Just as Elias and Elysia, through their perfect coordination, forced the Herrscher of the Void to crash to the ground—
Himeko and the other Fire Moth soldiers arrived at the scene, all staring in stunned disbelief.
"T-Those two rookies actually..."
"They took down the Herrscher?!"
"Who the heck are those two?!"
"HQ, this is field unit—we have hope! I repeat, we have hope!"
Seeing the Herrscher of the Void—who had easily flattened a city and obliterated an entire Fire Moth branch despite heavy firepower—now being overwhelmed by Elias and Elysia, left the soldiers feeling more bewildered than overjoyed. Was this even real?
"Their skills are just insane..."
Thanks to Elias and Elysia drawing the Herrscher's attention, the Fire Moth soldiers remained undetected. Himeko watched the battle in shock.
Though Elias and Elysia seemed relaxed (and indeed, they were), if anyone else had taken their place—even herself—Himeko was sure they'd have been obliterated instantly.
A normal person's reflexes couldn't possibly dodge the Herrscher of the Void's subspace lances. They'd be skewered before even realizing what hit them, let alone dodge so effortlessly like the pair before her.
"No matter what, maybe these two really can pull off HQ's impossible plan."
"Captain, what should we do? Should we back them up?"
"Don't overestimate yourselves. We'll clear out surrounding threats. Keep zombies and Honkai Beasts from interfering with those two!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
Himeko wasted no time assigning the appropriate tasks to her remaining soldiers. She chambered a round in her weapon and gave Elias and Elysia one last worried glance.
"Win this... rookies."
...
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! What is with these two?! Why can't I land a hit?!"
The Herrscher of the Void raged as she unleashed her power. Yet the same abilities that had easily reduced an entire city to ruins now felt oddly ineffective against just two opponents.
No matter how many subspace lances she hurled, no matter how many buildings she dropped, Elias and Elysia calmly found weak points and slipped through unscathed. It looked like narrow survival, but in truth, every step was calculated. Controlled. Safe.
Especially Elysia's crystal arrows—
Some instinct told the Herrscher of the Void that they were akin to her own subspace lances. Weapons forged from authority. Far more dangerous than missiles or artillery.
Combined with the duo's uncanny synchronization—matching each other like a single breath—the once-dominant Herrscher queen now found herself suppressed.
"In that case, I'll take out the weaker one first!"
Changing targets, she focused on Elias—who had been supporting Elysia from behind.
She raised a hand, opening a portal behind Elias' head—a perfect blind spot—and launched a subspace lance.
But—
"That all?"
"What?!"
Elias tilted his head slightly, dodging the sneak attack with ease—as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Unconvinced, the Herrscher raised her hand again. Dozens of portals opened at once, forming a circle around Elias. Subspace lances shot out from every direction.
And yet—
"Sorry, but no one understands the Herrscher of the Void better than me. You're way too easy to read."
Elias smiled confidently. He snatched one spear mid-air, then used it as a weapon to parry and slash through the rest.
Before the stunned eyes of the Herrscher of the Void, he deflected an attack that would have turned anyone else into a human pincushion—without even breaking a sweat.
"When the Herrscher of the Void's portals open, they emit a specific burst of Honkai energy. If you can catch that fleeting pulse, you can dodge anything that comes out of it—even with your eyes closed. And as for subspace lances..."
Elias toyed with the short spear in his hand, a look of nostalgia flashing in his eyes—before he crushed it into fragments.
"Infused with spatial power, subspace lances can pierce any armor. But if they can't hit their target, they're meaningless. After all, they're slower than bullets."
"You—How can you possibly know so much?!"
Elias looked at her with something almost like pity.
Even the Herrscher of the Void couldn't suppress a shiver. This queen of destruction from the Previous Era felt utterly exposed before this boy, as if she were standing naked with nothing hidden.
"But don't be too discouraged. In terms of raw Honkai power, you're far stronger than I ever was. Yeah, I guess that's what makes you the Herrscher of this era~"
Elias offered her a small consolation.
Honkai strength scales with the advancement of civilization.
The more advanced the civilization, the stronger the Honkai.
And by extension, the stronger its Herrscher.
The Previous Era's technology far outclassed the Current Era's, and so this Herrscher of the Void was vastly more powerful than Elias had been when he awakened in the Babylon Lab.
She might be a single-core Herrscher, but her Honkai energy density was easily over 4000HW.
Still, Elias knew the Herrscher of the Void inside and out—no, not just her. He knew the future Herrschers of Fire, Wind, Death, and Thunder just as well.
(If it were just these Herrschers, I could beat them even without my authorities. Unfortunately, they're just the appetizers. The real threats are the final six. I still don't fully understand their true abilities...)
Elias sighed in regret. The first six Herrschers might be able to destroy a city or a nation. But starting with the Herrscher of Fire, the difficulty spiked to continent-ending levels.
"Still have time to daydream? You've got guts!"
Seeing his distracted expression, the Herrscher of the Void raised a hand to teleport a skyscraper onto him—but several pink crystal arrows suddenly flew in, forcing her to retreat in panic.
"Elias dares to be distracted because I have his back!"
Elysia stood poised, bow drawn, aiming directly at the Herrscher of the Void.
"Damn it!"
The Herrscher of the Void snarled, warily eyeing the two of them.
Herrschers of the Previous Era might not possess humanity, but that didn't mean they were mindless beasts. Realizing she couldn't gain the upper hand against either Elias or Elysia, she changed tactics.
She opened a portal behind her and began slowly backing into it.
Her mission was to kill humans and destroy civilization—but neither Elias nor Elysia triggered that instinctive, overwhelming hostility. If anything, they felt eerily similar to her. (Well, they were both Herrschers.)
"I'll spare you this time."
She was just about to escape when—
"Ely, give me the time it takes for one song."
"Huh? Elias—"
Before she could finish, Elias shot forward toward the fleeing Herrscher. He tapped into the power of the Herrscher of Wind to accelerate and, in a flash, dove into the portal after her.
Elysia blinked for a few seconds, then sighed deeply.
She sat down on a nearby chunk of rubble, keeping her eyes fixed on where Elias had vanished.
"You said just one song, okay? If you're late, I will start missing you."
And with that, Elysia sat amidst the ruined cityscape and softly began to sing her personal theme: "TruE."
In that moment, she was like a songstress at the end of the world.
A lone voice bringing hope and rebirth to a world lost in despair.
...
Inside the Herrscher of the Void's portal.
Darkness flashed across his vision. When it faded, Elias realized he had entered the Imaginary Space.
"So it's true. The Herrscher of the Void is the only one who can open a portal to Imaginary Space... but this really is something else."
Elias marveled at the violet realm surrounding him. As he spoke, a mocking voice echoed from nearby.
"I didn't expect you to follow me. How arrogant. Just because you traded a few blows with me out there, you think you can defeat a Herrscher—an apostle of the gods?"
The Herrscher of the Void descended slowly through the air.
She had originally intended to teleport elsewhere, but when she noticed Elias pursuing her alone, she changed her mind.
She brought him with her into the Imaginary Space.
"In this place, overflowing with Honkai energy, I can use my powers without limit. Tell me, how long do you think you can last here?"
"Heh... hahahahaha~!"
"What's so funny, human?"
The Herrscher scowled. Dozens of subspace lances floated around her, poised to rain down death upon Elias.
But Elias just laughed. One hand covered his face, sending a chill through the Herrscher.
"Nothing. I was just thinking... Imaginary Space, the Herrscher of the Void, Vermilion Knight... Could this be fate? What a strange coincidence."
"You're not making sense. Die, human."
She raised a hand, unleashing cubes formed from imaginary energy—a Rubik's cube of deadly force, hurling toward Elias from both sides.
Duang!
The cubes collided, grinding and shifting to crush the boy trapped between them.
Then, with a flick of her hand, the Herrscher's subspace lances turned into ribbons and slashed through the cubes like knives.
"Hmph. Was that all?"
She scoffed, believing she'd finished him off. She turned, ready to resume her mission of razing civilization and slaughtering humanity.
"Sore wa dou kana."
A voice spoke behind her.
"What?!"
The Herrscher spun around, stunned.
Elias stepped from the smoke without a scratch, his uniform replaced by a dark crimson Godsbane Suit—Vermilion Knight: Eclipse.
"It's a shame you're not Kiana, and I'm not Himeko. And this isn't the Final Lesson. What's happening now… is just another battle."
He raised the Godslayer: Surtr—and pointed it at the Herrscher of the Void.
"You... You die!!"
She screamed, unleashing a barrage of subspace lances.
Elias, unfazed by the incoming storm, calmly materialized a pair of headphones and hit play on a song: Nightglow.
Then, with a sweep of his flaming sword, golden-red flames burst forth and reduced the spears to ash.
Step by step, he advanced toward the Herrscher.
At the same time, the Honkai energy radiating from him surged:
4500HW... 9000HW... 15000HW!
"I can't recklessly use my powers outside—I'd be exposed as a Herrscher. But here in Imaginary Space, there's no need to hold back. Maybe I should thank you for bringing me to a stage where I can fight without limits."
"W-What is this?! You're a Herrscher too?! No—even if you are, how can you be this strong?!"
The Herrscher of the Void stumbled back, unable to accept what she was seeing.
"Hey, are you done with your turn? Because it's my turn now. You don't mind, do you?"
Elias ran a hand over the blade of Surtur. Instantly, wind wrapped the flames, forming a blazing tornado held in his grasp.
The thrusters on the back of his Vermilion Knight: Eclipse armor flared to life. Augmented by the Herrscher of Wind's authority, fiery wings unfolded behind him.
At that moment, the melody in his ears reached its climax.
"This is the end, Herrscher of the Void."
"S-Stay away from me—!!"
Terrified, she tried to open another portal to escape. But in the blink of an eye, Elias appeared before her, faster than her own spatial transfer.
"With this fire... I burn all to ash!"
His flaming blade descended.
The fire lit up the entire Imaginary Space.
There was nowhere to run.
Under the force of that absolute strike, the Herrscher of the Void was obliterated.
"Mission complete."
Elias removed his headphones just as the final lyric faded out.
...
Meanwhile—
"Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~!"
Sitting amidst the ruins, Elysia hummed the last line of her song. At the same time, Himeko and the others had finished clearing out the nearby Honkai beasts and rushed over.
"Huh? Where's your partner? Where's the Herrscher? What happened?!"
Himeko demanded, part concerned, part frustrated.
They'd spent the whole time fighting off Honkai beasts while worrying about this side of the battlefield. Yet now that they arrived, Elias and the Herrscher were both gone—and Elysia was just sitting there, singing.
She had to be aware that all of Fire Moth's attention was currently focused on this battle. Her relaxed performance was almost certainly broadcast on the main screen at HQ.
"Elias and the Herrscher? Don't worry, Captain Himeko. Look, he's already back with the victory."
Elysia pointed behind them.
A portal opened. Elias stepped through, dragging the Herrscher's lifeless body behind him.
"The Herrscher of the Void has been defeated!"
...
"OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!"
A beat of silence.
Then, a deafening roar of victory.
The soldiers who had witnessed the Herrscher's terrifying power, who had teetered on the edge of despair, now broke down into joyous, tearful celebration.
They shouted, they cried, their gazes toward Elias filled with awe and reverence—the eyes of people looking at a hero.
"We won! We really won!!"
"Herrscher of the Void confirmed dead!"
"Excellent work! But who is this kid?!"
"Get me his full profile within one minute!"
At Fire Moth Headquarters, the command room erupted in celebration.
All eyes were glued to the screen, where a white-haired boy stood tall. Some felt admiration, others gratitude—and a few, fear.
But all of them shared the same question:
Just who was this boy, who had appeared with a girl by his side, turned the tide of battle, and shattered the despair looming over them all?
"Ely, I'm back."
"Welcome back, Elias."
After placing the Herrscher's body on the ground, Elias turned toward the pink fairy. Under everyone's gaze, the two started feeding each other dog food.
"One song means one song. I wasn't late, was I?"
"Nope! You always keep your promises. But... the most exciting part got stolen by you in the end. Hmph~ I wanted to be looked at like a hero, too."
"Hehe~ Can't help it. There was only one kill to claim. But hey, defeating a Herrscher on our first day in the squad? I think we've made an impression."
Elias smiled faintly. Good—he could probably skip the boring rookie training now.
Next... maybe it was time to meet a certain green-haired serpent lady.
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