Within the Nation of Domination of the Herrscher of Dominance.
When the sword fell, it was as if the very sky had been severed.
BOOM—!!!
Scorching flames swept across everything. The Herrschers of Dominance felt as though a sun had descended from the heavens, their entire bodies igniting in an instant—then they could feel nothing at all.
Even the Nation of Domination was split in two by that single strike.
A massive flaming sword scar remained upon this twisted and grotesque kingdom, like a fiery abyss carved into its surface. The Herrschers of Dominance who had been clamoring just moments ago had completely vanished.
"Whew~ now that was satisfying."
Elias casually tossed aside the Judgment of Shamash in his hand.
Although the Judgment of Shamash constructed through the authority of Reason was already nearly identical to the original in terms of power, without the Herrscher Core of Fire, it was still only a replica. The blade simply could not withstand his overwhelming Honkai energy.
But there was no helping that. Even the authority of Reason could not construct a true Herrscher Core.
That strike just now had contained a full 1,000,000 HW of Honkai energy. After releasing it, the imitation Judgment of Shamash had already reached its limit, melting and collapsing beyond repair.
But it didn't matter. If it broke, he could just construct another one.
"Whoa, Lia, you're amazing—wait, no! Don't tell me it's already over?! Then what was the point of us coming here? At least leave a couple enemies for us!"
Kiana stared at how all the Herrschers of Dominance had been completely incinerated by Elias' single strike. While shocked, she was also a little unhappy.
She had been hoping to show off a bit this time.
Don't tell her it was already over.
It wasn't just Kiana. Kalpas, Kevin, and the others felt the same. One by one, the battle maniacs stared at Elias in silence, as if saying: I've already activated my Artificial Cascade—where are the enemies?
"Alright, alright, stop looking at me like that. Don't worry, your share is still there. I don't believe that was the full strength of the Herrscher of Dominance."
Elias reached out and ruffled Kiana's hair.
At the same time, he thought to himself that judging by how disgusting and cunning the Herrscher of Dominance had been in the original storyline, there was no way they would think a mere ten thousand puppets could deal with him.
And besides... if there were only ten thousand, this twisted kingdom wouldn't be nearly this full.
Elias glanced around, then snapped his fingers, releasing his Herrscher authority.
In the next instant, just like what the Herrscher of Dominance had done earlier, countless flames, ice, tornadoes, and lightning erupted and swept through the land, ravaging this twisted and grotesque kingdom.
"One more slash—Shamash Assault!"
Elias constructed another Judgment of Shamash.
Without the slightest hesitation, he launched an overwhelming attack at the castle of domination in the distance. In just a few seconds, the entire Nation of Domination was reduced to ruins.
At the same time, a series of screams rang out.
"Aaaahhh! You bastard!!"
"Our castle! Our home!"
"Damn it, damn it! This is unforgivable!"
"Don't think you'll be forgiven—you'll pay for this!"
"We were planning to prepare a surprise, damn it—fine, no more acting! Everyone, come out!!"
As Elias wreaked havoc across the Nation of Domination without restraint, the Herrschers of Dominance—having had their bottom line crossed—finally stopped hiding and revealed themselves one after another.
Though they were puppets incapable of expression, everyone could clearly sense the resentment and hatred radiating from their faces.
But that wasn't the main issue.
The real problem was their staggering numbers.
In the blink of an eye, Elias and the others were surrounded once again—and compared to before, the density of this encirclement had increased by nearly a hundredfold.
Ten thousand... one hundred thousand... five hundred thousand... one million!
Over a million puppets appeared before them! Even those that had just been annihilated by Elias' strike were back again!
"What a nuisance. As long as even one remains, the rest can endlessly revive... and their numbers are far greater than I expected. Ten thousand? No... perhaps I should call you—the Herrscher of Million?"
Elias narrowed his eyes. Facing a million puppets, each wielding multiple Herrscher authorities, even he felt a trace of pressure.
"No way... there are actually this many?!"
"So what Elias destroyed earlier was only one percent..."
"Hmph! Good—plenty of targets. Looks like I can finally enjoy myself!!"
"Such a grand battlefield... it's been a long time."
"Today, I'll stand above a million puppets!"
"Everyone, stay alert! Don't forget—they have many authorities!"
The Herrscher of Dominance had already completed the first step of their plan—seizing a vast number of Herrscher authorities.
At this moment, they possessed twelve true Herrscher authorities, along with thousands of pseudo-Herrscher authorities.
Although they were not like Elias, a vessel of Finality, each puppet could only withstand at most two true Herrscher authorities, supplemented by a few pseudo authorities.
After all, their wooden puppet bodies had limited tolerance, and now that Elias had extracted all the Cores from the girls, there was no one left to bear the burden and cost of those authorities for them.
Even so, the sheer number of these million Herrschers could be described as absolute violence.
What stood before them now was a terrifying Herrscher army—every unit wielding multiple authorities, each puppet possessing strength far beyond that of an ordinary S-rank Valkyrie.
"What a pity... our plan has been completely disrupted. We originally wanted to wait until you defeated ten thousand 'us' and celebrated your victory before appearing to give you a 'surprise'." One puppet spoke regretfully.
"Heh—just like you, disgusting as ever. Unfortunately, you're too weak. As you saw, ten thousand of you couldn't even withstand a single strike from me."
Elias sneered, flames reigniting along the Judgment of Shamash in his hand.
"Don't get cocky too soon. If ten thousand isn't enough, then what about a hundred thousand? A million? I refuse to believe you can handle a million multi-authority Herrschers! And even if one of me falls, it doesn't matter—there will always be countless more of me standing back up!"
"Don't talk like you're the righteous ones. Disgusting things... you're hideous. As my (Dark) Seele would say—your design is unbelievably stupid. That creaking noise is disgusting, your color scheme is disgusting, your joints are disgusting, that eyepatch is disgusting, and those two things on your head—whatever they are—are even more disgusting. Honestly, you'd probably look cuter as cabbages."
"Just looking at you annoys me. Disappearing from my sight would be the most useful thing you could do!"
As he spoke, Elias even gave the million Herrschers a very internationally recognized hand gesture. The latter trembled with rage instantly.
How could someone like this exist? He looked like an angel on the outside—but what kind of angel flips people off?!
"Aaaahhh! I can't take it anymore! Die!!"
"That's all it takes to break you? Fine then—everyone, fight freely. Don't let a single one escape!"
"Yes!" xN
And so, the great battle erupted.
This was likely the most terrifying holy war in human history. If an ordinary person who knew nothing were to witness it, they would surely think they were seeing a mythological war of gods.
Authorities that controlled the fundamental laws of the world were unleashed without restraint. It was as if the world itself had reached its end—language could not even describe one ten-thousandth of the madness of this war.
Flames incinerated everything, hurricanes tore apart all things, ice froze all existence, lightning pierced the earth. White blossoms of life and black mist of death spread across the battlefield. Even space and gravity themselves were being ravaged.
And yet, the heroes pressed forward through all these disasters.
The Flame-Chasers unleashed their Artificial Cascade.
With inhuman bodies, they upheld human will—charging forward alongside countless roaring beasts as they launched a ferocious assault against the golden puppets...
The million Herrschers, who had been brimming with confidence, soon found themselves unable to smile.
Because they realized that the only things they could actually kill were the clumsy Honkai Beasts, the Seeds of Ideas, and a few Imaginary Constructs and Quantum Shadows.
Aside from that, they were unable to deal any effective damage to either the Flame-Chasers or the girls of the Current Era.
As for seizing Elias' authority—
No matter how many rushed forward, no matter how many powers they used to protect themselves, they would be crushed instantly.
It was like facing a sun—they couldn't even get close, let alone touch it.
"Damn it, how did it turn out like this?!"
"We have so many authorities—how can we not even kill a single one of them?!"
"Monsters! These people are all monsters!"
The number of the million Herrschers was rapidly dwindling. The authorities they had painstakingly seized seemed to pose no real threat to the group—not even landing a hit was easy.
"In the end, you're just puppets. Even if you have power, without combat experience, it's useless."
"All you know how to do is throw out abilities. Fight like that, and Aunt Theresa and Himeko would scold you."
"Hmph! Failing grade! No improvement at all!"
"Hahaha! I'll slaughter every last one of you!!"
Although the million Herrschers had stolen numerous authorities, they lacked the corresponding experience to use them. They could only crudely wield them—summoning wind, releasing fire, nothing more.
If the power of lightning in Mei's hands was 100, then in theirs it was at most 5. They had never truly studied how to use these abilities.
Moreover, the girls frequently sparred with each other, so they were already well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of various authorities.
As for the Flame-Chasers, there was no need to say more.
Each of them was a battle-hardened powerhouse. Under Elias' command, these lone "gods" were now working in coordination, their combined strength reaching overwhelming heights.
Although in daily life each of them had their own occupations—or rather, main jobs—such as traffic officer, doctor, singer, scientist, shrine maiden, and so on, once the battle began, they were all terrifyingly fierce.
And don't forget—there were three Chimeras present.
Elias, Kiana, and Kevin—every time these three white-haired figures made a move, tens of thousands of puppets were destroyed.
Thus, despite the overwhelming numbers of the million Herrschers, they were being firmly suppressed.
"These monsters! These monsters! Everyone, immediately use the Elysion Pedion of the Herrscher of Binding! Drain all their Honkai energy!"
One puppet shouted loudly—but her voice immediately drew the displeasure of a certain goddess.
And so, the judgment of Finality descended.
"You're nothing but puppets, yet you dare act so brazenly in front of me and him. How arrogant... time, stop."
"What?!"
With the activation of the most unreasonable authority, the entire Nation of Domination turned gray in an instant.
The million Herrschers also lost all color, frozen in place by time itself, unable to move.
However, this authority of time did not distinguish between friend and foe. Puppets and allies alike were affected—everyone remained locked in the exact posture of that single moment.
Within this space, the only ones able to move were the Herrscher of Finality—and Elias.
"Nicely done, Finality! Leave the rest to me!"
Elias' eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he activated the authority of the Herrscher of the Void, recreating the technique he had once taught Mei.
As his gaze swept across the battlefield, a "teleportation of death" descended into every puppet's body.
Subspace Lances were directly teleported inside their bodies.
And in the end, they were pierced from within—completely obliterated.