Otto had miscalculated one thing.
Or, more precisely, he had been missing a crucial piece of intelligence.
Kiana Kaslana was no longer the naive girl she had once been.
An unfathomable gulf still separated her from becoming an Emanator. Even so, she had already traveled an astonishing distance along the Path of Remembrance.
Leaving aside those abnormal existences that defied every conventional standard, Kiana's present combat strength was already approaching that of a top-tier Flame-Chaser-class MANTIS.
Otto, meanwhile, had only recently stepped onto the Path of Elation and had yet to travel far along it.
At his present level, he had no means of resisting her.
To put it bluntly...
Kiana had grown far faster than Otto.
She had already surpassed him.
And so, today...
Crack... crack...
Inside the containment chamber, the pure-white clown mask began buckling beneath the immense pressure of the gravitational sphere before Kevin could even arrive.
Cracks spread across its entire surface like a spiderweb.
The only thing keeping it from shattering completely was Otto's desperate resistance elsewhere.
"No... No, no..."
Inside the recovery room, Otto's consciousness was being suppressed by a mental force vastly greater than his own.
That force transformed into countless unbreakable chains. They wound around his consciousness one after another, pulled taut, and began violently wrenching him out of Theresa.
It was like extracting a venomous stinger buried deep within the flesh.
Otto continued to struggle.
"I... can't... Not yet..."
If there was one quality in Otto worthy of praise, it was undoubtedly his willpower.
However, even human willpower had its limits.
Otto Apocalypse had never reached the realm where mortal will alone could contend with a god.
With Terminal Aide 1379 already destroying the pure-white clown mask, Kiana did not even need to expend much Imaginary Energy.
Riiip!
CRUNCH!
Otto's consciousness was forcibly torn free from Theresa.
At that exact moment, the gravitational sphere within the giant mechanical hand pulverized the pure-white clown mask.
Inside the recovery room...
"I... still..."
Deprived of its anchor, Otto's consciousness began to dissipate.
Even then, his lingering will desperately reached for another host.
Unfortunately for him, Kiana had already bound him completely with the invisible chains of Aponia's "Discipline," reproduced through "Memory Replication."
She had not even needed to call upon the powers of Hua and Su. The two Phantoms remained nothing more than reserves.
"No."
Kiana spoke that single word in a whisper.
"You should have vanished a long time ago, Otto."
Her gaze remained perfectly calm.
That calmness was so unlike the Kiana they knew that it startled both Otto and Fu Hua.
In truth, neither of them understood...
This was the original Kiana.
The Kiana who had only just enrolled at Chiba Academy.
Once she judged someone "guilty," not even the fragile appearance of a girl like Miyuki Asakura could make her hesitate.
She would raise her gun, place the sights between their eyes, and pull the trigger.
Today...
Kiana had "killed" once again.
Just as she had before.
And the one dying at her hands breathed out a final name.
"Kallen..."
Perhaps, in that instant, the world's most selfish villain watched his entire life flash before him.
What did he truly see?
No one knew.
And no one cared.
Ling Ke, with his power of "Omniscience," certainly could have observed everything.
But at that moment, only one thing interested him.
The result.
As for everything else...
"The defeated should not cling so wretchedly to life."
That was Ling Ke's entire verdict on the source of so much darkness within the former Schicksal Organization.
Otto heard the voice of "God."
Then...
He vanished.
His resentment, his regrets, and his shock at this sudden reversal all vanished with him.
Otto Apocalypse ceased to exist.
The white-haired girl closed her eyes.
The power of "Memory Replication" receded.
The Phantoms of Hua and Su beside her disappeared as well.
Truthfully, Kiana was still far from proficient with this power, which Ling Ke had described as "already touching the threshold of the Divine Realm."
Otherwise, Otto would never have been given even the slightest chance to struggle.
After all, once Aponia was implanted with the Mitra Factor and became a MANTIS, she gained enough power to instantly kill the Herrscher of Sentience from the original timeline.
In other words, even if Aponia's consciousness had not reached the level of a god, she undoubtedly stood among the most powerful Extraordinary beings within that domain.
Unfortunately...
Not even Aponia truly understood how to wield her "Discipline."
That failure led to the many disasters surrounding the "Twelfth Honkai Eruption" in the original timeline.
And through those disasters, the entire world was plunged into chaos once more.
Of course, this time, the fault did not lie with Aponia alone.
There were others...
Vwoom...
A golden-orange teleportation gate opened.
Immediately afterward...
Snap!
The girl (?) who abruptly appeared inside the backup base raised one hand and snapped her fingers.
In the next instant, nearly every core member of the Newborn World Serpent vanished from wherever they had been moments earlier.
They all reappeared inside a training ground built to withstand high-intensity combat.
Everyone stared in astonishment at the person responsible.
"Pardo?"
Sim Elysia stared blankly at the girl (?) standing before her and at Can-chan the Cat perched upon her shoulder.
Then she noticed the two other figures beside her.
"Vill-V!"
That was right.
At the very front stood Pardofelis, holding one Vill-V in each hand.
The sight completely overturned everything the others thought they knew about her.
Pardofelis had always been considered reliable, but no one regarded her as particularly formidable in direct combat.
Yet now, the cat-girl (?) stood before them like a deity descended from above, effortlessly restraining both Vill-Vs by herself.
This was...
Huuu...
Under everyone's stunned gazes, Pardo drew a deep breath.
Then...
"Huh?"
Her divine composure lasted for less than three seconds.
She anxiously swept her gaze across the training ground, searching for something none of the others could see.
The assembled crowd could only stare at her in confusion.
Then they heard...
"Oh... Thank goodness. Thank goodness."
Pardo released a long sigh of relief.
I didn't get that heart-pounding, super-bad feeling.
That means...
"This really is within the 'Rules'!"
She sighed with relief once again before repeatedly muttering, "Thank you, Boss Ling Ke. Thank you, Boss Ling Ke."
Clearly, she had been terrified.
Even so, she had taken the risk and attempted something she herself was not certain would be permitted.
As for this...
"You clever little thing."
Aboard the Stellaron Train, Ling Ke's lips curled into an amused smile.
Only moments earlier, his Omniscience had watched Pardo resolutely crawl out of her warm and comfortable tent.
One teleport had brought her directly before the two Vill-Vs.
One spatial bind had neutralized them both.
Another teleport had carried all three of them to the Newborn World Serpent's backup base.
Then, with a snap of her fingers, Pardo had forcibly gathered every core member before her.
"Becoming an Emanator of Harmony really does let you do whatever you please."
Ling Ke spoke casually, the smile never leaving his face.
He clearly had no intention of stopping her.
Truthfully, ever since The Sundown Alley had been relocated, little within the Earth Human Civilization of the current era still interested him.
The only reason Ling Ke had not yet departed was that he wished to witness the conclusion of Kali's work.
After that, before proceeding to a "grander stage," he would distribute rewards to the "Winner."
Pardo's amusing little actions, all carefully performed within the "Rules," did not anger him.
Instead...
Hmm. I'm in a good mood today.
After all, another person against whom Ling Ke had borne a long-standing grudge had just been erased from the world.
In fact, Ling Ke had once considered condemning Otto to an eternal hell after his end.
For example, he could have forced Otto to witness Kallen's death over and over again, each death caused by Otto's own actions, in a cycle from which he could never escape.
Upon further reflection, however, Ling Ke abandoned the idea.
Given Otto's unscrupulous nature, he might eventually have come to regard such a fate as a "reward."
After all, for Kallen to die repeatedly, she would also need to be "revived" repeatedly.
Otto would be allowed to meet her again and again.
Deep down, that was undoubtedly what he desired.
Ling Ke was not foolish enough to grant Otto's wish indirectly.
Letting the man perish with endless regret and remorse, unable to find peace even in his final moments, was enough.
Anything beyond that would have been unnecessary.
Ultimately...
"You are not worthy of occupying a permanent place in my thoughts."
"Not even a negative one."
Ling Ke no longer cared about Otto.
He had personally witnessed the final, pathetic performance of this "Fool"...
No.
By the end, Otto had been nothing more than a clown.
"You can do nothing."
"And you will not be allowed to do anything."
Ling Ke shifted his attention toward the white-haired girl who had "returned to her beginning."
"Kiana, Kiana..."
"For once, you performed exceptionally well."
"Perhaps I should give you a 'reward' as well?"
"Of course, control over the 'Cocoon of Finality' and the restoration of Raiden Mei are both out of the question."
"The former is the ultimate prize reserved for the 'Winner.' As for the latter... Heh..."
Ling Ke chuckled coldly.
That sound conveyed far more than any explanation could have.
With Otto gone, only one of his old enemies remained.
"Raiden Mei has become the pure Herrscher of Thunder."
"Cocolia and Bronya are dead."
"And in his final moments, Otto fell from 'The Fool' into nothing more than a clown."
"So... what will your end be?"
Ling Ke's gaze crossed an immense distance and settled upon the short-haired woman who was equally powerless to escape her fate.
"Rita Rossweisse."