"I have eyes on the target. She's running to your location, inbound one minute."
Johann continued following their target through the scope of his sniper rifle. It was loaded with several rounds of a tranquilizer dart strong enough to knock even valkyries out cold. The valkyrie in question ran through one of the city's many dark alleys, unknowingly about to blunder into a trap.
Rita Rossweisse had been dispatched on yet another mission. A rogue valkyrie had stolen a highly experimental weapon from one of Schicksal's laboratories. As Rita's subordinate officer, he had accompanied her. They had followed every lead and exhausted every option before finally discovering their target hiding in a city.
She was young, around Rita's age, but most valkyries were. It was more dangerous to receive stigmata implants later in life. She had dark black hair and eyes that matched the colour she was named after. She was fairly new to the job. Evidently, she had not been fully prepared for the stresses of her line of work. Johann had not been informed of the nature of the weapon that had been stolen, only that it had to be retrieved.
"Thank you, Master. I'll be sure to give her a proper greeting," Rita's soothing voice answered through his earpiece.
He continued watching the target until she reached the halfway point of the alley. It was then that Rita pounced, descending from above like a predator waiting in ambush, which she was. She wielded a scythe that was longer than she was tall. Fortunately for their target, their orders had been to bring her back alive if possible.
Seemingly to her credit, the rogue valkyrie managed to detect Rita's attack. Immediately, her own scythe appeared in her hand. She raised it to block Rita's strike.
Johann was still shocked at how valkyries could call upon and then dismiss their weapons and battlesuits at will. He had learned that their equipment was stored in secure armouries at various locations and could be teleported to the valkyrie and back at will. Normally, equipment issued to a valkyrie who then went rogue would be disabled, but Violette somehow retained the ability to summon her weapon.
"Excellent form, Master Violette," Rita praised. "Your skill with a scythe is nearly unmatched. It's such a shame that you've chosen to side against Schicksal. I'm here to escort you back to where you'll be well taken care of, so please do not continue to resist."
Violette glared at Rita with fearful eyes. There was nowhere she could run. The alleyway was too narrow to evade her purser. The only answer she had was to fight.
Not that she could do even that. Violette was a talented B-rank valkyrie, but she could not hope to match even a fraction of Rita's S-rank strength. That she had been able to block Rita's attack at all was a deliberate move on Rita's part in hopes of reasoning with her.
Violette tightened her grip on her scythe. "You know I'll never do that. You know the reason you're chasing after me is a lie. Let me go."
Rita sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid that my orders are to bring you in, preferably unharmed. I would hate to mark that pretty face of yours if you decide to fight me."
"Shut up, you hypocrite! You're guilty of the exact same thing I am!" Violette yelled as she lunged at Rita, her scythe raised.
Rita casually sidestepped Violette's scythe and knocked her unconscious as gently as she could. Violette immediately crumpled to the ground and lay still.
Hypocrite? What could she mean by that? Johann wondered.
"Target is down, Master Johann," Rita told him.
"Good. Can you find the weapon she stole?"
There was a pause.
"I'm afraid not," she finally said, although there was a strange, almost regretful quality to her voice.
"That's…concerning…"
"Don't worry about it. Our primary mission, which was to apprehend Master Violette, is now complete. Finding the stolen weapon was always secondary. With luck, it will show up on its own."
"...If you say so, Rita."
He stood up from his vantage point and gathered his equipment. He walked into the alley with Rita and the unconscious valkyrie. They stared at her.
"I read her file. She had so much potential," he said quietly.
Rita agreed. "She truly did. I trust that Schicksal will not be too harsh on her."
"...What will her punishment be?"
She turned to him. "It isn't your job to worry about her. All that matters is that we have each other."
Slowly, he found himself agreeing. This was just part of his job, nothing more. He smiled at Rita.
"You're, right, Rita."
He slowly leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back, gazing into his gentle eyes.
...
A hypocrite I was indeed…
It was all a lie. Violette had never stolen any weapon. The only crime she was guilty of was one Rita herself had already committed first. During her escape, Violette had discovered the truth.
Violette had been discovered having an affair with another Schicksal officer. It was forbidden for non-valkyrie personnel to enter such relationships with valkyries. She ran. The story about a stolen weapon was merely a coverup. Schicksal wished to avoid publicizing such scandals.
Rita hated lying to him. But what could she do? She wanted nothing more than to let Violette escape. She never had anything against her, but her orders were clear.
When her own illicit relationship was discovered, she had considered it karmic retribution for what she had done to Violette and the three hundred she had slain. In a way, she almost welcomed the delayed justice.
There was one more person who Rita felt her punishment was atonement for. She was another rogue valkyrie Rita had hunted down until she threw herself into the sea and disappeared beneath the waves. Rita had thought her dead. She was wrong.
Lilika Kaslana had been rescued by Johann Stern, then the captain of an aircraft carrier. She had been given lodgings in Berlin. Capturing her would be trivial.
Rita soon learned this and reported back to Otto. To her puzzlement, he had ordered her to monitor Lilika Kaslana, but not to bring her in. As always, Rita had obeyed. When he ordered her to call Lilika and give her Johann's address, Rita begrudgingly obeyed.
And watch she did. She watched Lilika and Johann enter a relationship together. She watched, unsure how to feel, as they were intimate together. When she had watched enough, she received one final order.
"Rita, it's time you brought her in. She's highly unstable and therefore dangerous to those around her. Once you've subdued her, do explain to Mr. Stern about the circumstances, and of course, do offer him an invitation to Schicksal."
Rita obeyed.
She slowly broke into their apartment and established a containment field to disable outbound communication. With her scythe in hand, she slowly advanced onto her target.
Unexpectedly, Lilika was grovelling on the ground, groaning in pain and gripping her head so tightly that her hands shook.
"No…no…stop it…get out of my head…"
Rita stared at her, concerned and uncertain what to do. This was not the same valkyrie she had encountered before.
"Master Lilika? Are you alright?" she asked, despite sacrificing her advantage of surprise.
"No…I…I can't…I won't do it…I can't hurt him…I'd rather die…"
Rita slowly stepped closer to the distressed woman. She did not seem like a dangerous threat. She seemed like a young woman in need of help. Rita's inner compassion took hold, and while she kept her scythe at the ready, she no longer felt as if a fight were imminent.
"Master Lilika, are you alright? What's bothering you?"
Lilika continued to weep and sob. She did not seem to have heard Rita. Finally, she turned to her. Her eyes, bright and blue, showed nothing but pain and horror.
"Miss Rossweisse…please…help me…end me…I…"
Rita only waited.
"The voice…it won't stop…it…it's telling me to do horrible things…to him…it…it wants me to hurt him, to kill him…I can't…please, stop it…"
Rita did not know what had happened to her. She knew Lilika had suffered a mental breakdown and fled, but the extent of her issues were clearly worse than that. She wanted to help Lilika in any way she could.
"What can I do for you?" she gently asked.
Lilika slowly climbed to her feet. She managed to meet Rita's gaze.
"Please…kill me…I can't live like this…I can't resist the urge to hurt him for any longer…please, Rita, kill me."
"Killing you isn't my duty, Master Lilika. I was ordered to bring you in, and unharmed at that. Please, come with me. I'll safely return you to Schicksal where you can receive the help you need."
Lilika's tears continued to stream down her tortured face. She let out another anguished wail as she reached down to the gun strapped at her hip.
Rita tensed, preparing for anything.
Lilika took hold of the gun. She quickly raised it and pressed it against her head.
"If you won't stop me, then I can only stop myself."
Before she could fire, Rita rushed forward and grabbed Lilika's wrist, pushing it away from her. Lilika screamed and struggled against her, but she could only resist for so long. Rita carefully began manipulating Lilika's fingers away from the trigger and to force her to drop the gun.
When Lilika's grip had nearly been pried away, she forced Rita away using a sudden burst of strength and pointed it directly at Rita's face.
There was no time to react. There was no time to think. There was only her predatory instinct guiding her, moving her scythe as it were an extension of her body and embedding it into Lilika's back. She fell forward and collapsed onto the floor.
Rita's breathing and heartbeat skyrocketed. She stared, horrified and unable to move, at what she had just done. Guilt, remorse, and shame consumed her. This was not how it was supposed to be. None of this was meant to happen.
Lilika's breathing and heartbeat decreased to nothing as her life ebbed away. For the last time, she spoke.
"Thank you, Miss Rossweisse…please, tell Johann that this wasn't your fault…please, take care of him…don't let him suffer because of me…"
She spoke no more.
...
The maid now saw those same eyes and the same face. But the man they belonged to was gone. He had changed. He now stood side by side with his most hated enemy - the man who had separated them forever.
"Johann…you're…alive…"
Bronya's eyes were lying to her. It had to be some trick Otto was playing on them. It was the only explanation. As the Herrscher of Reason, rational thought was her domain. Simultaneously, the very human part of her told her to accept the fact standing in front of her and by Otto's side.
She had felt him while preparing to destroy the Grace Field surrounding the cathedral. She had felt the energy of his life, as bright as a star. She had forced herself to ignore it. It was her grief speaking to her, she had reasoned to herself. Only now did she realize he had always been there with her.
The man spoke, finally freeing her from her stupor.
"Yes, Bronya. Yes, everyone. I am alive."
"How…how can this be possible?" Kiana stammered, wanting but resisting the thought of him returning to her.
Otto only looked at Johann as if expecting him to offer an explanation, which he did.
"All of you…I'm sorry. I didn't know myself until it was too late…It's all because of Otto. He is both the reason for my death and why I'm standing here right now."
Rita stepped forward. "Otto, explain yourself. Now."
"I think Johann is perfectly capable of doing so himself, wouldn't you agree?" came his smug reply.
They all turned to him. They all saw the pain and anguish etched into his face. They also saw a cold and hard determination in his eyes.
He sighed and explained everything to them. "Everyone…I am not Johann Stern. That is not my real name. My true identity is Johann Apocalypse, the cousin of Otto Apocalypse."
Theresa stepped forward, her eyes still filled with shock. "Yes. We know. We read about you in the only physical copy of a book documenting all of Schicksal's history kept in the Kolosten library. What we don't know is how you lived into the twenty-first century…it's because of Otto, isn't it."
Otto only stood and listened, the smug smirk never leaving his face.
"Yes, Theresa. It's Otto's doing," Johann continued. "He…he created clones of me…each time I died, he uploaded my mind into the next, just like how he cheats death himself. The body you see me in now is created entirely from Soulium. I have more power than I can even comprehend. And I will use it to achieve my most desired wish."
"So, it's true…" Theresa murmured to herself.
After the Abyss Flower had disintegrated her captain to atoms, the arm severed by a Judgement of Shamash was all they had left of him. They had tearfully carried it back into the Hyperion when one of Einstein's sensors alerted her to something it had detected in the arm.
They allowed the two scientists to analyze the arm. To the scientists' surprise, they detected trace amounts of Soulium within it.
"What can this mean?" Theresa had asked, her eyes still red.
"We aren't sure," Einstein had replied. "It's possible that some Soulium from the weapons that killed him were left in his body. But our tests indicate that these nanobots are much older - as old as he is."
"We would have detected them earlier, but Bronya had to disconnect him from the sensors on the night she drove him out to the beach," Tesla then said. "There's so little Soulium here that we aren't sure if it's our machines malfunctioning. But we have bigger problems to deal with right now."
Theresa stared at Johann and then her grandfather. Everything fell into place now.
"Soulium…" Fu Hua muttered. "Do you mean to fight Otto using your new strength?"
"No, Fu Hua," Bronya said in a hard voice. "He is no longer with us. Somehow, he has turned to Otto's side. He means to fight against us, but why?"
Kiana could only shake her head in denial along with Seele, Rozaliya, and Liliya.
Bianka stepped forward, gripping the Abyss Flower and pointing it directly at Otto. "Explain yourself, Overseer. You killed Johann onboard the Hyperion before reviving him with far greater strength. You treated me in a similar way. Why? What are you really planning?"
Finally, Otto laughed. "As eager as you always are to learn the truth, my dear Bianka. I welcome all of you to a little challenge. If you wish to know what my cousin and I are truly fighting for, then there is only one simple task you must do: defeat us. Then, we will explain everything you wish to know."
"Gladly," they all replied, their voices hard and determined. They were about to attack when a blinding flash of red lightning enveloped the sky, accompanied by a roar of thunder from outside the cathedral.
Everyone turned to the sound, unsure whether they had been visited by another foe. Who they saw shocked them to their core. Not even Otto had predicted this.
"M…Mei?" Kiana and the others stammered, unable to believe their eyes but at the same time overjoyed to see her again. Johann, too, could not tear his gaze away from her.
It was her. Raiden Mei was a woman with long, violet hair, violet eyes, and two red horns on her head. She strode toward them with her katana in hand, red electricity crackling around it. She looked as if she required the death of one she hated. And that man was Otto.
Mei gazed at them one by one before smiling. "Yes, Kiana. It's me. I've come to fight by your side. I learned about Otto's plan to reset the world, and I'm here to help you stop him."
...
Mei sat down on a couch in the lounge area of the Elysian Realm. Her thoughts were focused on the many revelations she had learned in such a brief time. Among them were the unique and sometimes dangerous individuals she had recently met.
She had narrowly escaped an unpleasant fate planned for her by Mobius, an enigmatic scientist turned MANTIS and Flame Chaser. The serpentine scientist had complex relations with the other Flame Chasers and saw an opportunity in Mei. For better or worse, she had been stopped and Mei had been spared.
Mei had already explored the Elysian Realm for so long, but the true reason for her being there eluded her still. She had been sent here for one reason, she knew. Kevin Kaslana wanted her to learn something buried deep within the mysterious realm. But what was it? Elysia and the other Flame Chaser simulations were not as forthcoming to directly give her this answer, as helpful as many of them otherwise were.
She would not discern the truth through aimless speculation. She could only continue her journey and eventually discover everything on her own. She stood up and began making her way to the portal that would lead her to monsters and myths. She stopped when a woman wearing dark armour walked up to her.
"Going somewhere?"
Mei looked at her with vague boredom. "That much is obvious, Raven."
Raven smiled. She had grown fond of Mei, which was why she was comfortable with saying what she was about to say. "Our Sire asked me to tell you he wants a few words with you."
This surprised Mei. It was not often that he communicated with her. "Tell him that it can wait. I have unfinished business here."
"Mei, you know that Kevin isn't someone who takes no for an answer."
Mei sighed. Raven was right. Whatever a man like him wanted, it could not be trivial or beneath her. Mei turned around and began making her way to the Elysian Realm's exit.
Suddenly, she saw a flash of pink.
"Mei! You aren't leaving without saying goodbye to me first, are you?"
Mei turned to a woman with pink hair and pointed ears who seemingly appeared before her out of nowhere. She gave her a slightly guilty smile. "I'm sorry, Elysia. I thought you were somewhere else."
"I'm everywhere in here, you know. The Elysian Realm was named after me for a reason!"
"Well…goodbye, then. I'll be returning as soon as I've finished," Mei said before turning away.
"I'll be waiting for you to come back," she heard both Elysia and Raven say before she crossed the boundary between worlds. Elysia said one more thing.
"Say hello to Johann for me, will you?"
...
Kevin Kaslana sat motionlessly on his stone throne. A blazing sword, the Might of An-Utu, rested beside it, its light so bright and blinding that Mei was unable to look directly at it. As she stopped before the throne, he seemed to awaken. His cold blue eyes met hers.
"Raiden Mei, I have a task for you."
Mei had expected something of the sort. "What is it? You know that I'm already occupied with the Elysian Realm and the truth you want me to find in it."
"There will not be an Elysian Realm if Otto Apocalypse is allowed to successfully execute his plan."
Mei was alert.
Otto…
She remembered the promise she had made him.
"What is Otto planning that's so dangerous?" she asked, concerned.
The silver-haired man stared down at her. "To put it simply, he's planning to reset the world by over five hundred years, erasing everyone and everything that transpired in that time. Everything aside from the town of Kolosten in Austria. As World Serpent's headquarters where we now stand is not in Kolosten, we are not immune."
For once, Mei was thankful to the many spies World Serpent embedded in Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. "This threat must be a serious one if even you're feeling threatened by it."
"Which is why I'm sending you to Kolosten as an agent of World Serpent to confront Otto Apocalypse and bring an end to his plan," Kevin calmly replied. "Consider this a sign of my regard for your capabilities and talent. You have proven yourself in the field against the Herrscher of Ice and then the Herrscher of Rimestar. Otherwise, I would not be entrusting you with such a mission."
Mei felt a small measure of satisfaction at her significance to him. Perhaps he was not such an unfeeling ice sculpture after all. "If Otto is so dangerous, why don't you stand up from your throne and stop him yourself?"
"Just as one would not use a Divine Key to eliminate an ant, my strength is better reserved elsewhere."
"I'd say that resetting the world back five centuries is more threatening than an ant," Mei retorted. "If this doesn't warrant your personal action, then I'm not sure what could."
Kevin was quiet as he observed her, his blue eyes never leaving her. "For any given task, there is a tool the most suited for it. For this particular mission, you, Raiden Mei, are World Serpent's most useful asset." He said no more, seemingly expecting her to concede the debate. She already had long before they even reached this point. She was more than willing to leave and confront Otto. She would fulfill her promise to him.
As if reading her mind, Kevin told her something that would have left her no choice but to leave if she had not already decided. "There is one thing you don't know. Your time in the Elysian Realm isolates you from the outside world and its happenings. While you were in it, your friends were attacked."
Mei felt a surge of fear.
"The perpetrator was Otto. He ambushed the Hyperion while it was in flight. In the process, he murdered your former captain, Johann Stern."
She waited for him to speak again, but he said no more.
Mei's emotions took hold of her entire body. She stopped breathing. Her eyes filled with tears. Her fear gave way to anguish. Then her anguish gave way to fury, and fury became hatred and the all-consuming lust for vengeance against the man responsible.
She tightened her grip on the Key of Castigation. She would make good use of it very, very soon.
She still had to fulfill her promise to him, now more than ever.
...
They all felt unbelievable happiness that Mei had returned to them, but there was no time to celebrate their reunion. Mei felt the same way. Then she noticed Johann standing beside Otto.
"Johann…you're…you're alive?"
Had Kevin lied to her to convince her to come here?
He slowly met her gaze. Mei was uncertain what she could see in his eyes, but she definitely saw pain, remorse, and regret.
"Mei…? How did you know that he…" Kiana and the others quietly asked.
Mei did not answer. She was uncertain how to feel, but one emotion she did feel was overwhelming relief that Kevin was apparently wrong. Either way, she still had her promise to help him fight against Otto. This did not explain why he stood beside their enemy.
Otto began laughing once more, a low, mocking noise of a man who had lost everything and then gained everything.
"It seems that all our guests have arrived. Good. My dearest Johann, will you please do the honours of preparing the stage for us all?"
All of the girls watched with horror and shock as Johann effortlessly opened dozens of dark portals around himself and Otto. Out of each of them, one of Otto's Soulium copies stepped out, now completely unaffected by the Spartacus System used to disable them.
The thirty-one clones all brandished the same weapons they had used to murder Johann onboard the Hyperion, each seeming to sneer at them from behind their clown masks.
"I must praise the technology you developed against me. My Soulium avatars would truly be worthless to me if not for my cousin's command over the void," Otto remarked.
"Johann…no, no! Why have you done this?!" Kiana yelled. "Otto must have brainwashed you. He must be controlling you with Fenghuang Down. Snap out of it, please!"
Fu Hua shook her head. "No, Kiana. Johann's mind is his own. Otto isn't controlling him, at least as far as I can tell. I trained him to strengthen his mind until it could resist Fenghuang Down. He will never become a victim to it again. He's turned against us for a very different reason, whatever it is. I suggest that you all prepare to fight if you want answers. Be careful - Johann is…strong…"
"Johann would never turn against us. I can feel it in my core," Bronya said. "There's something that we don't know, and this is why he's doing this."
Bronya is right, Seele agreed. He seems to be operating under his own will. I'll need to punish him for betraying me.
"Whatever it is, it doesn't change the fact that we'll need to fight him now. Everyone, prepare for battle!" Theresa commanded.
They all did. They gripped their weapons and took combat stances. To their relief, Bronya and Kiana were able to access their Herrscher forms. Otto must have known that Theresa had learned she could use the Oath of Judah's Zeroth Power to counteract his Grace Field. They would be nearly helpless otherwise.
Otto laughed. "Very good, all of you. Now - let us bring an end to this farce."
...
An overwhelming surge of energy radiated from Otto. The ruined church fell away and vanished. The girls felt as if they had been thrown into the sky before crashing back to the surface. They realized that they no longer stood in the cathedral.
They were now surrounded by a boundless world filled with violet clouds and massive structures made of crystal and stone. They found themselves standing on one of these structures, a circular platform that appeared to be a warped and twisted mockery of the cathedral they had been in just moments before.
Floating above them, illuminated by golden light, was an angel.
No - an angel it was not. It was much closer to a demon. It was Otto, ascended into a higher form.
He was clad in white and golden armour. Six golden wings unfolded behind him. Two large arms ending with clawed fingers emerged from the halo behind his back, the palms pointed upward. A mask and visor obscured his face, but behind it, they knew he was smiling.
He had become a False God.
"What have you done, Otto?" Theresa demanded. "What is this place? And what have you done to yourself?!"
"The only place in existence fit for our climactic final battle, my dear granddaughter," came the reply, his voice reverberating with divine power and rumbling through the air. "As for my brilliant new form, it's lovely, isn't it? I have been blessed with power from the Will of the Honkai itself. Now, come and end this."
"You've allied with the Will of the Honkai, the being that's behind the cause of all Honkai in the world. You are a traitor to all of humanity, Otto!" Bianka yelled, outraged. "Kiana - with me!"
The two of them lunged at Otto, their lance and greatsword aimed directly at his heart.
Johann teleported in front of Kiana, blocking her path. She was too shocked to react.
"I'm sorry, Kiana. But your battle is with me."
He created a subspace lance and aimed it at her. She finally snapped out of her shock and parried it with her sword.
"Please stop, Johann! You aren't being yourself right now!" Kiana pleaded, feeling tears pooling up in her eyes and obscuring her vision.
"I'm doing this out of my own will. In time, you'll understand."
He opened up dozens of portals behind him and bombarded Kiana with lances. She barely managed to open a portal of her own in front of herself to absorb them.
"Kiana!" Bianka called out, moving to assist her, but then Otto flew directly in front of her.
"Show me all the strength you've gained, my dear Bianka."
She did. She yelled as she thrust the Abyss Flower at Otto's masked face. With a single, casual movement, he caught the tip of the lance between two fingers and pushed it aside before delivering a flaming slash with the Judgement of Shamash created by his own powers. She barely parried the blow with her lance before performing a counterstrike, beginning her battle with the Overseer turned god in earnest.
Kiana could hardly bring herself to fight against her former captain, but his relentless onslaught left her no other choice. She could not comprehend how much stronger he had become - he was strong before, but Kiana had easily outclassed him. Now, he was the equal - no, the superior - of the Herrscher of Flamescion. His endless attacks continued to pressure her, forcing her to resort to nearly every ability she had to defend herself.
Below them, Theresa and the others struggled against Otto's thirty-one Soulium clones. Mei was the strongest of them by far. She recognized the danger they posed and focused on destroying them before facing Otto himself.
"Roar, Kurikara!"
Her dragon, Kurikara, made itself known and fired a scorching stream of red lightning at a clone, disintegrating it. It was quickly replaced by another that menaced her beneath a flurry of attacks, providing her the opportunity to headbutt it and stab it in the chest with her horns.
The two puncture wounds quickly healed over. Mei knew that the only way to defeat Soulium permanently was to leave nothing left of it. She gripped the Key of Castigation in both hands before gracefully performing a slash and bisecting the clone at the waist. Before its two halves could reform, she activated her mastery over electromagnetism and used it to split its Soulium particles apart atom by atom. The clone was torn apart at the atomic level, leaving nothing left of it that could pose any threat. Satisfied with her handiwork, Mei turned to the nearest clone that was about to ambush her from behind and did the same to it.
Kurikara continued its bombardment from above even as several clones flew at it and began grappling with the dragon. Kurikara knocked one of them far away with a blow of its tail before catching another between its jaws and rending it in two, finally finishing the pieces off with another burst of lightning.
"Mei!" Bronya called out to her. "I'll bring them over to you!"
She transformed Project Bunny into a motorcycle before charging at a group of clones at top speed. She ran them over and pushed them over to Mei in a crumpled heap, letting Mei atomize them with ease.
The two Herrschers smiled at each other, pleased with their teamwork. Then they saw more clones flying at them.
"I'll take the ones on the left, Bronya," Mei said. "You get the rest."
"It's just like that video game we played together once, remember?" Bronya said with a laugh.
They smiled at each other again as they prepared to meet the incoming enemy.
...
None of them knew how long the battle lasted. Time had lost all meaning. There was only struggle and strife in the imaginary space Otto had brought them to.
Kiana was losing.
Against an opponent she genuinely wished to fight, she may have won already. But her captain was one of the people she loved the most in the world. She could not understand why he had chosen to turn against her. None of this made sense to her. It was all she could do to evade his attacks. She could hardly bring herself to even fight back.
Strangely, he likewise did not seem to be exerting his full power against her.
Elsewhere, Bianka was gradually overpowered. For all the power she had gained from her awakened stigmata, Otto was stronger. If she had been fighting alongside Kiana, perhaps they could have prevailed against him together - but Johann had tactically separated Kiana from her, leaving both of them to fend for themselves.
Bianka knew that she likely had no hope of victory when she managed to embed the Abyss Flower into Otto's chest before it burst through the other side.
But nothing happened. Not even the ability to disintegrate matter into nothing had any effect on the False God.
Otto chuckled, a low, rumbling noise that chilled her to her soul. "I am infinite, my dear Bianka. You cannot defeat me."
He grabbed the lance with both hands and pulled it out of his chest, which was immediately whole again as if he had never received an injury. He laughed before creating an apparition of the Oath of Judah in an attempt to bind her with its chains. Bianka slashed them apart before throwing herself at him again, but she knew that she would eventually lose this battle of attrition. He was toying with her, nothing more, and she still did not know why.
Theresa immobilized several of Otto's clones using the true Oath of Judah, which enabled her and Mei to dispatch them more easily.
"Keep holding them still, Principal!" Mei shouted. "I'll finish them off!"
Fu Hua knocked one of the clones off its feet with a graceful maneuver and held it still with all of her might as Mei reduced it to atoms. She then created a massive orb of black and white that swirled in the air above before it reshaped itself into a cone and stabbed down, temporarily weakening a group of clones before Mei flew in between them and atomized them one by one.
Bronya created hundreds of cannons that fired an endless barrage of blue lasers that pierced through the clones and knocked them down. Then she activated the Star of Eden, crushing them beneath forces of gravity innumerable times the strength of Earth's.
Rita and Seele expertly used their scythes in conjunction with each other. Rozaliya and Liliya provided as much assistance as they could.
Through each of their efforts, the number of Soulium clones gradually dwindled. But high in the air, Kiana and Johann's battle raged on all the fiercer.
"Why are you doing this, Johann?" she tearfully asked. "You know that I can never hurt you!"
She slashed apart another of his subspace lances with her sword. She stared into his tortured eyes. Sadness and self-loathing stared back at her.
"I…I know that you aren't trying to hurt me, either…" she slowly realized. "Then…why…"
She realized that the trajectory of each of his lances would never have struck her. They would have sailed past her with millimeters to spare, or they moved slowly enough for her to react to them. He also refrained from using more lethal attacks he easily could have performed, such as using a pair of portals to sever her in two.
When he looked at her, it was with the same tenderness and compassion he always had. Was he still the same man even now?
He dodged an attack from her. At last, he answered her.
"For another Kaslana."
Kiana did not understand what he meant. But then she thought back to the man he was…
Johann Apocalypse
1452 - 1477
The book said he had died during the outbreak of Honkai beasts that devastated Vienna, the capital of Schicksal at the time. His body was never recovered.
One of Kiana's distant ancestors had lived and died those very same years.
"K-Kallen…" Kiana whispered.
He gave her a sad smile. Then he attacked once more, slashing at her with a lance he wielded using both arms.
Kiana dodged and blocked him but made no attempts to counterattack. There was no point. There was more meaning to all of this, she realized. Johann and Otto were not fighting to defeat them. This entire battle was only a means to some end.
Kiana could guess what end it was, but nothing explained how fighting her would let them achieve it.
Only one option remained to her. She knew that her fight with Johann was somehow enabling him and Otto to further their plan. But if she could stop him without killing him…
Kiana felt inner calm spread throughout her mind. She drew upon all her reserves of strength. She yelled and opened her palm. Out of it she fired a black void portal with a golden rim that rapidly grew in diameter. Soon, it dwarfed all portals she had ever created before.
She continued shouting as she focused all of her power into the black sphere, which collided with Johann. He grunted with effort as he resisted the incredible force.
Kiana hoped that by forcing him into unconsciousness using the sheer force of her void portal, she could thwart whatever plan he and Otto were fighting to achieve. She poured enough energy into the portal so it was hundreds of meters across, dwarfing its surroundings.
Johann was forced to fly even higher in order to contend with the portal. He yelled as he called upon his own reserves of power, retaliating with an identical void portal of his own that rivalled Kiana's.
Kiana cried out with shock as she felt the raw power he had answered her portal with. His portal was even larger than hers and increased in size by the second. She grit her teeth and forced even more of her strength into sustaining and strengthening her portal, doing everything she could to overpower his.
Everyone else noticed the surge of power above them. They temporarily stopped fighting and turned to watch Kiana and Johann's endless back-and-forth power struggle. Even the Soulium clones watched.
Behind his golden mask, Otto grinned.
The two massive voids in space clashed against each other, releasing enough power to force the others, Otto aside, into hiding behind whatever cover they could find.
"Kiana, stop! You'll destroy the platform and all of us on it!" Mei yelled at her, but Kiana did not care.
"I…I have to stop Johann, Mei! This is the only way I can!"
Johann smiled to himself. He loved Kiana for what she was doing. He continued the surge of energy into the portal, strengthening it with each passing second even as Kiana did the same.
"Please stop, Johann! If we continue doing this - " Kiana yelled, but he only responded by pushing her back with another, far stronger surge of energy.
The two portals grew in size until it was impossible to gauge how wide they were anymore.
Otto began to laugh.
"The portals will detonate if they continue at this rate," Fu Hua realized with fear. "None of us will survive an explosion of that magnitude. None of us except Otto."
"Kiana…Johann…" Theresa whispered. Was this really the end for all of them?
"Kiana…" Mei said. She wanted to help her, but at the same time, she wanted to help Johann just as much. She quickly made her decision and flew up to Kiana to assist her, but each remaining clone immediately intercepted her, forcing her back down. Theresa and the others had no choice but to continue their battle against them.
"You've made me proud to be your captain, Kiana. You've become everything I hoped you'd become. I don't know if you'll ever be able to forgive me…" she heard him say, his voice quiet and resigned.
Kiana did not know how to answer. It took all of her concentration to maintain her portal against his. Both were about to reach the bursting point. The resulting explosions from both would be apocalyptic.
"Even if you don't, it's okay. If you want to disown me forever, it's okay…"
"Johann…captain…please, don't say things like this…" Kiana pleaded, her teardrops falling to the platform below.
"It's alright, Kiana. You've fought well. Everything is going to be okay now."
He roared as loudly as he could as he unleashed a burst of void energy magnitudes stronger than all others before, completely overpowering Kiana and forcing her backwards. His portal began absorbing Kiana's into itself. They would reach their limits in seconds and detonate.
"NOW, OTTO!"
Otto's laughter erupted louder than ever before. He howled with absolute glee as he flew in between the two titanic portals and placed the palms of his additional hands on each. Then he began screaming in pain.
Kiana did not know what Otto was doing. Had he been waiting for this very moment? And if so, why would he willingly harm himself?
To her shock, both portals began shrinking at a rapid rate. Despite all her efforts to reinforce it with more void energy, the diameter of her portal diminished faster and faster until it blinked out of existence along with Johann's, the energy streaming into Otto's hands. He had absorbed all their energy into himself.
He laughed even as he screamed.
They had succeeded.
This was the moment they had always wanted.
"YES! YES, MY COUSIN! WE'VE DONE IT!" Otto roared with exhilaration and joy as waves of darkness began pouring out of him, filling the entire imaginary space.
There was nowhere to run. There was nowhere to hide. All of the girls braced themselves for their imminent demise as the darkness rushed toward them at blinding speed.
And then there was nothing.
...
Bronya groaned with confusion as her eyes reopened.
She was back in St. 537 Cathedral in the town of Kolosten, Austria.
She quickly checked herself for any injuries. There were none, but she had been forced out of her Herrscher state. She slowly pulled herself to a sitting position and looked around.
All of her friends were lying on the ground near her. She quickly checked each of them. To her relief, they were all unharmed.
"Bronya?" Kiana groggily said as Bronya helped her to her feet. "Where are we?"
"...We appear to be back in the church of Kolosten. But…"
Only then did they notice the few Soulium clones that still remained. They were initially alarmed, but they soon realized the clones were not moving. They appeared for all intents and purposes to be dead.
"Are they…" Kiana began. Then she heard Einstein's voice over her earpiece.
"Are you alright, Kiana? We lost track of all of you over an hour ago. You seem to have vanished into thin air. It must be related to the surge of energy we detected from Otto."
"...Yes, we're all fine. There's too much to explain…just tell me if those clones are still a threat…"
"No, Kiana," Tesla answered this time. "According to our sensors, the Soulium in those bodies are completely inert. They'll never be operational again."
"This is relieving," Bronya said.
Theresa, Fu Hua, Mei, and the others had all woken up by then, each of them as confused as Bronya and Kiana.
"Is everyone alright?" Theresa asked, checking them one by one.
They all answered in the affirmative. Only then did they dare to confront the question in the recesses of each of their minds. Bronya was the first to voice it, but all of them wondered the very same.
"Where…where is Johann? And where is Otto?"
