Nighttime. Schicksal's floating island headquarters.
In a dimly lit study, a battle video was playing for the three hundred and twenty-seventh time. The content was none other than Elias crushing the Herrscher of Dominance's legion.
Otto: "..."
Normally, the ever-smiling Archbishop of Schicksal—the man known as the most dangerous person in the world, Otto Apocalypse—could face anything with composure.
But tonight, not even he could smile.
Ever since he had used Fenghuang Down to control one of the Herrschers of Dominance and witnessed that battle within the Theater of Domination, a deep sense of unease and loss of control had plagued him, keeping him awake every night.
"Why now of all times? Why, at the moment I'm about to fulfill my five-hundred-year wish, must such an uncontrollable variable appear?"
Otto's expression darkened, his gaze toward Elias on the screen filled with murderous intent.
He was on the verge of executing his plan to resurrect Saint Kallen. Otto had already accounted for every person, calculated every step, and prepared a flawless script that left no room for error.
No one in this era should have been capable of stopping him—or so he thought.
"The First of the Flame-Chasers from the Previous Era, that terrifying savior, has awakened."
Since the matter concerned the resurrection of Saint Kallen, Otto would tolerate no accidents. Thus, he immediately began to ponder whether there was any way to kill this savior from the Previous Era.
Yet the overwhelming power Elias had displayed could crush any scheme or trick. Now, Otto Apocalypse was faced with the one foe he found utterly unmanageable.
Still, he refused to give up so easily. Narrowing his eyes, Otto looked at the golden cube in his hand and spoke softly:
"Void Archives, my old friend, tell me…"
"Do not oppose that man. Otherwise, you will die a very miserable death, Otto. This is my only advice to you."
Void Archives' trembling voice carried pure terror. Upon seeing the video Otto had brought, the Divine Key itself had nearly cracked apart from fright.
As a relic inherited from the Previous Era, it naturally contained records about Elias. Therefore, it knew very well that as Otto's accomplice for the past five hundred years, if it ever fell into the hands of its own savior, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"I wasn't finished yet, my old friend. If—if I gathered all the power of this era to fight against your savior from the Previous Era, what do you think my chances would be?"
Otto's tone turned serious.
When one's own strength could not defeat an enemy, the solution was simple: make others fight instead. Let both sides destroy each other—and reap the benefits in the end. That was his specialty.
It would undoubtedly be difficult, but with Otto Apocalypse's cunning and deceitful nature, he could weave a lie to deceive the entire world, turning that savior into humanity's common enemy. St. Freya Academy and Anti-Entropy would become the blades in his hand.
Such manipulation was not beyond him.
However…
"No chance. There's absolutely no way to win."
Void Archives answered without hesitation. Otto's eye twitched at those words.
"My old friend, everyone has weaknesses—even I do. So… are you saying there's really no chance at all?"
"Otto, you are not of our era. You have no idea how terrifying that man truly is. Even if you made every human in the world his enemy, nothing could halt his advance. However… if you could defeat the Herrscher of Finality, then perhaps you might be qualified to stand against him."
"…Are you joking?"
Otto's fingers tightened around the armrest of his chair.
The Herrscher of Finality—what was it? The ultimate manifestation of the Honkai, the final trial faced by civilization itself. Even now, Otto had no viable plan to defeat it.
To be honest, Otto was pessimistic about humanity's odds against the Herrscher of Finality. Direct combat had never been part of his calculations. Schicksal's "Operation Ark" was, after all, a plan to sacrifice the majority to flee from Finality.
Yet even defeating the Herrscher of Finality would, in the eyes of Void Archives, only grant Otto the qualification to challenge that savior.
Even Otto found that notion absurd.
"Our savior once knocked the Herrscher of Finality unconscious for ten days with a single strike. Do you think I'm joking?" Void Archives' voice carried a trace of pride.
"...You never mentioned that before," Otto's eyes widened slightly in shock.
"Otto, even if I had told you earlier, you wouldn't have believed me until you saw him in person."
"Well, fair enough."
Otto gave a bitter laugh and spread his hands. Imagining the scenario, he admitted that he wouldn't have believed it either.
Defeating a Herrscher in an instant was barely within his realm of comprehension—but knocking the Herrscher of Finality unconscious for ten days with one sword strike? He would've dismissed it as Void Archives' joke.
However, after seeing Elias' true battle with his own eyes, disbelief was no longer an option.
"Don't think that's the extent of that man's power. That fight with the thousand Herrschers of Dominance was mere play to him. Using only two Shamash Assaults to defeat them? I'm certain he was holding back—by at least an entire Pacific Ocean, maybe even the Atlantic too."
"To tell you the truth, although the Previous Era failed to defeat the Herrscher of Finality, I've always suspected it wasn't because they couldn't—but because that man didn't want to. According to my records, that savior was omniscient and omnipotent."
Void Archives spoke with deep reverence.
Though it was not a combat-type Divine Key and had never been wielded by Elias in battle, as a repository of nearly all knowledge from the Previous Era, its artificial intelligence possessed independent analytical and reasoning capabilities.
Still, to be honest, it felt a bit jealous.
Void Archives: (Why didn't Lord Vill-V design me with a powerful weapon mode? Back then, Judgment of Shamash and Abyss Flower got to be held by that man all the time!)
"..."
Otto rewatched the battle footage once more before finally sighing deeply. He was convinced—this was an opponent he could neither provoke nor confront. No, not even an opponent—a being.
(Not an enemy. He must never be an enemy. I have no means of surviving even one 'playful' sword strike from him. He's an uncontrollable variable... but one I can only choose to ignore.)
He shook his head and turned off the video. Watching further wouldn't bring him any closer to a way to win.
"Otto, you've made the right choice. As long as you don't stand in that man's way, I doubt he'll have any interest in your plans—or even notice you."
"Haha, of course. A savior who led an entire era through the Honkai would never bother with a despicable clown like me. Don't worry—when I'm certain I can't win, I won't be foolish enough to provoke such a being. Besides... I have more important matters to attend to!"
Otto chuckled self-deprecatingly, but soon his expression grew solemn. Gazing at the moonlight shining through the window, he murmured softly:
"The chance to fulfill my wish is right before me, and the die has already been cast. Whatever little suspense or uncertainty remains... I shall leave it to fate."
"I, Otto Apocalypse, hereby declare—when this grand wager begins, one more extravagant than life and death itself, I will have prepared everything within my power."
What followed would be the public revelation of the Honkai's existence to the world, his formal resignation as Archbishop of Schicksal, and Theresa's ascension as his successor—all pieces arranged perfectly upon the stage.
Then, he would become a false god, reach the Imaginary Tree, and create a parallel world where Saint Kallen lived.
Otto reviewed his plan for what must have been the thousandth time in his mind, confirming there were no gaps or flaws. Only after that did he nod lightly and exhale in relief.
"Well then~ I've thought enough for today. Time to relax with a few rounds of Kallen Fantasy."
The next second, he deftly pulled out a game controller from beneath his desk and used a high-tech projector to start up Kallen Fantasy IV, admiring his rank-one record on the leaderboard.
Just as Otto was thinking about updating his gaming record one last time that night—to prove his pure devotion to Saint Kallen—
"I didn't expect the great Archbishop of Schicksal to be the type who stays up late gaming. That ranking of yours... don't tell me you banned everyone who outperformed you?"
"Who's there!!"
Otto leapt up from his chair and turned toward the voice. The moment he saw the scene before him, his eyes widened in shock.
A black-and-gold portal appeared right before him, and three masked figures stepped out. The instant Otto recognized the one wearing a white mask—Elias—he almost lost his composure.
At the same time, a blaring alarm erupted.
This chamber was a restricted space accessible only to Otto himself. The moment an intruder was detected, an automatic alert would sound.
"Archbishop under attack! Lock down the area!"
"Detected intruders! Prepare for combat!"
"Identify yourselves! Hands up, now!"
"Archbishop Otto, are you alright?!"
Accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps, a squad of Valkyries burst into the room, weapons drawn. Behind his mask, Elias raised a brow in mild surprise—among the newcomers, he recognized three familiar figures.
Durandal in her Bright Knight: Excelsis armor, Rita in her Argent Knight: Artemis form, and Li Sushang in her Jade Knight battlesuit.
In the true world, all three had long joined St. Freya Academy. But in this parallel world, they were still Otto's subordinates.
Elias: (Hmm? So Void Archives is here too... Well, that makes sense. In this timeline, I've only appeared during four specific points in time. This world developed quite differently from the original one.)
Standing beside him were Gray Serpent and Jackal. Though neither possessed much combat strength, they stood proudly on either side of Elias, completely unafraid.
The Valkyries didn't hesitate, and even Durandal, Rita, and Li Sushang raised their weapons, ready to subdue the three intruders...
However—
"Kneel."
Elias' cold voice echoed through the room.
BOOM—!
The Authority of the Herrscher of Earth activated. Instantly, the study's gravity multiplied severalfold. Every Valkyrie present—including Otto—was forced to their knees, save for the three S-rank Valkyries who managed to resist.
Durandal remained standing only by sheer strength, while Rita and Li Sushang were spared the full force of the gravity through Elias' mercy.
"This... this is the Authority of the Herrscher of Earth?! Impossible—she was already defeated! Who are you?!"
Cracks splintered beneath Durandal's feet. It felt as though she was carrying a mountain on her shoulders, every movement agonizingly heavy.
"Even without using my full strength, you can still move. As expected of you, Durandal."
Elias clapped his hands lightly in admiration.
"You know me... No matter who you are, unleashing a Herrscher's power inside the Archbishop's study is an act of open hostility against Schicksal."
"So what? Schicksal is nothing more than a minor inconvenience."
Crossing his arms, Elias tilted his chin upward. The gravity intensified again—Durandal's knees almost buckled under the pressure.
"Ugh! Dea Anchora—Forge Form!"
Durandal was never one to hesitate in battle. Facing immense pressure, she immediately shifted into her strongest form
With her Dea Anchora engaged, she could move freely even within the crushing gravity. A golden spear manifested in her hands, which she hurled at Elias with lethal precision.
Though not her strongest Stellar Excelsis thrust, it was still powerful enough to instantly kill an Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
Yet—
"Is that all?"
Elias caught the spear effortlessly by the tip. A faint squeeze, and it crumbled to dust. In the next instant, before Durandal could react, he appeared before her in a blur and struck her squarely with his palm.
Crack... snap... crackle...
"Impossible! My Dea Anchora—!"
"Not bad armor," Elias remarked, smiling faintly. "But the bubble world you fused with isn't strong enough. You've got potential, though. That attack earlier—it should've been your full Stellar Excelsis."
Elias shattered Durandal's Dea Anchora—but not a single scratch touched her body. In terms of understanding and utilizing the Dea Anchora armor, this silly golden goose was nearly his equal.
However, the bubble world within Elias' body originated from the Previous Era itself, and the Dea Anchora it produced far surpassed Durandal's in strength.
Not that he needed any armor at all—with his current power, there was no one in the entire Current Era who could force him to use one.
"It's not over yet! Abyss Flower!"
Durandal lifted the sacred lance and thrust toward Elias, though it was clear from her aim—his left shoulder—that she had no intent to kill.
"Good reflexes. But... you really shouldn't use that weapon against me. Abyss Flower—come back."
The moment Elias called its name, Durandal felt the weapon reject her.
Before her astonished eyes, the spear wrenched itself free from her grip, flipped its shaft, and turned its point toward her—before gracefully flying into Elias' waiting hand.
Durandal's eyes widened in disbelief.
Since becoming an S-rank Valkyrie, Abyss Flower had been her inseparable companion. Their synchronization had always been perfect. Never once had the weapon rejected her—until now.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing at all. I simply called her back. After all, I am her true master."
Elias ran a hand gently along the spear's shaft as he spoke.
To be honest, he had always preferred Abyss Flower to the Judgment of Shamash. The weapon responded to his touch with a low, resonant hum—reunited with its rightful wielder after fifty thousand years, Abyss Flower was clearly overjoyed.
"A word of advice: when fighting me, don't use the Divine Keys. They were all designed for me, after all. Now... return to me, my weapons."
At Elias' command, every Divine Key scattered throughout the world began to resonate.
Before Otto's astonished eyes, one after another, the Divine Keys flew from across distant lands and gathered before Elias, floating reverently around him as if awaiting his hand.
Void Archives, Seven Thunders of Retribution, Star of Eden, Fenghuang Down, Oath of Judah, Sword of Domination, Jizo Mitama.
Except for Cosmic Juggernaut, Echo of the Sky, and The Great Hibernation, Vill-V had installed a special system within each Divine Key. Whenever Elias held any of them—aside from those three—the remaining Keys would instantly locate his position and fly to him upon command.
Elias grasped Void Archives, transforming it into the great sword Judgment of Shamash. Then, pointing the blade at Otto—who was still kneeling under the crushing gravity—he spoke.
Elias: "Now then, let's have a talk, Otto."
Otto: "Ahem, let's discuss this calmly... Void Archives, my old friend, say something on my behalf, would you?"
Void Archives: "Old friend? Don't spout nonsense! Master, I don't even know this man!"