61: Chapter 55 Otto

Deep in the town was a tavern with its lights still on. A crooked wooden sign hung by the entrance, bearing words Kaiwen couldn't understand.

But Kallen was clearly very familiar with this place.

Pushing the door open with handcuffed hands, she greeted the proprietor snoozing behind the bar counter and walked straight to a long table in the corner.

"The roasted lamb chops here are delicious," Kallen said, glancing back at them.

A prisoner on death row taking people out to eat in the middle of the night?

The tavern proprietor wasn't ordinary either, showing no reaction at all to a condemned prisoner.

But what happened next was even more outrageous.

Once the roasted lamb chops were served, Kallen's entire vibe changed.

Kaiwen watched helplessly as Kallen picked up a lamb chop with her handcuffed hands and devoured it in one gulp like swallowing jelly.

It happened so fast that Kaiwen didn't even catch the process in between.

Then came a second plate, and a third.

Kaiwen looked over at Kiana.

Kiana was sitting opposite her, munching on a chop as well, completely unbothered by the glutton across from her. "How long have you been starving?"

Kallen's mouth was stuffed full as she replied indistinctly, "Prison food is terrible, and those people didn't even bring me dinner today."

Sitting beside Kaiwen, Bronya quietly observed the Kaslana ancestor devouring her fourth plate of roasted lamb chops at an astonishing speed. "A healthy appetite."

"I think so too."

Kaiwen felt that Bronya's statement was a remarkably restrained assessment.

The wind chime at the tavern door rang again.

Kaiwen turned her head to look.

A burly old man stood at the entrance.

It was Arthur.

The old man scanned the tavern, spotted Kallen gnawing on a lamb chop in the corner, and let out a deep sigh.

He walked over and stopped beside the table.

"Young lady," Arthur said helplessly, "I knew you'd come here."

Kallen looked up and smiled at him. "Grandpa Arthur, want to have some too?"

Arthur didn't answer. He glanced at Kaiwen and the other two, then looked at the handcuffs on Kallen's wrists, staying silent for a few seconds.

"Young lady, while it's still deep in the night, take these girls and leave the town through the north gate," Arthur lowered his voice. "The guards at the north gate are men I trained; they won't stop you."

Kallen put down the lamb chop in her hand.

She raised her head to look at Arthur, a smile still resting on her face.

"Grandpa Arthur."

"I don't want to leave."

Arthur opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something more—

But Kaiwen didn't hear it.

What reached her ears wasn't Arthur's aged voice, but a gust of freezing wind.

Before the taste of lamb chops in her mouth even faded, her feet were no longer stepping on anything.

Kaiwen looked down. The entire town spread out beneath her, its streetlights twinkling faintly. The tavern where they had just been eating was now too small to make out.

She had been taken high above the town.

Before Kaiwen could figure out what was happening, a familiar figure appeared in front of her.

As before, his face was obscured, but she could never mistake that voice.

"There is one thing I am quite curious about."

Otto's tone was unhurried, tinged with a bit of curiosity.

"I believe I have never revealed my identity to you. Yet you told Kallen that I was the one who locked her up here."

He tilted his head slightly, as if his blurry silhouette was scrutinizing Kaiwen.

"How did you know?"

Kaiwen didn't answer.

Otto looked at her for a few seconds and let out a soft chuckle.

"Don't want to tell me? It doesn't matter."

He withdrew his gaze and looked down at the town below.

"However, I didn't send you here just for you to ruin my garden, my dear little lady."

Kaiwen still didn't say a word.

Otto didn't mind either:

"In this garden of mine, the fates of the characters will not change. And after your little interference, fate seems to have been brought forward."

"What?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a dull rumble echoed from the far end of the street below.

Several Honkai Beasts rushed out from the end of the street.

Kaiwen looked down.

This height was the same as where Otto had thrown her from before; from this vantage point, she could even see someone standing behind those Honkai Beasts.

"Is that you standing on that Honkai Beast?"

Receiving no answer, Kaiwen turned her head, only to find that Otto, who was standing behind her moments ago, had vanished without a trace.

Leaving Kaiwen floating alone in midair.

?

"Otto, you absolute bastard!!"

The pedestrians on the street scattered in panic, but a few tiny figures charged forward from the direction of the tavern.

Leading the charge was Kallen.

Kaiwen could see her collide with the first Honkai Beast, the two figures tangling together.

Beside her, a smaller figure followed suit—it was likely Kiana.

But the situation felt off.

She saw that every time Kallen clashed with a Honkai Beast, she was the one being pushed back.

Kaiwen couldn't make out the fine details, but she could sense that the people below were being steadily overwhelmed and beaten back.

She wanted to go down and help, but it was as if a ruthless, invisible giant hand in the sky had fixed her firmly in place.

"Otto, you bastard!!! Let me down!"

Still, there was no response, as if he existed solely to force Kaiwen to watch Kallen's sacrifice below.

Right at that moment, a voice suddenly sounded deep within her mind.

[Kaiwen, don't be afraid. I'm here.]