You're the One Without…

"Ascend to godhood? Maybe." Shu shrugged, not denying Otto's deliberately exaggerated question.

It wasn't really wrong. Trying to save a civilization from the Honkai with just your own power… wasn't that basically godhood? You could even check the game data and see the Earth God's gruesome…

But now it was his turn.

Otto pondered for a moment, clearly realizing the gravity of the situation they were facing.

"My friend, I wish you success." Otto chuckled softly, but this time, that chuckle carried a hint of bitterness that Shu could actually discern.

This surprised and intrigued Shu.

"What's wrong? I'm not even feeling anything, but you're getting scared?" Shu chuckled back, feeling bolder after talking with Otto for a while.

When they weren't familiar, Shu was polite and reserved, but now they were basically in the same boat, so Shu's attitude naturally wouldn't be as restrained as before.

"No, I'm not afraid. That emotion is useless, it only brings danger." Otto banished the hint of bitterness, returning to his usual natural smile.

"It's just… as the current head of the Apocalypse family, who have served as Archbishops of Schicksal for generations, I have… complicated feelings about a potential new god being born."

"Huh?" Shu didn't get it.

What did his potential godhood have to do with Otto's identity?

"In my eyes, you are a heretic." Otto slowly uttered words that sent a chill down Shu's spine.

In that moment, Shu rediscovered his unease around Otto. "Haha, you're not going to tie me to a cross and burn me at the stake, are you?"

"Perhaps." Otto looked away, waving dismissively. "If my god truly commanded me to do so, I might consider it, maybe."

Yeah, I should've seen it coming. This guy's a fake Archbishop. You're the one who doesn't believe in gods at all.

Shu rolled his eyes. "So, do you think your god really exists?"

Otto was silent for a moment, then looked up. "Perhaps… they stopped existing a long time ago…"

"It's okay." Shu didn't look off into the distance with Otto, as Otto might have expected. Instead, his eyes lit up, and he stood right in front of Otto, opening his arms wide.

"You're the one without a god, but you still have me! I can totally become the next god you believe in! Guide the direction of your life, right?!"

Otto: "..."

"You…" Otto wanted to maintain his composure, but hesitated for a moment, then gave up on the idea. "Do you even hear what you're saying?"

"Let's figure out your powers later when we get back, okay? Tell me more about your plan." Otto didn't want to dwell on this topic, so he backed down and chose to surrender. "You want to come back with us?"

Shu's expression turned serious, and he nodded. "Yeah, we can't stay here any longer. A Honkai Emperor has shown up nearby, and who knows how many other Honkai Beasts are around. We need to leave this city ASAP."

Otto glanced at Shu's chest. "Looks like we don't need much medicine after all, one person can handle it. It's just some of the high-end equipment that's hard to move. We might need transport."

"There's a vehicle in the dojo." Fu Hua spoke up. "That car is big enough to fit all of us and the equipment and medicine we're bringing back."

"Excellent, then there's no time to lose. We should start preparing to leave now." Shu breathed a sigh of relief. Since everything was ready, leaving now was the best option.

Hopefully Kiana and the others could get away smoothly too.

"I'll take care of loading the equipment. These instruments are more fragile than people." Otto stood up, stretching. "Shu, you don't need to help. Our safety now rests entirely on your shoulders. You need to conserve your energy, don't screw this up."

"As for Fu Hua…" Otto looked at Fu Hua, and said meaningfully, "Say goodbye to this place."

They wouldn't be coming back.

Fu Hua silently nodded, lowered her head, and looked at Li Sushang next to her, who was hugging her sword and staring up at her, her heart heavy.

Shu, who had been joking about ascending to godhood earlier, couldn't laugh now as he watched Otto's retreating figure.

Because this was real. The pressure was suddenly on.

Facing a Honkai Emperor, only he barely had a chance of fighting back. Before he got enough [Expectation] to help others become stronger, Shu had to take on all the heavy lifting himself.

It's fine, what's there to be afraid of? It's just a little Honkai Emperor, right? I managed to ditch it once, I can ditch it again. Worst case, I'll just crawl through another dog hole.

Besides, the world was so big, whether they'd even run into it again was another question!

Shu reassured himself in his mind, but the more he tried to comfort himself, the greater the pressure in his heart became.

He clenched his fists. Although he knew his fists and the [Expectation] within him were his greatest assurance, his hands felt empty, and Shu just didn't feel secure.

Diagnosis: PTSD from being weaponless when facing those Death Dieci earlier.

He glanced at Li Sushang sitting beside Fu Hua, his gaze lingering for two seconds on the sword in Li Sushang's arms. He was met with a glare from Li Sushang as a warning, and he scoffed and looked away.

Little brat, you think you're the only one with a good sword?

Check out the weapon I snatched from a Deadman!

Shu proudly pulled out the katana he'd looted from the Dualblade Deadman. With something in his hand, he finally felt a bit more at ease.

"Huh?" Suddenly, Fu Hua next to him exclaimed in surprise. Then, Fu Hua walked straight up to Shu, staring intently at the katana in Shu's hand.

"Shu, this katana… where did you get it?"

Fu Hua's tone was urgent, as if she'd seen something unbelievable.

Huh? Shu was taken aback. He looked at Fu Hua, then at the katana in his hand, completely bewildered. "Uh… is there a problem?"

Fu Hua opened her mouth, her eyes fixed on the katana in Shu's hand for a long time, before finally softening her tone.

"Could you… let me take a look at this katana?" Fu Hua asked softly. Shu nodded and handed the katana over.

Taking the katana, Fu Hua laid it flat in her hand. She formed a sword-finger with her other hand, and lightly touched the blade, slowly stroking along the edge.

Fu Hua's movements were very slow, as if the katana in her hand was a precious artifact, making her handle it with extreme care.

Shu didn't say a word, and Li Sushang kept quiet beside him. The two of them watched Fu Hua furrow her brow, slowly feeling the texture of the blade with her fingers.