"Sister, I need to use the restroom."
After Sakura had brought Rin to a safe place, the Herrscher of Corruption put on an adorable expression, her big eyes looking brightly at her older sister.
Otto, watching this scene from the side, couldn't help but marvel that women were indeed natural-born actors.
However, Rin's actions made it clear to Otto that, having recovered her human memories, she valued Sakura immensely.
Even though this was just an illusion of her sister, Rin still insisted on playing the part of a well-behaved girl in front of her.
This made Otto curious. What would happen if he were to kill this illusion of Sakura with a single punch right in front of her?
Of course, he wouldn't do something so monstrous. After all, there was no benefit in it for him.
Seeing her little sister's request, Sakura didn't object. She needed to report the earlier incident anyway, so she rubbed Rin's head and said with a smile, "Rin, don't run off, okay? I'll be back to find you soon."
"Mhm! I'll wait for you right by the restroom door, sister," Rin said sweetly.
After the two sisters parted, Rin ducked into a restroom. She didn't close the stall door, waiting until Otto had also entered before shutting it.
"This isn't really the place..."
Before Otto could finish, a savage aura blasted him in the face. Rin's cute demeanor was gone, replaced by the glare of a ferocious beast.
"Fellow."
Her sweet voice was gone, now twisted and piercing.
Tsk, just a brat pretending to be good in front of her sister.
But Otto interrupted her.
"Just call me Otto, Rin."
Otto found her use of the term "fellow" a bit grating. It made him sound like some kind of animal.
However, Otto knew that the reason Rin hadn't attacked him directly and was instead speaking to him "civilly" was primarily because she thought he was a Herrscher, just like her.
And second, she couldn't beat him.
After all, the Herrscher of Corruption herself didn't possess much combat power. Her strength lay in corrosion. Against targets she couldn't corrupt, like Otto or Kallen, she was in a very tight spot.
"Otto."
Hearing him use her name instead of "Herrscher of Corruption," Rin paused for a moment before choosing to address him by his name as well.
"What Herrscher are you?"
It was like two coworkers from the same company who happened to sit at the same table for lunch, asking which department the other was from.
"Binding."
Otto said without a blush or a flutter of his heart.
Rin's situation was different from Welt's. Pretending to be the Will of the Honkai would be too easily exposed here. So, Otto chose one of the six Herrscher Authorities he possessed to impersonate.
Besides, if you rounded up, possessing the Authority of Binding basically made him the Herrscher of Binding!
"The Herrscher of Binding from over fifty thousand years in the future?"
Rin's expression stiffened. The Herrscher of Binding was the ultimate counter to other Herrschers. She was completely and utterly countered by this guy.
"Then... why aren't you exterminating humanity?"
Rin was puzzled by Otto's act of protecting Fu Hua.
Weren't Herrschers supposed to destroy humanity?
Rin didn't consider the possibility of betrayal. One, she wasn't smart enough, and two, the Herrschers of the Previous Era were all serious about their jobs.
Who knew that most of their successors fifty thousand years later would be slackers?
"And you? Why are you so engrossed in this illusion? Why are you playing cute beside your fake sister?"
Otto answered a question with a question.
"Because some things are more important than others."
Otto's finger gently poked the fifty-thousand-year-old girl's chest.
Rin mercilessly slapped his hand away. This was the same hand that had just been rubbing her head like a dog's.
It was too humiliating.
Since awakening as the Herrscher of Corruption, she had never been bullied like this.
She was so angry, but she couldn't win a fight.
She couldn't corrupt him, and if she were trapped in his domain of Binding, she'd be completely neutralized.
The matchup between the Herrscher of Corruption and the Herrscher of Binding was just too terrible.
"As a Herrscher, you've regained your memories as a human. If you were to get out of here, would you still go and exterminate humanity?" Otto asked.
If possible, he didn't want to kill Rin.
Schicksal needed some top-tier combat power.
A living Herrscher was far more useful than a dead one.
"I'm not leaving," Rin's answer, however, surprised Otto a little.
"Is it because of the influence of your human memories?"
"Or is it the influence of the other soul inside the Black Box?"
Otto said softly, which made Rin look up at him.
"You know a lot."
"Yes, I know a great deal."
In the Previous Era, when Rin was trapped in the Black Box, Dr. MEI had wanted to turn her into a Divine Key, but Rin had resisted fiercely.
Dr. MEI could only set up a program within the Black Box: once the Herrscher of Corruption's resentment faded, the program would activate and automatically forge her into a Divine Key.
Dr. MEI never would have imagined that the Herrscher would remain full of resentment even after being trapped for over fifty thousand years.
However, it seemed that Kallen's action of sealing Rin and Yae Sakura together in the Black Box had influenced Rin.
After all, Yae Sakura looked identical to Rin's older sister.
Otto couldn't help but wonder: if the original Otto had had someone by his side during those five hundred years, would he have still gone to such extremes?
Although, being devoted to Kallen for five hundred years was part of the charm of that Bishop of Schicksal.
Anyway, I could never do that.
"But why would you stay in this fake illusion?" Rin frowned.
"No matter what you do here, your sister can't possibly come back to life."
"That's none of your business!" Rin grabbed the front of Otto's clothes, her face savage. Otto's words had struck at the one she held most dear.
Otto let her grab him.
"You've recovered your human memories now, so you should know. The Miss Yae Sakura sealed with you looks identical to your sister. And she also had a little sister, Yae Rin, who looks a lot like you."
"Perhaps there really is reincarnation in this world. A new cycle every fifty thousand years or so," Otto chuckled softly.
Of course, that was impossible.
"If you want to play house, why not do it in the real world?"
"You lost your sister, and Yae Sakura lost hers. Isn't it a perfect match?"
"You can become a perfect pair of good sisters."
Rin looked at Otto coldly.
But her fists were clenched tightly.
"And I can make you a promise."
"I will grant you new bodies, new identities, a new future."
"I will not let you two sisters suffer the pain and despair you once experienced."
"After all, I am not incompetent like Dr. MEI."
"I will protect you both."
His words carried an unparalleled confidence.
If you don't even believe in yourself, how can you expect others to?
Rin's face twisted, her malevolent aura surging. Otto's words had reminded her of bad memories.
Dr. MEI was incompetent. As a pivotal member of MOTH, she couldn't even control others, allowing an enraged mob to break into the facility where the Herrscher of Corruption was being held and carry out their so-called righteous judgment.
Originally, Rin might have sided with humanity because of Sakura, but that possibility was snuffed out by people who were afraid of Herrschers.
Humanity had personally sent itself down the path to ruin.
Rin looked at Otto and said in her hoarse, twisted voice.
"Then..."
"What do you want?"
---o---