Shenzhou, Taixu Mountain.
A Daoist priestess in cloud-patterned robes hurried up the stone steps, a look of anxiety on her face.
As if something terrible had happened.
"Chaoyu, what is the matter?"
Then, a voice devoid of any emotion sounded from within the forest.
The girl running up the steps stopped. She looked up, revealing a bright and pretty face.
She was the widely renowned head disciple of the Seven Swords of Taixu, Lin Chaoyu.
She was twenty-five years old this year.
Lin Chaoyu looked towards the very top of the steps, where a slender figure stood.
She wore a bird-shaped hairpin. Her long, light-gray hair was tied back, while strands of fine hair fell in front, obscuring her right eye.
Her eyelids were half-lowered, her serene and solemn azure eyes like a boundless, pale sky. Her exquisite face held an otherworldly charm, and the blue and white Daoist robes she wore were tinged with an ethereal mist, like a landscape scroll painted with splashed ink.
And beneath this scroll-like image was a pair of long, fair legs, as white as frost and snow.
She was the master of this Taixu Mountain.
The Celestial Emissary, Chiyuan.
Also known as the MANTIS of the Previous Era, HUA.
"M-Master." Hearing her master's voice, Lin Chaoyu regulated her breathing, then bowed slightly to Fu Hua. "This disciple wishes to descend the mountain."
Hearing her head disciple's words, the Celestial Emissary showed no reaction, like a pool of still water where no ripples could form.
"Why?" she asked again.
"Because the Rakshasa Demons wish to invade Shenzhou, this disciple wishes to go down the mountain to help."
Lin Chaoyu lowered her head, her words respectful.
The Celestial Emissary's gaze lowered to her disciple, and she slowly shook her head.
"Permission denied," the Celestial Emissary said flatly.
Hearing her master's refusal, Lin Chaoyu looked up in disbelief.
"Master! Why?! If the Rakshasa Demons invade, the people of Shenzhou will be harmed!"
Lin Chaoyu didn't understand. It was her master who had taught her to be a hero of justice, to punish demons and devils.
Could it be that her master truly...
The Celestial Emissary did not speak. She took a step, descending the stairs one by one, walking toward her disciple.
"Master, you..."
In an instant, the Celestial Emissary was before Lin Chaoyu, but she did not stop.
She continued down the mountain.
"I will go."
Just three simple words.
Lin Chaoyu's eyes widened slightly. She looked at her master and said, somewhat surprised, "You're going alone?"
Her homeland was in peril. The Celestial Emissary wasn't forbidding her disciples from going down the mountain; she was personally re-entering the mortal world.
The Celestial Emissary did not look back.
She simply said, very plainly.
"Not alone."
Indeed, not alone.
Otto walked beside the Celestial Emissary, shoulder to shoulder with her.
But no one could perceive him.
Otto turned his head to look at the otherworldly beauty of the Fu Hua beside him. The current Celestial Emissary was becoming more and more like the Fu Hua he knew.
The soft, moe Fu Hua from before was gone forever.
The current Fu Hua was more like an immortal, indifferent to the emotions of the mortal world, just as her title suggested.
However, Otto did not dislike the current Fu Hua, because he had seen her entire transformation.
It couldn't be helped. Anyone who failed continuously would become withdrawn.
After leaving the cryo-pod and reuniting with Kevin and the other MANTISes, Fu Hua had begun to search for the new humans on the continent, carrying out Project Ark.
Fu Hua spread the knowledge of the Previous Era to the most ancient humans of Shenzhou, allowing the spark of the last era to be kindled in this one.
Her assistants in this project were Danzhu and Cangxuan, two little ancestors who were also survivors of the Previous Era, and had even been Mobius's assistants.
Soon, the civilization of Shenzhou developed rapidly.
But the good times did not last. Because the humans of this era had received too much knowledge that was ahead of their time, it gave birth to the Judgment-class Honkai Beast, Chiyou.
At that time, Fu Hua was too far away to return in time. The result was that Danzhu and Cangxuan died in battle, and Jilin sacrificed herself to seal Chiyou. Shenzhou's civilization was devastated, and Project Ark was declared a complete failure.
And this was the prelude to Fu Hua's continued self-isolation in the new era.
After the failure of Project Ark, Fu Hua, carrying the Cangxuan doll left behind by Danzhu and Cangxuan, roamed the lands of Shenzhou, slaying demons and monsters. But as time passed, although she was an immortal MANTIS who did not age, the mortals she knew gradually passed away.
Slowly, she began to distance herself from the mortal world.
Her temperament became淡漠, as if nothing mattered to her, but she always abided by her promise to Cangxuan, a promise to protect Shenzhou.
After a thousand years, Fu Hua, under the alias Chiyuan, settled on Taixu Mountain. Because of her ageless beauty and extraordinary power, she became known as the Celestial Emissary.
But as Honkai disasters became more frequent, the Celestial Emissary found herself spread too thin. She remembered a suggestion the Cangxuan doll had made to her in the past: to establish a school.
And so, Fu Hua took in seven disciples on Taixu Mountain, who became known as the Seven Swords of Taixu.
And all of this happened under Otto's watchful eye.
Otto had been with Fu Hua all along, and Fu Hua continued to treat him as a figment of her imagination.
Her mental illness hadn't gotten better in over fifty thousand years.
In truth, during the Chiyou incident, he could have saved Danzhu and Cangxuan, but he didn't. Instead, he watched as Fu Hua desperately tried to rush back.
An audience does not step onto the stage.
And in this new era, Otto continued to interact with Fu Hua just as he had in the last, but gradually, Fu Hua spoke less and less, even to this imaginary fantasy of him.
Fu Hua became taciturn.
Much of the time, she would just lie in Otto's arms, like a doll.
A promise to protect Shenzhou, a lifetime of protecting Shenzhou.
Promises and covenants were the chains that bound her. Even the current full-power Fu Hua could not break the shackles she had placed on herself.
But looking at the Fu Hua who was now on the move, Otto understood what Lin Chaoyu meant by "Rakshasa Demons."
In this period, Schicksal's expeditionary forces were invading Shenzhou.
Full of ambition, they wanted to take a bite out of the fat piece of meat that was Shenzhou.
And the term "Rakshasa Demons" was more or less equivalent to "the little Japanese living their good life."
But Otto didn't care if Fu Hua went to beat up the Schicksal of this era.
The Schicksal of this era was full of rot. It was like that when Overseer Nikolas was in charge, and it was like that when Overseer Marcel was in charge.
Of course, Celestial, I must ask you to go easy on the Schicksal of my era as Overseer. My little temple can't handle such a ruckus.
If you really want to cause trouble, come and torment this Bishop instead.
Even if you torment me to death, this Bishop won't mind.
A smile appeared on Otto's face.
Smack!
But then Otto suddenly slapped himself on the forehead, his eyebrows shooting up. He had just remembered something.
What came next was the plot where the Celestial single-handedly defeated Schicksal's expeditionary force, and then...
Fu Hua would meet Otto and Kallen.
And it was... the Otto who stood protectively in front of Kallen.
---o---