When Eden leapt down from the stage and found Elias—
The white-haired boy's battle with the Herrscher of Fire had already turned an entire district into ruins of ice and flame.
Ordinary people on the streets stared dumbfounded. The Herrscher of Fire repeatedly hurled flames at them, yet each one was blocked by Elias' ice and snow.
"Leave quickly, we'll only get in the way!"
"Damn it! Why don't I have any strength of my own?!"
"Damn Herrscher, fight fair if you dare!"
"Yeah! Using us to distract Lord Elias?!"
Countless people seethed with anger. They hated the Herrscher of Fire's cowardice, but even more, they despised their own weakness. Powerless, they could only become a burden to their hero.
Sydney was a bustling metropolis. Wherever the Herrscher hurled flames, at least three or four people were caught within reach. Yet now she realized—
Elias was a true guardian. No matter how much fire she cast, he hadn't let a single casualty occur—not even a pet dog had burned.
And what surprised her most was that these tiny humans she had always despised had found the courage to resist her.
Police continued firing their guns at her. When she tried to lash out, ordinary people even threw themselves in her way to knock her aside. Even children were hurling stones at her.
"You ants! How dare you?!"
The Herrscher of Fire was furious, feeling utterly humiliated. Yet no matter how terrifying her flames, the determination in people's eyes did not waver.
"Uooooohhhhhh!!!" xN
These ordinary people, the very ones meant to be protected, roared in defiance, suppressing the Herrscher's aura.
Elias smiled joyfully at the sight. He didn't rush to finish her off, but instead, he and Eden spoke in unison:
"Humanity's hymn is the hymn of courage."
Never push humanity too far—for even ordinary people will rise up against the gods. Even if it's just a stone, even if it's only a roar, when gathered together, that will can overcome any calamity—even the Honkai itself.
Wearing the gown of ice and snow, Eden was the only one besides Elias unafraid of the flames—after all, the Herrscher's current Honkai energy couldn't even produce fire hotter than 1000 degrees.
Eden tightened her grip on her microphone.
She too was an ordinary human—small, powerless. Yet even so, there was still something she could do. There was still will she could show!
Eden: "In ruined lands, beauty still remains~ I've always been here, awaiting your return~"
The diva sang once more.
This was her resistance against the Honkai!
This was her blessing for Elias!
Her song carried her will.
Elias looked back in surprise at the golden diva. That familiar lyric, that rousing melody—it was unmistakably a battle hymn.
"Oh? 'Bios Delta'?!"
In an instant, Eden had set the crowd ablaze with passion. Yet her eyes remained fixed only on Elias.
This song, βίος, was the only support Eden could give Elias now, unable as she was to fight head-on.
Once, when they'd spoken about music, Elias had half-joked: "If two people fight, the one with their own BGM will definitely win."
Eden hadn't fully understood the joke from his previous life.
But in this moment, she was willing to be Elias' BGM.
This song, βίος, was her blessing.
"Well done, Eden! Now I'm invincible, aren't I?"
Elias cracked his knuckles with excitement. Against a weakened Herrscher, and now with battle music blazing—how could he possibly lose?
He had intended to end the Herrscher swiftly. But with such a war song burning through the air, how could he not prolong the fight at least until the chorus hit its peak?
Elias and the Herrscher of Fire clashed, though to call it a clash was generous—it was one-sided domination.
(Forgive me, Himeko. For now, you are the Herrscher of Fire. I'll heal you later… so let me enjoy this for a bit!)
Thus, what appeared to ordinary eyes was a hot-blooded, fiery battle. Pale ice turned into blades, into giant hands, into prisons, endlessly crushing the Herrscher of Fire.
Her pitiful flames couldn't melt Elias' white ice. And just as Eden sang into the chorus—
"Ice, sever all grudges!"
"Urrraaaaghhh!"
Elias' greatsword of ice stabbed into the ground. Its blade, smeared with Schariac Holy Blood, instantly dissolved the Herrscher of Fire's meager 2000 HW of Honkai energy the moment it struck her.
How weak was a Herrscher with 2000 HW? Easy to imagine—after all, the Herrscher of Wind had the same level.
She could be held off by three B-rank Valkyries, even knocked out by a Titan's punch. That was how pitiful her strength was.
In truth, Elias had to carefully control his own strength—lest he accidentally kill her while playing around.
"Mhm, not bad—perfect timing with the beat!"
Elias felt satisfied. If someone had just recorded a video, they would have found his moves matched Eden's singing perfectly—no editing needed.
Thud!
The Herrscher of Fire collapsed to her knees.
She screamed inwardly for Garuda to come to her aid. But Elias knew—with four high-level fusion warriors holding it down, that beast was already finished.
"Now, return Himeko to me."
"Dream on! From the moment I descended into this vessel, that woman's consciousness was consumed. Himeko… she's dead!"
The Herrscher sneered viciously.
"Heh~ sore wa dou kana!"
Elias pulled out a vial of azure-blue serum.
He believed in Himeko. Her will would never vanish so easily. In the original timeline, even at the very end, she had retained fragments of humanity. And besides…
"A woman almost thirty, still single? I refuse to believe such an 'older leftover' would willingly die so easily."
"You—you said what?!"
The Herrscher twitched, strangely provoked with anger. But in the next instant, Elias drove the vial into her neck.
[God-Killing Spear Pro Max].
A serum forged by fusing HSN-b46 with ultra-concentrated Schariac Holy Blood, capable of severing a Herrscher's Honkai energy entirely from the host.
The injection drained her completely. At the same time, Elias used the Herrscher of Reason's authority to forge a pseudo Fenghuang Down.
"Himeko, now's your chance!"
"Ghhhaaaahhh! Human, what have you done?! Impossible! That woman's consciousness should have been—"
"Destroyed? Wrong. Aponia's [Discipline] might not restrain your actions, but it shielded Himeko's will."
Elias had once asked Aponia to place a [Discipline] upon Himeko: Never harm humanity. It hadn't worked—because the Herrscher was a new, independent consciousness.
But Himeko bore another [Discipline] as well.
Never forget you are human.
Even if the Herrscher consumed Himeko's will, under the [Discipline], her consciousness was never erased. Now, as the Herrscher's mind weakened, she seized her chance to fight back.
"Aaaaahhh! I am… human! I am… Himeko! I am not a Herrscher—you bastard, get the hell out!!"
Clutching her head, Himeko screamed with all her soul. In her eyes, once again, shone the light of humanity.
Elias quickly caught her weakened body in his arms.
The Herrscher of Rebirth's authority blossomed, white flowers healing the wounds of the red-haired beauty.
Even though those wounds were caused by him.
"Himeko? How do you feel?"
"Ha~ thank you, Elias…"
Himeko gazed at the white-haired boy with tearful eyes. Protected by [Discipline], her consciousness had not been erased, and she remembered clearly everything Elias had done.
This usually resolute, capable captain now seemed so frail. Himeko was deeply grateful that Elias had stopped her from committing the atrocity of creating mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
After all, she was a Fire Moth warrior, a protector of humanity. To slaughter people as a Herrscher—that would have been worse than death itself.
But Elias had saved everyone.
And even saved her, who should have already been dead.
Clenching her teeth, Himeko decided—since he had given so much, she must also respond. She reached into her chest.
A fiery-red Core was drawn out.
"This… take it… it's the last thing I can do… I can feel it… the Herrscher's will hasn't vanished… she's still inside me, Elias… kill me."
Himeko handed the Herrscher Core of Fire to Elias with a resigned expression. Even though the Core was separated, the Herrscher's will had not disappeared. She wanted to die as a human.
"If you can hold on, Himeko… I'll confess to you. How about that?" Elias hesitated, then spoke.
"…Don't kill me. I'll live!"
In an instant, her will strengthened.
Himeko clenched her fists, determination blazing in her eyes. She instantly resolved to continue resisting the Herrscher's will until the very end!
Dying now would be too great a loss. She hadn't even given her first kiss—or anything else—away yet. As an older woman still single, if she was going to die, it would only be after finding a man!
Flames seemed to burn in her eyes.
The next second, she looked at the white-haired, impossibly handsome boy holding her—and suddenly hooked her arms around his neck, pressing her fiery lips onto his.
Elias: "Mmph?!!"
After a long moment, their lips parted.
"Sorry, Elias. I don't have much to offer… so I gave you my first time." Himeko spoke with mock boldness, though her ears had turned crimson.
"Oh, so that was your first kiss? No wonder the technique was so bad." Elias blinked and teased.
"You bastard!"
Himeko weakly punched his chest. Elias chuckled softly, then spoke seriously.
"Keep holding on. I'll definitely find a way to cure you completely. I can do it."
"…Mm, I believe you."
Himeko froze, then smiled and nodded.
She felt there was no more need for fear or despair. This white-haired boy could do anything. As long as she endured, she would surely be saved.
Meanwhile, Himeko licked her lips, savoring the lingering warmth. That kiss alone gave her enough resolve to endure for another ten days at least!
"Hey, Vill-V, come pick her up. The Deep End has a new resident." Elias called through his terminal.
"The greatest magician of this century will arrive in three seconds! Three, two, one!" Vill-V's voice chimed from above.
"What, that fast?!"
Elias looked up in shock. A dazzling figure plummeted like a meteor and crashed before him.
When the smoke cleared, Vill-V stood upside down, head planted in the ground. Clearly, her landing had gone wrong.
"As expected of you, Vill-V—flashy as ever. But seriously, how'd you get here so fast?"
"Ahem. I was here ages ago, just waiting for your call. Ah, but as expected of you—my brand-new mech army didn't even get a chance to debut."
Vill-V said admiringly, all while efficiently strapping restraints onto Himeko and hefting her onto her shoulder.
This great magician now held a lofty ambition: to imprison every Herrscher that appeared in the future within the Deep End she had built!
Though it sounded like a pipe dream, Vill-V believed that with Elias, even the most impossible dreams could come true. After all, he was the one most skilled at creating miracles.
Originally, she had wanted to test her new mecha army. But Elias had gone far beyond expectations—too far.
The blood flowers he had scattered across all of Australia not only healed every single person touched by Honkai erosion but also eradicated every Honkai Beast on the land.
Any Honkai Beast that came into contact with the petals, no matter the class, was instantly dissolved.
It was foreseeable that property prices in Australia would skyrocket.
"I'll head back first. Ah, and I still need to go find your Abyss Flower. What a blunder—how could I, the great inventor, forget to install a locator on a Divine Key? Now who knows where you threw it."
Vill-V smacked her forehead as she spoke.
"Uh, I think… over in that direction…"
Elias recalled awkwardly, pointing out a direction. Vill-V nodded and gave an OK sign.
Fire Moth had already made the retrieval of Abyss Flower a top priority. After all, it was far too important—together with Elias' Holy Blood, it could stop Honkai Eruptions!
The Herrschers would continue to appear, and Eruptions would follow. But countless people now envisioned the future:
The white-haired boy, once more raising that holy lance, saving tens of millions—or even hundreds of millions—of lives!
"Oh right, here. This is for you."
Elias tossed her the Herrscher Core in his hand.
"Woof!"
To put it bluntly, Vill-V resembled a dog seeing a bone. She lunged eagerly, catching the Core mid-air with both hands, dropping Himeko straight to the ground in the process.
"Magnificent! Boss, you're magnificent! Whatever kind of Divine Key you want, just say the word!"
"Go as extreme as possible. I only have one thing to say… I suffer from severe firepower insufficiency syndrome, Vill-V. You know what I mean, right?"
"Got it, got it! Don't worry, leave it to me—I'll make you the ultimate violent-output type!"
Vill-V slapped her own chest proudly. The twin white slimes there wobbled violently, at least an E-rank guaranteed.