Otto gazed at the Will of the Honkai. A smile played upon his lips; even after comparing this place to a public toilet, the Will of the Honkai showed no reaction whatsoever.
"Great Will of the Honkai, please continue. Why don't you come over and kill me?"
"I'm standing right here, completely motionless."
"Or perhaps... you cannot attack in this place?"
"Surely not, surely not? The omniscient and omnipotent You, unable to crush a tiny bug like me?"
Otto was being sarcastically passive-aggressive.
[Otto Apocalypse.]
The Will of the Honkai stared at the blond man before It. Its voice was flat, as if they were not mortal enemies engaged in a struggle of life and death.
In truth, they weren't exactly 'mortal enemies' in the emotional sense.
The Will of the Honkai simply wanted Otto dead, and Otto simply wanted the Will of the Honkai dead.
"Oh my, I didn't expect my name to be known by such a great existence as yourself. It truly is my honor."
Otto spoke with a smile, acting as if he were on a stage. He gave a slight, theatrical bow to the Will of the Honkai.
"However... O Will of the Honkai, could you tell me the method to thoroughly exterminate you?"
"I imagine that You, being omniscient and omnipotent, must certainly know the answer, yes?"
"Or perhaps... You are neither omniscient nor omnipotent?"
Otto feigned a sudden realization, his expression exaggerated like a circus clown.
"That makes sense. If you were truly all-powerful, how could I have invaded this space?"
"O Will of the Honkai, you are not all-knowing, nor are you all-powerful. You cannot alter the rules of the world, nor can you descend upon the world at will. You can only rely on those petty little tricks."
This man referred to the methods that had nearly driven him to his death as 'petty little tricks.'
"After all, at best, you are merely a testing tool for the Imaginary Tree."
"If the Imaginary Tree is a vast, profound ocean, then you are nothing more than a stinking roadside ditch."
"And I... will not drown in a stinking ditch."
Otto was indulging in a battle of tongues. He had almost lost his life, so he had to at least reclaim some ground verbally.
However, seeing the Will of the Honkai remain completely expressionless, he instantly lost interest.
After all, toying with a woman who gave no reaction, or bullying a man who wouldn't resist, were things that quickly became boring.
It possessed absolutely no human emotions.
It was incapable of hatred, or even Joy.
It wanted to kill him simply because Its duty dictated that It must.
But, how am I supposed to seize Its authority?
Otto narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, he frowned, for he saw twinkling stars inside the Will of the Honkai's body.
What is that?
I feel... an inexplicable attraction.
System? How do I snatch those authorities?
Otto questioned the System in his heart, but the System gave no response. It seemed it was either playing dead, or this space had severed the connection between him and the System.
[Otto Apocalypse, I will allow you to leave this world.]
Hearing this, Otto revealed a smile, a trace of mockery flashing in his emerald eyes.
"O Will of the Honkai, you really don't understand humans."
"Humans... well, I won't speak for all of humanity, but at least for me: if I get slapped in the face, I must slap back. Hard."
"You want to eliminate me? Then I will eliminate you first."
Originally, when he wanted to leave, the Will of the Honkai wouldn't let him go and wanted to kill him effortlessly. But now that the situation had turned slightly unfavorable, It wanted to sue for peace?
Where in the world was there such a good deal?
Even a figurine made of mud has three points of fire (a temper), let alone a sinister man who naturally held grudges.
He had been hanging by a thread just moments ago, and now It says 'let's not fight'?
Keep dreaming!
Moreover, the Will of the Honkai had no humanity, which meant It likely lacked human moral standards. Otto couldn't be sure if It would renege on the deal later.
Who keeps a promise made to an ant?
Now, there was only one path forward, into the dark. There was no turning back.
[The Honkai is a trial granted to civilization. As long as it is transcended, civilization will be sublimated.]
[This is a trial belonging only to this civilization. Why must you interfere?]
[In this world, only you cannot defeat the Honkai.]
The Will of the Honkai spoke. Otto shrugged.
Since he had started as the Overseer of Schicksal the moment he arrived, he couldn't avoid the Honkai at all.
But thinking about it now, it wasn't so bad.
At least he had met many, many cute girls. In the future, perhaps he could even put down roots here and have enough children to form a football team.
For the sake of those girls and his own living space, he and the Will of the Honkai could never reconcile.
But he wouldn't give that answer to the Will of the Honkai.
A smile surfaced on Otto's face.
"Because such things... bring me Joy."
[Joy?]
The Will of the Honkai searched for the definition of 'Joy,' but It could not understand this human emotion.
Just as single readers could never understand the author's happiness on Valentine's Day.
"You can't understand it, can you? Humans become strong precisely because of these various emotions."
Otto took a step forward.
"And these deep emotions will become the fulcrum to leverage the Honkai. You will be defeated by human emotion."
[Otto Apocalypse, is this your answer?]
[I will expel you from this world.]
The Will of the Honkai stated calmly.
Otto took another step forward. The distance between them shrank, while Otto's gaze remained fixed within the Will of the Honkai's body.
"O Will of the Honkai, I will not expel you from this world."
The Will of the Honkai looked at Otto, who took yet another step.
It could not understand Otto's words.
Otto looked at the Will of the Honkai. He recalled A Post-Honkai Odyssey, where his Kiana sealed most of the Honkai energy along with herself on the moon, leaving his 'Cook' (Mei) behind to pine in sorrow every night.
"Will of the Honkai, what I want is a complete victory over you!"
"My goal is not to drive you away, nor is it to seal the Honkai in a place only 380,000 kilometers from Earth!"
"It is to completely exterminate the Honkai... and you!"
Otto stood before the Will of the Honkai. The distance between them was a mere half-meter.
He had stepped onto the line of death twice because of the Will of the Honkai. If It wanted to kill him, It had better be prepared to be killed by him a hundred times over.
A tooth for a tooth, repaid a hundredfold!
[Incomprehensible.]
In the eyes of the Will of the Honkai, Otto was merely engaging in futile effort.
Humans could transcend the Honkai, but humans could not exterminate the Will of the Honkai.
"It's fine. It doesn't matter if you don't understand."
"O Will of the Honkai, you only need to know one thing."
"I win this round."
Otto's right hand suddenly pierced through the Will of the Honkai's body. His entire right arm extended into the torso formed of white light, and specks of shattered radiance drifted from the Will of the Honkai's chest.
[Useless.]
The Will of the Honkai could not understand Otto's behavior. This body of Its was composed purely of imaginary energy.
No matter how Otto violated Its insides, It felt nothing.
"No, it is useful."
Otto stared at the stars twinkling incessantly inside the Will of the Honkai. Perhaps this was what the System wanted him to seize.
And so, he grabbed toward the stars.
White light flashed. For the first time, the Will of the Honkai's body fluctuated, because something It could not understand had happened again.
Why can he grasp My Origin?
This should not be something a human can do.
Incomprehensible.
For the first time, the Will of the Honkai resisted. Its hands clamped tightly onto Otto's right arm, which was buried inside Its body.
Because It felt it.
Otto had grasped Finality.