When the flames started to dim, the Beast fully revealed itself with its abomination of a body. It was a mass of pulsing and oozing blood. The eyes of many littered on its bulging mass and blinked at the stunning sun.
The sides of its fatty body were nurmious pairs of arms that counted to a total of fifty. Its mouth was a gaping, pitch dark hole akin to a lamprey with nurmious teeth lining its maw.
"That is the second least horrendous thing I have ever seen coming from the Honkai...Overseer, is there any reason why the Honkai have a strange obsession over tenacles?" Bianka asked
"It's mostly likely you can't truly proceed to its true form as we are merely lower dimensional beings who can only perceive width, height, volume, and time or...The Honkai is truly a creation of depravity."
Having enough of the chatter, its oozing body started to churn and bubble until it came to life and burst into projectiles that traveled at the sound of a sonic boom.
Streaks of crimson-shaped arrows flew through the air, intending to pierce through them, with each wave of arrows covering the sky with a dim crimson.
Several impacts hit the ground as the arrows missed the blond Valkyrie, who quickly sidestepped away from the attack and made a mad dash toward the thing while dodging numerous more blasts coming at her.
On the Maid's side, Rita spun her scythe, diverting the blood arrows away, and followed her Squad Leader into the fray of destroying the beast.
Otto's eyes quickly scanned the blood coming towards him, and he numbly dodged it with his legs. After moving into a better position, He projected a Judgement of Shamash into his right hand and started rapidly pressing the trigger.
Beams of orange flew at it, piercing entire holes at it, and it drew the heed of the enemy. It moved its body and mouth until it faced the Judgement-wielding Overseer with a smirk.
"What, you gonna cry? It's just some holes, much better than what you look like. After all, an abomination should behave like an abomination." He provoked.
As if feeling enraged at such a remark, it started to wail and divert more of its attacks toward that bastard! The holes made from the searing heat of Otto's bullets started to close up, and its body started to fester as the onslaught of attack started to target the smirking man.
More and more arrows started to rain onto the Overseer, but it started to scream in frustration as it was all for naught, and more and more holes started to appear in its body before it could regen quickly.
Its eyes and instincts soon screamed as it sensed something dangerous. It saw a black vapor condensed onto the tip of a spear, soon approaching at an alarming speed and about to thrust into its mass.
The beast, as if guided by instinct, spilt a portion of itself into a blobby wall of blood to block the incoming death.
Bianka's spear pierced into its wall, and the black haze started to decay it rapidly. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough time for it to make its next move.
It gathered a portion of its mass and flung it toward the approaching Bianka. A wave of blood soon crashed into the Valkyrie and knocked her back a bit.
With enough breathing space, it started to divert its attention to the other two, but a flaming spear soon hit its upper body. The fire spread until it was extinguished with its fluids.
Though more and more flames started to blast toward its body, it diverted its attention to quickly healing the damage before it would stack up until oblivion.
It screamed at the constant pressure it was facing, and when a rosy shadow of a maid appeared reaping onto its body, that rage boiled into a blaze.
The Umbra Maid's scythe ripped into its body at a rapid pace, and blood started to splatter onto her outfit. She ignored the stains and continued her onslaught. The thorns of crimson roses started to appear on its body with each slice from the Maid.
The numerous arms on its body started to wail and punch at the Maid, but she wickedly smiled and elegantly started to slice off its limbs.
Within a few seconds, numerous roses and lacerations were adorned onto its body. It started to cry from the pain as its eyes were cut, arms diced off, and body slowly chipped away.
In its last effort, it condensed an orb of blood into its limit and blasted at the Maid. A beam of crimson knocked Rita away and allowed the creature to heal itself back up.
Rita slid to the ground as the beam kept on pushing her further and further. As the distance widened, she deflected it into the sky and slowly started to approach step by step.
She spun her scythe to wipe away the blood covering its pristine blade and dragged it along the ground.
As if death was approaching herself, she said in sweet mocking tone toward the beast.
"How cute, you thought that would work, sweetie? Please stand still, it'll be less painful than normal."
A sense of helplessness started to fluster it...It was only trying to defend itself. Why couldn't it live its life of eating?
That was the only instinct it had, it didn't matter what it ate, it would do it without any hesitation. People, place, things, life, ideals, concepts- it would devour everything until nothing would be left.
Why was it fighting like this? Was it because of the emotions and humanity it gained from the nourishing blood and vitality it was fed from?
It concluded that the blonde man was right; an abomination should behave like an abomination and devour everything!
The surrounding liquid and blood paused momentarily before converging onto the monster's fleshy mass.
As a few seconds passed, it quickly took on a new shape...Its whole body turned that of a giant lamprey hole intending to eat everything in its new birth.
Its flesh, eyes, and limbs were now gone. Its entire structure has been transformed into that of a bottomless pit, the shape of its true essence and the closest thing to its original form.
The Endless Devourer
The entire area started to shift, and it soon became noticeable that everything was beginning to converge into the unending hole.
Grass, rocks, and nearby structures were starting to be sucked into this newly awakening monster.
Otto immediately noticed the change and took action. His Spiritual Initiation told him the perfect Mimicry to project.
"Bianka, Rita, get further away and start using ranged attacks. I am going to deal the final blow!"
The two nodded from their back-away positions and started launching their respective attacks. Flames started to burst from her spear into the gaping mouth, and Crescent rosy slashes were launched as projectiles as well.
The extending whirlpool of devouring slowed to simmer for just a moment when faced with the constant barrage.
In response, those same attacks started to devour themselves, and they started to speed up their eating.
"Have you ever witnessed a star shattering?"
A soft voice caught its attention, and its "eyes" soon spotted that annoying blonde man holding up an orb of dense blackness covered with golden inlaid.
Mimicry of the Star of Eden
'Void Archives can mimic other Divine Keys, so why wouldn't this one work as well?!'
A mimicked Divine Key can't be used to its full potential when being copied and projected, but there's nothing that says a fake can't rival the real thing!
In his right hand, the Star started to glow grayish yellow as more Honkai Energy and Spirituality burst into it.
Infinitely above the Sea of Quanta laid a door with countless layers of spherical light, and each spherical light enveloped transparent or translucent squirming maggots.
With gray fog surrounding it, a sudden wisp of that same fog came "down" into Reality from the Fool's body and into the Star.
It was the Sefirah Castle!
The Star in Otto's hand started to crack as a gray fog started to envelop it from within.
Feeling the sheer amount of power condensed into his hand, Otto cocked his hand back and threw it into the unending mouth of the Beast. Its glimmer whirled into the air as it was sucked into the gapping mouth.
Within the darkness, its light shined within the abyss, and as it entered, that brilliance was soon covered by the endless hunger of the beast...The thing started to laugh at the futile effort of the foolish blonde man until it felt a stronger force encroaching upon its devouring.
A black dot started to expand from within the monster and grew to the point of crushing everything into dust.
Sudden screams started to burst out from the giant mouth, the beast let out painful wails as it was being devoured from within.
A singularity of space-time was formed and forcefully overwritten the suction of the beast with its own.
Space, light, logic, and time itself were being distorted. Bits of ground and nearby rocks were starting to be sucked into the black hole.
The once blood liquid that stained the grass was being sucked in as well. Flames that blazed its embers were now being snuffed out.
The once devouring monster had its life ended as it wailed its last scream, and soon an eternal darkness was about to consume everything.
Rita and Bianka slammed their weapons into the ground, holding their place firmly from being sucked in further.
"What type of final attack is this! The town's about to get sucked in as well." Bianka choked in surprise.
"Master Otto! I did not expect your final attack to be an actual cosmic calamity! You must have the ability to turn it off, right?" The Maid screamed out toward her drifting Overseer.
The Overseer's feet started to stumble slowly into the sinking hole, and he soon replied with a somber tone.
"It seems I miscalculated, and the Divine Key is going out of control. It's keeping itself perpetual in power by consuming the Honkai Energy in the area, and the only way to shut it off is from within
...Rita, tell Amber to maintain the Backup System for my consciousness. It seems I will be dying today."
He didn't fight against the pull toward the black hole and slowly took step by step forward.
Bianka's eyes widened hearing this, and her voice was hoarse as she screamed,
"Otto! You can't be serious. There has to be another way where you don't just launch yourself in there. If I can somehow burn it or wither it!"
Her grip on Abyss Flower tightened, and her body tensed up, ready to move, but hearing his next words made her hesitate.
"It is the only way...I have experienced death before; her embrace is quite serene. A beautiful butterfly that decays all things with her touch." His tone was filled with serenity as he replied.
"But...I can't just watch you die. I..."
He turned his head and gently remarked to her.
"Bianka...It's okay to run away. Let the adult do their job of taking responsibility for their actions. One day, you'll grow up and realize the same...Plus, I always come back! I am blessed with good luck from the King of Yellow and Black!"
"Rita...Help me, please." Bianka called out to the Maid.
"I am sorry Master Bianka...But I can't disobey the Overseer."
Bianka couldn't spout out what she wanted to see in this helpless situation. The power to do nothing at all and despair engulfed her heart. But within that desperation lit a flame of resolve that started to burn within her.
She called out to Otto one last time with a raging voice.
"Come back so I can hit you! Next time, I'll keep you with me so you don't do anything stupid again!"
He let out a smile hearing this and yelled joyfully.
"That's only if you can, Bianka! Down, down, down I go!"
His feet were lingering near the edge of the abyss, and soon a scene flashed before Otto's eyes as he looked at the unending void.
It was Lin's memory of a warm moment where his white haired and blue-eyed roommate, Lira, asked one single question.
"Is there any reason why you pull...Is it the thrill of the gamble? Massing your collections? Looking at those pretty PNGS."
"It's simple...I just despise losing. Life has always been on my opposition like an obsessed lover, and so I always wanted to earn my getback...Losing is inevitable, I can accept that, but who says I can't defy my losing streak? It's all or nothing after all!"
His sight returned to reality, and his thoughts surged at the current situation.
The out-of-control Divine Key was but a lie; he could have turned it off like how his projections can be disabled within his mind.
He was going to shut it off when the battle finished, but a sense of enlightenment shot through his mind.
Wouldn't a black hole be a representation of eternal darkness? Even if it's a pseudo one created from a Divine Key, it was still a black hole.
That contract stated that to unlock a Pathway, he would have to achieve a symbolic feat connected to a Pathway.
Lo and behold, that opportunity soon presented itself to him. Jumping into a black hole and being covered in darkness would be the perfect chance to unlock the Darkness Pathway.
He was going to need every bit of power if he wanted to deal with the Honkai. The calamity that covered this entire world and its Cocoon represents the Inevitability of Finality.
Such a samara will be broken, it didn't matter if it was him or anyone else to break this 50,000-year loop.
It had to be cut!
Seeing the black hole with his own emerald eyes, he couldn't help but feel "sweat" dripping onto his neck, hand clenched tightly and eyes slightly trembling.
Otto knew he would revive within the Schicksal HQ, but jumping into a black hole was quite a terrifying notion.
The amount of pain he would experience from having his body pressed down by gravity, bones shattering, and blood vessels bursting...It will be hell itself.
But if he hesitated to face hell itself, how would he face the Honkai? How would he live his life being afraid of facing pain? All he had to do was jump!
This was undoubtedly a gamble where he could win it all or lose his mind from the suffering.
He breathed in as much as he could, and his legs trembled. He let out a prayer to the lovely goddess of night.
"May you give me strength, Amanises. For I am but a cold machine stuffed with humans sins."
He soon took his leap of faith and jumped off into his false star. The figure of the blonde man soon disappeared into the shadows.
...
After the "sacrifice" of Otto Apocalypse, the gravitational pull was still going strong as various things started to approach it, and even the nearby Gopura was starting to detach slowly from its foundation.
The sky was being covered by a littering amount of debris. Bianka and Rita started to dodge the incoming objects falling from the sky.
As their feet moved, the sudden attraction and forcefully pull of the black hole finally stopped. The once black dot stopped expanding and slowly disappeared among a sea of nothingness.
The two Schicksal Valkryie took immediate notice of the alleviation of the pressure they felt, but it didn't help alleviate gravity from its course.
Those same pieces of destroyed debris still were in the sky and about to plummet onto the ground.
After moments of evasion, the hill where the once statue of Shiva stood was now a cluttered mess.
Dust and smoke shrouded the hill in sightlessness until a white spear was thrust into the sky. The sheer force of it pushed the smoke into the air, and in the center of it was a grim-faced Bianka.
She had shielded her eyes from the approaching sunlight...The sun was going down below the horizon, and where twilight would eeb into this world.
The sight didn't stir any sort of happy feeling within Bianka; she only looked at the spot where Otto jumped in; the once previous black hole was nowhere to be seen, and only the destroyed ground was there.
The only thing she felt when looking at it was dejection and...Nihilism.
...
Darkness was the only thing he could see within this abyss.
Otto did not know how much time had passed: seconds, minutes, years, decades, centuries, and aeons.
His body felt like it was drifting within a jellied ocean, his limbs motionless like the grains of sand on a beach, his eyes wide open into the ending pitch blackness, his thoughts hazy like a man drunk on liquor, and his soul filled with numbness.
He couldn't scream as he had no mouth.
He couldn't hear, as he had no ears.
He couldn't touch as he had no hands.
He couldn't think as he had no brain.
He couldn't feel as he had no feelings.
This was what nihlity is, the concept of nothingness, ever touch, sight and memory shrouded in darkness.
Pain was but a luxury in this place.
This place was but a shadow of nihilism.
Otto felt as if everything was going to disappear until a sudden light flashed before his eyes. A string of text touched his face with its glimmering divine light and brought back his sense from nothingness.
[HAHAHAHA "WE" think you deserve this...Jumping into a Black Hole is the most foolish way to get a Pathway, but don't worry, your gamble has paid off.]
["WE" grant you the Darkness Pathway.]
[May you sleep peacefully in Evernight]
[May you became the Eternal Darkess; Singularity of All; Space-Time in One]
The man didn't smile or give up a quirky remark when faced with the text. His right arm started to burst as he moved it. Bones pierced through his skin, and blood vessels ruptured from a single movement.
A single dim glimmer of light started to project in his wrecked right hand, a Judgement of Shamash was pressed against his forehead.
Blood started to bubble up within his throat as he said his last words and pulled the trigger.
"Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate."
Death Count: 1
A/N: Chapters 6 to 14 all happened on a Tuesday...Funniest shit.
Enough with the jokes...When I was writing this, I thought, 'Hey, Otto (Lin) made a Quasi Black Hole. Wouldn't it be symbolic of him to jump into one to unlock this Pathway?'
Darkness was the black hole, Death was the outcome, and Twilight soon appeared.
As for the other symbolic feats to unlock more of the Pathways...They'll be the most insane actions one would have to take like...Causing a Supernova to explode.