The Civil War, No Winner

And as Otto said before, the last S-Rank Valkyrie will be awakened by him at this moment.

Although it's always been said that Schicksal has 3 S-Rank Valkyries, Durandal, Rita, and Theresa,

But in fact, after Theresa went to the branch to teach, she was not included, the headquarters has never counted her in, it's definitely not because she's embarrassing… right?

And regardless of everything, the last one, is indeed someone else.

Now it's been revealed, it's the Shenzhou warrior from five hundred years ago—Li Sushang.

Those who have read the [Saga of the Shattered Swords], have some guesses about this choice,

But there are also a considerable number of people who don't care much about the released side story, so they're a bit confused,

Regarding this Shenzhou woman, everyone's unified thought is—big, she doesn't look like her Red Lotus Ancestor, who is more suitable for martial arts, it must have added a lot of burdens to her martial arts journey.

But it's worth it!

-----

The girl's consciousness slowly surfaced from the bottomless abyss of darkness.

The strongest memory of her life, also appeared first before her eyes.

The golden-haired man collapsed on the ground, his clothes tattered, with cuts everywhere, his luxurious golden hair scattered, his face on the ground, unconscious, it was clearly a death scene.

Who… is he?

…Did I kill him?

The girl felt heartbroken.

Although her memories were incomplete… the thorns of guilt had already begun to bleed in her heart.

He should be—

No, no matter who this beautiful man in the pool of blood is… the girl has undoubtedly betrayed his trust and kindness.

Water drops fell on the girl's cheek, waking her consciousness.

"Ah… so, he seems to have…"

"But… why… does he seem to be crying?"

"Is it because… of that promise?"

"I can't witness that moment… is it such a sad thing for you?"

"But your gaze… wasn't on me at all…"

"What… are you sad about…"

Water drops fell on the girl's cheek.

She lost consciousness again.

The mysterious voice and the dream gradually overlapped. The girl realized that "the one outside" and "the man in the dream" were the same person.

"…Don't be nervous. You just had a nightmare."

"Right… do you know who I am? If you know, try to nod."

The girl tried to remember the feeling of controlling her own muscles, after about a few seconds, she slowly shook her head back and forth.

"Good. But don't rush to move your limbs—they will gradually regain feeling on their own."

"So—let's get down to business."

"Today is May 2017… oh, sorry. That expression will only confuse you more."

"Let's put it another way—in short… it's five hundred and twenty years after you fell asleep."

That familiar voice said, she vaguely remembered it was the figure who had fallen to the ground, and the information revealed in his words was undoubtedly huge, even though she wasn't fully conscious at this moment, she still vaguely felt a kind of shock.

Five… hundred… years later?

-----

"So, Otto hid Li Sushang for five hundred years? How strange, both of them reappearing five hundred years later?"

The Herrscher of Sentience said thoughtfully,

"Because Li Sushang's last request was... to bring her to the era when he fulfilled his wish." Luo Mo responded.

"But is she really that strong? Otto saw her as his final trump card."

Durandal couldn't help but ask, she was a bit itchy, unfortunately, not many people could fight her.

And those who could, didn't want to, like Little Senti, like Elysia… she glanced at the two beside her and sighed slightly.

"Well... how should I put it? Sushang, uh, she's exceptionally talented. That Seele, right? Sushang is also a natural Stigmata bearer, so her abilities are naturally strong. She might even be able to fight the Old Antique injured in the game."

The Herrscher of Sentience scratched her head, she didn't have any intention of continuing to slander the other, she said it straightforwardly.

But it seemed like she would have to deal with Fu Hua again. Thinking about it, she really was pitiful. Couldn't a bunch of her disciples and grand-disciples show her more respect?

Apart from Lixue, there really wasn't anyone who listened to their master wholeheartedly. It could be said... the old relic's teaching skills were really not great, maybe she should take over.

She would definitely revitalize the Great Taixu Sect. The character "Tai" worn down into "Da" would make sense, right? (literally 'Wear and Tear' if you know what I mean)

"The time when his wish is fulfilled… Otto, he's about to revive Kallen?!"

Elysia was startled, even with her not-so-smart brain, she knew that resurrection was impossible, if there was really hope for resurrection, there wouldn't be so many regrets in the world.

"In a way, it's not wrong. It's just that the way of resurrection is probably a bit different from your understanding?"

"Re… resurrection? He's really doing something that's going to shock the world, the former great inventor."

Kallen gave a wry smile.

"No matter how it's done, it's undoubtedly a feat, something to look forward to."

Mobius said lightly, glanced at Kallen's direction, then lowered her head to avoid her gaze, a bit of suspicion in her heart.

So… what's going on with this world…

Mobius was unsure, every time she wanted to take Kallen to the experimental table, she was always disrupted by unexpected events, she believed that if she could succeed twice, her guess would be more certain, but unfortunately… she was always disrupted by Elysia, which made her angry.

Therefore, without a control group, she also couldn't know whether Kallen was really favored by the world, and… whether the way she was resurrected would be as she thought.

-----

Four months later, on Friday, October 13, 2017.

Amidst the pervasive gloom of the overcast sky, a faint glow penetrated, with rare rays of sunlight breaking through layers of mist, scattering over the dust-laden town.

The town from five hundred years ago was covered inside and out with a layer of moss, as if shrouded by a gray-black mist,

with buildings steeped in time wrapped in hues of yellowed antiquity, exuding the heavy aura unique to historical relics.

And coincidentally, here too was a figure from the same era five hundred years ago—Otto Apocalypse.

He looked up at the sky and scenery, smiling and musing,

"Ah, what a gloomy yet bright day."

"In five hundred years, I have never seen such a day."

"After all, 'To deceive the world, you must act like the world'—"

"And most people... would not seek sunshine amidst the dense clouds."

-----

"As if any normal person would look for sunshine in the clouds." The Herrscher of Sentience muttered under her breath, her eyes rolling mischievously.

Of all the people present, she was the one who hated Otto the most, mostly because of the memory of that shot from Old Antique,

The others didn't mind as much; after all, the game lacked the real-life impact, even if they knew it was a real event happening in another world. But after all, they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.

As for Kallen, she didn't know what emotions she should have towards Otto.

A single emotion couldn't express even a fraction of her feelings.

So she could only remain silent.

Otto was still as talented as before, and… good at disguising himself.

She had never been able to grasp his thoughts and plans, just like the complex hidden truths behind the trial back then, which she only learned much later.

And now, the way he achieved his plans in the game was still the same.

"Act like a normal person? Huh? Is he also schizophrenic?"

Vill-V was stunned for a moment, then asked.

"That's just a poem from the current civilization, but it should have its reason for appearing here." Eden leaned back on the sofa, speaking softly.

The hangover wasn't very pleasant, she had drunk with Elysia last night and lost track of time, unfortunately… Elysia didn't like drinking, which was a bit sad.

But she liked to be slightly tipsy with her, and Elysia also liked seeing her like that, which wasn't sad either.

"Schizophrenic? When was Otto ever mentally normal? Since Ka... since Kallen's death in the game, he has been the most lucid madman."

Luo Mo said this, attracting a calm glance from Kallen midway.

"I agree with that. Your situation is not much different from Kevin's. Hehe—two broken-hearted men deciding the fate of humanity at a crossroads. How interesting!"

The Herrscher of Sentience patted Kevin's shoulder familiarly, like good brothers and comrades in arms,

Then, under Kevin's indifferent gaze as he turned around… she slowly moved away a bit, the scene was quite awkward.

"Ahem—what I mean is, you and Otto both have certain leadership qualities. You will be excellent leaders in the future."

The Herrscher of Sentience's smile froze, but she still continued with a stiff face,

She thought she was just joking with him before, but it turned out she said it secretly in the game? Then it's fine!

"…Sigh." Kevin sighed helplessly.

He reached out and swatted away her hand, which was close at hand, took two steps, and chose to stand next to Su.

-----

As the one who awakened Sushang, and also the only person she knew here, Otto happily left her to prepare his plan, ignoring her for several days in a row.

Until now, he finally appeared before Li Sushang, smiling broadly at her as she walked towards him.

Li Sushang had many questions for the golden-haired man in front of her, about the current era, and many subtle questions, but they were all thrown to others.

Although Nagamitsu and Rita were very nice people, how could a Sleeping Maiden be so irresponsible?

Li Sushang glared at the calm and composed golden-haired man, and he also appropriately gave a wry smile.

"Alright, alright. By the way, about that plan… didn't you say that you would probably die too?"

Li Sushang widened her eyes, looking at his face.

"Well, yes. After all, you know, I don't really care about my own life, do I?"

Otto smiled and gave the answer, not showing any fear of the word death.

It was just a journey he should have completed long ago, it was just the final answer he needed to give to the world.

"…" Li Sushang was helpless, looking at the smiling man in front of her, she had already known his thoughts, hadn't she, since five hundred years ago?

It's just… she would lose another one of her few remaining friends.

"There's another thing, did you really break through the boundary between the past and the present? This town is full of ghosts now, you know?"

Her tone became worried at the end.

"Hehe, you even know about this. But I'll state beforehand—I didn't really summon the world from five hundred years ago."

Otto was slightly taken aback, then his expression relaxed, turning into a smile as he explained,

"I just projected its information here. Strong consciousnesses have the right to project and reappear in this place."

Otto took her to see some consciousness projections of people from five hundred years ago, it was the time of the old and new Schicksal's transformation, several shadows related to Otto emerged.

Marcel, Lisa, Sasha… he still couldn't forget those names.

"—You went through a civil war before you finally ascended."

"Civil war…"

He chewed on the word, his smile becoming even stranger.

That civil war was something no one wanted, neither the old Schicksal nor him, they all hoped from the bottom of their hearts that this war wouldn't come.

But fate likes to play jokes, the numbers on the dice are always unexpected.

A war that no one wanted, under the coercion of fate, began.

To him, there was no victor in that war.

Who deserved to be?

His sister lost the power she pursued, it was the poison she lived for,

And what about him? The victor in history?

He lost the whole world—Kallen Kaslana, the banner under which this war was first launched.

-----

(Captainverse Events? Side story 8)

"Human, moon and stars… which do you like better?"

The soft voice was like a whisper after midnight, the intoxicating fragrance of flowers accompanied by the scent of roses,

"Please look into my eyes and answer, don't dodge…"

Luna asked almost with a plea, but the expected answer was obvious.

Even though her physical appearance was now full-bodied and tall, her way of speaking was still stubborn, as Kongming said, a grown body doesn't mean a grown heart.

A bit childish, a bit innocent, a bit… difficult for Luo Mo to answer.

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but tremble a little, he shook his head, wanting to get rid of those thoughts,

He had forgotten how he got through that trial, moon and stars… hmph… wasn't that a bit too suggestive?

Was this really a question he could answer?

"…Hey, you… you can't zone out while talking to others. Don't you know that?"

Bronie blew a bubble with her chewing gum, then popped it in the air, leaving a strawberry scent.

"…Sorry, sorry, your words just reminded me of a terrifying scene, it's just… very memorable."

Luo Mo said with a difficult expression, then sighed.

"Heh—, your expression just now didn't look very sad, you must have been enjoying it. I just mentioned the full moon of Mid-Autumn Festival, oh, you thought of Kongming?"

Bronie glanced at him, giving a meaningless sneer, before he could retort, she continued,

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that for now. The new game… why not let Bronie do the voice acting? Voice acting is so tiring, after all, it was her mission in the first place, right?"

After guest-starring in the next-door crew, Bronie slumped on the sofa and said with a bad temper,

Her small hand was still gently fanning her face, looking exhausted and busy.

"Maybe because they think you're more suited for the role?"

Luo Mo thought for a moment, giving an attempt at an answer.

"Get out of here~, there's only a tiny bit of difference between me and her voice acting… I think you're just taking advantage of me, you black-hearted boss who wants me to work."

"What black-hearted… be careful or I'll sue you for defamation~"

"Heh—, should I tell you about the privacy on your phone? The Otherworldly Life Diary thing~"

"You don't really think normal people keep diaries."

Luo Mo said disdainfully, who would believe that stuff?

"Oh? That's not necessarily true, I think just the notes on your chat app are enough to get you in trouble."

Bronie said with a sneer.

"?!"

"It's no use changing it, I've already recorded it."

"!!"