(To reiterate, the following section, which focuses solely on Otto without Kallen, is intended to provide context for Otto's story. It is not something Kallen tells Ryn, Kiana, or the others. Ryn and Kiana will remain unaware of Otto's actions and thoughts.)
In the middle of the night, Otto awoke with a start from a dream in which the Void Archives had tempted him. Without pausing to think, he rushed to the prison, terrified of what the Schicksal Organization might do to Kallen.
But when Otto arrived at Kallen's cell, he found Your Excellency the Bishop already there.
"Stop being so naive! Once we unlock the secrets of the box, we can defeat Honkai itself. Don't get hung up on the sacrifice of a few individuals!" the Bishop berated Kallen, but she remained unresponsive.
Her face was etched with sorrow, and the light had vanished from her eyes...
"Your Excellency the Bishop!" Otto approached the Bishop.
Seeing Otto, the Bishop turned to leave. As he passed Otto, he patted his shoulder and whispered,
"Please persuade her to stop opposing us. We cannot afford to lose the power of the Kaslana family."
After the Bishop left, Otto unlocked the prison door and knelt beside Kallen, who was slumped on the floor, lost in despair. He lowered himself to her eye level.
But Kallen kept her head down, refusing to meet Otto's gaze. The Bishop had already told her much before Otto arrived...
"Kallen, I'm just glad you're safe..." Otto gently stroked her head, a gesture he always used to comfort her when she was upset.
"I'm sorry, but the experiments on those girls were necessary to defeat the Honkai."
Slap!
Kallen slapped Otto's hand away.
"You're wrong, Otto. Those girls are my responsibility to protect. To shield them from the Honkai...
I would gladly sacrifice my own life!!"
Kallen turned her head away, closing her eyes to avoid looking at Otto. She knew she was hurting him, but this was the duty Kallen Kaslana had to fulfill.
Looking at Kallen's determined expression, Otto felt as if he were seeing the Kallen who had wept before Francis's coffin...
As if Kallen, too, would vanish before his eyes, sacrificing herself to protect others, just as Francis had done...
"Stop joking around!!" Kallen, her emotions spiraling out of control, grabbed Otto's hands and pinned him against the wall.
"Do you really think sacrificing yourself will save the world?!
Look at what happened to your father! Dead people can't do anything!!"
The moment Otto uttered those words, Kallen felt her heart shatter. Everything she had endured that day paled in comparison to the pain this single sentence inflicted.
Francis was Kallen's idol and faith, the man Otto had once admired...
Anyone could insult Francis, but Otto and Kallen herself could not. It was Otto's curiosity, Otto's insistence on Kallen taking him to the battlefield, that had led to Francis's sacrifice to protect them both...
"Don't you dare insult my father!!"
Kallen slapped Otto hard across the face, tears streaming down her cheeks as she shouted at him.
The slap jolted Otto awake. He remembered why Francis had sacrificed himself...
He had used Judgment Of Shamash Unleashed to protect Kallen and him, ultimately losing his life in the process.
"I'll find a way to get you and Sasha out of here, but this experiment must continue."
Otto wiped the blood from his lip, stood up, and left the cell.
Both he and Kallen needed time to calm down...
After Otto left, Kallen slammed the cell door shut with a resounding clang.
She then crouched in the corner of the prison, hugging her knees and burying her head between her thighs, seeking solace in the familiar position.
After an unknown amount of time, a panicked cry echoed through the prison.
"Sister!!"
Kallen looked up to see Sasha standing outside her cell, calling for her. Seeing Sasha, Kallen bent the iron bars of the cell door and stepped out.
"I'm so scared..." The young Sasha threw herself into Kallen's arms, sobbing softly.
Looking at the weeping child in her embrace, Kallen finally made her decision.
"Sister will take you home right now..."
It wasn't long before Kallen returned Sasha to the flower shop. Sasha's mother rushed forward, embracing her daughter in a tearful reunion. Watching the mother and daughter weep in each other's arms, Kallen felt her own eyes well up, but she managed to hold back her tears.
Rain began to fall from the sky as Kallen walked dejectedly through the streets...
She arrived at the cemetery, standing before the grave of her father, Francis Kaslana.
Otto and Kallen used to visit Francis' grave together, but when had Otto stopped coming?
Kallen silently placed the flowers she held beside the tombstone. Perhaps this would be her last visit to pay her respects to her father.
"Seeing Sasha and her mother's joy, I don't believe I made the wrong choice. But I've realized... what comes next, I must face alone."
"I will no longer waver. The Kaslana family must always look forward.
For we are the ones who fight on the front lines. The Kaslana family is the shield of the people."
In the early morning, sunlight streamed through the church, illuminating the cross inside and making it gleam.
Before the cross, Otto, Victor, and the Bishop watched intently as Eleanor used the Abyss to connect with the black box.
Finally, Eleanor successfully extracted a honkai Crystal from the box. The Bishop, holding the crystal, shouted excitedly, "The day has finally come... We're about to unlock the secrets within this box!"
But his joy was short-lived. A massive object shattered the skylight and crashed into the church, knocking him to the ground. When he regained his senses, he realized it was the dull golden Oath of Judah...
"I won't let you succeed!"
Kallen, her clothes still damp from the rain, leaped down from the sky and landed on Judah. With a resounding crack, Judah fully unfolded, revealing the thirteen razor-sharp golden spears hidden within.
The light that had been shining on the church's cross now converged entirely on the Oath of Judah.
The Judah before them had shed the dust of ages, radiating a brilliant golden light. The Kaslana family crest at its center shone with dazzling brilliance.
This is the complete Judah, the complete Kallen, the complete me... The Oath of Judah raised its head proudly.
Kallen Kaslana had finally understood what she must protect, and Judah would undoubtedly respond to Kallen Kaslana's unwavering resolve to protect it.