Lord Otto, Sorry to Keep You Waiting!

Otto never imagined that he would be blown up, quite literally, by his own Valkyrie!

If it weren't for his Soulium body and the Void Archives, he and his prey would have been toast.

The mere thought of such a scenario made Otto feel incredibly frustrated.

Luckily, he reacted quickly, or he would've really screwed up...(ノへ￣,)

However, this sudden accident ruined Otto's plan to remain hidden, forcing him to adapt and reveal his identity prematurely.

After all, Otto's forced intervention in the sudden incident exposed the Void Archives—a power that definitely didn't belong to "Yuno."

At this point, if Otto continued to deceive himself and hide his true self under the guise of "Yuno," he would only be looked down upon by Jackal when she figured it out.

Therefore, after blocking that extremely dangerous attack, Otto made a decisive move. He revealed his true identity to gain the upper hand and take absolute control of the situation.

"I am Otto Apocalypse, the current Overseer of Schicksal. I offer you my highest respects..."

Otto suppressed his annoyance, a smile playing on his lips, and spoke politely and gently,

"May I ask you to remove your mask and allow me to see the mysterious face hidden beneath?"

Otto spoke with a double meaning, yet his tone remained gentle and humble, as if he were at a grand banquet, boldly inviting a beautiful lady to dance...

"Finally!"

In the distance, on the rooftop, Lin Wei, slightly disheveled, found his position again. He held the simulated Third Divine Key in its electromagnetic rifle form and carefully loaded the glittering bullet into the chamber.

He was about to aim at Otto's chest, but just before he did, he stopped, pulled back, and took a deep breath.

"No, wait, it's not time yet..."

Lin Wei remembered his only meeting with Otto. His only flaw, the one he deliberately exposed, was not hiding his gaze when observing Yuno and Anna amidst the crowd of travelers.

As a result, Otto quickly found him and confidently used a feather to control him.

This incident confirmed a very important guess for Lin Wei—Otto's Soulium body had extremely sharp senses and intuition.

"He must have noticed something before, that's why he hesitated to reveal himself. That cannon blast just now was probably an accident, it doesn't mean Otto has let down his guard!"

Lin Wei, judging others by himself, knew that if he were in that position, he would definitely be extra cautious.

Therefore, since Otto was likely still wary, abruptly aiming at him with the gun would probably alert him to the danger, increasing the probability of failure. This was unacceptable to Lin Wei, who always strived for perfection.

After all, he only had one bullet, and he had no chance to test its power. Therefore, it was best to treat it as a slightly stronger armor-piercing bullet with special effects against Soulium.

So, ensuring a hit was the top priority!

Since he had decided to be a hidden assassin this time, he needed to be patient and wait for the best opportunity.

"Dr. Jackal, it's up to you to distract him!"

Lin Wei murmured softly.

He knew that with Jackal's clumsy battle intellect, she would quickly be completely controlled by Otto...

"And when Otto feels confident of victory and lets down his guard, that will be my best chance!"

He believed that with the level gap between Jackal and Otto, this optimal opportunity wouldn't be far off, perhaps even in the next second.

...

As Lin Wei expected, even though Otto revealed his identity and bowed politely, he was indeed still cautious.

He was convinced that World Serpent, which had managed to hide for so long and only had its tail caught now, causing him a minor setback, was not simple.

His forced appearance was both a pressure tactic and intimidation—he wanted to shock this woman into throwing out her hidden trump cards prematurely!

Only in this way could he safely and steadily reap the rewards of victory and extract the whereabouts of the Second Divine Key from this beautiful woman.

"You are... Otto?"

Jackal finally came to her senses and exclaimed,

"I recognize that face!"

The information on Schicksal's higher-ups was no secret to World Serpent. Jackal had seen Otto's face in image data long ago.

"What are you doing here?"

Frankly speaking, compared to Lin Wei and Otto's sharpness and adaptability, Jackal seemed overly clumsy and slow to react.

This sudden incident was unexpected for everyone present. The other two "contestants" immediately made corresponding adjustments and changes, while Jackal stood there dumbly, absorbing the impact of the event.

She never imagined that after everything here had been razed to the ground, Schicksal would strike a second time.

She even more never expected that the energy blast she thought would kill her would be blocked by someone from Schicksal, allowing her to escape.

After that, a series of changes left her overwhelmed:

Huh? Why did that Yuno suddenly stand up?

Huh? How did so many Divine Keys suddenly appear in the sky? Where did they come from?

Huh? That's not right, where did that Yuno get the Divine Keys?

Huh? How did that little girl suddenly turn into a man?

A barrage of information overloaded Jackal's brain, causing it to freeze. She didn't even hear what the man who suddenly appeared had said.

It wasn't until he raised his bowed head, allowing Jackal to see his face clearly, that her thoughts returned to reality—

"Holy crap! Otto!"

"What is he doing here?"

This sudden and absurd scene made Jackal feel strangely familiar, but she didn't have time to think about it. She instantly realized that she had fallen into a carefully woven trap set by Schicksal!

"Damn it!"

Jackal broke out in a cold sweat and immediately ordered her only remaining helpers, the constructs,

"Kill him!"

Although she didn't understand why she suddenly went from hunter to prey, she knew that now wasn't the time to think about it. Only by eliminating this man could she escape!

"Die!"

Jackal decisively drew her gun and fired at Otto repeatedly until the magazine was empty.

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

But unfortunately, it was all in vain.

"Respected lady, please don't waste your energy."

Otto smiled calmly, not dodging or evading, taking all of Jackal's bullets. They hit him with a "pitter-patter" sound, creating only small dents that instantly healed as the liquid metal flowed, leaving even his clothes intact. He "kindly" reminded her,

"This body of mine, made of Soulium, will not be so easily destroyed."

Then, as if to prove his "health," Otto materialized a golden pistol and fired several shots, taking down all the constructs that had just transformed into Deadman.

Now, on this vast land, only this man and woman remained.

"Alright, now no one will disturb us."

Otto once again placed his hand on his chest and bowed, speaking politely and gently,

"Respected lady, I'm sure you must be very confused about the current situation. Don't worry, I sincerely invite you to be a guest at Schicksal Headquarters. At that time, I will explain my entire plan to you."

Otto smiled slightly, half-jokingly and half-seriously,

"At the same time, I have some personal questions I would like to ask you..."

"About the Second Divine Key."

"..."

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Looking at the polite, bowing blond man in front of her, Jackal's eyes clearly saw the figure of another man, completely overlapping with Otto at this moment.

At this moment, she understood where her strange sense of familiarity came from—just yesterday, in that university, what Lin Wei did at that time was almost identical to what Otto was doing now!

Now, the anger and humiliation that Lin Wei had inflicted on her were reawakened, making Jackal feel doubly furious—

It was disgusting enough to endure that humiliation once, and now it's happening again?

Just thinking about it made Jackal see stars. She hissed through gritted teeth, "Otto... you wish!"

At that time, in order not to expose herself to Schicksal, she had to succumb to Lin Wei's despicable actions.

And now, this equally despicable Schicksal Overseer also wanted to coerce her?

Hah! I am Jackal of World Serpent, how could I submit to you!

While Jackal was in a fit of rage, Otto couldn't help but frown,

"Is she really out of options?"

Otto looked at Jackal, who seemed to be waiting for death, and felt a pang of disappointment. Then he thought,

"No, where's that cat-shaped Honkai Beast? Why hasn't it appeared?"

He began to suspect that Jackal's hidden trump card was the cat-shaped Honkai Beast.

"Rumble..."

"Roar!"

Just as Otto thought this, a deafening roar like the collapse of heaven and earth came from a few hundred meters away, followed by the sound of falling rocks and bricks, and a long, drawn-out beastly howl.

This unexpected event attracted the attention of both Jackal and Otto, and even Lin Wei, who was further away.

Amidst the dust and smoke, they could vaguely see the outline of a heavily injured cat-shaped giant beast struggling to climb to the surface. Together with it was the faint outline of a girl.

Otto couldn't help but chuckle. No wonder Durandal hadn't appeared. She had directly charged into World Serpent's lair, and even cornered the cat-shaped Honkai Beast!

Good job, Bianca!

"It seems that your last resort is already fighting with the strongest Valkyrie under my command?"

Otto's internal alarm bells were silenced. He laughed heartily and said mockingly,

"May I ask, are you willing to wait with me for the final result of this duel?"

He had full confidence in the strongest Valkyrie he had personally trained.

"...Heh, Otto, you wish?"

Jackal also withdrew her gaze, snorted coldly, and said,

"Fine, I'll send your ridiculous S-rank Valkyrie to hell first, and then send you down to join her!"

"Oh?"

As if he had heard a very funny joke, Otto looked at Jackal with great interest, wanting to see what interesting tricks she could pull.

"Hmph!"

Jackal calmly opened her communicator, entered a command, and ordered in an extremely arrogant tone,

"Stan, my strongest creation. Kill that S-rank Valkyrie!"

It must be said that there were very few people in this world who truly understood how terrifying Durandal's strength was. Among these few people, World Serpent was definitely not included.

Therefore, in World Serpent's view, she was no different from the S-rank Valkyries that had appeared in Schicksal's history—worthy of attention, but not special attention.

Because there had never been a significant battlefield where she could fully display her strength:

Suppressing the Honkai all over the world alone? In World Serpent's view, this only meant she was an extremely hardworking tool.

After all, Durandal had never even fought a Herrscher. What credibility did those miscellaneous suppression missions have?

Therefore, in the original timeline, it wasn't until she fought to a draw with a Kevin clone possessing 1% of Kevin's strength that World Serpent truly recognized the value of the "strongest Valkyrie in history"—and now, World Serpent simply didn't have that opportunity.

It was precisely because of this ignorant self-confidence that Jackal misjudged Durandal's strength by a tiny bit.

......

"Roar!"

Meanwhile, Stan and Durandal were almost buried underground by the sudden energy attack.

Stan used its massive transformed body to shield Durandal from the direct hit of the energy beam and the subsequent structural collapse. The two of them were almost completely buried in a short time.

Even so, Stan still used its huge body to create a safe space for Durandal, protecting her from the impact.

Durandal clearly saw this act of kindness, smiled slightly, and took note of it.

Then, Stan, supporting its injured body, desperately opened its huge, sharp claws and dug at the rubble like a digging machine—

This place had collapsed and was no longer safe. It wanted to bring Durandal back to the safe ground.

The ground was safe, with air and no danger.

With this simple thought, Stan worked tirelessly to dig a large hole in the collapsed floor. Golden sunlight penetrated the thick smoke and dust, shining on the ruined underground space and on Durandal's golden hair, making her look like gold.

"Roar!"

The fresh air from the ground made Stan let out a joyful roar. It was about to use its claws to lift her out.

"This time, we might really never see each other again, right?"

Stan thought with a bit of regret.

It really liked being held by Durandal, having its chin scratched and its fur stroked, but...

"Humans probably wouldn't like me in this form, right?"

Stan felt a little inferior about its current appearance and didn't even dare to look into Durandal's eyes.

Just then, the voice of its master came from the collar around its neck—

"Stan, my strongest creation. Kill that S-rank Valkyrie!"

"No!"

Stan shook its head vigorously, still intending to send Durandal to the surface.

At the same moment the command was given, Stan suddenly stiffened. It felt some kind of drug stored in the inhibitor of the collar being injected into its body, spreading throughout its body in an instant, making it feel a burning pain and causing its rationality to melt away like snow.

"Awoo!"

Stan howled in pain, clinging to the last bit of rationality it had left, and slammed Durandal away. Then, it began to destroy everything like a wild beast. In the blink of an eye, the passage it had painstakingly dug to the ground, along with the sunlight shining through, was buried again by a larger collapse.

After being suddenly knocked away by Stan, Durandal skillfully flipped and landed in a deeper passage, where the structure was still intact and not buried.

Although she was unexpectedly attacked by Stan, Durandal no longer regarded it as an enemy and therefore no longer saw it as the long-awaited signal to fight, like before.

She could tell that Stan's current state was very abnormal, so she didn't dare to act rashly. Instead, she kept her distance and prepared to observe first.

Just...

Durandal looked at the unobstructed passage behind her, then back at the cat-shaped giant beast wreaking havoc in the distance, and couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity and amusement,

"Little guy, didn't you not want me to enter this place? Now you've personally sent me in and blocked the way out. Now, I can't leave even if I want to..."

Durandal smiled slightly and rushed back towards the cat-shaped Honkai Beast.

Before continuing her mission, she wanted to relieve this poor cat's suffering,

"Little guy, after the mission is over, come home with me."

"Speaking of which, I still don't know your name?"

......

Meanwhile, Otto looked at Jackal's self-righteous and ridiculous actions and couldn't help but feel disappointed.

It seemed that he had overthought things. World Serpent was nothing special after all.

The overall situation was settled!

With this in mind, Otto lost interest in continuing the pleasantries and said bluntly,

"I need the whereabouts of the Second Divine Key. Tell me, and I'll spare your life."

"Hmph, Otto, do you think you're worthy of the Second Divine Key?"

Jackal snorted coldly, still looking at Otto with disdain,

"Do you think you've already won?"

Oh? Do you think you can still pull something off?

Otto raised an eyebrow, looking mockingly at the woman in front of him, who was wearing a mask and a wide sacrificial robe, but whose graceful figure was still clearly visible,

"Respected lady, struggling at death's door is meaningless..."

Otto "kindly" reminded her, preparing to take her down directly.

......

Meanwhile, on the rooftop.

Lin Wei had been observing the situation. After Durandal and Stan, transformed into a Honkai Beast, were buried underground together, Lin Wei felt relieved. Jackal's biggest trump card on the surface had been exposed. Now was the time when Otto's guard was at its lowest!

"Now!"

Clearly seeing Otto's increasingly aggressive body language in the distance, Lin Wei didn't hesitate to project the Third Divine Key again. A black, technologically advanced electromagnetic rifle appeared in his hand.

Lin Wei shoved the bullet into the chamber, stood tall, kicked off the wall at the edge of the rooftop, steadied the electromagnetic rifle against his chest, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, adjusting to the rise and fall of the crosshairs.

Then, he unhesitatingly placed Otto's chest in the center of the crosshairs,

"Lord Otto, sorry to keep you waiting!"

Lin Wei said, and pulled the trigger!