"Elias, from the moment I was born, I have loved you."
Jyahnar cupped his face and spoke with deep affection.
"Uh, thank you..."
Elias froze on the spot. Faced with this sudden, heartfelt confession, his mind failed to react in time. In his dazed state, that was the only response he could manage.
(W-Why did she suddenly confess?! And loving me from the moment she was born—Jyahnar, are you some Mayuri from Date A Live or something?!)
Those azure eyes, so close at hand, showed not the slightest trace of falsehood. The sincerity—pure and profound—struck directly at Elias' heart, a heart that was already far too easy to move.
At the side, Raiden Mei and Durandal were completely stunned. Where had this Boss-level enemy popped out from?! Forget everything else—just her appearance alone was already overwhelmingly powerful!
The girls of the Current Era group cast dark looks toward the girls of the Previous Era group. The meaning was obvious.
(How many enemies do you still have over there? Just how many romantic debts did Elias rack up in the Previous Era?!) ×N
(Don't look at us! We're completely confused too, okay?! Who even is she?!) ×N
Eden and the others were equally dumbfounded.
From Jyahnar, they sensed an incomparable threat. That appearance, that temperament, and that extraordinary confession just now—combined with Herrscher-level strength.
Where had this BOSS come from?!
"What's wrong? Elias, why aren't you saying anything?" Jyahnar tilted her head and asked in confusion.
"How could I say anything? Your confession was way too shocking. Give me a moment to recover... Phew... okay, I'm good now."
Elias pressed a hand to his chest and emptied his mind. Fortunately, as a seasoned master of romance, he quickly recovered from the impact.
"This is the first time I've been confessed to like this. Honestly, Jyahnar, you're too sudden."
"Is that so? Then... are you going to reject me again?"
"Uh, why did you say 'again'? Getting confessed to by a super invincible, unbelievably cute girl—and I can tell your feelings aren't fake. Such a wonderful fate delivered right to my door. Only an idiot would refuse! I accept your confession!"
Elias gave a thumbs-up to signal his approval.
"Really?!"
Jyahnar's sapphire-like eyes widened in surprise and delight. She had never imagined things would go this smoothly. She instantly regretted not doing this fifty thousand years ago.
"Yeah, really. But if possible, please give me a little time. I'll try to fall for you—properly."
After organizing his thoughts, Elias spoke again.
At present, he truly felt both curiosity and goodwill toward Jyahnar. Curiosity, because she was an incomparably mysterious Herrscher girl—she had actually been able to use her powers inside his Elysion Pedion.
As for goodwill... her appearance was simply too overwhelming. As someone with extreme face-control tendencies, facing an SSR-tier super beauty who practically threw herself at him with a confession—
If he didn't feel moved, that would genuinely be impolite. It wouldn't even be manly.
"Mm~ I don't mind waiting. Even if it's ten thousand years, twenty thousand years, or even another fifty thousand years, I'll wait for your answer. Ah~ I'm so happy right now."
"Well, it doesn't have to be fifty thousand years. I'll try to respond within a week. Ah—wait, this month belongs to Durandal. Maybe next month instead."
"No problem. Today is the happiest day I've had in fifty thousand years—no, since the day I was born."
Jyahnar's smile felt like a sea breeze brushing across one's face. She even began humming softly. There were no lyrics, no accompaniment—just a simple melody—yet it was incomparably beautiful.
For a moment, Elias was entranced. Looking at the girl who called herself the Herrscher of the Sea, he had never played Houkai Gakuen in his previous life and thus had no idea of her true identity.
Though he didn't know who she really was, nor why this Herrscher of the Sea—who never existed in the original storyline—would like him, Elias felt that it wasn't a bad thing.
"By the way, just to be clear—if you go and do something like destroying the world, I won't be able to like you anymore."
"Is that so? That would trouble me. In that case, I'll give up on destroying the world."
This Planet-class Honkai Beast girl decisively abandoned her second most important mission.
Though Honkai had indeed given her the compulsory order to destroy humanity, due to her immense power, Jyahnar could resist that curse and suppress her urge to slaughter humans.
Although Elias' wish made with the authority of Origin back then hadn't included Honkai Beasts, Honkai's restrictions on them were never as absolute or unsolvable as those placed upon Herrschers.
Otherwise, Benares would not have been able to choose to follow Elias and abandon the mission Honkai had given her.
In the end, the loyalty of an accompanying Honkai Beast had never been to Honkai itself—but to the Herrscher for whom they were born.
Though Jyahnar was the accompanying Honkai Beast of the Herrscher of Finality, she had been born for Elias. Therefore, betraying Honkai for the sake of the white-haired boy was perfectly natural.
Honkai: Another traitor!!
After receiving Elias' promise, Jyahnar happily filled out the enrollment application form... well, not really. She couldn't read, so Elias had to fill it out for her.
At that moment, this Planet-class Honkai Beast girl officially joined St. Freya Academy... ah~ this "Valkyrie" academy was becoming more and more outrageous. It was practically turning into a demon's den.
"Alright, the last one—sorry to keep you waiting... huh? Why is there another one again?"
Elias raised an eyebrow as he looked at the number of enrolled Herrschers: 1,113.
This was already the second person beyond his expectations. He wondered which Herrscher from the Previous Era had yet to enroll at St. Freya Academy. Instantly, the image of a girl as radiant as drifting blossoms appeared in his mind.
He abruptly looked up, half-expecting to hear a pink-elf-style, "Hi~ did you miss me?"
However...
"Is it finally my turn? You're so slow."
"!!!"
What came into view was not a girl radiant as falling petals.
It was the Goddess of Honkai, radiating solemn divine might.
Staring at those golden eyes filled with divinity, Elias slapped himself hard. The sharp pain made him suck in a breath, his scalp tingling as his entire body went numb.
In an instant, he made the optimal judgment.
"Imaginary Space, open!!"
In an instant, he unleashed the authority of the Herrscher of the Void, teleporting both himself and his opponent into an Imaginary Space. At the same time, he activated artificial cascade—[Reverse God]—and fully armed himself with Divine Keys.
No matter what this goddess had come for, Elias had to prepare for the worst. The first priority was changing the battlefield. With her power, even a casual strike would be enough to flatten St. Freya Academy—no, the entire Far East.
"As quick to react as ever, Elias."
"How did you appear here... Herrscher of Finality?"
Cold sweat streamed down Elias' back as he stared at Finality.
Even if the heavens and earth were overturned, he would never forget her. If anything, this Goddess of Honkai was the most unforgettable existence he had encountered since arriving in this world.
Snow-white hair purer than frost, golden eyes more dazzling than the sun, a flawless and sacred face—and a terrifying power that even the current Elias found difficult to overcome.
(What the hell! Is this a joke? Sure, St. Freya Academy has a Herrscher class, but why is even the Herrscher of Finality here?! Don't tell me she's here to enroll too? Is our academy's reputation really that big?!)
"Do you even need to ask why I'm here? Of course I'm here to take revenge on you, human... Elias!"
(Alright, so she's here for me... damn it!)
Seeing the Herrscher of Finality draw forth the world-ending divine spear, the last trace of luck in Elias' heart vanished completely.
There was no choice but to enter combat mode.
Elias tightened his nerves, shifting from the relaxed ease he had when interacting with the girls to the tense, lethal focus of his blood-soaked battles in the Previous Era.
This was the only opponent he dared not underestimate in the slightest.
In fact, if Finality hadn't refrained from acting just now, Elias would already have died once.
With her overwhelming presence, there was no way he wouldn't have noticed her until she stood right before him—unless his cognition had been altered by the authority of the Herrscher of Sentience.
Although Misteln was rarely absent today, and even though Elias himself was already the Herrscher of Sentience, the only being in this world capable of influencing him with mental abilities was Finality.
"Good. Those are the eyes I remember—like an inextinguishable blazing flame. Only that expression is worthy of my revenge... Now, let us recreate the battle of Finality from fifty thousand years ago, human—Elias!"
"Tch! I finally managed to live the blissful daily life of an overpowered protagonist. Why is it that every time I try to enjoy myself, this damned fate ramps up the difficulty on me?!"
His peaceful happiness shattered so abruptly, Elias couldn't help feeling irritated.
The six wings behind him flared open. Even knowing he couldn't truly injure her without the power of Finality, he still wanted to rush forward and land a punch first.
"Hmph! This time, I will wash away my humiliation. I won't give you any opportunity again. Witness the authority of Finality!"
The Herrscher of Finality struck the ground with her divine spear. In the next second, time throughout the entire Imaginary Space froze.
By dragging her into Imaginary Space, Elias had avoided the risk of St. Freya Academy being destroyed. But within this separate dimension—beyond the surveillance of the Cocoon of Finality—the Goddess of Honkai could also unleash her power without restraint.
And she opened with a full-domain time stop.
"No matter how powerful you are, within this domain where time cannot advance, you can ultimately do nothing. Now, allow me to grant you a defeat with zero delay, Elias."
"Sore wa dou kana."
"What?!"
The Herrscher of Finality's eyes widened.
Within the gray-white stillness of frozen time, Elias had not lost his color—and he had already rushed in front of her.
In his right hand, the Judgment of Shamash blazed as he drew it at point-blank range. In his left, the Holy Blade Durandal erupted with golden radiance, releasing an attack at the same distance powerful enough to cleave continents.
"!!!"
The Herrscher of Finality hastily raised her world-ending spear to block the two terrifying sword strikes. The Imaginary Space trembled violently, nearly collapsing from the force of those blows.
"Elias, what did you do?"
Golden eyes locked onto the white-haired boy. If anyone else in this world had faced those two slashes, they would already have been obliterated in both body and soul.
She could clearly feel that compared to fifty thousand years ago, Elias' strength had increased by several tiers. But that wasn't the key point—the key was that he had not been bound by time.
"Surprised? Shocked? Don't think controlling time makes you invincible. I'm a man who once reversed time for fifty thousand years!"
At this moment, Elias felt incomparably grateful.
He had never expected that the [Time Resistance] he gained from clearing the Previous Era scenario would actually come in handy.
As long as that resistance existed, the Herrscher of Finality's terrifying authority over time was ineffective against him.
"...Just like always."
"Huh?"
"You always exceed my expectations!"
As the Herrscher of Finality clashed with Elias, she couldn't help but marvel. Across those twelve loops, he had grown stronger with each new cycle.
Fifty thousand years later, Elias' strength had undergone another qualitative leap—he had even overcome her authority over time. The shock this brought her was immense.
And yet, it also made her blood boil.
Fighting Elias caused the divine heart within her chest to pound violently. The surging exhilaration intoxicated her.
Destroy humanity? Reset civilization? Those were merely missions imposed upon her by the Cocoon of Finality. But battle after battle with the white-haired boy had awakened her sense of self.
The Herrscher of Finality's lips curved upward. For the first time, she smiled.
Battle—how exhilarating!
"Come, Elias! Show me everything you have!"
"Fine, then—Edge of Taixuan—"
"...I can't let you use that move."
Seeing the Taixuan Eminence that had forced her into disadvantage multiple times about to manifest again, the Herrscher of Finality decisively interrupted him. Elias could only grit his teeth and abort the technique to evade her incoming energy sphere attack.
"Hey! Didn't you say you wanted to see everything I've got?!"
"S-Stop talking nonsense! Take this instead!"
"Damn it!"
Elias watched as the Herrscher of Finality unleashed ultra-high-density Honkai energy beams. He immediately folded his six wings together into a shield, blocking head-on an attack that would have meant certain death for anyone else.
Ever since evolving into a Planet-class MANTIS and gaining limitless growth as a [Palatinus], Elias' strength had far surpassed that of fifty thousand years ago.
Attacks that once required him to dodge—ones that would carve huge chunks off his health bar—could now be blocked directly.
He immediately launched a counterattack.
"This strike will pierce the stars!!"
The Dea Anchora armor upon him shimmered.
Stellar power transformed into golden twin wings, forming a heavenly bow above his raised right leg. Anchora became an arrow, shooting toward Finality with a strike capable of piercing a stellar arc.
And yet...
The Herrscher of Finality neither dodged nor defended.
She received the attack head-on. With a deafening explosion, the impact resounded.
HP - 0
Elias: "Damn it! This is exactly why I hate fighting you! If you've got guts, turn off your health lock, you cheater!!"
Finality: "It's my passive ability, not a cheat!"