Otto stood before the elevator door, Valkyries behind him.

"Why are you doing this after everything you've done?"

The Captain of the Hyperion, Murata Himeko, asked him.

"I believed it would be possible for a Herrscher to regain their humanity and fight on our side. I still believe so, which is why I will prove it to both of you. As to why I'm going to such lengths as much as getting involved personally…let's just say I owe a lot to Kiana Kaslana."

He owed her a lot, indeed. If it were not for her, he would not have achieved his lifelong goal. He wouldn't have been able to create another branch for the one he loved, nor would he have been able to spark the chain of events which would give the current humanity a chance to win. In other words, Kiana Kaslana was his beacon of hope. This was the least he could do to repay everything she had done for him.

"Not to mention, her dad has a very solid punch. I don't want to be on the receiving end of something like that, ever again."

Otto was reminded of Siegfried's jab, because he was still feeling the ringing sensation of HImeko's punch, minutes prior to current time.

"Honkai life-form is attacking the Hyperion! Defences have fallen by 30%!"

The intercom whirred.

The doors opened as the trio saw the massive Honkai beast, a Dragon, fly around the Hyperion as it used its tail to fling an Anti-Air cannon towards the bridge.

"Void Archives!"

A golden cube materialised.

Otto dashed with great speed and with a single leap, he flung himself into the air.

He was now at eye level with the Dragon.

Meanwhile, portals opened and chains shot out, reducing the cannon to rubble. Otto slammed his heel on the Dragon, sending it downwards, crashing into the Hyperion.

As Otto made his descent, he prepared the Oath of Judah in his hands.

However, the beast had recovered from the shock and was going to slice Otto mid-air with its claws.

"Oh no you don't, you lizard!"

Himeko shouted at the Dragon as she dashed towards it, performing a horizontal cut, which burned the Dragon severely.

Otto was now in range, the beast was as good as dead.

With this, I should be able to slay the beast and draw her out-

Before the final blow could be struck, however, what seemed to be a crack in reality itself manifested and the entire landscape had changed to a colourless and hollow imitation of what it was.

The Void Subspace…

"Master Hua. Please stick close to Miss Himeko. Things are going to get rough."

Otto materialised a pair of Water's edge blades and got into stance, as he surveyed his surroundings.

"Enforcer or not… no one can survive once they enter the void, where I and only I, can rule!"

Otto heard the Void Queen speak. The voice was coming from his right. He sharply swerved his body in that direction, cleanly cutting a lance in half. He pointed the other blade at the Herrscher.

"There you are. Thanks for making this easy!"

Otto began to sprint towards her.

Countless portals opened, firing an endless barrage of Lances.

Archives, I trust you can handle this.

"I certainly can. You focus on the Herrscher."

VOID ARCHIVES: MASS MIMICRY- JUDGEMENT OF SHAMASH

The amount of portals present on the battlefield doubled. The other half, firing shots from the mimicry of shamash went on to nullify the Herrscher's attacks.

The Void Queen yelled in desperation.

"Why do you always cheat! This is unacceptable! Just go to hell and die!"

More portals opened, but what followed this time were beasts. Hordes of Honkai beasts.

One beast aimed its bow at Otto.

Otto threw the blade in his hand with precision, and the blade hit its mark, right in the head. Otto merely materialised another blade as he continued to raze the crowd with speed and efficiency.

Fu Hua and Himeko, both armed with Godsbane suits, were eviscerating the beasts with ease too, but their stamina was slowly slipping away, since they were already injured to begin with.

"You might want to hurry up, boy. Those Valkyries won't be able to keep this up for long."

Archives spoke.

You're right… I won't hear the end of it from Theresa should anything happen to them.

He let go of the swords, now opting to use the Cleaver of Shamash instead.

Violent explosions ensued, as the flames of Shamash engulfed every trace of Honkai in its path.

The Void Queen was gritting her teeth. She kept looking for a way with which she could turn the tide of the battle. The clown was getting closer and closer to her. She was running out of cards.

Just then, portals opened beside her, shooting out chains, locking her in place.

"Game over, Herrscher!"

Otto shouted as he reached closer.

These portals…they are…

A devilish grin appeared on her face as she came to a realisation.

She snapped her fingers.

All of Otto's summoned portals vanished.

.What?

"...She's smarter than I thought. We're in the void subspace, boy. Her authority over the void reigns supreme here. She simply overruled my access to the void with hers. You can't use mass mimicry anymore. You're going to have to resort to direct materialisation."

Have you gone insane? The Captain and the Celestial will die!

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE IS PRICELESS, HUMAN!"

The Herrscher took joy in what she believed was the turning tide of this battle.

Otto stared at the Herrscher with disdain.

"You've lost your trump card! Now, give up…and die!"

This was unexpected.

Lances shot at him from all directions. Before he could react, however, a red arc covered his sight, as the lances before him exploded in a grandiose fashion.

"If you think we're going to give up with just this much…you'd be wrong, girl."

Himeko Murata spoke between breaths, as she slammed her sword into the ground, exhausted from the impressive display she had just shown.

Fu Hua had deflected the remaining lances using her bare fists.

The three of them now stood together and glared at the Herrscher.

The Void Queen facepalmed and chuckled.

"Ah, you still cling to hope. The belief that some greater power will save you at the end of day and everything would end happily. It's really pathetic."

She looked towards Otto, eyes full of hate, as she snapped her fingers.

Beasts, too many to count, flood the vision of the trio, surrounding them.

"Otto…leave these beasts to us. We can hold them off until you take care of Kiana."

The celestial spoke.

"You started this, Overseer. Now, you must be the one to end this. You have to live up to the promise you made! Now, go!"

Himeko added.

Stole the words right out of my mouth.

But, as Otto poised to charge at the Herrscher, he glanced back at the amount of beasts charging towards the two lone valkyries.

He sighed.

Foolishly selfless. Just like Kallen. There's no way they can hold their own against so many beasts.

.

.

.

.

An idea struck him.

Hey, Archives…

"Boy, are you sure? This body isn't configured for-"

I have 2 minutes, do I not? That's more than what I can ask for.

"...I cannot stop you. Do as you please."

Beasts and lances were charging at Otto directly.

Otto inhaled sharply.

Here I go.

AUTHORITY OF IMAGINARY- NIHILUS SEED

Time slowed down. Otto expected the core to manifest behind him like it did back then. To his surprise, however, he now felt it where his heart should be.

At the same time, black and gold pieces of armour revolved around him and latched on to him, one by one.

This..is like Durandal's battlesuit..from when she returned from the experiment. Except, it's made of my authority?

"An upgrade, huh? Whoever sent you back definitely took a liking to you."

EROSION IMMINENT IN- 01:57

Otto was now in a race against time.

"Hurry, boy!"

Otto grasped the now armoured hand, materialising the cleaver of Shamash and closed his eyes. He was going to end it all, in just one go.

At the corner of their eyes, Fu Hua and Himeko saw what felt like a massive explosion of golden fire.

What followed was a line.

Now two.

Now a dozen.

Now uncountable.

Every single thing- beast, weapon, object - in the entire Subspace was now covered in lines, except for the valkyries and the herrscher.

The lines simultaneously exploded. An explosion, distorting space and time, scattered bright light across the dark void. Once the light subsided, the valkyries took note of their surroundings. Ashes, everywhere. The air smelled of Ozone. There were cracks in the "Sky".

The sheer force of the attack was enough to leave cracks across the void itself.

At the epicentre of it all, stood a man, donning an armour of Black and Gold, as he brought down his arm, the golden imitation of Shamash, crumbling.

"Such…power…"

Fu Hua couldn't believe it. This overwhelming strength reminded her of a man she once knew. The Overseer, whom she once believed to be frail, was now capable of such a feat.

When did he get this strong?

Himeko stood silent. Her eyes wide as she couldn't even comprehend what had happened.

"N-No w-way!"

The Void Queen stuttered. She prepared a lance and fired it at the Black figure, who simply vanished from her sight.

All she saw was a feather before her eyes.

"Playtime's over, Herrscher. Now leave."

The voice originated beside her. Before she could turn towards the figure, he simply swung his arm backwards, injecting something at the base of her neck. The serum vial was now empty.

"The greater power you deemed to be fake was real all along, Herrscher."

The Void Queen was losing her control.

She screamed.

"He did it..all by…himself…?"

Was all Himeko Murata could ask.

No, he's not done yet…

Fu Hua thought to herself. But her eyes widened and then narrowed, with relief, as she noticed a familiar feather in front of the herrscher.

The Overseer was clever.

-?-

Darkness everywhere.

EROSION IMMINENT IN- 01:33

I have to find her fast.

Otto thought. He had made his way to Kiana's subconscious, using the mimicry of Fenghuang Down.

He materialised the Cleaver of Shamash, its flames becoming the only source of light in the dark.

"Kiana. Where are you?"

Otto asked the darkness.

A single light illuminated far away. The imaginary authority had shown him the way.

There she was. Chained by the Herrscher's will.

Otto begins walking towards her. Chains shoot out for him as he melts them away with the golden cleaver.

"My name is Otto Apocalypse."

A beast ran and jumped at him. Otto shot it down mid-air with a mimicry of the Shamash pistol he held in his other arm.

"I speak to you, not as the Overseer of Schicksal, but as an Enforcer, representing humanity."

A chain grabbed his left wrist. He simply broke it off and kept walking forward.

"My mission is to protect my friends and family and to destroy the Honkai which threatens to harm them."

More beasts. He made a single horizontal cut with the Cleaver of Shamash as all of the beasts were reduced to ashes instantly. The Cleaver broke, only for him to materialise another.

He had now gotten close enough to get a good look at her.

"You share this mission too, do you not?"

She didn't look up at him nor did she utter a word.

"Do not trust that clown. He's the one who put you in this position in the first place."

Sirin, no, the Herrscher of the Void, spoke to her.

Otto sighed.

A moral struggle.

"I admit it. Yes, you are here because of me. You can despise me for it, if you so wish to. But, I did it knowing that if it's you, you will break free from these chains. You will become a herrscher who fights for mankind."

"You speak such blatant lies, human. You think I'm not aware of your selfish desires?"

The herrscher snapped.

"You mean… that? I've already succeeded. She has her own future to make. My goals now are different."

He smirked at the Herrscher.

"Wh-What?!"

"It's the truth. Now, all I wish for is to fight for the people I trust in and by extension, I wish to fight for the future of this world. Just like she would have."

Kiana raised her head. She was now looking directly at Otto.

"To fight for 'All that is beautiful', that is the promise you made to your father, did you not?"

Otto extended his hand towards her.

"I too promise that I, Otto Apocalypse, will stand beside you and offer you all my strength and knowledge. Let's save this world together. For the sake of the ones we love, if not for the sake of our ideals."

Otto was making the same promise to Kiana which Kallen had made to him the day they first met. That promise had become his lifelong salvation. He could only hope such a promise would save her too.

Kiana's hand tightened into a fist.

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM, THIS HAS TO BE ANOTHER SCHEME!"

The herrscher was desperate.

Kiana was distraught. She couldn't decide.

EROSION IMMINENT IN- 00:52

I'm running out of time!

Chains shot out, now pulling Otto away, slowly.

"Kiana! You must snap out of it! This is your only chance to reclaim your life! If you don't, you will end up hurting people! Your class monitor, your teachers, your friends and even…. Raiden Mei!"

Mere mention of that name was enough for the Valkyrie to focus all her attention on him.

"You cannot give up now! If you run away from making a decision now, then all the memories you had with the people in your life will fade away! Do you hear me, Kiana?!"

"... A promise is a promise…Mister Overseer. Promise me you will keep your word."

The girl spoke in a feeble voice.

"...I promise you. I will protect this world and the good willed people in it until my dying breath. I will continue to help you in any way I can."

She closed her eyes.

"You better not go back on your word.. If you do, I... will make you regret it!"

She jolted her eyes open and with all her strength she pushed herself forward, until their fingertips touched.

The darkness was swallowed by bright light. The area cracked and eventually shattered, causing both of them to fall from the air.

He hadn't realised he had been crying this whole time. He had finally changed the course of history.

Kiana was unconscious. Otto materialised the chains of Judah and pulled her close.

EROSION IMMINENT IN- 00:21

He looked up and saw Hua and Himeko had managed to deploy a mobile carrier for themselves. Sadly for him, he was a bit too out of reach. He would have to take the fall.

Using his power, he materialised a feather and shot it towards Hua.

He used the last vestiges of imaginary power his current body could withstand to encase them both in chains of Judah, in an attempt to cushion their eventual dive into water.

Such a troublesome child. How did Siegfried raise someone like this?

Otto thought to himself.

"Funny you're the one saying that, considering you pushed your fragile body to its limit even though I warned you.

I'm going to deactivate the Nihilus Seed until the new body is configured and ready to use."

Thank you… old friend.

The armor faded into sparkling dust.

Otto hadn't felt this tired in ages. He simply closed his eyes, as he fell into the water, alongside Kiana.

Before he lost his consciousness, however, he heard the Entity speak to him.

You've done well, Child. I'm impressed.

...I'm impressed, too.

Meanwhile-

"Did he really do it?!"

The captain asked the class monitor for confirmation.

Fu Hua held a feather in her hand which was slowly falling apart, since it was a mere imitation.

"Yes. He managed to bring her back. She is safe with him, for now."

Himeko sighed a breath of relief.

"Moreover… he's finally managed to save his own soul."

Fu hua remarked, as she clasped the feather in her hand.

With power and knowledge like his and now, a herrscher on our side… yes… this era.. can win.

Fu Hua felt something she had truly forgotten over the past 50,000 years. Hope.

CHAPTER 02 - END

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Two chapters in a day!

I'm clearly enjoying myself a bit too much writing this story! It's quite an adrenaline rush, to be honest.

Do let me know what you thought of the direction I'm taking in this story!

I've also taken some freedom to alter Otto's powers a bit.

Thank you SO much for the support! It really warms my heart and only inspires me to write more and more.

Love you guys!

Take care!