"When you saw your past self, what exactly did you feel? Fondness or disgust?"

Xin Yu took a sip of the coffee, which was still at a decent temperature, and asked the Otto before him.

"I wouldn't say I was particularly fond, nor particularly disgusted. I'm quite envious of myself at that time, not understanding much of anything, single-mindedly wanting to follow Kallen."

Otto dropped several sugar cubes into his coffee.

"Some people loathe their childhood selves, feeling they were too naive and foolish, that they missed many opportunities and made many ridiculous mistakes. Others are always nostalgic for their childhood, feeling that they were innocent and free of pressure, able to do many of the things they wanted."

"But it's undeniable that everything in the past has forged who you are today. Some people use their childhood experiences to heal themselves for a lifetime, while others are trapped by the regrets of their childhood, forever unable to move forward."

Xin Yu put down his coffee cup and looked at Otto calmly.

"Yes, I am the one who has always been trapped in the past. So what about you? Possessing the power to travel through time, to freely change the past, or to see the events of the future... How do you feel?"

Otto took a sip of the coffee, which had become somewhat sweet after the addition of several sugar cubes.

"I am also trapped in the past. I myself come from the past. It's just that my future self ran away, and that is why I am now here, communicating with you in the present."

"...It seems you have quite a story to tell as well. In that case, my friend, let's return to the matter at hand. What must I do in exchange for this miracle and salvation?"

Xin Yu glanced out the window.

"Originally, I planned to spend a peaceful period of time at the academy, fulfill my promise to Kiana, and then go eliminate you and Cocolia. But you appeared directly before me. You are a man who feels not a shred of remorse for the mistakes of your past; everything you do is driven solely by the love and faith in your heart."

"I will change everything you have done over these 500 years. I will erase the mistakes you made from the very source."

"Otto Apocalypse, you hold no remorse in your heart, but you are willing to pay the price for your mistakes. You are willing, regardless of the cost, to trade it all for the return of your beloved."

"And you also gave me the answer to a question, allowing me to understand what I must do. So go, and apologize to every single person you have hurt."

"After you have apologized to everyone you have harmed, after you have transferred your duties and responsibilities to another, I will allow the individual known as Otto Apocalypse to have his mission end 500 years ago."

"...Do I need to repent my sins to you?"

"You haven't harmed me, so why would you need to apologize to me?"

Otto looked at Xin Yu, who was smiling at him, and calmly regarded this newly met friend.

"What a cheap price."

"Don't take this as my charity. After all, the words I just spoke did carry a rather high-and-mighty tone."

"Perhaps. But I will not treat a miracle and salvation as a handout from on high."

"I will repent my sins. I will voluntarily fall into hell. O benevolent and omnipotent Lord, please grant this sinner your final mercy."

Xin Yu watched as Otto clasped his hands and began to pray. He had thought Otto was praying to his own faith, but then he silently stood up and walked out of the room.

"The other me... I'm afraid that back then, when you learned of his power and his situation, you too must have understood what it means to be an incarnation of miracle and salvation. But you did not choose to have him reverse your past and your fate. Instead, you taught him how to walk the correct path, to find a direction that belonged to him..."

"It's not that you lost your feelings for Kallen, nor that the 500 years of time had worn away all your character. And it certainly wasn't out of pure kindness."

Otto stood by the window, looking down at the receding back of Xin Yu as he walked away, and spoke in a low voice. "You saw the boy's essence at a glance. His heart is empty and void. You pointed out a path for him, and he would unhesitatingly follow that path to the very end. Even if there are setbacks along the way, he would continue on without a care."

"I don't know if you pointed out a path for him, or if he found that path himself. But what is beyond doubt is that you showed him love and kindness, and he in turn repaid you with a miracle and salvation."

"You believed that the love and kindness you showed him would one day in the future transform into a tangible miracle, descending from the heavens to change your life."

"You and I... we believe in the same thing... love."

Otto looked at his cup of coffee on the table, which he hadn't finished. It was still steaming. Even though the clock hand had ticked forward several marks, it still maintained the same temperature it had when it was first served.

Inside the villa...

The moment Xin Yu returned, Raiden Mei and Kiana surrounded him. It wasn't that they suspected Xin Yu had fallen for that girl at first sight and was hitting on her, but rather that they suspected something was definitely wrong with that girl, which was why Xin Yu had gone to speak with her specifically.

"That girl is a mechanical body. The one controlling her is none other than Schicksal's Overseer, Otto Apocalypse. I was just chatting with him."

Xin Yu told them the truth without any concealment.

"...Xin Yu, you want to change his life?"

Kiana immediately grasped the heart of the matter.

"Yes. I don't know exactly what Otto has done over these 500 years, or how many people he has hurt. So I will try to rewrite it from the source, to have this entire story end 500 years ago. But trust me, Kiana, even if the past is changed, you will still have an even more beautiful and happy future."

Xin Yu smiled, but at that moment, Kiana felt a chill run down her spine. She felt as though the current Xin Yu had reverted to his past self—that state of sacrificing everything for the sake of others.

"Xin Yu! What on earth are you planning to do?"

"I want to change tragedy. That is all."

"Are you planning to sacrifice yourself for someone else's happiness again? Why are you so stupid? Can't you just be a little more selfish?!"

"But, Kiana, if only you all attain salvation, is that truly enough?"

"..."

"Actually, from the moment I first opened my eyes in this world, I've had a question: for what reason was I born into this world?"

Xin Yu looked out the window, at the blazing sun hanging in the sky.

"People come into this world with all sorts of understandings of themselves. And my understanding of myself... is this power of mine."

"I don't know if this is a fortunate coincidence or the influence of some higher level of existence, but since I have received this power, I should do something with it... This is my selfishness. I selfishly want to see more people smile, want to see more happy and perfect endings."