Valkyrie Dormitory, Elias' Room.
"Same routine—time to analyze the current situation."
Elias flipped around a wall-mounted painting in his room, revealing the side hidden against the wall. Even Rita wouldn't have noticed this during her cleaning.
On the back was a sprawling mind map diagram of the current world situation.
Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, World Serpent, and St. Freya.
Countless red lines wove through these four names, crisscrossing and connecting everything. Some lines passed through photos of individuals, others through images of certain objects, and some through past and future events.
Otto, Kevin, Welt, Kiana... every name—even Elias himself—was included, all linked together in a massive network of connections.
This was the classic kind of clue board used by detectives in movies and novels. Elias had started building it because he thought it looked cool, only to find it genuinely helped him grasp the big picture.
"At present, the advantage lies with me."
After staring intently for a few moments, Elias came to a conclusion.
As long as Kevin hadn't returned, World Serpent couldn't cause much trouble. Grey Serpent, Jackal, and Raven might be jumpy, but that's about it.
Not enough brains, not enough brawn.
They were only hard to deal with because they were so good at hiding. If he could find them, Elias might even consider taking World Serpent out early.
That way, even if Kevin did come back from the Sea of Quanta later, he'd have no subordinates left—and no hope of executing the Stigmata Plan.
Next, Anti-Entropy was marked with a blue line connecting it to St. Freya Academy, indicating a current alliance between the two.
Finally, there was Schicksal, ruled by Otto... by the way, when Elias used his Authority to construct Otto's photo, he had purposely colored his hair green—pure personal bias.
"That dog Otto's only strong pieces right now are Durandal and Li Sushang. Those two count as current top-tier combatants. Yeah, the advantage is definitely on our side."
Elias crossed his arms and confirmed his analysis again.
From an organizational standpoint, Schicksal was a massive power that St. Freya couldn't possibly compare to. No matter what, St. Freya was just a school.
But Schicksal was a long-standing anti-Honkai organization with bases around the world and enormous influence.
In terms of Valkyrie numbers and quality, equipment, mech tech—every military metric—they were far ahead.
However—
Elias: "All of that is completely useless."
When it came to Herrscher-level combat, none of that mattered.
In this world, personal combat strength was still the deciding factor. If someone like Kevin stood alone, he could take on the entire world regardless of what forces opposed him.
And while St. Freya might be just an academy—it was the Herrscher Academy, the Abyss of the Far East!
If nothing else, it had a surplus of potential Herrscher-level fighters!
Currently, St. Freya Academy's Herrscher-level combatants included Elias, Mei, and Fu Hua.
Its S-rank members included Theresa, Rita, and Ji Xuanyuan.
Himeko was close to breaking through to that level, and even Bronya had one foot in the S-rank door.
"Emmm, honestly, we could kick World Serpent out of the Big Three and have St. Freya take their place. With this lineup, we're top-tier in the current meta!"
Elias nodded in satisfaction.
Schicksal was corrupt, Anti-Entropy submissive, World Serpent incompetent—
In this world, the strongest was undoubtedly their St. Freya Academy!
Still, Elias wasn't naive enough to think he was invincible now or ready to go head-to-head with that dog Otto.
That fool, obsessed with resurrecting the Saint, had survived over 500 years. If he didn't have a few world-shaking trump cards, Elias wouldn't believe it.
And Elias had a gut feeling—
Otto was going to stir up trouble soon!
Though Elias was strong enough to not be afraid, just in case, he figured it was time for an epic power-up, to expand his set of hidden cards.
At the current stage of this civilization, the only quick way for him to increase his strength was to retrieve the remaining Herrscher Cores—the Gem of Desire and the Gem of the Void.
The former was inside Wendy, and the latter inside Kiana.
Elias: "But aside from that, there are still other ways... Been a while since I did a time-space jump. Let's see what kind of side story I draw this time."
He opened the system's time-space traversal option.
Hands clasped, Elias prayed for a less troublesome, power-boosting side quest.
"Right, wash my hands first, play 'Good Luck Comes,' and please don't give me some garbage roll! Er, even though I don't know what counts as garbage... Anyway, I'm willing to trade 50,000 years of Fu Hua's peace as the price for a perfect pull!!"
Fu Hua: (???)
Elias took a deep breath, tension written all over his face.
After completing his ritualistic nonsense, he slammed the "Draw" button.
The system's interface spun like a roulette wheel. Elias shut his eyes. A golden flash blazed so bright it nearly blinded him through his eyelids.
"T-This is?!"
When he opened his eyes—
His pupils dilated to the max. He clutched his chest, convinced he had just lost decades off his life. As for Fu Hua... she might really have to endure another 50,000 years of peace.
Before him appeared two glowing words: "Previous Era."
A massive book materialized out of thin air, its thickness at least a hundred times greater than the volume on the Second Eruption.
And most importantly—
The book was pink.
"Don't even try to tell me this has nothing to do with Elysia. I'd never believe you!"
Elias rubbed his hands together in excitement. He had drawn the jackpot of the entire pool.
Just as he was about to open the book and enter the Previous Era scenario—
"Warning! Warning! ALERT! ALERT! Host's current power level is too low. Success rate too low! Please return later to challenge this scenario!"
"...The hell?!"
Elias grabbed a pillow from his bed and hurled it across the room.
He could practically see the adorable pink elf—wait no, the path to instant ascension—beckoning to him. And now the system was saying no?
"System, what do you mean by this?!"
(Exactly what it sounds like. This scenario's difficulty is extreme for the host. Estimated success rate for a perfect ending is 0.000001%. Please calm down!)
"I don't care! I wanna play! Let me in! The Previous Era is where Honkai Impact 3rd dishes out the most heartbreak—this is a chance to change it! How can I possibly calm down?!"
Elias lunged and hugged the towering storybook tightly, completely out of control.
(This system understands the host's feelings, but please review this first before making a decision.)
"Hm? Review what?"
(This is the list of requirements for a perfect ending, based on your usual standards. Take a look before you decide.)
"???"
A long list of perfect-clear conditions popped up on the system interface. One glance—and Elias instantly cooled down.
Elias: "Sorry to bother you."
Perfect Clear Requirements:
All Flame-Chasers survive: Difficulty SSS
All individuals related to the Flame-Chasers survive: Difficulty S
Defeat all Herrschers except the Herrscher of Human: Difficulty SSS
Over 90% survival rate of the Previous Era's population: Difficulty SSS
Herrscher of Human, Elysia: Survival - Difficulty S
Herrscher of Human survives while all Herrschers of the current era retain their humanity: Difficulty SSS
Ensure the Previous Era continues to exist alongside the current era: Difficulty SSS
Overall Rating: Ultimate Hellish Nightmare Difficulty
Achieving a perfect ending in the Previous Era scenario was millions of times harder than clearing the Second Eruption. Even with his current power as a triple-core Herrscher, Elias couldn't make a dent.
System: (If you lower your standards and don't pursue a perfect ending, of course it won't be this difficult.)
For example, giving up on saving Elysia or lowering the survival requirement for the Previous Era's population from 90% to around 10%—those alone would drastically reduce the difficulty. But...
Elias: "Get lost! Do I look like the kind of guy who lacks ambition?! If I'm saving them, I'm saving everyone, no exceptions! I said it! So what if I'm not strong enough yet? Just wait! After I develop for a few dozen chapters, I'll make it through! ...What a shame though—my beautiful plans are going to be delayed again."
System: (Beautiful plans?)
Elias: "A romance with the pink elf lady, discussing the art of music with Eden, researching the essence of life with Dr. Mobius, building Gundams with Dr. Vil-V, painting with little Griseo, petting cats… that kind of stuff."
System: (...Truly worthy of you.)
Elias looked again at the Previous Era scenario and could only smile wryly. He had drawn the jackpot, but without the level to match, diving in would be suicide.
He had two options now:
Keep the draw result and challenge the scenario later when he was stronger.
Discard it and draw a new scenario instead.
Elias didn't hesitate and chose the former.
"I might not play it now, but I will keep it! Do you know how rare it is to land this with max luck? Who knows how long it'll take to pull it again if I let it go?"
And besides, he hadn't forgotten his earlier sacrifice.
He didn't care much about losing a few decades of lifespan—Herrschers practically lived forever. But he had sacrificed Fu Hua's next 50,000 years of peaceful development!
With such a painful price paid, how could he give up the reward so easily?
Elias waved a regretful hand to dismiss the system.
"Forget it. For now, let's stick to the original plan."
Glancing at his bed, he had a feeling he wouldn't be sleeping tonight, so he decided to find something to do.
"Time to visit that girl. Hopefully this time she'll be willing to hand over the Gem of Desire. That way, it's a win-win for everyone."
He raised a hand, summoning Project Bunny 19C.
Project Bunny 19C was a little dazed to see Elias suddenly.
One moment she was grinding Bronya's daily missions in a game, and the next Elias was in front of her.
Project Bunny immediately saluted.
"Lord Elias, do you have any orders?"
"Flight mode. Take me to Schicksal's Oceania Branch."
"Bunny received!"
With a burst of cool mechanical transformations, Project Bunny shifted into flight mode and hovered outside Elias' window. He climbed into the cockpit.
No need for manual controls—Project Bunny automatically began flying toward Schicksal's Oceania Branch.
"Coordinates set. Flight log recording. This is the third secret trip to the Oceania Branch this month."
"Don't record it. Delete it. If it's a secret, there can't be any trace."
"Understood, Lord Elias."
Thirty minutes later—
Elias arrived in the New Zealand region and, with practiced ease, located Schicksal's local base.
He immediately activated his quantum state, rendering the base's top-tier security—which was several times tighter than most military bases—completely ineffective.
As a quantum ghost, Elias casually phased through walls and found the quarters of a certain experimental girl.
"Hey~ Miss Wendy, miss me?"
"Hm? That voice... Mr. Ghost?"
The eyes of a girl in miserable condition lit up.
"That's me. You look even worse than last time. Are you sure you still don't want to hand over the Core?"
Still invisible in his quantum ghost form, Elias spoke to the girl lying in bed, clearly in pain.
The girl was none other than Wendy.
The Herrscher of Wind of the current era's original destiny!
Although not yet awakened, she was a subject of Schicksal's artificial Herrscher project, her body used as a vessel for the Core—a pitiful girl indeed.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Ghost, but I can't give you the Gem of Desire. My mission is to adapt to and contain this Core, to become a Herrscher that fights for humanity."
"Ah~ another stubborn girl. I admire your resolve, but giving the Core to me is actually the best choice. Why not trust me just once?"
Elias looked at the girl with a sigh.
Wendy had short black-and-cyan hair with a signature ahoge sticking up, black eyes, and a pretty, gentle appearance. Her personality was as soft as Seele's.
Though currently frail, she had once been a top-tier A-rank Valkyrie with the potential to become Schicksal's third S-rank, after Rita.
In fact, Elias should technically call Wendy his senior.
She was a graduate of St. Freya Academy and had been one of Theresa's best students.
But instead of staying at the academy, she joined Schicksal post-graduation… and then tragedy struck.
Originally on track to become Schicksal's next S-rank Valkyrie, Wendy was found to have a high compatibility with the Gem of Desire. Otto then manipulated her into becoming a test subject for the artificial Herrscher project.
At the Oceania branch, the Gem of Desire was implanted into Wendy's legs. While her compatibility was high, she wasn't a perfect vessel like Mei.
She failed to master the Core's power and suffered paralysis as a result. Still, because the Core could only remain stable inside her, her body was treated as a container.
"You had a much brighter future. Look at your legs now—you can't feel anything, right? Listen to me. Give up the Core, and I'll help you fully recover."
Elias tried to persuade her again, for the third time in half a month. Each time he snuck into the Oceania base, it was for this very reason—to get Wendy to willingly relinquish the Gem of Desire.
It wasn't just about power. He truly wanted to save her.
But...
"No, I can't. As long as I can master the power of the Core, I can protect humanity from the Honkai. That's my mission as a Valkyrie—I won't give up!"
Wendy rejected him with the same unwavering determination as always.
Elias couldn't help but feel both admiration and frustration. His resentment toward a certain green-haired bastard deepened again.
Look what that damn Otto had done—turning such a kind and courageous girl into this. Elias wanted nothing more than to crush that man's soulium face bit by bit!
Sure, Elias could just seize the Core by force.
But he wanted to respect Wendy's will… plus, last time he tried, she resisted so fiercely that she almost alerted the entire base.
"As expected from one of Theresa's students—so naive. Whatever, let me at least check on your condition."
"Mr. Ghost?"
"Just so you know, as long as the Core stays in you, even my healing abilities can't restore your legs. All I can do is ease your pain."
Still in his quantum state, Elias activated his authority.
White blossoms bloomed across Wendy's body, healing the parts ravaged by the Herrscher Core.
"Nnngh!"
Wendy accidentally let out a dangerous-sounding noise.
But the relief was too overwhelming—after enduring so much pain, this felt like divine mercy. Every ache vanished instantly.
Realizing her voice slipped out, Wendy blushed. Still, she whispered gratefully:
"Thank you, Mr. Ghost."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven