The next day, Fire Moth's troops arrived in Dusk Street and arrested nearly all the criminals.
And this street, cleansed of sin beneath Elias' sea of blossoms, would likely never see redevelopment until humanity had overcome the Honkai.
"Really? That's fine too, then."
Miss Pink Elf blinked happily. Elias looked at her in puzzlement.
"Ely, why do you say that?"
"Because if it were redeveloped, the scenery you created would be destroyed. Just look at these white flowers—they're so beautiful. I love them so much."
Elysia's words carried weight, for in her imagination, paradise was always a place of flawless blossoms in full bloom.
"You like it? In that case—someone! Buy all of Dusk Street for me! Keep it exactly like this forever!"
"Waaah~ Elias, you're too good to me!"
Elysia dove into his arms with joy. Smiling, Elias raised a hand to stroke her pink hair.
Sakura, standing to the side, revealed an envious expression.
Then Elias turned toward Aponia, Kalpas, and the children from the sanatorium behind them.
"Though I can't take the children into the base, other housing has already been arranged. I asked Eden to handle their school enrollment. In a couple days, they'll all be able to attend classes. And don't worry—they won't face rejection or bullying."
Since learning about the Honkai and joining Fire Moth, Eden had devoted herself to philanthropy. She had established countless orphanages and even several schools, providing free education to children who had lost their parents to the Honkai.
If Elias was now the most renowned figure in the world, Eden was certainly the second.
And this made the number of people shipping the Elias x Eden pairing massive. Whether Elysia, Sakura, or even Mobius, none of them could compare—her fame was simply too great.
"…Thank you."
After a long silence, Kalpas finally spoke.
Those who knew his temperament were instantly dumbfounded. Feeling their gazes, Kalpas gave a snort, then boarded the aircraft without looking back.
(Was that… embarrassment?)
[Elias has unlocked the achievement: Kalpas' Gratitude.] He felt as if he had gained a rare trophy. At his side, Aponia smiled gently, then turned to instruct the children.
But just then—
"Boss! Waaah, I finally found you!"
"Hm? Pardo?"
Suddenly, a certain cat darted out of nowhere, running straight up to Elias and hugging his leg as she dropped to her knees.
Elias froze for a moment—he had nearly forgotten about the cat.
"Boss, I've turned over a new leaf! Please, for the sake of me guiding you yesterday, can't you tell your people to let me go? Waaah…" Pardo's eyes brimmed with tears.
"Something's not right. You're acting strange, Pardo." Elias ruffled the cat's head as she looked up at him.
"I understand that in a place like Dusk Street, it's nearly impossible to live as a perfectly law-abiding citizen. So I gave the order to be lenient. For small-time thieves like you, I said to let it slide."
But the gentle head-pat suddenly changed—Elias tightened his grip on her head.
"Yet here you are saying you're still going to be caught. Tell me, Pardo—what other bad things have you done?"
"Eh? N-no, I never… I only…"
"Confess honestly. Otherwise, I'll throw you into a super scary prison. Or maybe I'll split you into Pardo and Felis."
"Waaahhh! Nooo! I'll talk, I'll talk! Before, there was a Fire Moth warehouse nearby… I snuck in and, um, took some supplies. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me!!"
The cowardly cat instantly broke down in tears, spilling her crimes as she kowtowed desperately for mercy, shamelessly begging for forgiveness.
"…Impressive that you could even sneak in at all."
Elias was speechless. Fire Moth's warehouses had never had weak security—after all, most of what they stored were weapons and other critical supplies. Yet this little cat had treated their defenses as if they were nothing.
According to Pardo, she had "just walked right in." But Elias knew how absurd that really was.
(Good grief. Walked right past every camera, slipped by all the detectors, then casually typed in the password and opened the door? Even my lucky paramecium doesn't have fortune that outrageous. Pardo, your luck really is broken.)
"Forgiveness? Sure. I'll give you a chance."
"Really?! Boss, you're too kind! My gratitude to you is like—"
"Stop. No need for flattery. And don't call me Boss, it feels strange. If you don't want to be thrown in prison, then come work under me instead."
Elias squished the anchor cat's cheeks as he spoke.
"Meow-meow-meow?!"
Pardo yowled in shock.
"M-me, work under you? No way, I'm not worthy! You must be joking."
At last night's banquet, Elias had removed his mask—he couldn't eat with one on, unlike Kalpas. Seeing that now world-famous face, Pardo had nearly fainted on the spot. She had only been hoping to score some goods, and instead her luck had led her straight to the one person in the world she absolutely couldn't mess with.
And now, just when she had managed to stand up again, she dropped back to her knees.
"Please let me go, big shot! I'm just a little cat who wants to eat and nap. I can't save the world with you! Fighting the Honkai sounds dangerous enough to kill me. I don't want to die~"
Just the thought made Pardo shiver. Honkai Beasts were terrifying. She felt she couldn't even handle a mosquito, much less a Chariot-class or anything bigger.
Elias patted her head reassuringly.
"Relax. I won't send you to the battlefield. My team just needs a mascot. Think it over? The benefits are great—three meals a day, naps, and the pay is this much."
"Three… meals a day?! Isn't one a day already normal?!" Pardo's mouth watered.
In Dusk Street, "three days hungry, nine days starving" wasn't a joke. Many couldn't eat even once a day. Pardo's biggest dream in life had always been to have full meals every day—and naps on top of that.
"Of course! Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper. See? Five meals a day."
Elias spoke as if it were obvious.
Gulp!
Pardo swallowed hard, but her drool still threatened to overflow. She clutched her belly, unable to imagine the bliss of eating five times a day.
And there would be naps. And money too!
The way she looked at Elias now was no different from how a pet looked at its owner.
(Pardo: "I've wandered half my life, only regretting I never met my true master. If you won't despise me, let me swear loyalty as your foster daughter!")
"R-really, I don't have to do anything else? I mean… really just be a mascot?"
"Of course. Want a contract?"
Elias produced out of nowhere a certain paper—not a slave contract, but a pet adoption agreement. After all, who in their right mind would make a pet work? That would be animal abuse.
Fighting the Honkai was for people like him and his comrades. All this cat needed to do was nap, eat, and share a little bit of her absurd luck with him.
Honestly, Elias thought that might be more important than it sounded.
The Previous Era was now developing in perfect balance across five fronts. True, that meant the Honkai was stronger as well, but they had found a way to counter it evenly.
Whether in technology or biology, group combat or single battles, even in human morale—the Previous Era, under the brilliant leadership of Hero Elias, was developing nearly perfectly.
Even if no Herrscher ever defected, humanity would still manage. Yet… a five-sided balance was never as good as a six-sided one. And in the attribute called "luck," even Elias himself had no way to improve it.
So in the end, all he could do was recruit a mascot.
And in all the Previous Era, who could be a luckier mascot than Pardofelis? Elias had heard in his past life that as long as Pardo didn't want to die, then no one in the world could kill her.
Even if Pardo's combat strength was pathetic—probably not even able to beat Griseo—many captains believed that the reason Kevin, Dr. Mei, Mobius, and all the other Flame-Chasers existed was because the world itself was protecting this absurdly lucky cat anchor.
Cowardly though she often was, in the end Pardo truly lived up to her title as a Flame-Chaser. She gave her life to open the door for Prometheus to invade the Will of the Honkai…
(And then she died twice more just for "opening doors" in the Elysian Realm. Damn the writers!)
"Follow me, Pardo. I won't ever let you die. Even fifty thousand years from now, you'll still be alive and well—eating your fill every day, and napping every afternoon."
Elias looked at her expectantly. There were few people in the world he played favorites with—but Pardo was one of them.
"I-I agree! It's a deal, Elias boss! From now on, I'm yours. I'll follow you wherever! Hehehe, a beautiful life is calling to me!"
Pardo giggled foolishly, then scrawled her crooked name across the terms. Truthfully, she could hardly write—her name was about all she knew how to put down.
(Uh… wow, she really signed it.)
Elias' lips twitched in awkwardness.
That pet adoption agreement had been something he conjured on a whim as a joke. He hadn't expected the girl to actually sign it.
"Well… good job signing! Ahem. Anyway, let's go back to base. One super violent attacker, one top-tier support, and one max-luck mascot—our trip to Dusk Street has been nothing but profit. Big gains!"
He quickly tossed the contract into Imaginary Space, then led the group toward the transport plane.
Onboard, he explained the Meta-Morph surgery. Kalpas and Aponia agreed without hesitation. But when the word "surgery" reached Pardo's ears, the little cat shrank back in fear.
Pardo: "Uh… c-can I not do it? Just hearing 'surgery' sounds painful. I'm terrified of pain…"
Elias: "No pain at all. You just fall asleep and wake up done. And the benefits of becoming a MANTIS are huge. For example… you'll live a very, very long time. You'll get superpowers. And you'll never starve to death again."
Pardo: "I'll do it! I'll do it!"
The moment she heard the tangible benefits, her eyes lit up. Above all, the idea of never starving again was irresistible.
After all, plenty of cats had starved to death in Dusk Street. Even though Elias promised she'd never go hungry in her life again, Pardo felt one more insurance policy wouldn't hurt.
And superpowers plus long life? For a greedy little cat like her, how could she possibly turn that down?
When the plane landed and they returned to Fire Moth, Mobius had already prepared the surgical equipment.
"So these are people you personally brought back, Elias. I'm curious—what genes will they be matched with?"
"An Emperor-class beast, Asura; another Emperor-class, Mitra; and a lesser cat-type Honkai Beast."
"…Tch. You some kind of prophet? You got every single one right."
Mobius was surprised at the genetic match results. She skipped over Pardo entirely and instead stared in shock at Kalpas and Aponia. The Honkai Beasts they matched with were remarkable.
Asura was an Emperor-class Honkai Beast that appeared in the Far East. Though only an Emperor-class, its destruction exceeded even a Judgment-level, burning nearly half the Far East to ashes.
Before it died, it had even spoken, declaring its name as [Asura]. Sakura was the one who had slain it—Elias could still recall the girl's icy blade cleaving Asura in two.
As for [Mitra], it was a spiritual-type Emperor-class in the form of a giant butterfly, killed by Kevin.
As for Pardo, she matched with a cat-type Honkai Beast, a low-level variant with all its stats dumped into agility. But its speed was impressive—fast enough that, in the Current Era, it could probably go toe-to-toe with an S-rank Valkyrie.
(Looking at you, Rita—can't believe you actually lost to a stray cat…)
Thanks to Elias' intervention, the three all became fusion warriors earlier than expected. Along with the first operation, they underwent the secondary procedure as well, directly gaining the ability of artificial cascade.
And it was then that Kalpas' unusual body was discovered.
Mobius nearly dropped her scalpel during surgery—inside Kalpas were two hearts.
For a moment, the snake had to restrain the urge to remove one.
"Fascinating! Elias, where did you find this oddity? This Kalpas fellow may look human, but his genes are completely different. Is he some kind of alien?!"
"Hehe. St. Freya Academy breeds talent, and Dusk Street produces heroes. Don't worry—Kalpas is harmless."
"…With that destructive power, you dare say harmless." Mobius' lips twitched as she looked around at the wrecked training room.
Right after the Meta-Morph surgery, Kalpas had immediately challenged Elias to a fight. Their battle nearly leveled the entire Fire Moth base.
Mobius muttered that even if the two fought at sea, she would still worry their flames might evaporate the ocean itself. They were monsters, plain and simple.
Yet her shock was premature. After Aponia's surgery, she inevitably gained the ability of [Discipline].
It was more terrifying than a certain ultimate siscon's Geass. She could command absolute obedience with a single word—her chosen keyword being "Please."
Now, Fire Moth had no way to restrain her. No—at the moment she acquired [Discipline], in all matters involving people, she had become invincible.
If she ever chose to destroy humanity, she could likely do so more easily than a Herrscher. Fortunately, Aponia's nature was that of a compassionate nun, without the slightest thought of such a path.
And [Discipline] was only part of her power.
"I can already… see the future."
Aponia's calm words stunned everyone except Elias.
Mitra itself did not possess foresight, but its Meta-Morph ICHOR had made Aponia a psychic-type MANTIS. Her ability to perceive the threads of fate had been enhanced.
She could not yet see everything in perfect detail, nor hold the script of destiny outright—but even what she had was overwhelming.
"Fine. I take back what I said. You're Aponia, right? Compared to those two… you're the real monster here."
Cold sweat ran down Mobius' forehead. She glanced uneasily at her own hands, half disbelieving she had created this.
A mix of excitement and fear filled her heart. Her first impulse was to kill Aponia immediately—the woman was simply too dangerous.
But Aponia, as if reading her thoughts, smiled and shook her head, assuring them she was not invincible.
"Please don't worry. I will never stand against humanity. I too long to defeat the Honkai—to change our doomed fate. And… there are two people who need never fear my [Discipline]."
Her gaze softened as it fell upon Elias and Elysia. In her heart, she recited the final verses of the nursery rhyme that the Fire Moth high council so feared.
"One day, they fell from the sky."
"People lifted their heads, and so they saw the stars."
"The moon and stars sent down God's daughter, who chose to become mankind's companion."
"The world sent down a boy from another realm, who shall become humanity's savior."