To find a way to revive Kallen, Otto had once set his sights on the authority of God's apostle, the Gem of Serenity, the core of the Herrscher of Death.
But unfortunately, the Herrscher of Death's authority, upon which Otto had pinned such high hopes, could only create soulless bodies, fundamentally unable to truly revive the dead.
If he merely wanted to create a replica identical to Kallen, Otto could easily do so himself, even without relying on the Herrscher of Death's authority, and he had already accomplished it long ago.
However, during the Second Honkai Eruption, besides verifying the Herrscher of Death's authority from the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, Otto had an unexpected gain.
That was, he came face-to-face with the God to whom the Herrschers belonged—the omnipotent Will of Honkai.
Through the power of Void Archives mimicking Fenghuang Down, Otto induced Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void, to pray to the Will of Honkai.
Ultimately, the Will of Honkai descended. Otto's consciousness successfully communicated with the God of Honkai, obtaining the answer he desperately sought for reviving Kallen.
However, the God of Honkai seemed to have an enigmatic nature. It didn't directly answer Otto's inquiry but instead pierced its own chest with a blade formed from a crucifix pendant, responding to Otto through action.
Although Otto received the answer for reviving Kallen from the Will of Honkai, his consciousness, upon returning to reality, could barely remember the content of their exchange.
Only occasionally, in dreams or while adjusting his Soulium body and reviewing past memories, could he recall that scene with an extremely low probability, and often, he would forget it again before he could record it.
Because of this memory that he could never fully recall, and would quickly forget even if he did, Otto even felt he could empathize with his old friend from Shenzhou [Fu Hua].
During the brief moments when he recalled that memory, Otto had wracked his brains trying to guess the Will of Honkai's true intention.
Perhaps the Will of Honkai had no physical form of its own, which was why it borrowed his image to appear before him.
Or perhaps the Will of Honkai appearing in Otto's form was entirely intentional.
The Will of Honkai piercing its own chest with a crucifix-turned-blade, committing suicide... Otto initially thought it signified a way to sacrifice himself to save the real Kallen.
But now, based on the words of Ren Amamiya, this suspected reincarnated individual, the Will of Honkai's actions seemed to have another, entirely different interpretation.
That is... Otto would resolve the Honkai scourge plaguing civilization, defeat all attacking Herrschers, and finally reach the Will of Honkai to slay the god, thereby obtaining the power to truly revive Kallen!
As a suspected reincarnated person, Ren Amamiya's words, as a firsthand witness, undoubtedly carried enough weight in Otto's eyes to be taken seriously.
However, further careful observation and confirmation were still necessary...
"Regarding matters of death and resurrection, you should have more experience than anyone, Ren Amamiya."
Otto gathered his overly active and complex thoughts. His face maintained an inscrutable, profound calmness as he spoke to Ren in a soft, ethereal tone.
After calmly revealing this truth, Otto focused all his energy on observing Ren's emotional changes, determined not to miss even a fleeting shift in his mood.
Sure enough, as Otto expected, when the keyword "death and resurrection" was uttered, Ren's pupils suddenly dilated for an instant.
Although Ren outwardly maintained a calm and composed demeanor, as if he didn't understand what Otto was saying...
Through the connection between the Mimic Fenghuang Down and Ren's dream, Otto, who had been meticulously observing Ren like a patient hunter, naturally saw the fleeting panic that flashed through Ren's mind, as if his deepest secret had been exposed.
Obtaining the desired confirmation from Ren's reaction, a pleased smile spread across Otto's lips, and he clenched his fist with a sense of excitement.
After this period of contemplation and close observation of how Ren summoned Persona Kallen, Otto had confirmed the true identity of Phantom Thief Violet Kallen.
Persona Kallen was Kallen, and yet, she wasn't Kallen.
She possessed Kallen Kaslana's face and form, Kallen's personality and memories, but she was not the true Kallen Otto wished to revive.
Persona Kallen was a record within the Kaslana Stigma of the life experiences of the clan member "Kallen Kaslana."
Persona Kallen could only be proof that the true Kallen had existed, an epitaph of the true Kallen left in the world, but she was definitely not the Saint Otto truly wanted to resurrect.
Therefore, Otto must accomplish the lofty goal of defeating the God of Honkai and obtain the power to revive the true Kallen!
Slay the lofty god, usurp the authority belonging to god, and with his own power, revive the Saint of Schicksal who perished five hundred years ago!
Thinking this, even with the superior composure Otto had cultivated over five centuries, he couldn't help but feel his heart surge with emotion.
Although Persona Kallen was not the real Kallen, she possessed the same noble will as Kallen, the same personality and memories. Otto naturally had no intention of destroying Persona Kallen.
However, regarding the Persona user who possessed Kallen, this perfect Persona, Otto believed it necessary to conduct a series of observations and tests on Ren Amamiya, to verify if Ren was qualified to borrow the power of the Saint of Schicksal.
"...What are you talking about? I don't understand."
His identity as a transmigrator wasn't explicitly stated, but the False God had already hinted at Ren's experience as someone who had died and been reborn.
The False God possessed the authority to dominate human hearts; it could easily alter and manipulate the consciousness of the masses. Mementos itself was a special space formed by the collective human unconscious.
Although the game never mentioned Yaldabaoth being able to read a target's past memories...
If the False God truly could do that, Ren wouldn't actually be too surprised.
He would just be silently sweating bullets.
If the False God could really read the memories of other living beings, what if it saw the famous scene of him being pierced through the head by Satanael's Sinful Shell...
Ren suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
...Since the False God hasn't made a move against me yet, it probably can only see fragments of my memories, or perhaps it's just trying to bluff me.
If he became too flustered and shaken, he would fall right into the False God's trap.
Holding onto this thought, Ren maintained a calm expression, showing no weakness. He even quickly composed his thoughts and calmed his emotions.
"Hehehe, whether you understand or not, we both know, naturally... More importantly, you should have witnessed a grand undertaking similar to Herrschers being defeated and humanity ultimately confronting God to restart the cycle, correct?"
Otto chuckled nonchalantly, continuing to probe Ren with his words, his interest piqued. He focused intently on Ren's emotional fluctuations using the power of the Mimic Fenghuang Down.
Just as Otto wished, Ren's inner reaction once again confirmed Otto's deduction.
Although he couldn't read minds completely, using the Mimic Fenghuang Down as a lie detector, Otto still reaped an incredibly rich harvest of information from Ren.
"You don't need to hide anything from me. I already know your true identity and origins. You just need to answer my questions... In the organization you witnessed, how many main combatants were there? How many actually stood before God? And what was the final outcome?"
Otto saw that Ren seemed to realize he could perceive his emotional shifts and had deliberately maintained a calm, empty meditative state. Otto then spoke frankly to Ren, his eyes showing a mixture of admiration and regret.
"I can distinguish lies from truth. If you attempt to lie to me, then I will refuse to provide you with any assistance."
Although Otto didn't know what help the Velvet Room could offer Ren, he could still discern from the circumstances that Ren needed the Velvet Room's aid. He used this, something he couldn't actually provide, to pressure Ren.
"..."
Ren hadn't dared to practice his swordsmanship meditation earlier because he feared instantly facing the Evil God. But now that he was already standing before it, there was no need for such concerns.
Actively entering a state of swordsmanship meditation, Ren's mind became as clear as a mirror, devoid of any distracting thoughts. He became extremely rational, completely grasping the emotional fluctuations within his own heart.
After entering the swordsmanship meditation state, the False God seems unable to continue seeing through my mind, and it immediately laid its cards on the table...
Ren's mind remained empty and calm, while his thoughts raced rapidly.
The False God's questions aren't difficult to answer. In that case, I'll just answer them directly.
"There were only thirteen main combatants in that organization. Even fewer, merely two, actually reached God's presence. The final result... the strongest among humans, by continuously fusing and upgrading demons, ultimately pushed their power to the limit, defeated that God who managed the world, and forced the world's cycle to reset to a state before the calamity."
After Ren realized this and constructed a mental defense through his swordsmanship meditation, Otto regretfully found he could no longer observe Ren's emotional fluctuations using the Mimic Fenghuang Down.
To judge the veracity of Ren's words, he could only rely on his profound psychological expertise, using his five hundred years of experience in dealing with people to observe Ren's expression and tone.
Afterward, Otto concluded that Ren was not lying to him.
Realizing this, Otto's breathing deepened slightly.
Thirteen main combatants in the organization...
The strongest human who pushed their power to the limit by continuously fusing and upgrading demons...
Ren's description filled Otto with an extremely strong sense of déjà vu.
The Previous Era's anti-Honkai organization, Fire Moth, possessed thirteen MANTISes [Massively Augmented Neo-Tech Integrated Soldiers] known as the Thirteen Flame-Chasers.
And Kevin, the leader of the Previous Era's Flame-Chasers, had ascended to the pinnacle of strength by continuously fusing the factors of numerous Honkai Beasts within his body, acquiring terrifying power that allowed him to struggle even before the Herrscher of the Finality.
Considering Ren's ignorance of the term "Herrscher," "demon" probably referred to Honkai Beasts.
As the Grand Overseer of Schicksal, Otto had always been dedicated to excavating the knowledge, technology, and records of the Previous Era through archaeology. Therefore, his understanding of the Previous Era was among the foremost in the entire world.
Even regarding intelligence about the Herrscher of the Finality's authority, Otto had pieced together and deduced it through fragmented clues and records using his own wisdom.
Coupled with Ren's current testimony, Otto could now make a judgment with absolute certainty.
The authority of the Herrscher of the Finality—was Time and Samsara!
As the strongest apostle closest to the Will of Honkai, the Herrscher of the Finality's Samsara authority might not be precise enough to revive Kallen.
But the God of Honkai, who created the Herrscher of the Finality and bestowed upon her the authority of Samsara, must possess a method to perfectly revive Kallen from the river of time!
Because of the Herrscher of the Finality's Samsara authority, this world had already cycled an unknown number of times. Humanity had always been utterly defeated by the Honkai, civilization repeating a tragic spiral of destruction, recreation, and then destruction again.
It wasn't until the Previous Era that pioneers who survived the Herrscher of the Finality lived on into the next civilization, bringing hope and the spark of resistance against the Honkai to the current civilization.
Terms like "Herrscher," "Divine Key," and "Honkai" were all inherited by the current civilization from the Previous Era, not spontaneously generated by the current civilization.
If one were to extrapolate backward using this line of thought, in civilizations even more ancient and distant than the Previous Era, their names for "Honkai" and "Herrscher" might be even more distinct.
In those civilizations that had completely perished and vanished, the Herrscher authorities they encountered might have been entirely different from those of the Previous and Current Eras. Even the number of Herrschers appearing could have varied.
Therefore, even if Ren didn't know the term "Herrscher," but knew what "Herrscher" represented, it seemed perfectly reasonable to Otto.
There were only two possible explanations for Ren's anomalies.
First, Ren's body housed the soul of a counterpart from a parallel world.
But a soul crossing world barriers was simply too fantastical.
Ren had only recently displayed extraordinary powers different from ordinary people. He definitely didn't possess any power or technological artifact capable of crossing world barriers. Otherwise, during his past dozen or so years of life, he would absolutely have used it when encountering difficulties.
Otto believed the second possibility was more aligned with the actual reality.
That is... Ren had awakened "Past Life Memories"!