Through the efforts of the three, the Honkai Beasts were quickly eliminated.
Kiana excitedly pulled Inaba Tsukiyo and Kallen to celebrate, but only Kallen was somewhat surprised.
"I didn't expect that I could survive this time?"
"It seems... you already knew you weren't the real Kallen?"
Inaba Tsukiyo looked at the other party. Had this virtual personality, created using Kallen's memories as a template, also discovered that she wasn't the real Kallen, but had been repeatedly reliving Kallen's dying memories here?
"Hmm, I didn't know at first. But I don't know when it started, when I realized that everyone around me seemed to be following a pre-written script, accompanied by countless deaths. I also began to understand that I was just a small actor in this grand performance."
At this point, Kallen shook her head with a bitter smile.
"Although I tried, no matter what I did, I couldn't escape from here. After countless attempts, death always awaited me. Although I don't regret it, I still felt a certain amount of despair. But..."
"Since meeting you, or rather, you all, this performance, which kept repeating the same script, finally had something different."
Kallen recounted her experiences. Every time she experienced death, when she woke up again, the same things would repeat.
It was fortunate that she was only a virtual personality, otherwise she would have surely collapsed from this endless cycle.
Kallen came before Inaba Tsukiyo, handed her the hresvelgr's bow, hesitated for a moment, and asked.
"Excuse me, are you Kallen herself?"
"In the outside world, five hundred years have passed since Kallen's death. I... am not her."
Inaba Tsukiyo shook her head. She only possessed Kallen's memories; she was not the strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal.
As a human, Kallen would have no way to survive for five hundred years unless through some special means.
Although Kallen was dead, Yae Sakura, who was very important to Kallen, could survive for such a long time, or rather, she had been in slumber for five hundred years.
Hearing Kallen mention Yae Sakura, Inaba Tsukiyo recalled what Yae Sakura had told her. She first glanced at Kiana beside her, then came before Kallen and whispered.
"Sakura has broken the seal. She wants to tell you that the Little Girl named Yae Sakura still loves you. Also, she's sorry."
Inaba Tsukiyo's words plunged Kallen into silence. Past memories constantly echoed in her mind. Recalling Yae Sakura's smile, Kallen's smile grew wider and wider.
There was nothing more joyful than this. Even if she was just a virtual personality created from Kallen's memories, she still loved the Little Girl named Yae Sakura.
For some reason, Kallen believed that this girl who resembled her so much would not deceive her, perhaps because she felt her own aura from Inaba Tsukiyo.
"I understand. As expected, this guy truly is an idiot."
Why apologize? She should be thanking Yae Sakura for letting her experience emotions she had never felt in these twenty-four years.
Even if she wasn't the Original Body, she didn't believe Kallen herself would regret meeting Yae Sakura.
Wiping away her tears, Kallen leaned into Inaba Tsukiyo's ear and whispered a few words.
"These… are the words I wanted to say to Sakura. If possible, please deliver them to her."
"…Mm, I definitely will."
Although she didn't know if she would ever see Yae Sakura again in the future, if given the chance, she would certainly tell Yae Sakura those words.
The surrounding space began to collapse, a premonition that this world was coming to an end.
This world would restart every time Kallen died. Even though she didn't die this time, there was no set story for Kallen surviving, so the story would simply return to its beginning.
"Goodbye, Miss Kiana, and this unknown lady… We'll meet again if fate allows."
Just before the space collapsed, Kallen smiled and bid farewell to Kiana and Inaba Tsukiyo.
At that moment, the space completely vanished, and Kiana and Inaba Tsukiyo left that space.
However… the surrounding space suddenly malfunctioned, and the connection between Kiana and Inaba Tsukiyo was severed. At the same time, Inaba Tsukiyo realized she hadn't returned to her original appearance, still maintaining Kallen's look.
'Is this… someone deliberately keeping me here?'
To expel everyone else besides her, only someone with the highest authority in this world could wield such power, right?
Inaba Tsukiyo was a bit nervous. The surrounding space began to transform, and Inaba Tsukiyo didn't know how she should converse with that person when she met him later.
"Don't worry, Tsukiyo. I'm by your side, and I also really want to chat with him again."
Just as Inaba Tsukiyo nervously waited for the space to mend, a phantom appeared behind her, placing its hands on Inaba Tsukiyo's shoulders and whispering to her.
(fuhai: This scene, you can think of the protagonist in Accelerated World every time a heroine speaks behind him.)
This was Kallen's voice. Turning around, Inaba Tsukiyo didn't see Kallen's figure, but she knew Kallen would face this with her this time.
Thinking of this, Inaba Tsukiyo's nervous emotions gradually faded. At the same time, the world before her slowly transformed into a green grassland, a place completely different from before.
Before Inaba Tsukiyo, was a Boy with golden hair attempting to climb a stone wall.
However, due to his extremely weak physique, even if he had the will to climb, it was completely useless. Even if his hands ended up stinging immensely, he still couldn't climb up.
The Boy looked at his hands with some disappointment. For some reason, she felt very disappointed.
Just then, on the other side of the stone wall he was trying to climb, a Little Girl appeared. Her sapphire blue pupils sparkled with pure light.
Inaba Tsukiyo recognized at first glance that this was Kallen in her childhood, and the frail Boy was Otto in his childhood.
Inaba Tsukiyo quietly watched the scene before her. This was the first meeting between the Boy and the Little Girl, and also the prelude to the extraordinary life of the Boy named Otto.
"…Why are you making me watch this scene, Otto? So many years have passed. Are you still shy about the past?"
Inaba Tsukiyo turned around and asked, looking at Otto slowly walking towards her.
Otto didn't answer Inaba Tsukiyo's question, but merely walked towards her with a half-smile. Otto was very familiar with the valkyrie armor Inaba Tsukiyo was wearing; it was precisely the valkyrie armor he had designed specifically for Kallen.
Sacred Hymn · Imayoh. This valkyrie armor was never actually produced in reality; it was merely an armor created within a game he developed called "Kallen Fantasy."
"Is that so? I often come here to look. This is one of my most precious memories, and it was also because of your encouragement back then that I knew I was needed."
That was the first time he, abandoned by everyone, heard encouragement from someone else, and it made Otto realize that he was anticipated, that he was needed.
Lost in memories, Otto forgot the purpose of his visit this time. The two conversed very intimately, just like in the past. This made Otto's heart, which had already died, find a little feeling again.
Otto conjured a stone table in this virtual world, and the two sat opposite each other, chatting with smiles.
Kallen stretched out her legs, moving them up and down between her hands. She looked at Otto, who was elegantly sipping red tea across from her, and suddenly asked a question.
"Hey, Otto. Do you remember my request when we first met?"
"I hope you can save this world with me."
"…"
Otto's tea-drinking motion paused. He first looked at Kallen across from him, opened his mouth, but didn't know how to speak.
Of course he remembered. Whether it was Kallen becoming a phantom thief back then, or anything else after meeting Kallen, he remembered everything very clearly.
Otto knew Kallen's ideals. She wanted to protect this world, not only because the Kaslana Family was the shield of the people, but also because it was her ideal.
However, compared to Kallen's ideals, all Otto truly wanted was simply to be with Kallen, who could understand him.
But… every time he tried to protect Kallen, he would only end up hurting Kallen. Kallen had brought color to his bleak life, yet he kept hurting her.
Just like five hundred years ago, he was trying to save Kallen, but in the end, Kallen died there.
For hundreds of years, his actions had already failed Kallen's expectations of him.
"Kallen… I…"
"Mm-hmm~ No need to explain, Otto. Although I was disappointed by your actions of releasing the Honkai Beast beneath the cathedral to attack the residents in order to save me, I know you did it for me. Everything you did was to save me."
As she said this, her beautiful pupils dimmed considerably, making Otto nervously stand up, wanting to explain something.
"Kallen, I just wanted to save you then. But I always did foolish things. I… truly am not as smart as you think. I… am truly foolish."
"Foolish? That's not true at all. It's just… it's just that our ideals are different."
Because their ideals were different, their ways of acting were also different; this was unavoidable.
At this moment, Inaba Tsukiyo's consciousness was gradually being replaced by Kallen's consciousness. With Herrscher Tsukiyo's help, Kallen's consciousness was temporarily able to reappear.
These were also the words Kallen wanted to say to Otto after understanding so many things.
The atmosphere became silent for a moment. Neither Otto nor Kallen knew what to say.
Otto had many things he wanted to say to Kallen, but he didn't know what to say. He was completely unlike the Archbishop who controlled Schicksal; or rather, in front of Kallen, he had never been unyielding.
"What exactly is your current state, Kallen? I know you are not just those data."
If it really were just those neural data, Otto could recognize it very easily, but he could clearly feel that the person before him was Kallen.
But Kallen shook her head. The reason she could regain her original appearance was because of the Stigmata and the power of this space. She was not alive.
"My current situation is very special. If it weren't for your data, perhaps I wouldn't appear before you. I am a person who died five hundred years ago. I am very happy to be able to meet you again."
Facing Kallen's smile, Otto, for some reason, couldn't bring himself to be happy.
Already satisfied? No, he wouldn't be satisfied so easily.
What he wanted was for Kallen to return to his side; the world he desired was a world where Kallen existed!
Facing the silent Otto, Kallen shook her head. She knew she hadn't convinced Otto, and even Kallen herself couldn't convince Otto so easily.
At the same time, Kallen's body began to dissipate continuously, with a large amount of data shedding from her.
It seemed this current state couldn't be maintained indefinitely, even in this special space, it was impossible to remain like this forever.
"Kallen!"
Watching the disappearing Kallen, Otto continuously input commands, wanting to keep Kallen, but he found he could do nothing. Even though he was the master of this world, he couldn't make Kallen stay.
"Goodbye, Otto. I hope next time we meet, you won't be my en..."
Kallen's words were cut short as her body completely vanished before Otto's eyes, leaving only Otto sitting alone, holding his head.
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