"Did Otto tell you to say that?"
Kallen lifted her hand, catching the one currently working on her third button. Her expression was a ssy tangle of emotions as she gazed at Rita.
"He didn't." Rita looked back at her, her gaze unwavering and sincere. "Lady Kallen... everything I just said ca from my own heart."
"Is that so..."
Kallen let out a soft laugh, one tinged with a certain sense of helplessness.
She looked at Rita, a flicker of sorrow crossing her eyes. "Rita, I know Otto better than you do. I know all too well that whenever he sets his mind on sothing, soone inevitably ends up paying the price for his ambitions."
And if... if it were truly as simple as nodding my head to stay in this world, Otto wouldn't have bothered asking for my opinion in the first place.
"Indeed, Lady Kallen. You understand Lord Otto perfectly." Rita gave a small, graceful nod.
By now, the respectful and elegant smile had returned to her face. Kallen let go of her hand, and Rita imdiately went back to work, ticulously doing up Kallen's buttons one by one.
Throughout the process, Kallen simply watched her with a complicated gaze.
"You needn't look at like that, Lady Kallen," Rita said, her smile both polished and earnest. "While it's true that I acted this way because I wanted you to make a choice that favors ..."
"I truly do cherish our ti alone together~"
I enjoyed it too.
Kallen kept that thought buried deep in her heart; she wouldn't dare say it out loud.
"Rita..."
Kallen let out a long, heavy sigh. Just as she was about to speak, Rita shook her head gently.
"You don't have to give an answer now, Lady Kallen. Lord Otto will be arriving shortly. He will present you with another choice."
Another choice?
Kallen fell into thought. She didn't believe for a second that Otto had so magical alternative that would let her stay.
For one, she was actually looking forward to seeing who her next "character" would be—which Valkyrie she'd form a bond with next, and who she might get a little "closer" to.
Secondly...
It wasn't like she had actually been transported to another world in the traditional sense.
Wait...
Transported...
A spark of realization flashed through Kallen's mind. It suddenly hit her—she knew exactly what tool Otto was planning to use to make her stay.
The Cosmic Juggernaut!
Only that Divine Key possessed such a terrifying capability.
"Lady Kallen." Rita had finished smoothing out the lingering traces of their earlier encounter on their clothes. She gave a slight, polite bow, her eyes reflecting a hint of complexity.
"Whatever you decide, I will respect your choice. Now, I shall take my leave."
With that, Rita turned and walked out the door.
"Rita..."
Just before the door closed, Kallen couldn't help but call out to her.
"Yes, Lady Kallen? Is there sothing else you require?" Rita turned back, her expression serious.
"...Nothing."
"..."
Until the very mont Rita left, Kallen couldn't bring herself to ask if that "fan service" from earlier could continue.
But the words stayed stuck in her throat.
God, I'm such a creep, Kallen lanted internally.
"Alright, now isn't the ti for this." Kallen slapped her cheeks, trying her best to snap out of it.
She took a deep breath before heading back into the living room. Less than ten minutes later, a transport craft touched down on the St. Freya landing pad. This ti, the Brilliant Covenant hadn't followed.
Standing by the helipad, Kallen watched as Otto Apocalypse stepped out of the craft alone. Her gaze shifted, darkening with conflict.
"Kallen."
Otto walked up to her. They stood face-to-face, locked in a heavy silence for several seconds before Otto finally spoke.
"Kallen, one last ti. I'm asking you one last ti. I have a way for you to stay."
Kallen watched him and asked softly, "How?"
"The Cosmic Juggernaut." Otto's eyes were intensely focused. "I can use it to find a way to anchor you to this world. It might even be able to interfere with that unknown force trying to take you away."
"Just give ti. If you're willing, I can make it so you stay here forever—with Yae Sakura, and with everyone else."
Kallen looked at him, her eyes brimming with a profound sense of weary resignation.
"And Otto... what is the price?"
At those words, the determined expression on Otto's face stiffened for a split second.
"What are the consequences of unleashing the Cosmic Juggernaut's power?"
Kallen pressed on, her eyes searching his. "What will it do to this world?"
Otto remained silent.
That silence was an answer in itself; his "solution" would clearly lead to sothing catastrophic.
"What will the Cosmic Juggernaut draw in?" A flash of disappointnt appeared in Kallen's eyes. "More terrifying enemies? Or Honkai beasts?"
"Both are possible..."
Under her scrutiny, a trace of deep helplessness finally leaked into Otto's erald eyes.
"The power of the Cosmic Juggernaut is too imnse... releasing its Zeroth Power will cause tremors in the Sea of Quanta. Quantum Shadows will invade our world. But Schicksal is capable of handling that."
"Is that all?"
Kallen asked quietly.
This ti, Otto fell silent for a long mont. Finally, he spoke. "I don't understand why you appeared in this world, why you're set to vanish tomorrow, or what force is causing it."
"Therefore, I will forcibly lock down this entire space."
"Which ans Quantum Shadows will pour into St. Freya Academy incessantly. This place will beco a battlefield," Kallen said softly. Otto didn't deny it.
"For you, I am willing to pay that price," Otto said, looking at her with a complicated intensity.
Kallen's voice was calm, but unyielding. "Well, I am not. I won't have more people dying because of . The people here are innocent; they shouldn't have to pay with their lives for mine."
She took a deep breath.
To be honest, if she weren't a "player" from another world, she might have actually been moved by Otto's resolve.
Too bad Otto wasn't a girl.
"Besides, the disaster in that other world hasn't ended yet. Just because I go back doesn't an I'll definitely die."
Otto listened to her and fell into a long silence.
Then, he flashed a smile that was a mix of resignation, relief, and a touch of heartbreak.
It was a look so complex it could have been mapped out on a pie chart.
"You really are... her."
Hearing Otto say that again, Kallen almost lost her composure. She thought back to the chaos she'd gotten into yesterday with Rita and Yae Sakura.
If Otto ever found out about that...
He'd probably turn Rita into minceat.
The real Kallen would never have done any of that.
-- --
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