"Holy hell! It can't be this petty, can it?!"
Cold sweat instantly poured down Elias' back.
He could clearly feel that the Sea of Quanta had reacted to him. A horrifying pressure descended from all directions.
In that instant, his instincts responded...
"All of you, get out of here!!"
He unleashed the full authority of the Herrscher of the Void, directly teleporting everyone out of the Sea of Quanta.
"Elias!!"
"You idiot!!"
"You're going to do this alone again?!"
Caught completely off guard by the sudden "attack," even the Herrscher of Finality failed to escape Elias' teleportation. His face turned pale as he hurriedly reinforced the surrounding space to prevent the girls from returning.
As for why Elias did not teleport himself away...
Because he couldn't.
"Damn it! I only ate a hundred bubble worlds from you. Was that really worth getting so worked up over? You actually came after me in person?!"
The Sea of Quanta had imprisoned him within this region. The omnipresent targeting directed at Elias rendered the little quantum authority inside him utterly useless.
Originally, the natural suppression of the Sea of Quanta could only reduce the Herrscher of Finality's strength by one percent. But now that it was deliberately targeting Elias, it had directly sealed all of his authorities!
At this moment, Elias could only feel fortunate. If he had acted even a second later, none of the others would have escaped.
Yet just as he steeled himself, prepared to see what grand scheme the Sea of Quanta was about to unleash—
"Hm? It doesn't want to kill me?"
Elias raised an eyebrow. He felt no pain, no attack. Instead, massive amounts of quantum power continuously poured into his "zero-zero-zero-zero" body, making him stronger.
The sensation was similar to when he had once become a [Pseudo God].
But before he could feel pleased, an inescapable binding force manifested like chains, attempting to shackle him.
"Oh, come on! You're playing this game too, Sea of Quanta?!"
Elias truly broke at that moment. He understood now.
He had been targeted.
The Sea of Quanta intended to turn him into its apostle.
Of course, it was not being petty over a hundred bubble worlds. Let alone a hundred—even a thousand, ten thousand—what did that matter?
To this infinite sea, such numbers did not even qualify as a drop in the ocean. Calling it a "loss" would be laughable.
The real reason it had set its sights on Elias was because he bore the imprint of the Imaginary Tree. He had once been its apostle—a [Pseudo God].
Even though that authority had shattered, Elias had still earned the recognition of the Imaginary Tree.
For the Sea of Quanta, that alone made his value surpass countless bubble worlds.
This white-haired boy was worth examining personally.
And after examining him, its reaction was...
It wanted him. Badly.
The Sea of Quanta wanted Elias as its apostle.
Elias: "Aren't you two mortal enemies? Why are you doing the exact same thing, you bastards?! I'm just a human! Do you really need two supreme gods taking turns fighting over me?!"
What Elias did not know was that to the Sea of Quanta, he was of tremendous significance.
After all...
He was the unprecedented individual who had once reached the Imaginary Tree itself.
Someone who had touched its trunk—and survived.
To the Sea of Quanta, which was born alongside the Imaginary Tree yet stood in absolute opposition to it, Elias was the ultimate dream candidate.
If it could recruit this white-haired boy...
Then perhaps one day, Elias could become the weapon it used to strike back against the Imaginary Tree.
The Sea of Quanta had full confidence in his potential. If he had reached the Imaginary Tree once, he could surely reach it a second time.
If its thoughts were translated into human language—
Sea of Quanta: "Next time you go, set it on fire."
Elias: "Damn it! Why are you dragging me into your divine brawl?!"
Sea of Quanta: "I don't care. Congratulations, young man—you've been recruited. I'll grant you my authority. Eat as many bubble worlds as you like. But you don't have the right to refuse."
Elias: "..."
The struggle between the Sea of Quanta and the Imaginary Tree had lasted longer than eternity itself. And yet, their methods of fighting were astonishingly... primitive.
The Sea of Quanta tried to "drown" the Imaginary Tree.
The Imaginary Tree tried to "drain" the Sea of Quanta dry.
Elias: "...Uh, is it that the higher the level of existence, the more simple-minded their fights become? Like kindergarten-level simple?"
But clearly, with methods like this, even after trillions of years, neither side could defeat the other. In fact...
By using each other as nourishment for so long, not only had neither weakened—they had both grown stronger.
According to the research conducted over the past fifty thousand years by Mobius, Vill-V, and MEI—
Although quantum and imaginary energies restrained one another, they also benefited each other tremendously.
The Sea of Quanta devoured the bubble worlds shed by the Imaginary Tree, expanding endlessly.
The Imaginary Tree absorbed energy from the Sea of Quanta, rooting itself ever deeper.
Simply put—
If the Sea of Quanta consumed one drop of the Imaginary Tree's "blood," it gained ten drops of its own strength.
And vice versa.
If the Imaginary Tree absorbed one drop of the Sea of Quanta's "blood," it likewise gained ten drops of strength.
The result?
The more they fought, the stronger they became.
And therefore, neither could die.
Elias: "You're literally exploiting a bug!"
By common sense, since this arrangement benefited both sides immensely, they should have formed a cooperative alliance—mutual growth, infinite strengthening, shared prosperity.
However...
The Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta had absolutely no interest in becoming stronger.
They simply wanted to kill each other.
Thus they continued fighting.
The more they fought, the stronger they became.
The stronger they became, the harder it was to die.
It was absurd.
And then—
A once-in-an-epoch genius named Elias appeared.
A special existence from a world without imaginary energy, without quantum energy, without Honkai energy.
An unprecedented anomaly.
He became the key capable of breaking their balance.
Though from the perspective of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta his individual weight was minuscule...
His potential was infinite.
Sea of Quanta: "I will make you my apostle. One day, when you've grown strong enough, you'll stand before that damned tree again—and cut it down for me!"
If the Sea of Quanta were human, its current state would be described as fiercely smitten. In its eyes, Elias was a gemstone containing infinite possibilities.
Its selection criteria were extremely harsh.
One had to have once possessed the authority of a [Pseudo God], yet not become a slave of the Imaginary Tree. One had to have reached the tree itself, reached it and survived—and, in the future, still possess the possibility of reaching it again.
Sea of Quanta: "If you haven't gone there once, how would I know you have the ability to stand before that damned tree? If you couldn't come back alive, how would you go a second time and destroy it for me?"
Each requirement was nearly impossible to fulfill. Even Otto Apocalypse in the original timeline had met the fate of complete annihilation after touching the Imaginary Tree.
But Elias had survived.
He had satisfied all of the Sea of Quanta's expectations.
Thus, it could not wait to claim the white-haired boy before it as its own. In the future, it would even feed him vast numbers of its own bubble worlds, accelerating his growth until he was capable of leaving a wound upon the Imaginary Tree.
Of course, none of this concerned Elias' personal will.
As he obtained more and more quantum authority, the Sea of Quanta's restraint over him would only grow stronger.
Just as the Herrschers of the Previous Era could not betray or defy Honkai, if this continued, Elias too would become incapable of resisting the will of the Sea of Quanta.
However...
"I don't... want to take part... in your stupid fight... If you want to battle... do it yourselves... I'm not playing along!"
At this moment, Elias sincerely thanked Bronya. He thanked his little duck for leading him to become the Herrscher of Truth. Otherwise, he might not even have had the slightest chance to struggle.
"Truth... manifest here!!"
"???"
The Sea of Quanta was genuinely shocked.
Elias was actually able to use his authority under its restraint. That was something that absolutely should not have been possible.
While it was true that human willpower could unleash great strength—and that many things could be accomplished through sheer resolve—
If an ant were pinched between a human's fingers, no matter how astonishing its will, it could never break free from that grasp. Even if the one holding it were merely an infant.
The gap in their levels was simply too great.
The Sea of Quanta acknowledged Elias' infinite potential. But at present, to it, he was no different from an ant.
Yet this ant in its grip had actually managed to slightly break free of its control.
Sea of Quanta: "This isn't scientific!"
It wasn't scientific.
But it was reasonable.
Turning the impossible into possible—that was called a miracle.
The reason Elias had managed to struggle free was precisely because of this skill known as Miracle. Even so, the miracle could only last for a few seconds.
Thus, his authority of Truth operated at full speed.
But this time, it was not construction.
It was repair.
Repairing something within Elias that had long been broken.
His shattered authority as a [Pseudo God].
"Hey! Imaginary Tree—if you don't do something now, this damned sea is going to steal me away!" Elias roared.
The next second, an imaginary divine halo manifested behind him.
The halo, once shattered beyond repair, was restored under the authority of Truth. The complete authority of the [Pseudo God] remained fragmented—repairing the halo for even a few seconds was already the limit.
But thanks to that, Elias reconnected to the Imaginary Tree.
Even though his authority had shattered, he had once stood before the Imaginary Tree. An imprint had already been carved into his body.
Coupled with the fact that the Herrscher of Truth was the Herrscher closest to the Imaginary Tree, these dual factors made Elias the person closest to the Imaginary Tree in the entire world.
And now—the Imaginary Tree responded.
"!!!"
In the next instant, an indescribably vast power surged from Elias' body. Pure white divine wings unfolded behind him. Golden hands capable of tearing apart all things formed at his sides. A platinum mask settled over his face.
Elias: "Annihilation returns here. From here, a new star is born. Above the heavens and below, I alone reign supreme!!"
This was—the Imaginary Pseudo God!
Imaginary Tree: "You shameless, filthy sea! How dare you steal my person?! Don't even think about it!!"
Sea of Quanta: "Fine, damned tree! Perfect timing! Let's see today which of us can snatch him away!!"
The two supreme existences used Elias' body as their battlefield, competing for territory. Whoever could claim more of him would pull the white-haired boy into their own camp.
Exaggerated as it might sound—
Whoever seized Elias could potentially destroy the other.
If he were merely an ordinary apostle of a [Pseudo God], the Imaginary Tree would not have valued him so highly. But it had personally witnessed his potential. This white-haired boy had once reached it, touched it—and survived.
A path already walked would always be easier the second time.
In the future, Elias might very well reach it again.
If, at that time, he were the spearhead of the Sea of Quanta—even the slightest damage inflicted upon the Imaginary Tree could shatter the delicate balance between tree and sea, plunging it into disadvantage.
It might even lose.
That was absolutely unacceptable to the Imaginary Tree.
But more importantly right now...
Imaginary Tree: (He can infinitely absorb bubble worlds from the Sea of Quanta? If I can turn Elias into my own, wouldn't that guarantee victory over that damned sea?!)
The Imaginary Tree was fiercely smitten as well. Upon discovering that over a hundred bubble worlds already existed within Elias—and that there seemed to be no upper limit to his capacity—it resolved to seize him no matter what.
At this moment, the Sea of Quanta and the Imaginary Tree were like two people locked in a tug-of-war.
Elias was the prize tied to the middle of the rope.
Imaginary Tree: "He's mine!!"
Sea of Quanta: "He's mine!!"
Elias: "Ahaha~ Fight, fight!"
Golden imaginary power and blue quantum power rampaged within Elias' body, turning his eyes into dazzling heterochromatic pupils—one gold, one blue.
Yet both the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta tacitly refrained from harming him.
What they needed was an intact Elias. After all, if they crippled him, who would fight the other for them in the future?
As for destroying him outright so that neither could benefit...
As if they would ever bear to do that.
After struggling for a span of time too vast to be measured in human terms, this was the only exception they had finally found.
Just as there would never be a second Elysia in this world—
There would never be a second Elias.
Thus, both the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta treasured him dearly.
Even as they fought, they were careful.
They would not harm him.
Elias: "Then could you two hurry up? I'd like to get back for lunch. Sigh... everyone's going to worry again."