"1ucky found something good!"
In the vastness of space—
Elias looked down at the green gem in his hand with great satisfaction. It was the Herrscher Core of Wind from the Previous Era, just dismantled from the Fourth Divine Key: Unnamed Satellite.
As a side note, the Fourth Divine Key was vastly different from the others. Rather than a handheld weapon, it was a massive satellite.
The Previous Era created it with a specific goal: environmental restoration—land, oceans, atmosphere, the full ecological system. Essentially, to repair a world destroyed by the Herrscher of Finality.
But it had long since run out of energy. Only recently did Schicksal gain control over it and begin restoration work. Originally, Otto planned to repurpose it as a weather weapon.
But now Elias had intercepted it.
"The moment I exited the atmosphere, I sensed a familiar presence nearby. When I came closer—what do you know, it was this Divine Key. Looks like I'm fated to cross paths with the Herrscher of Wind today."
Naturally, there was no way Elias would pass up a gift like this delivered straight to his face. He was also curious—what would happen when two cores of the same attribute came together?
No matter what, it would be a huge boost to his strength. Back when Elias had the Herrscher Core of Fire and picked up the Judgment of Shamash, it instantly transformed into Might of An-Utu.
He even unleashed a fire strike nearly on par with Kevin Kaslana's Judgment!
Clearly, resonance between Cores of the Previous and Current Eras brought exponential increases in power.
"This is getting me fired up!"
Gripping the core tightly, Elias suppressed his excitement and flew at top speed to the far side of the moon.
The moon's far side was completely beyond the observation range of Earth's current technology. Elias' plan was to transform into a quantum ghost and return to Earth undetected.
That way, everyone would think the Herrscher of Wind had flown off into deep space, never to return. Even Otto wouldn't bother keeping tabs on a wannabe astronaut Herrscher.
And once Elias became a quantum ghost, it would be like complete stealth—just like how he previously strolled into the Oceania base with no one noticing. Returning from the moon in quantum form would avoid all detection.
But before setting off—
Elias embedded the core into the Key of Blankness.
"Ah~ Thank you, Dr. Mei of the Previous Era, for inventing the Key of Blankness! This armor set of yours has been an incredible help."
Herrscher Cores from the Previous Era were inert—unless fashioned into a Divine Key, they were just useless hunks of rock.
But Dr. Mei's Key of Blankness made it possible to use these dead Cores directly.
By comparison, Otto's artificial Herrscher project was total garbage—it relied on feelings and bonds, those wishy-washy concepts. Whereas Mei's Key just needed you to plug the Core into the outfit—so much more practical! Elias couldn't help but feel smug.
Of course, the Key of Blankness came with the cost of burning through life force—but as the Herrscher of Rebirth, Elias was the one person least afraid of that!
And right at that moment—
As the Core of Wind of the Current Era was embedded into the Key of Blankness, a surge of green Honkai energy erupted! A massive tornado suddenly formed on the lunar surface!
Elias' face lit up in wild excitement.
"Now this is exhilarating!!"
Dual Herrscher of Wind!
The resonance between two Cores of Wind didn't just add their powers—it was far beyond a mere 1 + 1. Anyone who'd seen 00 Gundam knew: when equipped with twin solar furnaces, the 00 Gundam's combat power nearly squared itself.
Elias was in a similar state.
Originally, his four cores maintained a delicate power balance. But with the second Core of Wind embedded into the Key of Blankness, Wind Authority had just leapt far ahead of the others!
"Humanity, be grateful! It's a good thing I'm not a Herrscher on the Honkai side—otherwise, you'd all be doomed!"
Elias muttered toward the deep blue planet as he drifted in space.
At this point, there was nothing he couldn't do.
If he went all out, blowing away a villa-sized island—or rather, an entire small country—wouldn't be a problem!
He could even punch a hole in the ozone layer if he wanted to. No big deal!
"Say, if I went full power up here on the moon, I wonder if I could alter its orbit... actually, that might be totally possible."
Hands on his hips, Elias proudly admired his own power.
Unless Kevin jumped out of the Sea of Quanta right now, there was no one he feared.
He truly felt invincible! Call it arrogance if you want—he called it reality!
At this moment, he had once again become a five-core Herrscher.
And far stronger than he had been during the time of the Second Eruption—a five-core Herrscher many times more powerful than before!
"Alright, I've played enough. Time to go home!"
After scooping a jar of lunar soil as a souvenir, Elias began his return to Earth. For a quantum ghost like him, reentering the atmosphere was a breeze, and no satellite would detect a thing.
He didn't plan to reveal the power of the dual Herrscher of Wind just yet—he was certain Otto was scheming something, so best to save this trump card for a critical moment.
Right now, Otto still believed Elias wielded only dual-core strength. Little did he know Elias had already mastered five Herrscher Cores.
This massive intelligence error would surely cause a fatal flaw in Otto's plans, no matter what he was plotting.
...
At St. Freya Academy—
When Elias returned and reached Theresa's principal office, he hadn't even entered when he heard wailing from inside.
"Uuuu! Wendy! You poor thing, I... I'm so sorry! I've failed you as a principal. Something so awful happened to one of my own students and I didn't even know! You can scold me, no—hit me!"
Elias: (=_=)
Exactly the reaction he'd expected—and precisely why he hadn't told Theresa about Wendy until now.
To be fair, Theresa did shoulder part of the blame for Wendy ending up in the artificial Herrscher experiment.
Back then, Schicksal told the Valkyries that they were researching the Herrscher Core to develop weapons to rival Herrschers. They didn't mention anything about human experiments.
Unaware of the truth, Theresa had recommended Wendy for the program—only for Wendy to nearly lose her life.
Before Kiana and the others had matured, Wendy had been Theresa's most prized student.
So when she learned that she had pushed her best student into a pit of fire with her own hands—Theresa was absolutely crushed.
"Alright, Principal. You didn't do it on purpose. This isn't your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's Otto."
"Elias, you're back... Thank you, truly. If it weren't for you, Wendy would have..."
"Come on now, no need for thanks between us."
Elias raised a hand and patted Theresa on the head. With that Kaslana bloodline, the little white-haired ball was always premium in terms of head-patting feel.
Though having your former student pat your head wasn't exactly great for your dignity as principal... for saving Wendy, Theresa let it slide, blushing all the while.
"I need to thank you too, Mr. Ghost."
Wendy looked at him with sincere gratitude.
If Elias hadn't interrupted the experiment today, Wendy believed she would no longer be herself.
She would've been consumed by the Herrscher Core—becoming the Herrscher of Wind aligned against humanity.
And that wasn't all.
Now that she thought about it, he had saved her in many ways.
The care and visits over the past half-month—
Healing her pain caused by the gem's corrosion—
If not for the warmth Elias had offered her over these past weeks, Wendy felt she likely wouldn't have even been able to resist. She would've fallen under the Gem of Desire's control—mind and body alike.
Though in Elias' eyes, what he did was merely trivial—just visiting her three times, helping her sleep better, scolding a Valkyrie who mocked her—
Maybe only stopping the experiment counted as something worth a real thank-you.
But Elias couldn't possibly understand how she truly felt.
To someone trapped in a cold, hopeless abyss, even the faintest warmth was a divine salvation. Let alone when that warmth came from a man as handsome and dashing as Elias—if there were a Herrscher of Charm, he'd be the undisputed candidate.
Even without seeing his face, Wendy had relied on his voice alone. And in her darkest moment, he made a heroic entrance—
Shattering her despair.
And then, that face—more princely than any fairy tale prince—became the final, fatal blow that pierced straight into her heart.
Just looking at Elias now made Wendy's heart race uncontrollably. A faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"Mr. Ghost~ While I still quite like that nickname, my real name is Elias."
"E-Elia—Mr. Elias!"
"Ah, no need to be so formal. Technically, I should be calling you senpai, Wendy—since I'm now also a student of St. Freya. Just call me Elias."
"Okay, then... Elias."
Wendy felt completely hopeless. Just saying his name nearly made her faint.
Elias looked into those soft, watery eyes.
If he couldn't tell what was going on now, he really would be a block of wood... Wendy was gazing at him just like Mei and the others did.
(Sigh These Valkyries, honestly... All of them are gorgeous beauties, and yet they're all as pure as delicate white flowers. Even thirty-something Himeko is the same.)
But thinking about it—it was only natural.
Becoming a Valkyrie basically meant kissing your dating life goodbye. Most Valkyries were implanted with artificial stigma at seventeen or eighteen, with zero experience in romance. So being pure was to be expected.
"Wendy, what do you plan to do next?"
"Huh?"
"If you want a peaceful life, I can remove your artificial stigma and purge the Honkai energy from your body. I can turn you back into an ordinary girl."
Elias said seriously.
At this point, he was practically the natural enemy of Valkyries. With the powers of the Herrscher of Rebirth and the Schariac Holy Blood, he could neutralize Valkyries entirely just by opening his domain.
Lately, he had already helped many Valkyries at the academy who wanted to return to normal lives—restoring them to regular humans. Of course, to prevent information leaks, he used Fenghuang Down to erase their memories.
After hesitating for a moment, Wendy shook her head.
"No. I want to stay a Valkyrie."
"Why?"
"Because I still want to fight—to protect all the beauty in this world. Even though that slogan came from Schicksal, it was Principal Theresa who taught me the true meaning of being a Valkyrie."
Wendy's eyes were filled with unwavering resolve.
Elias couldn't help but admire her—what a strong, kind-hearted girl. After all she'd been through, she still chose to shoulder the duty of a Valkyrie. Truly admirable!
Wendy hugged her knees. With Elias' healing, she could now run again—and she didn't want to waste that redemption. She wanted to keep fighting for what she believed in.
"But... I no longer want to be a Valkyrie of Schicksal. I want to be a Valkyrie of St. Freya. Is that... okay?"
"Of course it is! A future S-rank Valkyrie like you—only an idiot would let that go to waste."
Elias thought of a certain green-haired, green-hatted man and felt nothing but contempt. To waste such a wonderful girl on a cold laboratory table—he clearly had no clue.
Besides, Wendy had never been suited to becoming a Herrscher in the first place.
Her performance as a Herrscher had been, frankly, terrible.
Three B-rank Valkyries could fight her head-on, and even a Titan mech could knock her out with one punch.
Calling her the weakest Herrscher in the current era wasn't an exaggeration.
But if she stayed on the Valkyrie path, she could at least reach the level of someone like Rita in the future.
"Don't worry. You're safe now—Schicksal won't come after you anymore. But just to be sure, maybe use a pseudonym for a while... Actually, forget that. Just come aboard my ship and be one of my Valkyries."
"Eh? Be... Elias' Valkyrie?!"
"Yup! I'm the captain of the Hyperion now. That gives me the right to form my own Valkyrie squad. Interested? Just so you know, spots on my team are in high demand."
Elias said proudly.
As a true powerhouse—and the academy's only male student—countless Valkyries would kill for a chance to board his ship.
But Captain Elias had high standards.
Power was important, sure—
But even more important was... looks!
Elias: (Strength doesn't matter. I'm stronger than all of them anyway. As long as you're good cheerleaders and pleasing to the eye, that's enough. Oh, and girls from House of the Hearth get priority!)
"Yes! Of course I want to!"
Wendy accepted without hesitation.
To her, this was the perfect choice.
She could continue fighting on the frontlines—and stay close to Elias.
"Please, Elias—let me join!"
"Good, that's the spirit."
Elias nodded with satisfaction. Snagging a future S-rank Valkyrie for free? What a deal!
Wendy's personality reminded him a lot of White Seele—soft-spoken, polite, strong yet gentle, and the type to never forget kindness.
How could he not want such a good girl on his ship?
In the previous life, Wendy never even got the chance to join the Hyperion before Mihoyo cruelly wrote her out. (Honkai's first real heartbreak.) There's no way Elias would let her slip away this time!
"Rest up for the next two days, then report to my ship the day after tomorrow, got it?"
"Yes, Captain Elias."
Elias nodded, clearly pleased. That "Captain Elias" title really hit him in the feels. Almost subconsciously, he reached out to pat the girl's head—Affection +10.
After that, Theresa said she wanted to spend some time catching up with Wendy. Wendy, hoping to learn more about Elias from her former principal, readily agreed.
Not wanting to disturb them, Elias decided to head back to the dorm to catch up on some sleep and unwind. But then—
"Lord Elias, where have you been?"
"Ri-Ri-Rita?!"
The maid, skilled in concealing her presence, suddenly appeared behind him.
Elias flinched. Turning around, he saw Rita smiling dangerously—a faintly shadowed, elegant curve of her lips.
"Rita has been looking for you for quite a while today. While a maid has no right to interfere with her master's actions... if possible, might you let me know in advance next time?"
"Absolutely, next time for sure."
"...Lord Elias, might I ask—did you perhaps go to Schicksal's Oceania branch today?"
"!!!"
Elias' face remained calm, but inwardly, he was stunned. He was certain he had left no trace or evidence—yet Rita guessed it immediately, like she had some kind of cheat ability.
"Rita, what makes you think that?"
"Oh, just a little something we women call intuition."
Rita's wine-red eyes curved like crescent moons. Her lips lifted slightly as she admired Elias' reaction. Though her smile carried a hint of mischief, it somehow exuded a mysterious allure.
Elias twitched slightly.
Damn it. He really had no counter to this.
Women's intuition—an unreasonable superpower exclusive to females. Even the Herrscher of Reason couldn't explain it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven