might be able to temporarily regain control of the Theater.
But the premise for all of this was—that a sufficient number of Ottos escaped.
Among the people present, not many had powerful long-range attacks, so Otto judged that as long as he could use the distance advantage to pull away, he could still grasp this final chance of victory!
But facing these Ottos who were trying to escape, Leo Ash had already thought of a countermeasure.
It wasn't because his brain was better than Otto's.
To this day, Leo Ash still felt that Otto was definitely much smarter than him.
His current advantage was purely because he had seen the script, so he could prepare targeted tactics against Otto's advantages in advance.
The reason he could think of a solution so quickly was actually very simple—he just had too many cards in his hand.
With an overwhelming advantage and both sides having normal brains, Leo Ash, holding so many trump cards, could easily play a royal flush to deal with Otto.
"Teacher, please connect your consciousness with Kiana's and Bronya's."
"Kiana, you are responsible for using the power of the Herrscher of the Void to teleport the Ottos back to our side. Bronya, you will assist Kiana in calculating the coordinates."
"Move out, we absolutely cannot let them escape."
"Understood!" *3
At this moment, everyone tacitly agreed that Leo Ash's words were commands they must obey.
After finishing his tactical instructions for the three, Leo Ash looked at Yuna, Bianka, and Cecilia.
"Yuna, Mrs. Schariac, Bianka, the three of you use your respective Herrscher Cores and the Power of Creation from the Divine Keys..."
"Hmm, on second thought, it's better for Mrs. Schariac and Bianka to focus their Power of Creation on Yuna."
"Yuna will be responsible for creating powerful Honkai energy plants, using the dense vegetation as a cage. Then, after Kiana and the others bring the Ottos back, we'll imprison them directly inside."
"That way, he won't be able to escape."
"As for the rest of you... feel free to improvise."
At this moment, the expression that Otto had wanted to see, but definitely not now, finally appeared on Leo Ash's face.
Leo Ash smiled at everyone and said.
"Everyone who came here today has some kind of blood feud with Otto, so now..."
"Our slogan is—everyone gets their revenge, everyone gets to kill an Otto!"
While Leo Ash was speaking, everyone had already sprung into action.
Following Leo Ash's instructions, Fu Hua connected her consciousness with Kiana and Bronya's, then began to emit psychic energy to help Kiana accurately locate the enemies.
After Bronya used her brain chip to help Kiana finish calculating the coordinates, the scattered Ottos, who hadn't gotten far, were directly teleported back to their original positions by Kiana using the power of the Herrscher of the Void.
Moreover, some of the Ottos, possessing a 'weakened version of the Herrscher of Wind's power', had already used a special application of this power to conceal themselves.
But because of Fu Hua's psychic assistance, even if these Ottos were invisible, they were still found by Fu Hua and brought back to their original positions by Kiana in one go.
At the same time, Bianka and Cecilia, the mother-daughter pair who had long since channeled the power of creation from their two Abyss Flowers, simultaneously transferred this power to Yuna.
Using the third source of creative power within her, Yuna combined these three powers with her own ability to create Honkai energy plants, successfully creating countless towering trees.
The Ottos, who had just been pulled back by the power of the Herrscher of the Void, unhesitatingly launched attacks upon seeing the towering trees blocking their path.
But...
—Such desperate struggles were already useless.
After all, it was impossible for the others to just stand by and watch while these six were in action.
By the time the six had completed their coordinated effort to capture the Ottos, Wendy had already used the power of the Herrscher of Wind to give everyone a wind-speed acceleration buff.
And at the same time, although Leo Ash didn't act directly, he had already channeled a portion of his corrosive power into this beast cage, directly eroding the bodies of these Ottos.
When dispersed, this power certainly couldn't completely corrode Otto.
But as long as it eroded parts of their bodies and weakened a portion of their combat strength, Leo Ash believed that if he left the battlefield to everyone else, they wouldn't disappoint him.
With the acceleration buff, by the time the Ottos were preparing to attack, the remaining warriors had already charged into the Otto army, beginning a gratifying revenge.
"Wait!"
An Otto, seeing Wendy before him, suddenly tried to speak.
"I have something to—"
"Nobody wants to hear your bullshit!"
Stabbing her blade directly into this Otto's mouth, Wendy immediately activated the power of Jizō Mitama, eroding the Otto's Soulium Body.
"All of you, calm down a bit—"
"Calm your ass down."
Siegfried shoved the Judgment of Shamash into this Otto's mouth and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Damn it, I risked my life for you back then, and you tried to take mine."
"And that's not even all, you caused me, my wife, and my daughter to end up in this state—you think we'd still give you a chance?!"
Seeing the Otto in front of her looking like he was about to speak, Mei drew her Jizō Mitama and stabbed it straight through his body.
"Uncle Siegfried is right. There's no need for any of us to listen to this guy's nonsense."
"Yeah."
After pulling all the Ottos back, Kiana used her power to instantly teleport herself and Fu Hua to Otto's side, stabbing her blade into his lower ribs.
"You're not planning on saying that nonsense to me, as 'Sirin', are you?"
"I may not want to destroy the world, but I haven't forgotten what those people at Babylon Tower did to Sirin."
"If you hadn't let them conduct such demonic experiments, Sirin wouldn't have despaired to that extent!"
"Kiana is right."
Fu Hua grabbed an Otto's head with one palm and began to gather a large amount of Honkai Energy in her fist.
"In the past, I was weak and thought that after I lost some of my power, Shenzhou needed a new guardian to protect it."
"But now, I realize how utterly wrong I was."
"They are far stronger than I imagined. For these five hundred years, they have protected Shenzhou well."
"And at the same time—you are not a guardian, but a destroyer!"
After punching and exploding the Otto's head, Fu Hua let out a deep breath.
"Let's end it all here today, Otto."
"Hua is right, and I know everything that happened in the past now."
At that moment, Ji Lin saw an Otto trying to sneak-attack Fu Hua and sliced off his arm with a single strike.
"Your actions have already caused countless disasters. If you are allowed to continue, Shenzhou will also be forced to face an even greater calamity."
"Otto Apocalypse, although I have almost no grudge against you, you must die here today."
"No, wait—"
An Otto, who was relatively far from the group, roared furiously at Cecilia.
"If I die, the members of the three great Schicksal houses will all be—"
"If you were alive, would you have spared them?"
Piercing Otto's abdomen with Abyss Flower, Cecilia said coldly.
"I once regarded you as a lord worthy of my loyalty, but what I got in return were two Honkai Fission Missiles."
"And now, do you still think we would compromise just because of a few words from you?"
"Bianka—"
"Lord Bishop Otto."
Piercing this Otto's neck with her Abyss Flower, Durandal lifted him up on the tip of her lance.
"You once told me not to show any mercy to Medea. I have always remembered those words."
"So, it's time for you to go to hell, Medea."
Yuna rushed over without a word. Facing the person who had indirectly caused the Third Eruption to break out smoothly, her only choice was to use her full power of [Death] to destroy his body.
"Ahh, I really didn't expect this."
After cutting an Otto's body open with the Godsbane Sword loaded with excess Honkai Energy, Himeko said with a hint of emotion.
"I was thinking about how to get rid of a menace like you before, but now..."
"Murata, if I die here, Theresa will also—"
"Just shut up, you still have the nerve to mention her?"
After igniting the Otto's body with fierce flames, Himeko suddenly said in a cold voice.
"Although Theresa always had objections to some of your methods, she truly regarded you as her most important family member."
"Captain Ragna too. Before she died, she must have considered you a leader she had to be loyal to."
"But you betrayed Theresa's expectations, betrayed Captain Ragna's trust, betrayed the loyalty of everyone in Schicksal. At a time like this..."
"—None of us will show you any mercy!"
Leo Ash, who was watching all of this, suddenly received a message from Li Sushang through quantum entanglement.
[Uncle! Are you free right now?]
[The Herrscher you mentioned, I've run into her. She's not easy to deal with. If I don't use Sword God, I might have trouble suppressing her!]
Oh, calm down.
"Kiana, stop for a moment."
After saying this to Kiana, who was furiously poking Otto's Soulium butt, Leo Ash added.
"Sense if there are any other powerful energy fluctuations in the nearby space."
"Bring the two people at the center of the energy fluctuation over. I'll take care of this final problem."
"Huh? Oh, oh, I got it."
After giving the Otto in front of her a vicious stab, Kiana immediately leaped back to a safe area and began using her Herrscher powers to search for the space Leo Ash mentioned.
In the next second, Kiana looked at Leo Ash in surprise.
"Senior, that girl who calls herself the Class Rep's grand-disciple seems to be getting chased by Anna."
"That's right, it's them—teleport them to a position outside the cage."
"Understood."
In an instant, Li Sushang and the Herrscher-transformed Anna Schariac, who had been a considerable distance from everyone just moments ago, appeared before Leo Ash.
Upon seeing Leo Ash, Anna, who had been gradually falling into the abyss, was suddenly stunned.
Then, the Herrscher of Ice, who had been relentlessly attacking her surroundings, suddenly stopped her assault.
"Leo Ash..."
"Please, kill—"
"Alright, what's with the killing? Things have gotten this far, you don't think a mere Herrscher can cause any trouble in front of me, do you?"
Pulling the frosty Anna into his arms, Leo Ash rewrote Anna's personality with Phantasmagoria while also soothing her emotions.
At the same time, he directly released the Field of Binding, suppressing the Herrscher energy and Honkai Energy radiating from Anna, then took out the God-Slaying Spear and gave her a shot.
Watching her uncle deal with an opponent that had been incredibly difficult for her, one she might have had to risk her life against, in just two seconds, Li Sushang could only think...
—This uncle's strength, could it be far greater than Grand Master's?
"Sushang?!"
After an Otto called out Li Sushang's name in surprise, Li Sushang finally noticed a scene that made her blood boil.
Before her eyes, countless Raksha were currently...
Oh, one couldn't say they were fighting.
After their bodies were eroded by Leo Ash's corrosive power, the weakened versions of Otto without Divine Keys were simply being reaped unilaterally by the members of the Schicksal anti-Otto squad, who were all at least single-core Herrscher-level.
"Sushang, save me, those things were definitely a misunderstanding—"
"Misunderstanding my ass!"
At the sight of Otto, Li Sushang became so angry that she floated into mid-air.
"You bastard, I really trusted you in the past."
"But now, I'm certain that everything Uncle told me is true, so..."
"—Do you think this young lady will let you continue your evil deeds?!"
"Everyone, please make way!"
"The divine is the pinnacle of change, shaping all things, yet cannot be shaped itself."
Chanting the mantra to activate Sword God, Li Sushang, without any hesitation, thrust her strongest sword at Otto, for whom she once held great affection.
"Edge of Taixu—Spirit Skandha!"
As the enormous sword of Shenzhou descended from the sky, the people who had retreated in time all felt a palpable resentment from the Honkai Energy blade.
Then, after the sword fell, everyone looked at the large swath of Ottos laid to waste in the crater and became certain of one thing.
To strike so ruthlessly, she must really hate Otto.
Confirmed, this person is definitely an ally.
After Li Sushang's wrathful Sword God strike, the number of remaining Ottos was much smaller.
While the others were harvesting the lives of the Ottos, Isla Ash walked up to Leo Ash and asked.
"Dad, aren't you going to make a move?"
"I thought you really hated that old geezer Otto."
Dad, huh...
Hearing Isla Ash say this name so naturally, Leo Ash suddenly felt a pang of loneliness.
Sigh, although the current Isla is also very cute, I still prefer it when she called me Papa.
But forget it, a daughter's growth is inevitable.
Although my daughter's growth rate is a tiny bit fast, but... sigh, I can only accept this reality.
"Well, let's let everyone vent their anger first for now."
Gently stroking Isla Ash's head, Leo Ash said to her softly.
"Isla, if you're not going to close your eyes, you must remember one thing."
"Eh, what is it?"
"Dad isn't asking you to be a good person your whole life, but in life, you should still try to do fewer bad things, or none at all. After all..."
"—If you do too many bad things, you'll eventually face retribution like this old geezer."
"Mm, I'll remember that!"
While the father and daughter were conversing as if it were a normal day, the battle, which could hardly be called a battle, finally came to an end.
When only one last Otto remained on the field, Yae Sakura, looking at the Otto before her, had already raised the Jizō Mitama in her hand.
"Wait! Yae Sakura!"
Looking at the miko he now hated so much, Otto immediately roared at Yae Sakura with all his might.
"I have a way to resurrect Kallen! Don't you want to see Kallen again?!"
"Kallen, huh..."
After a look of nostalgia appeared on her face, Yae Sakura immediately gave a firm answer.
"Of course, I wish to see Kallen again."
"So—"
"However, I do not wish to meet Kallen by defiling her beliefs."
Looking at Otto, who was about to say something but was stunned by her words, Yae Sakura's expression suddenly returned to calm.
"I have done many wrong things in the past. Because of the hatred in my heart, I made an irreversible mistake."
"But at that time, Kallen protected me, who had sinned, allowing my soul to be preserved."
"I firmly believe that Kallen not only protected me, but also protected others."
"And now, you, who were once acknowledged by Kallen, have done so many things to harm others."
"Otto Apocalypse, as I see it now—you, who have betrayed her trust, are not worthy of even mentioning Kallen Kaslana's name!"
"No, that's not right, I—"
"There is nothing not right about it."
At that moment, Yae Sakura slashed down at Otto.
"It is time to say farewell, Mr. Otto Apocalypse, whom I meet for the first time."
"But someone like you, who cannot go to heaven, probably won't be able to see Kallen again even after death."
As the heretical miko swung her tachi, the last Otto on the field completely lost consciousness.
After all this was done, everyone looked at Leo Ash, who had been tacitly acknowledged as their leader.
"Ah, everyone..."
Looking at everyone's questioning gazes, Leo Ash thought for a moment and then said.
"Please leave the next matter for me to handle alone."
"After going through so much, I think..."
"—I probably need to have a private chat with Otto and settle things with him once and for all."
"Is that so."
Looking at Leo Ash, who had an inexplicable look in his eyes, Fu Hua asked with a hint of unease.
"Leo Ash, you... you're not planning to do anything foolish, are you?"
"Teacher, I am very clear-headed right now, clearer and calmer than ever before."
"Mm, I see—then we'll clean up the scene here. We'll leave Otto to you."
After hearing their conversation, the others didn't say much and started to deal with the scattered pieces of Soulium.
As for Kiana, she looked at Leo Ash with great worry and asked.
"Senior, you now..."
"You don't need to send me over. Just act with everyone else."
Only one last person left, huh? Then...
Using the Theater's internal teleportation ability to move himself to where that man was, Leo Ash tightly gripped the Jizō Mitama in his hand and slowly walked toward him.
After dealing with this guy, everything will be over.
"Leo Ash, you've come."
Watching Leo Ash slowly walk toward him, Otto's face showed none of the panic or resentment Leo Ash had imagined.
At this moment, he looked just as he usually did when he was pretending, with a warm smile.
"Yes, I'm here."
"Actually, I've been thinking for a long time. I really feel that there's no need for us to continue fighting."
Looking at the impossibly calm Leo Ash, Otto smiled and said.
"You want the Theater of Domination, you have it now. But I think, with God supporting me, you still won't be able to control this Theater."
"I want to make a deal with you. If you are willing to agree to my request, I don't mind handing over the Theater of Domination and the Domination Cores to you on the spot."
"And if you don't agree..."
At this point, Otto suddenly seemed to realize something and deliberately stopped talking.
"Provoking you at a time like this seems unnecessary."
"How about it? I've basically admitted defeat now. Under these circumstances, are you willing to hear my request?"
"I'm going to lose anyway. Hearing a few words from me won't do you any harm, right?"
....