"Anyway, memorize all of this first. I'll be quizzing you later~"
Elias said as he conjured a textbook titled Modern Life Essentials — an absolute must-read for anyone from the past entering the modern world. He slapped the brick-thick book into Li Sushang's hands.
"Oh! Got it, I understand!"
Li Sushang nodded earnestly. Luckily, she didn't mind studying.
Had it been her alternate self from that Star Rail timeline, just seeing the thickness of that book would have her planning early retirement at St. Freya Academy.
Flipping through a few pages, Li Sushang quickly gained some insight and soon wore a look of realization.
"By the way, though it might be a bit late to ask... Raksha—I mean, how's Otto doing now? You two were fighting earlier, right?"
"Otto? Oh, he's completely dead~"
The island-exploding Raven proudly hoisted the Seven Thunders of Retribution over her shoulder, hand on her hip, extremely pleased with her solo kill achievement against Otto Apocalypse.
Everyone turned to her in shock.
This mysterious, raven-like woman was claiming she killed Otto?
They didn't believe it for a second.
As vile as Otto was, his death should be grand and dramatic. No way he'd die so casually.
"Natasha, don't get ahead of yourself. Otto's not someone you can kill that easily. I'm sure his consciousness has already transferred to a new body and is bouncing around just fine."
Elias shook his head as he spoke.
"Impossible!"
Raven found it hard to believe.
No one could survive being hit twice by the Seven Thunders of Retribution—especially the second time to the head. Not even a Herrscher should survive that.
It was, after all, a Divine Key specialized in one-hit kills.
"To a fool who's survived 500 years on sheer obsession, there's no such thing as impossible."
Elias shrugged.
Clap clap clap clap clap~!
At that moment, a round of applause echoed.
A man in a purple suit, with blond hair and green eyes, stepped into view. Otto Apocalypse stared intensely at the white-haired boy ahead.
His eyes were filled with wariness, admiration, killing intent, and awe.
"Impressive as always, Elias. My friend, you really do know me well."
"You're still alive?! You were shot in the head by the Seven Thunders of Retribution—there's no way your consciousness had time to transfer!"
Raven looked like she'd seen a ghost. She glanced at the Seven Thunders of Retribution in her hands, then back at Otto. The latter merely smiled with polite elegance.
"Hehe~ Miss Raven's strike was powerful indeed. But everyone knows Otto Apocalypse is notoriously hard to kill."
"While the brain does store consciousness, I wasn't using a biological body—but a soulium machine. And my brain doesn't necessarily have to stay in the head."
"If I so choose, I can place it anywhere within the body. So even though the Seven Thunders of Retribution hit my head, it didn't hit my brain."
"As long as the core isn't directly destroyed, even if my body is reduced to atoms, I have enough time to shift my consciousness."
Otto made it sound simple, but Raven clenched her teeth in shock and frustration.
When they were still allies, this bastard had already prepared countermeasures against her.
He had casually devised a way to counter the Seven Thunders of Retribution' one-shot kill mode. And since it could only be used once in a short time, Raven now had no means of killing him a second time.
"Also, regarding this mission, I'm giving Raven a one-star review. Not only did you slack off, you actually attacked the client."
"Uh..."
Otto uncharacteristically wore a cold expression. Even with his level of scheming genius, he never expected Raven would actually shoot him!
The moment the Seven Thunders of Retribution blasted his head, he almost lost his composure and swore out loud.
Raven scratched her head awkwardly—but a second later, she didn't care. A bad review was fine. She was retiring soon anyway. Plus, this one couldn't be physically erased like in the old days.
"Enough chit-chat, Otto. Don't you think you're a little too active today? Even Welt couldn't manage this many resurrections. What is this, number... fifty?"
"Eh~ Let me think. So far, you've destroyed 99 soulium bodies today, Elias. You've killed me 99 times already—how tragic."
"Perfect. Come here and make it a nice round hundred. OCD sufferers will thank me."
Elias raised Judgment of Shamash, ready to unleash Shamash Assault and complete the legendary '100 Kills on Otto' feat.
But Otto's next words left everyone in shock.
"Kill me? Heh. Sure, our grudge runs deep—far beyond reconciliation. Elias, no... perhaps I should call you... the First Herrscher of the Void."
"!!!"
Elias' pupils contracted. Otto had figured it out.
This wasn't due to high favorability breaking system limits. Otto must have discovered hard evidence.
"What?! Elias is the Herrscher of the Void?!"
"The First Herrscher of the Void? From the Second Eruption? The one who sacrificed himself..."
"W-What is going on?!"
"If that's true, then no wonder... When Elias stood in front of that Honkai Fissile Bomb earlier, I had a strange feeling of familiarity..."
Mei, Theresa, Fu Hua and the others all showed expressions of disbelief. But instinctively, they knew Otto wasn't lying.
Yet they felt no hostility toward Elias. If anything, this revelation only added to his mysterious charm and deepened their respect.
"...How did you figure it out?"
Elias asked Otto curiously.
"You're not denying it? Well, it's simple. The resemblance between you two is uncanny. Now that I think about it, your personality and appearance are identical to the original Herrscher of the Void—only now, you're even stronger."
Otto stared at Elias, eyes filled with manic excitement, as if trying to peer into all his hidden secrets.
There were few mysteries left in the world that could intrigue him, but the boy before him was the most fascinating puzzle of all.
"Really, I should have realized it sooner. To hold multiple Herrscher Cores without backlash... in history, only the original Herrscher of the Void had accomplished such a feat."
"After all, those cores were yours to begin with. Returning to your body is like going home—why would they reject you?"
Elias gave a slight nod.
Back during the Second Eruption, he had undergone the baptism of the Will of Honkai on the moon, becoming a five-core Herrscher.
That baptism didn't just grant him four extra cores—it transformed his body into the perfect vessel for Herrscher Gems.
A body reshaped, sanctified, and blessed by god—the only one in existence capable of housing multiple Herrscher Cores without suffering any backlash.
And it wasn't limited to just five Cores.
Elias could very well host even more Herrscher Cores in the future—perhaps even all the cores from both the Previous and Current Eras!
"Herrscher of Wind, Herrscher of Fire, Herrscher of Reason... Heh, I believe you have another title!"
Otto said with absolute certainty.
Elias furrowed his brows. He hadn't used the Herrscher of Rebirth's power in front of this guy, but with Otto's intellect, he'd probably guessed that the Gem of Serenity was also with him.
Too bad this trump card was about to be exposed before he could even use it.
He had once considered letting Otto struggle to kill him just once, only to revive and surprise him for maximum impact.
And yet...
"Herrscher of Sentience! Elias, you must be the Herrscher of Sentience from the Current Era, right?!"
"???" (⊙⊙)
Elias was stunned.
"It's the only logical explanation. You never disguised your traits—same name, same appearance—and yet I never connected you to the Herrscher of the Void."
Otto raised a finger and pointed directly at Elias.
"There is only one truth!
Elias, you've awakened as the Current Era's Herrscher of Sentience! Only the power of that Herrscher, recorded in the Previous Era as the one who manipulates others' consciousness, could alter everyone's perception of you so effectively, yes?"
Otto looked supremely confident, convinced his reasoning was flawless—and he even had data to back it up.
The highest Honkai energy output observed from Elias was during his use of the Herrscher of Wind's power to blow away the fissile bomb.
A whopping 15,000 HW!
Otto had calculated that such energy could never be produced by just four Herrscher Cores.
Only a five-core Herrscher could reach that level! Meaning Elias had to be hiding another core!
And given Otto's cognition had been subtly manipulated—an unseen force preventing him from realizing Elias' connection to the Herrscher of the Void—
It was only when Elias intercepted the fissile bomb, in a pose eerily reminiscent of the original Herrscher of the Void, that the memory was triggered.
Otto reviewed old footage and was shocked to find that the two looked exactly alike.
All evidence pointed to one conclusion:
Elias must be the Herrscher of Sentience, possessing the Gem of Sentience!
"Well? Isn't my deduction airtight, Elias?"
"Ah yes, yes, you're totally right."
Elias clapped with a straight face, barely holding in his laughter. This was impressive. Tight logic, reasonable assumptions—he couldn't even find a way to deny it.
In fact, Otto's deduction might be more convincing than the actual truth: that a system was limiting everyone's perception of Elias.
Reality was indeed stranger than fiction.
No worries, let's just roll with it~
Well done, Overseer Otto. Please continue misunderstanding like this—you're doing us all a favor~
"What a shame, Elias. I truly would have loved to be friends and discuss how you survived back then. But it seems fate insists we remain enemies."
Otto put on a sorrowful expression.
By now, he was convinced Elias hadn't actually died back then.
Especially with his belief that Elias had become the Herrscher of Sentience, Otto now theorized that while Elias' body may have perished, his consciousness had been preserved by the Honkai.
Afterward, Otto theorized Elias was granted a sixth Core—the Core of Sentience—giving him a chance at new life.
After all, receiving five Herrscher Cores at once already made Elias seem like the Honkai's favored child. Adding one more wouldn't be that strange.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a true resurrection, so Otto couldn't use it as a reference for his own wish. He felt deeply regretful.
Now, with old and new grudges combined,
their positions were irrevocably opposed.
What Otto had done during the Second Eruption, and his current attack on St. Freya Academy, had placed him squarely against Elias.
Otto had decided: Elias must die.
This pure-white-haired boy was the greatest threat to his lifelong ambition. The only unpredictable, uncontrollable variable.
The boy had grown far too powerful.
Far beyond Otto's expectations.
If Elias chose to stand against him with all his strength, Otto truly had no confidence in victory.
In every confrontation so far, Otto had lost. Though mostly by his own design...
"My enemy? Heh, Otto Apocalypse, do you still think you have the strength to oppose me? Even if you poured all of Schicksal's resources into one strike, you'd still be no match."
As Elias spoke, three Herrscher powers activated.
Azure wind swirled into a cloak. Eternal flame lit his greatsword. The logic of civilization summoned a barrage of heavy artillery.
Only Kevin of World Serpent could face him head-on now. All of Otto's trump cards combined weren't enough to make Elias use two hands.
Unless Otto became a false god—a Herrscher of Binding.
"Defeat you? Oh, no no~ I know I can't. As a five-core Herrscher, you're the closest thing to Finality. Only the unrevealed leader of World Serpent could challenge you directly. But... as I said 15 years ago."
Otto looked straight at the godlike boy.
"Your radiant, shining humanity is your greatest and only weakness—one you can never fully overcome."
"Your sincere love for those around you… is exactly what allows a despicable man like me an opening."
He didn't mind degrading himself. He knew what he was about to do would strip him of any right to be called human.
He would become the most loathsome, vile devil.
Elias frowned, but didn't waver.
"You plan to repeat your trick from 15 years ago? Kidnapping people around me to threaten me? If so, you're delusional. I would never let that happen again."
His voice was firm.
Besides, Kiana and the others were no longer the helpless girls of the past. They had the strength to protect themselves, and Elias had placed his protection on each of them.
"Kidnap them? No, I wouldn't repeat that failure. This time, it's different. I believe what I have now... might be the only thing in this world that can truly hurt you."
Otto's voice turned low and demonic.
In the next moment, he snapped his fingers.
"Now—do it!"
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