Fake things are forever fake… However, Sirin temporarily had no intention of waking up from this false dream. She knew what that person outside was doing with her body.
He had removed his own shielding from the god and went directly to the god through her connection with it. Sirin couldn't be bothered to care what god he was looking for. Since she could finally reunite with them, even if it was only within an illusion, she didn't really want to leave.
After putting her external body into an Imaginary state that was unaffected by the outside world, Sirin continued to immerse herself in the Fenghuang Down dream.
"What? Sirin removed her shielding from me?" The god, who had been sulking in the pure white space, immediately became happy after sensing that its most beloved apostle had removed the shielding.
It had learned its lesson. Last time, it had scolded that human in front of Sirin, which caused Sirin to fall out with it. Now that it finally had another chance, it must seize it well.
But after a long time, it still didn't hear Sirin speak. The god felt it might have been a bit too eager.
"Are you there?"
...
After a long while, there was still no reply. The god fell silent.
No, someone was entering this space. The god thought to itself: Could it be that its sincerity had moved its apostle, and she was finally willing to accept it?
It decided that if its apostle was coming to actively embrace it, it would give her all of its Authorities. This might be the closest it had ever come to fulfilling its long-cherished wish.
Unfortunately, what the god received was not the apostle it had been longing for, but… a blond man.
Otto looked around the pure white space, then turned his gaze to the only existence within this pure white void.
That gradually pure-white figure that was becoming identical to it — was this the god? Otto recalled his dear friend's instructions from five hundred years ago. He straightened his collar and walked toward the god.
"Hello, Will of Honkai. I, Otto Apocalypse, would like to ask you a question — a question about resurrection."
The god was already feeling depressed because its own daughter was unwilling to get close to it. On top of that, its expectations had been dashed. The one who came in was a blond man who immediately started asking all sorts of questions.
The god felt that it should teach this blond man a harsh lesson and let him know what a god truly was.
The god extended a finger and pointed at Otto. In an instant, answers flooded wildly into his mind. Even if all the brains of the wise men throughout history were combined, they would be unable to withstand the countless truths pouring into Otto's mind at this moment.
Otto's brain took several full minutes to break free from the massive amount of information. The god truly lived up to its name. Even if he was Otto Apocalypse, the Archbishop of Schicksal and the most noble person in the world, so what?
A casual point from the god, transmitting just a little information, was already something he couldn't endure. In the eyes of the god, humans were like ants.
But… Otto let out the most carefree laugh of his life. His laughter started low and suppressed, but as his emotions gradually released, it became higher and louder, eventually resounding through the entire space like the tolling of a great bell. The laughter contained endless relief, liberation, and contempt and mockery toward all the sufferings of the past.
"As expected, what he said was right. Even a god is nothing more than this! Hahahahaha…"
The god looked at the man before it who seemed to have gone mad, momentarily at a loss for what to do… It had only wanted to punish this disrespectful human, but now… after witnessing its mighty power, why did he instead look down on it?
Amidst the laughter, Otto recalled the words his dear friend had said to him that day.
"Otto, during the Second Honkai Impact, you will meet the god of Honkai." On a church pew, a man looked at the magnificent stained-glass window and spoke slowly.
"God? Do gods really exist?" Otto, as the leader of the world's largest religious organization, was actually the person in the world who least believed in the existence of gods.
"If gods truly existed in this world, then how could Kallen…"
"That's why it's the god of Honkai. In essence, it's nothing more than a powerful life form that humans cannot understand. But from a certain perspective, it is your enemy."
"Oh? How so?"
"Because the Honkai beasts are its outward-extending tentacles. So it wouldn't be wrong to say that Kallen died at its hands. If it didn't want to kill Kallen, she wouldn't have died."
"How can it be killed?" As expected of Otto — the moment he heard that the enemy who killed Kallen still existed in the world, he immediately wanted to go and kill it.
"Most likely it can't be killed… There is an existence that has been struggling against it for billions of years, without even the qualification to sit at the table and eat. Yet even so, it can still be considered a god."
"But, Otto, you will become an existence that even it finds troublesome. At that time, it will help you realize your plan at all costs, only wanting to watch you die sooner."
"Then it seems the so-called god is nothing more than this…" The man remained as confident as ever, not caring even if he was blaspheming against a god.
"Mm. Anyway, one day in the future you will meet it. Then, it will most likely flood your brain with garbage information. Don't lose your composure at that time. Remember — it is your enemy."
"I can't tell you the method to revive Kallen. After that event, you will figure it out yourself. If the answer to this question isn't something you came up with on your own, it would be meaningless."
"I understand…" Otto nodded. He was very used to his dear friend's riddles, because that was simply his personality. With such a personality, even toward his own dear friend, Otto could not trust him 100%. He only trusted himself.
"Then why are you telling me so much? According to what you said, even if you ignore me, the future will still develop exactly as you predict."
"Perhaps it's because, in the future I saw, your path was too lonely… In the end, there wasn't even anyone to see you off. Since your plan is beneficial to me, I don't mind being your companion on the journey. At the final moment of your life, I will witness the end of Otto Apocalypse, and by the way, check whether you are truly dead… If you aren't dead enough, I'll press the coffin lid down a little tighter."
"Then thank you very much… my only dear friend." If they weren't in a church where drinking wasn't possible, Otto would have wanted to step forward and embrace him, then share a hearty drink.
"By the way… I mean, if one day you and Kallen have a daughter, would you name her Theresa?"
"Of course… To be honest, I thought of this name when I was nine years old. My second daughter's name will be Bianca — that's my eldest sister's name. Why are you asking this?"
"…Nothing, just asking."
He never expected that what was happening now had already been predicted by his dear friend five hundred years ago with a single sentence. It seemed that even the so-called god was not omnipotent.
"God, if this is all you have, then you are nothing more than this… I have already found the answer. I won't trouble you any further."
Otto's figure gradually faded away. After giving the god an extremely contemptuous hat-tipping gesture, he left the place.
Only the god remained, now somewhat doubting its own existence. It felt that today's grievance was greater than all the grievances it had suffered in billions of years. All it had wanted was to complete an embrace.
In reality, Otto opened his eyes. Once again, a casual question his dear friend had asked five hundred years ago came to his mind.
"Otto, in your eyes, what exactly is true resurrection?"