Cecilia spoke with great effort, yet her words carried unshakable certainty.
"Lord Overseer… you ordered the Honkai fission bomb to kill Siegfried, didn't you?"
The man neither denied it nor saw the need to.
"Yes. He actually demonstrated the power to part the Earth's hair down the middle. Truly terrifying."
"Pfft… parting the Earth's hair down the middle… that's surprisingly vivid…"
Cecilia let out a faint, bitter laugh.
"But… Lord Overseer, with your intellect… you could absolutely control Siegfried."
"If it were Cecilia Schariac who wielded power beyond all known limits, I would unhesitatingly deploy you to the fullest, shield you with every resource at my disposal, even shamelessly shatter your marriage to him, and bind you to me by any means necessary."
The words brought a fleeting flush to Cecilia's pallid cheeks.
"But Cecilia, the last thing I wish to control is a child who stubbornly follows what he believes is the righteous path, blind to reality."
He glanced at the vine-wrapped figure nearby—Siegfried, cocooned in protective flora—and shrugged with helpless resignation.
"All glory to the Kaslanas, all cunning to the Apocalypses. Heh—from Kallen to Siegfried, the shield of humanity has always excelled at derailing my carefully laid plans."
"But Lord Overseer, Siegfried… as head of the Kaslana house… he would never betray Schicksal, would he? Even… even without me to restrain him, he would remain loyal… for Kiana's sake… wouldn't he?"
"…"
Reverse prophecy achieved.
"You're too naive, Cecilia…"
Otto smiled faintly, tenderly brushing his fingers across her cheek, now ashen from relentless blood loss.
"I've long held that whenever I cease expecting anything from a Kaslana's mind, they manage to sink below even my lowest estimations."
Even those who merely carry Kaslana blood, he added silently.
Cecilia missed the deeper implication. She only managed a weary, gentle smile.
"Heh… I never imagined I'd hear the Lord Overseer complaining at a moment like this…"
Otto fell silent.
His right arm cradled her weakening form while his left hand softly combed through her silver hair, strands slipping like moonlight between his fingers.
Cecilia leaned into him with familiar ease, unconsciously nestling her cheek against his chest.
Years ago, when the Overseer took her traveling and they lingered beneath the night sky until exhaustion claimed her, she would rest against him just like this, gazing up at an ocean of stars.
Back then, they had truly felt like siblings.
After a long silence—or perhaps only a fleeting moment—Otto spoke.
"I want a reason, girl."
"A reason?" Cecilia tilted her head faintly.
"A reason for Siegfried to live."
"Huh? Isn't the reason… parting the Earth's hair down the middle?"
"Not obedient."
Otto lightly flicked her forehead, drawing a reflexive, endearing whimper from the woman.
She puffed her cheeks in mild protest, then grew solemn.
"You know, Lord Overseer, though I'm called Schicksal's strongest S-rank Valkyrie and bear the Schariac holy blood, ten years ago—even with my comrades' aid—I still fell to the Herrscher of Reason. And this time… I essentially lost to the Herrscher of the Void as well…"
"The so-called pinnacle of Schicksal has never truly vanquished a Herrscher in any meaningful sense. And this great calamity is far from humanity's final trial."
"Greater threats await in the future, yet Schicksal lacks the strength to suppress Herrschers."
"This time, Siegfried nearly ended the Herrscher of the Void himself. Just a little more, and the battle could have concluded there. I believe his future shines brighter than mine."
Brighter my ass.
Otto lowered his gaze, veiling the cold indifference in his eyes.
Uncontrollable brilliance is mere light pollution.
In his heart, a hundred Siegfrieds could never equal one Cecilia.
"He still holds the potential to fell Herrschers, while I… have already spilled my holy blood across this frozen earth…"
Cecilia lifted her gaze to him, beautiful eyes brimming with longing and quiet plea.
"So… Onii-sama… could you let him live… and continue walking the path of salvation?"
That heartbreaking gaze—saintly hands extended in pitch-black hell, beseeching her god to shield those she cherished, even at the cost of angering the devil and plummeting into the abyss—made even the Otto who stood beyond time waver for an instant.
He remained silent a long while, then finally murmured a dispassionate "Mm."
"Thank you, dear… Onii-sama."
Cecilia smiled like a contented child, then winked playfully, drawing out her final words in teasing cadence.
As though… this were her last act of cherished willfulness.
"If possible, please watch over little Kiana too. And finally… I wish you every success in all your endeavors, Onii-sama."
She struggled to her feet, intent on pressing onward—to find the place where she would lay her bones.
But after only a few faltering steps, gentle arms encircled her from behind.
"Every success? That cannot be without Cecilia."
The man's magnetic voice brushed her ear.
"You traded your life for his."
"Then I, Otto Apocalypse, shall now trade one life for yours."
Otto guided her hand—together with his own—to raise Black Abyss White Flower skyward.
Just as, years ago, that gentle brother had clasped the young girl's small hand to ignite fireworks at her coming-of-age celebration.
"I will never abandon your soul to the underworld, nor permit your holy body to know corruption."
His voice rang solemn and grand, forging an unbreakable vow.
For a fleeting moment, Cecilia saw the figure from long ago—the one who accompanied her across the world each year.
The one who freed her from the cage of Schicksal Headquarters, who on that Ferris wheel symbolizing tomorrow extended his hand with a warm smile and said:
"The world is beautiful. If you wish to see it, I will go with you."
"Also, call me Onii-sama. I will protect you like true family."
…
[Although the Honkai energy unleashed during Sirin's rampage once threatened to engulf the Siberian plains and irradiate over 100,000 civilians, beneath the crimson petals woven from Schariac holy blood, all those eroded by Honkai recovered. In the end, the death toll numbered fewer than three thousand.]
[Thus, the Second Eruption drew to a close.]
…
[History modification complete.]
[In this alteration, you brought Cecilia Schariac to a hidden chamber within Schicksal. Only Amber knows of her existence. Cecilia will awaken only when you command the Book of Wei.]
"This time I was still too honest—of course, committing a grave transgression on the very first attempt would be unwise."
Otto rotated his wrist thoughtfully, reflecting on the fruits of this journey through time.
"Gained twenty days of the Overseer's life? Haha, that almost counts…"
Yet truly, the greatest harvest was not Cecilia herself.
It was the sensation he felt while personally descending to reshape history—that constant, prickling dread at the nape of his neck.
Whenever he intervened and altered the past, an immense, mindless terror loomed overhead.
A force without beginning or end, erasing all, annihilating all. During his descent into the Second Eruption, that presence grew especially oppressive, as though it might descend upon him at any moment.
That… was surely a rule. A power existing beyond the world itself.
Likely the very laws of the Imaginary Tree.
How could the world tolerate a vessel gathering scattered consciousness, let alone permit that vessel to flow upstream and reclothe history in whatever guise he desired?
Compared to the original plot's five-century gambit to invert the entire world, "directly rewriting history" was unmistakably the greater sin.