Inside Fire Moth's base—
"Ah~ so cozy~"
Elias narrowed his eyes comfortably, rubbing his chin against Griseo's head as she sat on his lap, then raised his brush to casually add a few strokes on the canvas before him.
"Big Brother Elias looks really happy. Did something good happen?"
"Hehe~ Being able to spend time like this, painting with you, Griseo, is already the best thing for me. Hmhm~ why are you so cute? It's wonderful."
"…You've worked hard, Big Brother Elias."
Griseo blinked. Though still very young, she was clever and thoughtful. She knew that the big brother who always made time to play with her was an amazing person.
Elias was busier and more important than her mom and dad, so surely he was even more tired, right?
Thinking this, Griseo mimicked what her mother used to do for her. She lifted her small, soft hand and patted Elias on the head—half as comfort, half as reward.
"Ah, sorry, I forgot to wash my hands."
Suddenly she realized she had messed up. While painting earlier, she'd gotten paint on her hands, and now she'd stained Elias' hair sky-blue.
But Elias wasn't angry at all.
Instead, he happily patted her head.
"It's fine. Doesn't this look nice too? Hehe~ the same color as your hair, Griseo. I really like it. I'll just keep it this way for the rest of today."
Looking in the mirror, Elias saw his once white hair streaked with blue paint, like clouds parting in the sky to reveal the blue beyond.
He had never dyed his hair before, but for him, changing color was as easy as flicking a Herrscher's authority. In the next moment, his long white hair turned sky-blue, just like Griseo's.
"How is it? Does it suit me?"
"So amazing… so pretty! Can I paint it?"
Griseo's eyes lit up. To the little girl, Elias was like a magician who could do anything.
Sometimes he conjured candy from nowhere, sometimes he produced rare paints, sometimes he took her flying in the sky. Now, seeing him with hair the same color as her own, Griseo felt even closer to him.
As if he really were her brother.
"Of course you can, Griseo. If you want, I can model for you anytime. Ah, but if you're going to paint me, white is still essential. Here, take this."
With that, Elias conjured a lump of white paint and dropped it onto the little painter's palette.
He spoiled Griseo terribly—so much so that even Elysia sometimes got jealous. But what could he do? Elias thought, who could resist spoiling such a cute little girl?
Her parents were both far busier than even him, the so-called savior. They had no time to play with her.
How could he just stand by and watch her become a lonely child? So from the time he had first joined Fire Moth, he had taken care of her himself. Even now…
"Thank you, Big Brother Elias. Griseo likes you the most."
"Ah~ I have no regrets in life anymore!"
Elias thought the cutest angel in the world was right in his arms. He swore, someday he'd smash Sa's dog head—and beat up that bad woman Vita too!
Griseo rubbed her little face against him affectionately.
She was a good child who never lied, so everything she said was true. Busy parents she hardly knew—but her big brother Elias was the best!
'Bet Ato is regretting it now~'
Elias recalled a few days ago, when Griseo's father had asked her to choose between playing with him or riding on Elias' shoulders. She had immediately chosen the latter. The look of envy and jealousy on Ato's face had been priceless.
'Thanks for giving birth to such a cute daughter, Uncle Ato. But Griseo is mine now! Kekeke!'
Of course, Elias had no such thoughts. He simply found Griseo adorable and wanted to protect her, nothing more!
Otherwise, Blanca (Griseo's mother) would never have entrusted her daughter to him so readily.
Perhaps she even hoped Elias' influence would rub off on her daughter. After all, as a mother, Blanca knew Griseo had a very particular ability—whether it was good or bad was hard to say.
Griseo could easily see through a person's nature: whether they were good or bad, brave or cowardly, sincere or deceitful.
But she herself was like a blank canvas. Whoever she spent time with would color her. In simple terms—if she stayed around bad people, Griseo would turn bad too.
So when Elias offered to look after her, Blanca had agreed without hesitation. Even Ato, though often jealous, never objected.
After all, who in this world was a better role model than Elias? With him, Griseo could only grow up good.
Just then, the studio door opened.
"Ta-dah! Miss Pink Elf makes her entrance~! Aha, I knew you'd be here, Elias—and with cute little Griseo too~"
A pink elf suddenly appeared.
"Elysia…"
"Eh, Eli, why are you looking at me like that? Did I come at a bad time?"
"Yes. Definitely a bad time."
For once, Elias gave Elysia a cold look. His rare moment of relaxation was about to end. Griseo had just said she wanted to paint him…
Elysia, tonight you're in danger!
"Waaah, don't look at me with those cold eyes! Wait, Elias, have you been treating me colder lately? We haven't teamed up for a mission in a whole week!"
Elysia sensed an unprecedented crisis. She suspected she might have a one-in-a-billion chance of falling out of favor.
Elias rolled his eyes. Not even a trillion-to-one chance of that happening.
"What are you thinking? You know my current situation—I can't team up with fusion warriors for now."
He flicked her forehead. Though he had grown stronger recently, something unexpected had also happened.
During the Seventh Eruption, when Elias used [Lilium Sanguineum], his Schariac stigma broke past its limits, triggering an evolution.
Because of the stigma's amplification effect on Honkai energy, now 1 HW of Honkai energy could unleash 10 HW of power in Elias' hands. But in exchange…
"Right now, just by standing near me, don't your legs go weak, Elysia? Doesn't your strength fade away?"
"Eh… n-no, just a little."
Elysia turned her head, face stiff.
"Just a little? Hehe~ more like a lot! Mei already confirmed it—if I teamed up with lower fusion warriors, their power would drop by 50%. Even someone like you, a higher-level fusion warrior, would be weakened by 30%."
The reason? His Holy Blood.
The Schariac stigma's other trait—erasing Honkai energy—had been amplified.
Elias' already ultra-potent Holy Blood had doubled in strength. Even without leaving his body, even just his aura now suppressed Honkai energy. Conservatively, one drop of his blood could kill an Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
At this point, Elias could simply stand among a swarm of Honkai beasts and do nothing—before long, they'd all die. Even Emperors and Judgment-class beasts were thoroughly suppressed.
But this suppression affected anything bearing Honkai energy. Enemy or ally, fusion warriors included.
Though he hadn't tested it directly, Elias was confident he could hold down Elysia, Sakura, Kevin, Kalpas, Hua, and Kosma—the five upper-level fusion warriors—with just one hand.
As long as they relied on Honkai energy, his Holy Blood drastically reduced the damage they could deal to him—while crushing their own strength at the same time.
Put simply: if Elysia could normally last three hours at night, now she'd barely last half an hour.
Any longer than an hour…
And she'd even risk being killed by Elias himself!
"Right now, Mobius is working on a way to solve my overly high Holy Blood concentration. Just bear with it for now."
Elias patted Elysia comfortingly on the shoulder.
Immediately, her body went weak, a portion of her Honkai energy dissipating. Elysia nearly cried, clasping her hands together and praying earnestly in the direction of Mobius' office.
"Wuu! Please, Dr. Mobius, for the sake of my happiness, I'm counting on you this time!"
(Mobius: "Get lost! I'm doing this for myself! Do you even know I nearly died last time?!")
Even Miss Pink Elf, with her twenty-five vials of blood, could only last half an hour. Mobius, of course, was worse—she'd nearly flatlined.
Elias sighed and shook his head. There was nothing he could do about this absolute attribute restraint. That was why he'd recently been forced to take missions alone—or else spend his free time quietly with Griseo.
"So, Elysia, what did you come here for?"
He looked at his pink elf curiously.
Mei had already ordered everyone to avoid getting too close to Elias until the Holy Blood problem was resolved. If something urgent happened, she would personally step in.
(Mei: "Heaven-sent opportunity! Now that he suppresses everyone else, I just need to wait a bit. Once Elias' desires reach their peak, I can easily… Yes, I'd better cut Mobius' budget again—slow her research as much as possible!")
Elias had also been restraining his urges, not wanting to hurt anyone. But if Elysia came to him like this, it couldn't just be because she missed him.
"By the way, Elysia, have you been busy with something strange lately? Don't tell me you've joined some weird cult—"
"Cough, cough, cough! Big problem, serious problem! Elias, do you remember your Abyss Flower?"
Elysia hacked loudly, forcing a change of subject.
Elias could tell she was hiding something, but his attention was caught by mention of the Abyss Flower.
"Of course I remember. What about it? Don't tell me you still haven't found it. It's been six or seven days since the Seventh Eruption. Don't tell me it's still missing."
"It's been found, but there was an accident. Anyway, just come with me. And Griseo too."
"Eh?"
Griseo tilted her head, confused. To her, Honkai was a complicated adult matter—something that had nothing to do with her.
But Elysia pinched her cheek.
"Come with us to see Uncle Ato in the hospital. He's in pretty bad shape this time. Ah, don't worry, he's already recovering."
"Daddy's in the hospital?"
"Elysia, what exactly happened?"
Elias' eyes narrowed. He had been keeping tabs on the Abyss Flower, and he'd heard Ato was the one assigned to recover it.
And now Ato was hospitalized…
Elysia pointed at the hallway behind her, signaling that it was easier to show than explain.
"I want to go!"
Griseo immediately put down her brush and palette, hopping to the floor and preparing to run off.
"Wait, Griseo—I'll take you."
Elias scooped her up and perched her on his shoulders. After all, she never liked wearing shoes, and he wouldn't let her little feet get hurt.
Since Elysia said Ato was out of danger, there was no need to rush.
...
The three arrived at Fire Moth's hospital.
"Daddy, are you okay?"
"Uncle Ato, are you doing alright?"
On the bed, Ato wore an expression of existential doubt. But when he saw his adorable daughter, his face instantly broke into a bright smile. For him, this hospital stay was worth it.
"Griseo, you came to see Daddy!"
"Mm!"
"My good daughter. Come, let Daddy take a good look. Daddy hasn't spent time with you in so long—have you been lonely?"
"Nope. With Big Brother Elias here, you can keep working all you want, Daddy. You don't even need to come back."
Griseo spoke innocently, voicing her honest feelings.
"Pfft—!" (spitting blood)
Ato spat blood on the spot. His nearly healed wounds flared up again, making him look like he was about to die.
"Elias, you—!"
"You're welcome, Uncle Ato. This is only right. You can rest easy and go. I'll take care of Griseo from now on—or even adopt her as my goddaughter, no problem!" Elias said as he pinched the little girl's soft cheeks right in front of her father.
Elysia, Mei, and the others all gasped, twitching at the corners of their eyes. They thought Elias must be deliberately trying to kill Ato with rage.
But Elias insisted otherwise. Even as he spoke, he was already using the Herrscher of Rebirth's authority to heal Ato's wounds.
That had just been a small bit of payback. Last time, Ato had badmouthed him to Griseo, trying to drive her away from him. Elias had never forgotten that grudge!
(Elias: I'm not some knight of waves who lets grudges slide. Uncle Ato, you deserved that!)
Luckily, Griseo had seen through her father's lie immediately. Angry, she had refused to speak to him for half a month. Elias had nearly laughed himself to death at the time.
"Elias, I'll fight you to the death!!"
"Oh? Go ahead~"
Elias smiled, puffing out his chest. He wouldn't even lift a finger. If Uncle Ato could so much as scratch him, Elias would count it as his loss.
"..."
Ato's face twitched. Thinking of Elias' terrifying power and record-breaking achievements, he realized the most he could do was splash this man with his blood when he died.
But even that was impossible—under the Herrscher of Rebirth's authority, he couldn't even die if he wanted to.
"Enough! Both of you, quiet down!" Dr. Mei pushed up her glasses. "We're here to discuss serious business. Elias, Elysia already told you about the failed recovery of the Sixth Divine Key, Abyss Flower, didn't she?"
"Yes. What exactly happened?"
Elias sobered instantly. Abyss Flower was one of the most important Divine Keys of the Previous Era. It could not be lost—no matter what, it had to be recovered.
"In short, Abyss Flower was taken by a mysterious woman."
"A mysterious woman? So Uncle Ato was injured by her? Someone capable of defeating a fusion warrior?"
Elias looked astonished. Though Ato seemed weak in front of him, he was still a fusion warrior—one merged with an Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
Within humanity, he was already strong, a step just below the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. What kind of woman could hospitalize him? Surely not a Herrscher?
Dr. Mei shook her head, her expression serious.
"No. She didn't defeat him."
"What?"
"She never even lifted a hand. Just approaching her nearly killed Ato from Honkai energy erosion."
"!!!"
Elias' eyes widened in shock. What kind of monster was this? He didn't remember the games ever mentioning such a being existing in the Previous Era.
Dr. Mei took a deep breath and continued.
"And she said this: only if you come to her personally will she return Abyss Flower."
"Me? Why?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing, Elias. By the way, that woman was very beautiful. Don't tell me she's one of your old flings?"
Ato narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"?!!" xN
Everyone else snapped their heads toward Elias at once.
"..."
Elias' expression instantly darkened. This damned overprotective father never missed a chance for revenge—even now! Truly vicious!