"As the Herrscher of Good and Evil, naturally, I can connect not only to the evil of humanity, but also to the goodness of humanity~"
As Elias spoke, he took out the Gem of Domination again. Elysia watched as the originally golden Herrscher Core became black on one side and white on the other, releasing two completely opposing forms of Honkai energy.
Logically speaking, these two utterly contrary forms of Honkai energy should have repelled each other. Yet within Elias' body, they coexisted harmoniously and even complemented one another.
Elysia was not surprised by this.
She had long known just how special her beloved husband was. After all, even quantum power and imaginary energy, which were far more fundamentally opposed than good and evil, could be unified within Elias' body.
Compared to that, this hardly seemed worth mentioning.
Although it was actually an incredible feat, the moment something absurd happened to Elias, it instantly seemed perfectly normal.
"The goodness of humanity? I already like the sound of that. Eli, what can you do with it?"
Elysia's eyes sparkled like stars.
She loved the beautiful side of human nature most of all. After all, she was actually the first Herrscher in the world to gain humanity, though Elias had been responsible for most of that~
Elias was the reason Elysia wished to emerge from her cocoon as a human, and the reason she yearned for and cherished the beauty of human nature.
And now, the white-haired youth beloved by Miss Pink Elf had become a Herrscher representing both the goodness and evil of humanity. Elysia felt herself losing control over how deeply she loved him.
Not only her body, but even her soul seemed ready to take Elias' shape. She herself was more than happy about that.
"Ahem. The power the goodness of humanity gives me is very simple. It's essentially a constant enhancement buff that strengthens all my abilities across the board. Yeah, that's about it."
"Huh? That sounds surprisingly plain."
Elysia tilted her head, looking quite astonished.
"Emmm... Ely, do you know those tokusatsu shows or animated series where the hero is beaten half to death by the villain and is about to kick the bucket, only for humanity to suddenly unite for no apparent reason? Then everyone shouts encouragement, and the hero immediately recovers to full health and crushes the villain."
After thinking for a moment, Elias gave her an example.
"Uh, I've heard a little about that..."
Elysia nodded with blank, beady eyes. During all those years when she had nothing to do in the Elysian Realm, she occasionally explored outside culture. Besides, shows like that had existed in the Previous Era too.
As an aside, Kosma was extremely enthusiastic about them. He even owned a pile of toy belts and toy weapons that served no practical purpose but produced dazzling lights and impressive sound effects.
He also frequently struck all kinds of henshin poses within his memory domain.
Although he believed he had hidden this hobby well, Griseo had told everyone about it long ago.
"Although I can't do anything quite that ridiculous yet, like becoming invincible just because people shout about courage and friendship, the enhancement granted by the goodness of humanity does work on a similar principle. And honestly, the boost isn't small."
"Uh... I don't really understand it, but it sounds impressive. Anyway, it's a good thing that you can become even stronger, Eli."
Elysia blinked, then chose to applaud.
"Oh, right. It also has another characteristic. The more affection someone feels toward me, the greater the enhancement they provide... What an absurdly idealistic ability."
Even Elias could not resist complaining. He also felt slightly embarrassed, wondering whether he was about to become an even more idealistic Herrscher than a certain Herrscher of Origin.
Elysia froze for a moment, then summarized aloud.
"So, the more someone likes you, the stronger that affection makes you? The Herrscher of Good and Evil can directly transform our love for you into power?"
"Y-Yes, that's right..."
Elias' face reddened. He wondered whether he should simply give the Core to Elysia. It was deeply embarrassing for a grown man like him to use an ability that sounded as though it belonged to a magical girl.
Although Elias was actually the person who could bring out its greatest power. After all, he had long surpassed a certain Miss Pink Elf as the most popular person alive, becoming the object of worship for the Previous Era's largest religious organization, the Church of Eli Gate.
"Ohhh~ Eli, hurry and tell me. If my love for you is converted into power, what number does it reach?"
"Uh, why are you suddenly asking that? And it's about 730 percent. A seven-point-three-fold enhancement across the board. Ely, you really, really, really love me far too much."
Elias closed his eyes and sensed it before answering. At the same time, he felt pleasantly surprised. Only after Elysia asked did he realize that the Herrscher of Good and Evil's ability could also function as an affection detector.
And Elysia's 730 percent was genuinely terrifying. One had to understand that the Herrscher of Good and Evil's standards were so strict that even Elias himself found them absurd.
For an ordinary couple, reaching even ten percent would already qualify as unwavering, absolute love that endured until death.
But how much true love existed in this world? Elias could not help remembering his previous life, where even sincere devotion had come to be mocked as simping.
If Elias casually walked down a street now, the strangers who developed a favorable impression of him because of his looks and bearing would only provide an enhancement somewhere around the sixth or seventh decimal place.
In other words, Elysia's affection for Elias alone exceeded that of several hundred million people combined. It was absurd beyond all reason!
Elias felt as though he would laugh aloud even in his dreams tonight.
However, Elysia's next question made his entire body stiffen. He instantly regretted telling her that he possessed this ability.
"What about the others? What are Mei's and Eden's numbers?"
Elysia asked with a brilliant smile, pressing both hands against the maze wall behind Elias' head... Although she was smiling, the pink elf's eyes burned with intense fighting spirit.
"...I refuse to answer!"
Elias' heart lurched. He immediately covered his mouth and averted his gaze.
There was no way he could answer a question that explosive!
Moreover, he had an extremely strong premonition that the girls would eventually wage war over their rankings based on how much affection they held for him!
"Tell me, Eli. Trust me. I really don't mean anything else. I just want a point of reference. Otherwise, how am I supposed to know whether this affection rating is high or low?"
Elysia asked while acting spoiled and making an adorable face.
"How could it possibly be low?! Ely, you can have a little confidence in yourself. Your score has already broken through the heavens, so please stop asking. We absolutely cannot light the fuse for this war."
"Ahem. For women, some wars are unavoidable, even if rivers of blood must flow in the end. So don't worry about it, Eli. Go ahead and announce to the whole world that Miss Pink Elf is the strongest and most invincible of all."
Elysia spoke with her blood boiling, utterly convinced without the slightest hesitation that no one could possibly have a higher score than hers.
And in truth, she was correct.
The true value of the affection she had accumulated across a full twelve playthroughs had been perfectly displayed through the authority of the Herrscher of Good and Evil.
Although the other girls in the dormitory also had outrageous scores, most were only somewhere in the five or six hundreds. Compared to this cheating pink elf, they were still slightly inferior.
"No! I won't! Ely, go away!"
Elias crossed both arms in front of himself to form an X. In truth, his insistence on keeping silent was not only meant to prevent a war among the girls. It was also meant to protect Elysia.
After all, her affection rating of 730 percent was simply too high! It had reached a dangerously excessive level!
If the others learned about it, then the [Herrscher of Origin Subjugation Plan] would probably be launched immediately. The next day, this cheating elf would be found with eight gunshot wounds in her back and her death ruled a suicide.
"All right..."
Under Elias' stubborn resistance, Elysia could only puff out her cheeks and accept reality in the end.
Still, one had to praise this pink elf's remarkable ambition. Only moments ago, she had been proud of her astonishing score of 730 percent, yet she was already dissatisfied with it.
"It seems there's still plenty of room for improvement. I've decided. First, I'll set myself a small goal and raise it to one thousand percent!"
Elysia clenched her little fist and declared this with tremendous vigor.
However, this was not merely a matter of personal emotion. From a certain perspective, it was also a serious concern.
After all, under the effects of the Herrscher of Good and Evil's authority, the more she loved Elias, the stronger Elias would become.
Just thinking about it made the pink elf wish she could make her score soar directly to a sideways eight, representing infinity.
Then Elias would become invincible throughout the entire universe.
Elias could not help laughing. He lifted the pink elf who loved him more than anyone else in the world into a princess carry, then whispered beside her pointed ear.
"Thank you, Ely. But incidentally, my score toward you is 750 percent~"
"Huh? W-Wait! Are you for real?!"
After hearing this impossible-to-ignore piece of information, Elysia's eyes widened. She nearly fell out of Elias' arms.
She never could have imagined such a reversal.
She had indeed defeated everyone else.
But in the end, she had lost to Elias.
For a moment, the pink elf felt both delighted and unwilling, proud and discouraged. She could only think that the person before her was far too despicable.
(No! No, no, no! I can lose to anyone, but I absolutely cannot lose to Eli! His affection rating is actually twenty percent higher than mine? This Elysia refuses to accept it!)
Miss Pink Elf immediately made up her mind.
She would definitely love the person before her even more.
Within one week, she would surpass Elias' affection rating!
"Oh, right. Besides connecting to the goodness and evil of humanity to receive an all-around enhancement and gain the ability to revive, I can also create puppets now. Though it isn't anything particularly impressive."
Elias added.
The puppets he created were not especially powerful. Although he could now make at most one million and one thousand puppets, each puppet's base strength was only equivalent to an Emperor-class MANTIS.
Of course, he could also divide some of his own power among the puppets to strengthen them. But in Elias' opinion, it was nothing remarkable. At most, it merely gave him a superpowered immortal army.
"Uh... That's already incredibly powerful, all right?"
Elysia did not know whether to laugh or cry.
That was an immortal army of one million Emperor-class MANTISes. It felt as though St. Freya Academy might as well disband. Elias could now shoulder the entire mission of defeating the Honkai by himself.
Who still needed Herrschers or Valkyries?
Wouldn't it be enough to station a few Elias puppets around the world?
Elysia: (I want one too!)
After such a long time, Elias had finally received another epic enhancement. As expected of the Herrscher of Million, whom the Honkai had carefully strengthened, the rewards after clearing it were exceptionally generous.
Elias began looking forward to the Herrscher of Binding and the Herrscher of Corruption that would come next. Yet he had no idea that, at this very moment... a certain fool had already tricked the Honkai out of one of its Binding Cores.
Honkai: "Human hearts are truly sinister!!"