Within St. Freya Academy.
"From Durandal's description, unbelievable as it sounds, we can confirm that the person who just appeared is most likely the Herrscher of Finality from our Previous Era."
"This is bad! Why would that big boss show up now? It's not even time for her to enter the stage yet, is it?!"
"This is dangerous. We must immediately find a way to support Elias. Challenging the Herrscher of Finality alone—even he doesn't have absolute certainty of victory!"
After Elias used his authority to teleport himself and the Herrscher of Finality into the Imaginary Space, Durandal, who had been present at the time, immediately realized that something had gone terribly wrong.
She directly gathered everyone together and described the Herrscher of Finality's appearance. The moment the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era heard it, their expressions changed drastically. Every one of them was stunned.
No one had expected the Finality of the Previous Era to descend upon the Current Era. Everyone was thrown into panic.
"Just how strong is the Herrscher of Finality? Why are you all so nervous? Could she really beat Elias? Besides, we have so many Herrschers on our side now. What's there to be afraid of?"
Kiana scratched her head in confusion. Raiden Mei, Bronya, and the others felt the same. Having never faced Finality themselves, they had no idea what kind of existence it truly was.
"Do not underestimate her, Kiana. The power of the Herrscher of Finality far exceeds your imagination. That is the ultimate enemy capable of destroying the world with a mere gesture."
Fu Hua said gravely.
Even though fifty thousand years had passed, she had never forgotten the terror of that Goddess of Honkai. The other Flame-Chasers were the same. Even though their strength now far surpassed what it once had been, none of them possessed the slightest confidence in confronting Finality.
"If Elias did not exist, then even if we combined all combat power from both the Previous Era and the Current Era, at best we might only let the world struggle on for two or three more days."
"Th-that terrifying?!"
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Kiana and the others. The combined strength of two eras could only extend the world's life by three days?
"In short, never underestimate Finality. You only need to know that she is an enemy hundreds or thousands of times more dreadful than you can imagine. Although Elias has a chance of defeating her, we must still come up with a countermeasure immediately."
MEI spoke anxiously. This completely unforeseen situation had thrown even the pinnacle of human intellect into disarray.
"Guh! Then let's send part of our forces to assist him first. If that woman is truly as terrifying as you say, then we absolutely cannot let Elias fight alone. The rest of us can think of a solution in the meantime."
"Lady Durandal! Your body—"
"Compared to the danger Elias is facing right now, this level of strain is nothing. I can endure it."
Durandal shook her head.
Without the suppressive aura of Elias' Holy Blood, the Honkai Beast genes within her body were beginning to stir restlessly. But she had no time to worry about something so trivial.
Compared to the white-haired boy currently facing the Herrscher of Finality alone, what did her own minor risk amount to?
"This is bad! Monitoring through Echo of the Sky shows an extremely high Honkai energy reaction in the seas near the Far East just now. That Planet-class Honkai Beast has begun moving!"
Even Prometheus could no longer remain calm. Her soulium body trembled slightly as she projected the satellite footage.
When everyone saw the massive red manta ray Honkai Beast—its size rivaling a continent—burst from the ocean and enter a spatial gate, Eden and the others shot to their feet, their bodies trembling.
They did not need to guess. This had to be a summoning by the Herrscher of Finality. The situation had already been perilous beyond measure, and now it had worsened several times over.
"Not good! Facing Finality and a Planet-class Honkai Beast alone—even Elias won't be able to hold out for long!"
"Damn it! This isn't a joke. Elias, you absolutely cannot let anything happen to you!"
"We must dispatch reinforcements immediately, but... we don't have Elias' spatial coordinates."
The moment those words were spoken, everyone grew anxious and helpless.
To avoid affecting the proper world, Elias had dragged Finality into the Imaginary Space. But that also made it nearly impossible for them to externally locate the two within it.
The Herrscher of the Void from the Previous Era was doing her best to search for the location. Kiana was doing the same.
But it was no different from searching for a needle in the ocean. Not to mention, they had no idea that the three of them had later fought their way from the Imaginary Space into the Sea of Quanta—the even more difficult-to-locate infinite ocean.
In the end, no suitable method could be devised. This crisis had arrived too suddenly and too absurdly. There had been no contingency plan prepared in advance.
Very soon, all combat forces of St. Freya Academy were assembled. Every Valkyrie above B-rank, along with all the Herrschers who had joined just today, stood fully armed and ready.
But... without the white-haired boy's coordinates, they could only stand ready.
"Damn it! Vill-V! Make me a device capable of large-scale detection of the Imaginary Space immediately!"
MEI had already contacted Elysian Realm. She was even placing her hopes on that so-called "green-skinned" great inventor Vill-V. However, the latter was completely baffled.
"Huh? MEI? What's gotten into you all of a sudden? Why do you need a large-scale Imaginary Space detector? And how am I supposed to make something like that instantly? At least give me a month."
"In a month it'll all be over! Can you finish it within half an hour?"
"You clients are always this unreasonable! An Imaginary Space detector isn't some automatic barbecue grill! How am I supposed to build that in half an hour?!"
Inside Elysian Realm, Vill-V roared into the communicator. She could not help but recall the old days in Fire Moth, when her inventions had been endlessly criticized and tormented by MEI.
"Besides, I'm Elias' great inventor, not yours! If I just do whatever you tell me, wouldn't that mean I have no dignity at all?"
"Idiot! Elias is somewhere in that damned Imaginary Space fighting the Herrscher of Finality and a Planet-class Honkai Beast! We can't even locate him, let alone send reinforcements!"
At this critical moment, MEI no longer bothered to conceal anything. She was more flustered than ever before—more so even than fifty thousand years ago when Elias had "died" before their very eyes.
"Ha?! What did you just say?!"
Within Elysian Realm, the wrench in Vill-V's hand fell to the ground. All of her personalities reacted at once, chattering noisily inside her mind, repeatedly asking about the name MEI had just spoken.
And right at that moment...
"Hm? Why is everyone gathered here?"
Accompanied by the opening of a spatial gate, Elias returned to St. Freya Academy with the two girls in tow. The moment he saw all the girls in a state of emergency combat readiness, he froze in confusion.
But he wasn't the only one who froze.
"..." xN
Seeing him return completely unscathed, the girls widened their eyes, momentarily at a loss for words. Raiden Mei and Eden immediately rushed forward to examine him from head to toe.
Only after confirming that Elias was unharmed did they finally breathe a sigh of relief—he had deliberately healed himself before coming back. However, although they found no injuries, they did discover something unexpected... kiss marks.
Then, when their gazes fell upon the two girls standing beside Elias, everyone's pupils shrank once more.
They set aside the fact that Jyahnar was somehow here as well.
What truly shocked them was that the Herrscher of Finality was now dressed in a black-and-white maid outfit, with a little turtle drawn on her face. Although every movement she made still radiated the majesty and nobility of the Goddess of Honkai...
The way she followed behind a certain someone looked strangely obedient and well-behaved.
"Hello? Hello?! What exactly is going on now? Is Elias okay? MEI, say something already!"
"Ahem! Sorry about that, Vill-V. I was just joking earlier. Elias wasn't in danger at all. Anyway, that's all—April Fools, goodbye."
"You think I'd believe that nonsense?! April Fools was long over! Tell me honestly what's going on—"
Before Vill-V could finish, MEI decisively cut off the communicator, inwardly regretting her earlier impulsiveness. Wonderful. Classified information leaked...
"In any case, could you explain the situation, Elias?"
"Oh. But first, I need an enrollment application form."
"Hm? What are you planning to do?"
Everyone was stunned.
Then they watched as Elias swiftly filled out an enrollment form for the Herrscher of Finality and handed it to Theresa, who stood there completely dumbfounded.
"Ahem! First of all, allow me to formally introduce everyone. Starting today, this Herrscher of Finality will also be enrolling in St. Freya Academy. Come on—let's give her a warm round of applause."
"???" xN
Staring at the enrollment form in her hands, Theresa rolled her eyes and fainted on the spot.
Accepting more than a thousand Herrschers had already been outrageous enough.
And now even Finality herself was enrolling.
Cecilia sucked in a sharp breath. The enrollment form in her hands felt as heavy as a mountain.
What virtue or ability did St. Freya Academy possibly have to accommodate such a being? At this point, perhaps they really should consider changing the official description from a Valkyrie academy to a Herrscher academy.
"Elias, what exactly happened?!"
"Uh... it's a bit complicated to explain."
"It's fine. We're listening!" xN
"A-All right..."
Surrounded in a tight circle by wide-eyed beauties staring at him like bronze bells, Elias briefly summarized the situation. As he finished speaking, the girls' expressions became incomparably colorful.
The girl transformed from a Planet-class Honkai Beast—Jyahnar.
Finality, who had come seeking revenge for a kiss from fifty thousand years ago.
After a fierce battle and some heartfelt persuasion, both of them had now been subdued by Elias.
"Wh-what kind of situation even is this?!" xN
They had thought it was a world-ending crisis.
Who would have expected it to turn into a romantic crisis instead? New love rivals had joined the battlefield—and they were heavyweight opponents at that!
"Lord Elias, may I ask... what is the story behind Miss Herrscher of Finality's maid outfit?" Rita asked with great interest.
"Uh, well, during the fight I accidentally burned her clothes. I couldn't exactly let her walk around naked, right? Even though the weather's getting warmer, she might still catch a cold."
And since this Goddess of Honkai had now submitted to him, of course she should wear a maid outfit symbolizing obedience...
All right, fine. This is just my personal hobby.
"Catch a cold... Very well. Then may I ask what the tally mark on her leg means?"
Was the way you two "fought" actually appropriate?
"Well... ehehe~"
"Ehehe your head! Elias, we were worried sick about you!"
Kiana threw herself at him directly, clinging to him like an accessory. After hearing just how powerful Finality and Jyahnar were, she had nearly been scared out of her wits.
"All right, all right. I'm fine, aren't I? We should be celebrating now. With Finality and Jyahnar joining us, Honkai has no chance left."
The already stable and overwhelmingly favorable situation had now become unshakable as a mountain.
After all, even the final boss—the Herrscher of Finality—had joined humanity's side... or more precisely, Elias' side.
Even without any tricks, even in a head-on confrontation, Elias was now confident he could pin Honkai to the ground and hammer it.
"I don't even know how to begin complaining anymore."
"You actually recruited the Herrscher of Finality and a Planet-class Honkai Beast into the team..."
"So as long as it's a girl, whether human or god, you can conquer her, is that it, Elias?"
Eden and the others wore complicated expressions.
Before the ultimate boss, Miss Pink Elf, even appeared, two more beyond-standard opponents had already shown up. This battle was becoming increasingly difficult.
(From a certain angle, even Elysia might not pose as much of a threat as these two... And honestly, I'm really looking forward to seeing her expression when she arrives and realizes that even the Herrscher of Finality and a Planet-class Honkai Beast have become her love rivals.)
And right at that moment—
"Where's Elias?! Where is my Elias?!"
With a thunderous boom from the sky, Vill-V made her dazzling entrance.
"Oh no, another troublesome one. Vill-V, weren't you a little too fast? It's only been a few minutes!"
Everyone stared in shock at Vill-V descending from the sky. Elysian Realm was not exactly close to the Far East. Yet she had rushed over within mere minutes of receiving the news.
Vill-V puffed out her chest proudly. "Hmph! I stuffed myself into a cannon and fired myself over! And look at this—you're all here. No wonder Elysian Realm has felt so empty lately."
"Ahem," said Dr. MEI. "Did you inform Mobius and Elysia?"
"Of course not!"
The great Magician placed her hands on her hips. She had no time to notify anyone. Besides, she wasn't stupid—why would she bring the boss along with her?
Thus, only three Flame-Chasers remained in Elysian Realm at the moment.
The cat.
The snake.
And one pink elf.
"What are you all talking about? Oh? Vill-V, you finally made it too? Haha~ Looks like tonight's celebration feast will be even livelier. We'll have a good chat later. By the way, is the Chef personality around? The kitchen is severely short-staffed today."
"Chef, log in! Let's celebrate our reunion with a grand feast!"
Vill-V somehow produced a chef's hat from nowhere and placed it on her head. She had already tied on an apron, holding a kitchen knife in her left hand and a spatula in her right, making a certain rice-cooking specialist feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.
Raiden Mei sighed. "So in the end... today we gained three more troublesome love rivals?"
Sakura shook her head. "No. Eleven. Vill-V alone counts as nine."
MEI corrected calmly. "Wrong. One thousand and twenty-two. Don't forget the more than one thousand Herrschers who enrolled today."
Everyone: "...Damn it!!" xN
This terrible game called reality was becoming unplayable. For a fleeting moment, everyone felt that maybe letting the Herrscher of Finality destroy the world wouldn't be so unacceptable after all.