Honkai Impact: Aeon of Apocalypse

It was a night of utter chaos; the raging storm violently tossed the ship, and the thunderous rupturing of the dark clouds mirrored the turmoil in my mind.

Ugh...

When I woke up, the dizziness and the aching mind calmed down.

Where... am I?

I looked around, only to find the flickering lantern hanging from the ceiling; the books were scattered throughout the ground, seemingly fallen from the violent swaying of the ship.

Boom!

The loud boom of the explosion reverberated through the air, drowning out all other sounds. Under the storm, the panicked cries and muffled voices of people screaming resounded like whispers.

When I stood up, I almost stumbled to the ground. Fortunately, I managed to grab the table to maintain my posture.

Somehow, my body felt a lot weaker than before. I only passed it off as having a hangover; However, how did I arrive at this place?

My memories were blurry.

I reached for the door at the edges of the walls, using my right hand to guide me while carefully treading through the dark room.

Huh?

As I stepped outside to the ship's deck, I stared at the view, which seemed straight out of a fantasy action movie.

Boom!

I saw a crew of men wearing antique sailor uniforms that seemed to resemble the old eras in the modern world while drenched in the cold storm.

"Avast ye scurvy-ridden bilge rats! Blast me, cannons! Why in Neptune's name be me guns failing me now?!" (Dammit! Why aren't the cannons working against this monster?!)

"Shiver me, timbers! Could you lend a hand, ye lubbers? Ahoy, help me, I beseech thee!" (I am terrified, can anyone help me? I need help! Somebody!)

I was baffled. These guys looked like they were shooting a movie, and a giant octopus monster had latched onto the ship's deck.

'Isn't this monster way too big? They must have used a large budget for this movie shooting.'

They spoke strangely funny and almost sounded like they were part of Monty Python's comedy show.

'Who am I? Where am I?'

I constantly asked these questions in my mind, yet the chaotic situation did not subside; it only worsened as if it was about to reach its climax.

"Ahhhh! No!-"

As I opened my mouth wide, the man who had screamed, 'Shiver my timbers,' was pulled into the abyssal waters.

'Hey, wasn't that too violent? His head just hit the deck fence.' I stopped as I touched my lips and felt the cold splint of salt and water dripping from the violent thrum.

There was also a bloodstain on the once-torn deck fence as if a metal baseball bat had slammed into it.

I looked up at the looming colossal Kraken, which raised its mighty arm before slamming it into the deck. An unlucky man on the crew's ship turned into an unrecognizable mess when the blow struck him.

"Huh?"

One of the Kraken's tentacles crept towards me as the cannon had recently hit it but dealt no damage.

"I am dreaming, right?"

The sailors glanced at me with a look of apprehension.

"Lord Otto! Arrr, me hearty! Make haste and flee! The Kraken be readyin' to unleash another blow upon us!" (Lord Otto, please run away! The Kraken is about to attack us again!)

'Otto?'

'Why does that name sound so familiar?'

He wasn't lying as I saw the Kraken's crimson eyes had already befallen me.

'Isn't this a movie show?'

I stood blankly in confusion and dread at the sight of the monstrous figure.

Oddly, it looked familiar when the lightning from the gloomy sky erupted. I could see the slight features of this horrific creature. The Kraken had purplish linings and a white scale resembling a giant Honkai Beast.

-'What are you doing? Do you want to die?!'

"A ghost?!" I gasped in shock.

I heard a voice that seemed to be between a man and a woman. However, I did not have enough time to think as the Kraken's arm was about to flail in my way.

'Am I going to die? Isn't this just a movie shooting?' Those were the last thoughts I had in my mind while my body's nervous system sounded the alarms of the impending end.

I was too confused to know what was going on and it felt like there was a mental block towards my memories with intertwining strings of memories unrelated to me.

As the Kraken's arm descended, a glowing child pulled me aside, saving me from the blow that shook the entire ship.

-"You're a fool, Otto. I thought we had made a promise?"

"A promise..?" My voice shook as if I was in a trance at those thoughts.

I sat on the ground as the child glanced down at me before saying it in a resounding voice.

-"To bring back Kallen Kaslana. In exchange'th for thine body. Is it not what you have bargained with for thine measly life?"

Suddenly, the memories of Otto's Apocalypse, which initially seemed blurry, were now transparent.

The life of Otto Apocalypse flashed before my eyes. The strings of memories are organized to form a small ball of incandescent light.

It was a clichéd, but it worked. My head ached with pain but it woke me up from my stupor.

My mind felt like I had been hit with a battering ram, however, I slowly got up as if igniting a strong desire.

'Kallen.'

At this moment, I had become something I hadn't anticipated throughout my life. It felt like a dream. 

'I am Otto Apocalypse.' 

It was a fact I couldn't deny. It was like suddenly ending up becoming another person the next day. The memories did not deny I had transmigrated into this Honkai-riddled world.

I gritted my teeth as I bared my eyes at the Kraken. There was a strong will in my mind—the indomitable willpower brought by madness from the obsession of Otto Apocalypse, the villainous antagonist.

I unclasped my hands as if pulling something from the air. It wasn't me. But Otto Apocalypse in muscle memory, all of the fear was gone, as the will of Otto Apocalypse overtook my body to fight for survival.

[ Mimicry: Judgment of Shamash - Dual Guns ]

Two dual pistols materialized from my hands as I gripped them tightly; the fiery flames of Honkai Energy radiated intensely from them.

-"Hehehe. Thou finally remembered."

Listening to the snort of the Void Archives, I ignored it as I frowned at the inexplicable pain of being torn into shreds.

"..."

I quietly closed my eyes to calmly breath through my nose. It wasn't my first time dealing with danger, and neither was it my first using firearms.

Most importantly, it wasn't my first time dealing with pain.

Combining all my memories of my previous life as a Special Force Soldier in World War 3 and Otto Apocalypse's life was comparable to a century of fighting experience.

"By Davy Jones' locker! Someone lend a hand! It's got me in its clutches!" (Goodness! Someone help me! I am caught!)

I lifted my gun at one of the Kraken's many tentacles while aiming it at the Kraken's arm that held the sailor, I pulled the trigger and the pistol roared as it struck the Kraken's tentacle like a torpedo.

Bang!

Boom!

The explosion's aftermath burnt the insides of the tentacle intensely, hitting the nerves like over-cooking octopus seafood as the flames permeated the internal system of the Kraken's arm, causing it to jerk in pain.

The sailor collapsed to the ground while agape at the sight.

The shrieking agony of the Kraken resounded like a tsunami as it burst everyone's ears on deck.

The Kraken dropped its arm back underwater as it glared toward me.

'It finally recognized me as a threat?'

Thud!

I continued to fire at the Kraken, however, its arms were countless, and I didn't have enough Honkai Energy to prolong this battle of attrition.

I firmly planted my feet on the ground as I prepared my body to approach the monster.

'It's my first time fighting a monster in mythology.' I smiled bitterly.

My body was not in good condition to fight a prolonged battle, so I mustered all my strength and poured most of my limited Honkai Energy reserves into the Judgment of Shamash.

Due to its recoil, the proper form of the Judgment of Shamash took the wielder's lifespan. After this, I might not be able to wake up for a week or more.

'I have to take a life-and-death risk. Even my mind agreed that this action was the only way.'

[ Mimicry: Judgment of Shamash - Cleaver Form ]

I sprinted towards the Kraken, and the dual pistols in my hand combined into a Cleaver. Flames erupted from the combination process before I even reached the Kraken.

Shriek!

The Kraken trembled under the might of the Judgment of Shamash, which caused it to go into a frenzy due to fear, sending two of its tentacles to tear me into pieces.

In response, I swung the Flaming Cleaver diagonally with both hands to counter its attack. A destructive force of burning light tore through the air like magma. The Cleaver sliced effortlessly through the Kraken's tough skin, and the flames from the blade scorched its skin layers and insides.

The crimson flames swept the dark surroundings as the fire lit the abyssal waters like a raging firestorm.

Swoosh-

Thud! Boom!

Both tentacles crashed and burned to the ground as I ran towards the deck taffrail, jumped, and swung the Flaming Sword downwards.

My sword dug into the Kraken's head as it shrieked in agony; the tides of the ocean were so violent as the Kraken rampaged in anger; I was drenched with freezing seawater.

I held on as I brought the sword to the Kraken's head and thrust it downwards, digging deeply into its convulsing head.

-"You crazy bastard! What are you doing?!-"

The Void Archives couldn't believe it. After all, how unexpected was it to find its host, Otto Apocalypse, whom it thought to be the most cunning human ever to exist, suddenly become so reckless as to jump into the Kraken's head in the middle of a storm?

The people on deck were shocked as they watched a heroic act unfold. They proclaimed it the work of a legendary warrior supported by a transcendent entity known as God.

"My Lord!"

"Arr, do ye bear witness to this spectacle? Methinks I'm amidst a surreal reverie! Hail the Lord!" (Do you all see this? It feels like I am in a dream! Hail the Lord!)

The Void Archives could only frown at the sight; it felt so anxious for the first time. It wondered if it was because of Kallen's death that he had acted this recklessly.

-' I can't have that idiot die too early.'

The Kraken rose through the sky as it tried to slam its head on the ocean's surface. I brought the Cleaver above and swung it down once more as flames that scorched the ocean's surface emitted steam as if a volcano had erupted.

Boom!

The Kraken stopped for a bit, however, it shook the dizziness with a fierce roar as it tried to dive to the bottom of the ocean.

My arm felt weaker, my breathing was unstable, and my sight was blurry. I held my consciousness through sheer willpower.

"Dammit! Just die already!"

With one last chance. I gritted my teeth, as thunder and fire raged around me while I mustered all my strength that would determine the fate of everyone aboard this ship.

'One more time.'

I pulled the Flaming Cleaver from above and the Cleaver emitted a brilliant dazzling light.

My hands felt numb to the bone despite it being scorched by the fire.

My body felt like it was giving up as my surroundings started to look darker.

However, I couldn't give up here, so I glared at the Kraken and poured the rest of my Honkai energy reserves into its head.

"Ah!!! Die!" I swung the Cleaver as it started to burn my arms once more. The blow landed on its head with sheer speed and might.

The Kraken convulsed from the overwhelming heat and force; the flames of the Judgment of Shamash radiated through the surroundings before utterly destroying half of the Kraken's head until its remaining burnt body slowly submerged below the abyssal waters.

'Sh*t.'

I tried to keep my consciousness by biting my lips til they bled, but unfortunately, my surroundings darkened with no regard to my will.

The only shred of memory I had was a golden lasso, but aside from that, I temporarily lost memories of what happened.

.

.

.