In just a few seconds, all the Honkai Beasts released by Otto had been turned to dust and annihilated underground. This scene shocked not only the people but also Otto and Kallen on the stage.
Kallen's expression changed from surprise to anger, then returned to calm. Finally, she looked at Ryn with a wry smile and said:
"You're a Herrscher... right?"
"Mm... yes." Ryn nodded in response.
"Does that mean that in your era, Herrschers... can be accepted by people?"
"Yes and no. My existence is rather special..."
"I see..." Kallen's eyes dimmed a little, then she forced herself to smile, presenting her best self to Ryn and Kiana.
"Ryn, Kiana... can you tell me how many years the real Kallen Kaslana in the real world has been dead?"
"Over 500 years... How do you know this isn't reality..."
"So many years have passed...
When did it start? I began to notice that the people around me were re-enacting a pre-written script. At the end of the script... I'm actually killed by Honkai Beasts...
When I wake up again, I find myself back in the previous day. After countless cycles, I finally understood that I was just an actor in this performance.
I tried everything I could, but I couldn't escape this performance, until you fell from the sky, and this performance finally changed..."
Kallen didn't continue, because Ryn and Kiana had experienced what came next.
Ryn felt great sympathy for Kallen's plight and apologized softly.
"Sorry, we were late. It must have been painful... 500 years, experiencing death over and over again, facing people who are like puppets on a string..."
Kallen quickly waved her hands and said to Ryn and Kiana, "No, no, Ryn, you're being too kind. Thank you, even though I'm just a virtual personality, you've been so gentle with me."
"This data space is about to collapse... we don't have much time!" Cortana suddenly spoke up to remind them.
"I see... well, normally I would have been killed by the Honkai Beasts... and then a new cycle would begin. Kiana and Ryn, can I ask you for a favor?" Kallen blinked playfully and made a pleading gesture to Kiana and Ryn.
"Sister Kallen, just ask. We'll definitely do it if we can," Kiana said.
"I... am actually a personality reconstructed from Kallen's memories. In Kallen's memory, before she died, she sealed someone she deeply loved—Yae Sakura.
Yae Sakura, who has become a Herrscher... even after 500 years, she won't die, right? If the seal is broken and she returns to this world, she probably won't know anyone. How lonely she must be...
It was only when I thought of Yae Sakura that I understood the meaning of my own existence. Kiana and Ryn, I can't leave this virtual world... If you have the chance to meet Yae Sakura in the real world...
Please give her a message for me. This message has been buried in her memories for over five hundred years..." Kallen paused, feeling a little embarrassed to say it directly.
"What is it?" Kiana pressed.
Kallen leaned close to Kiana's ear and whispered, "I love you."
Although Kallen spoke very quietly, no one present was an ordinary person, so Ryn still heard it...
But it wasn't just Ryn who heard it. Someone else did too.
"Sigh... although it's a fact I've known for a long time, hearing you say it with Kallen's face still makes me sad..." Otto, carrying a small Bronya, walked over from a distance step by step.
Bronya had originally climbed a high pole to observe what was happening, but was attacked by a Honkai Beast and then rescued by Otto.
"You're... the real Otto!" Ryn immediately became vigilant. Getting caught trespassing in someone's backyard made it hard not to be nervous.
"Don't be nervous, Ryn. Although I was initially angry when I found out you had trespassed into my backyard, I was very moved by your actions to save Kallen."
Otto put Bronya down and walked towards Ryn and Kiana. As he passed by the virtual Otto, a trace of disgust appeared on the real Otto's face.
The fake Otto, shocked by Kallen's words about a virtual world, had understood many things with the appearance of the real Otto. He remained lying on the ground, making no reaction to the real Otto's approach...
Because if what Kallen said was true and all of this was history, then it meant that he would have been the one to cause the real Kallen's death...
"As for the me back then... hehe."
Otto took out the Void Archives, mimicked the Judgment of Shamash, and pulled the trigger on the Otto lying on the ground.
"You, who were deluded by the Void Archives, are the one who most deserves to die."
He had killed the memory of himself countless times, but it could not lessen Otto's resentment and anger towards his former self.
"My apologies for the unsightly display. I still lose my composure when faced with my past self." Otto bowed slightly to everyone in apology. He was now all smiles, making it hard to associate him with the ferocious face he had when he shot the virtual Otto.
"Otto, can you save Kallen? She has her own consciousness. She shouldn't have to keep repeating this cycle here..." Kiana held Kallen's hand and asked Otto.
"No... she is not Kallen." Otto shook his head at Kiana and said, "She is just a virtual personality that has gained self-awareness. Kallen's memories make her think she is Kallen.
I can't save her because she is just virtual data. If you really want to save her, you should just delete her data and reset everything, so she no longer has to suffer the pain of the cycle."
"Impossible! That's the same as killing Kallen!" Kiana gripped Kallen's hand tightly. She couldn't accept 'deleting the data' as an answer.
"I said she isn't Kallen. Forget it. This space has no reason to exist anymore anyway. You can do whatever you want with it."
Otto was no longer interested in the existence of this virtual backyard. It was merely a place to remind him of his past mistakes and his obsession with resurrecting Kallen. He now had a direction for saving Kallen. As long as he could master the power of the Herrscher of the Void, he could go to the Imaginary Tree and resurrect the real Kallen.