Otto Apocalypse.
For centuries, this man had been sustained by a single desire.
It was the motive at the root of everything he had done, including the countless deeds he knew were wrong.
To bring Kallen Kaslana back to life.
As for why he wished to resurrect her...
In Otto's own words, Kallen's death had been a mistake committed by the world and a loss suffered by all humanity.
Yes.
Those were precisely the words one would expect from a true believer.
But before Ling Ke completed Project Broken Branch, he had confronted Otto with a merciless question.
"Otto, Otto..."
"Deep within your heart, which truly matters more? Your faith in Kallen, or your need to prove that you can defy this world's iron laws?"
"Is your obsession with resurrecting Saint Kallen truly an act of devotion, or merely the ultimate vindication of yourself?"
To be honest, Otto had returned to that question countless times.
He had even struggled with it.
But now, none of that mattered anymore.
Otto knew that after everything had reached this point, fulfilling his centuries-old wish was no longer possible.
Now, it was not merely human civilization that faced extinction.
Even Earth itself, the third planet from the sun, might soon cease to exist.
The embryo of "Nihility."
It possessed enough power to erase everything.
Its might could even surpass that of the "Cocoon of Finality."
Therefore...
"Help me become the 'God of Earth'?"
Inside the recovery room, Kiana's gaze darkened as she stared at Theresa, whose control over her own body had clearly been stolen once again.
"I don't trust you, Otto Apocalypse."
"Release the Principal and leave her body immediately."
Hearing this...
"I refuse."
"You..."
"Hear me out, Kiana Kaslana."
A sneer crossed Theresa's lips.
"Yes, I said that I have no desire to clash with you."
"That does not mean I am willing to cooperate with you."
Otto briefly turned Theresa's gaze toward Fu Hua before looking back at Kiana.
"I am going to make you the 'God of Earth.' I was not asking for your permission."
"On the contrary..."
Theresa's eyes narrowed.
"I do not even require your assistance."
"Once my plan becomes known, someone... someone more intelligent than you will inevitably volunteer to cooperate with me."
Silence followed his words.
Kiana did not respond.
Fu Hua was about to speak when...
"Otto."
Kiana's voice suddenly turned deathly cold.
A presence unlike anything she had displayed before settled over the room.
For a moment, even Fu Hua froze.
Otto might not have recognized that presence, but Fu Hua knew it all too well.
It was just like...
Aponia!
The nun's face flashed across Fu Hua's mind before she could stop it.
At that same instant...
"Otto, you always seem to believe that once you grasp someone's weakness, their entire life becomes yours to manipulate."
The light faded from Kiana's eyes, leaving them eerily unfocused.
"Unfortunately for you, I am no longer the person I once was."
"Is that so?"
Otto regarded her through Theresa's eyes.
"Then what do you intend to do?"
"I will erase you completely, right here and now."
Kiana pronounced every word with deliberate force.
"I can't let you keep doing as you please."
"Oh?"
Theresa's lips curved upward.
"You believe you can accomplish something even the Flame-Chasers could not?"
"Of course I can."
Kiana began channeling her Path Energy.
"Because now..."
She stepped forward.
"I, too, am a Flame-Chaser!"
Hummm...
Waves of Remembrance energy spread outward in a single instant.
Several Phantoms, each hovering somewhere between reality and illusion, suddenly appeared around Kiana.
They were...
"Su?"
Fu Hua's eyes widened.
"And... me?"
Among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, Aponia had not been the only MANTIS to possess formidable mental abilities.
Su had wielded similar power.
So had Fu Hua when armed with the Eighth Divine Key.
And now...
"This..."
Kiana had replicated the mental powers of three Flame-Chaser-class MANTISes all by herself.
Just then...
"Otto..."
Kiana spoke slowly.
Behind her, the faint outline of a pair of butterfly wings unfurled.
"I am asking you to relinquish control of the Principal's body."
Theresa's eyes flew wide, as though an invisible spell had seized her.
At the very same moment...
Crack!
"Hmm?"
Terminal Aide 1379 had just delivered the pure-white clown mask to a sealed containment chamber and was preparing to leave when a crack appeared along one edge of the mask.
The doll-like girl halted in midair.
She turned back and floated closer to inspect it.
The containment cabinet looked like transparent glass, but a powerful Binding Field surrounded it. A highly sensitive alarm system would activate the instant that field was breached.
Under normal circumstances, there should have been no possibility of anything escaping.
But then...
BOOM!
The Binding Field shattered, and alarms began blaring throughout the chamber.
The pure-white clown mask launched itself directly at Terminal Aide 1379's face.
Just before it struck her...
Clank! Clank!
An enormous mechanical arm materialized out of thin air.
Its hand snapped shut around the mask, trapping it within its palm.
The mask continued vibrating violently, but it could not break free from the mechanical arm's grip.
"It appears that a Binding Field alone is insufficient for secure containment."
Terminal Aide 1379 immediately reported the incident to Prometheus Prime.
Prometheus Prime then relayed the information to Kevin.
"Destroy it immediately."
Kevin issued the order without a moment's hesitation.
Even so, he remained uneasy and was already rushing toward the containment chamber himself.
"Acknowledged."
Terminal Aide 1379 did not care who Otto was.
She had received her orders.
Therefore...
"Annihilation Mode, activate."
The girl-shaped android raised one hand and clenched her empty fingers.
The enormous mechanical hand restraining the clown mask tightened in response.
Clank. Clank. Clank...
BOOM!
A red-and-black gravitational sphere formed within its palm.
The sphere immediately began annihilating the pure-white clown mask.
At the same time...
"You... What kind of power is this?"
Inside the recovery room, Otto struggled against the force constraining him.
For the first time, he found himself facing a form of mental power he did not understand.
He tried to say more, but...
"Otto."
Kiana repeated his name.
"I am 'asking' you..."
"Get out of the Principal's body right now!!!"