The next day.
"I see. So this Miss Eliana Kaslana was a virtual personality born within the database's virtual world—the self-aware saint Kallen's virtual persona?"
"That's right. But although she originated as Saint Kallen's virtual personality, I must emphasize—do not treat her as Kallen Kaslana. Eliana possesses her own self-awareness and soul."
"She is already a completely different person from Kallen."
Inside the principal's office.
Elias was explaining the situation to Theresa. Last night, he had accidentally gotten a little carried away, and as a result, Dark Seele—who had sneaked over in the middle of the night intending to borrow Seele's body to steal some late-night snacks—discovered them.
Dark Seele's startled scream immediately drew everyone in the dormitory over. At the time, Eliana Kaslana had no choice but to hide under the blanket and introduce herself to the girls.
The scene could only be described as extremely awkward.
Even Elias himself had the strange illusion of being caught in bed doing something shameful—despite having done nothing wrong.
Now he was handling Eliana's enrollment procedures for St. Freya Academy. Since she had been confined to a virtual world from the moment of her birth and possessed only Kallen Kaslana's memories, Eliana had no understanding of modern civilization.
"Right now she's like Li Sushang—ah, no, Miss Li Sushang. She needs to learn the common knowledge of this era."
"Uh, but there's no need for her to become a Valkyrie, is there?"
"Heh. With Kallen's memories, the body of a Kaslana, that courage to defy fate, and the resolve to sacrifice everything for the one she loves—Theresa, tell me, what else would my Eliana be suited for besides becoming a Valkyrie?"
Elias said with a hint of pride.
And just last night, he had already asked Eliana for her own opinion. She said she wanted to become a true Valkyrie.
"As for talent, I can guarantee it. After all, her specifications are identical to Kallen Kaslana's. The most gifted Kaslana warrior five hundred years ago—if you equip her properly with armor and give her a bit of training, she'll be another S-rank in no time."
"Oh... well, alright. But we don't have any spare fourth-generation armor left..."
"It's fine~ I've already constructed a set of armor for her called [Celestial Hymn]. Paired with Judas' Oath, she handles it perfectly. And later I'll just go to Schicksal and 'borrow' a fourth-generation armor set."
As he spoke, Elias glanced in the direction of Schicksal headquarters.
He figured it wouldn't be unreasonable to demand a few fourth-generation Godsbane Suits from Otto as compensation for yesterday's stunt.
If he remembered correctly, there were still several ownerless Godsbane Suits.
"We're getting more and more S-rank fighters on our side. We really need those Godsbane Suits. It's not just Eliana—Ana, Wendy, and Ji Xuanyuan also need proper equipment. Theresa, are you even listening?"
Theresa: "Waaaah, Judas, my Judas! How am I supposed to live without you~"
Elias: "She's beyond saving..."
Ever since she lost the all-purpose nanny-type Divine Key—Judas' Oath—Theresa had been forced to handle everything herself. The result was utter chaos.
Looking at the principal's office, which now resembled a pigsty, Elias clearly understood how spoiled she had been by Judas over the past fifty years.
Though, to be fair, perhaps the reason Theresa had managed to preserve her childlike heart was precisely because most of the troublesome work had been handled by Judas.
"Since Eliana's enrollment is settled, you can get back to work, Theresa. If it's too much, you can ask Cecilia to help."
"Eh? What about you, Elias? You won't help me?"
"Heh. Do you think I have time right now?"
"Ah..."
Elias took out his terminal.
Dozens of messages from various girls filled the screen.
He revealed a happy yet exhausted expression. He had already become a master of time management.
Sometimes he truly considered using the authority of the Herrscher of Dominance to create a dozen clones to go on dates with the girls simultaneously—but the thought lasted less than a second before disappearing.
There was no other reason.
Elias realized that if he did that, he'd basically be NTR'ing himself
"Well then, good luck, Elias. But if the number keeps increasing, even with twenty-four hours a day, one hour per person won't be enough~"
Theresa patted his shoulder with a complicated expression.
"Heh~ I never thought I'd one day become a man with no free time. But... since I've accepted their feelings, I have the responsibility to make each of them happy."
Elias tossed the terminal lightly in his hand, preparing to begin today's grand date battle.
In the morning: Raiden Mei, Bronya, Himeko.
In the afternoon: Ji Xuanyuan, Sirin, Eden.
In the evening: Wendy, Misteln, Aponia.
This was already the limit of what he could handle.
If not for the overwhelming stamina granted by being an ultimate Chimera and a Palatinus, as well as the immense mental strength honed along the path of time, Elias felt he would have died from overwork by now.
What he did not know, however, was that to compete for these nine daily date slots, the girls' competition was equally intense.
And the method of competition was extremely simple and direct.
Raiden Mei: "A beauty belongs only to the strong! No matter what methods are used, the nine who remain standing in the arena earn the right to date Elias the next day!"
Fu Hua: "No problem!"
Eden: "Ahem! Hua, terribly sorry, but you are currently banned from participating."
Fu Hua: "???"
Misteln: "Since the slots are limited, only those who have confessed to Elias may compete. So if you want to qualify, Hua, you'll have to confess to him first."
Fu Hua: "...You're bullying honest people!"
The girls: (The Phoenix... her stats are way too overpowered. If we don't ban her, how are the rest of us supposed to play?!)
As for being overpowered...
At this very moment, several members of the Elysian Realm faction were working together at full strength to seal away a certain pink final boss.
Elias knew nothing about the war between the girls. It wasn't that he wasn't paying attention—rather, they were deliberately keeping it from him. Every time a match was decided, it happened while he was out on a date.
"Emmm... although everyone seems quite satisfied with the current arrangement, if possible I'd still like to increase the number of slots. Sigh... why are there only twenty-four hours in a day?"
Time was such a precious thing. Elias now understood this on a deeper level. Not even Eden, whose Signet was engraved with gold, could buy a single second with all her wealth.
However, it wasn't as though there was no way to extend time.
"Looks like I'll have to clear Honkai as soon as possible and become the Herrscher of Finality. By then, maybe I can use the authority over time to go on dates with everyone in a single day."
Elias clenched his fist tightly, burning with desire for the one authority he still lacked.
If the power that had reset civilization countless times were used for dating girls, one wondered what Honkai itself would think.
Then again, using Herrscher authorities in strange ways had always been one of Elias' habits.
Like cooking, for instance...
What he didn't know was that although it would still be some time before he truly became Finality, he would meet the Herrscher of Finality again before long.
"Our academy's expansion is finally complete. If we promote it properly, we'll definitely recruit even more new Valkyries this spring!" Theresa said expectantly.
"Heh. I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling you'll recruit some rather unusual people. Though surely you won't accidentally recruit a Herrscher, right?" Elias joked.
He glanced at the wall clock and realized it was time for his date. Opening a portal, he stepped through to Raiden Mei's side.
Thanks to the authority of the Herrscher of the Void, Elias had even taken Bronya on a date to Antarctica and Kiana to the Moon. It was an incredibly convenient ability.
Oh right, almost forgot something. I need to make this a habit—after all, I'll be doing it every day from now on.
Taking out his terminal, Elias used the authority of the Herrscher of Corruption to send a certain someone a photo.
...
Meanwhile, at Schicksal headquarters—Kolosten.
Since Otto's previous consciousness had been completely imprisoned within the virtual world, his prepared backup automatically registered his death and initiated the resurrection procedure.
"There aren't many soulium bodies left... only a little over two hundred. It seems I'll have to cherish my life more carefully. At least until Kallen is revived, I can't afford to run out."
Otto sighed as he examined the dwindling number of soulium bodies.
Little did he know that when Elias later came to Schicksal to "borrow" some Godsbane Suits, that number would drop by another digit.
"That aside... what should I do now? If Elias truly possesses all Herrscher authorities, then I may genuinely have no chance of victory."
Based on the power Elias had displayed in the virtual world yesterday, Otto judged that even if he achieved the False God he envisioned in the future, he would still be unable to oppose him.
"I never underestimated him. And yet, even so, his potential has far exceeded my expectations. How did he achieve such strength in so short a time?"
Otto frowned deeply.
He realized he could no longer comprehend Elias.
Back when Durandal's talent had astonished him, it had at least remained within his understanding. But Elias felt unreasonable—beyond logic.
"...No. There's no opportunity."
After analyzing hundreds of possible strategies in his mind, Otto discovered that every path ended in his defeat.
The most effective option remained exploiting someone important to the white-haired boy—but Otto did not believe that tactic would succeed again. And if it failed, he suspected he might truly die next time.
In fact, that was indeed the case.
After learning of Aponia's [Discipline] ability, Rita had immediately sought her out that very day to obtain a deep [Discipline]: [From now on, you must never harm Elias].
Raiden Mei and the others soon followed suit.
As a result, Otto could no longer exploit Elias' weakness. Even if the girls were manipulated, regardless of their own will, their bodies would instinctively refuse to attack him.
After thinking it through again and again, Otto arrived at a bitter conclusion—his best option might actually be to beg for forgiveness.
"Sigh... Did I choose wrong from the very beginning?"
He couldn't help but think that if he had secured Elias' friendship from the start, then given the boy's personality, he might not only have refrained from becoming an obstacle—but even actively supported the revival of Saint Kallen.
"Forget it. There's no medicine for regret in this world. Since I chose to stand against him, I can only walk this path to the end. Do what you do best, despicable Otto Apocalypse. There must still be a way..."
"Bishop! This is bad!!"
At that moment, Amber rushed in urgently.
Though she wore her golden mask, Otto could easily imagine the panic beneath it. A chill ran through him.
"Calm down. Tell me what happened."
"Yes, Bishop. Thirty seconds ago, our headquarters suffered an unknown cyberattack."
"Hm? Could it be Anti-Entropy? No... although Einstein and Tesla left backdoors in our system years ago, those are all under my monitoring... Wait! Could it be the authority of the Herrscher of Corruption?!"
Recalling how Elias had rewritten the virtual world yesterday, Otto felt cold sweat break out across his forehead.
Before the Herrscher of Corruption, even the strongest firewall was as fragile as paper.
"Quick! Check the extent of the data loss!"
"It's already been checked, Bishop. Although it's difficult to believe, we discovered that only a single piece of data was completely destroyed and irreparable."
"What? Only one?"
Otto blinked. He had prepared himself for the complete collapse of Schicksal's entire system.
"What was destroyed? The design blueprints for the Godsbane Suits? The experimental records for the Godsbane Spear? Or the Herrscher Project—"
"No. None of those."
Amber shook her head, her expression complicated.
"It was the data for your account in Kallen Fantasy IV. Bishop, all your items, characters, clear records, and rankings have been completely wiped."
"Pff—!!"
Otto clutched his chest as though he had taken ten thousand points of damage. Even if Elias had destroyed his critical research data, it would not have hurt this much.
With trembling hands, he logged into his account.
His proud ranking was gone.
Even his account ID had been changed to [Green Otto Apocalypse].
The font was green and bold.
"Too much! Elias, this is truly going too far! Fight me if you must, but how can you destroy the game account I painstakingly built up?!"
Amber: (Honestly, I think Lord Elias did well this time. Who told you to slack off and play games all day? Lady Theresa learned that bad habit from you.)
But that wasn't the end of it.
A notification sounded.
Otto discovered he had received an email on his terminal.
There was only a single photo attached.
In the image, Elias and Eliana were locked in an intimate embrace. Eliana wore a blissful expression as the white-haired boy kissed her.
Otto: "@#%##%#*!!"