Although Elias did intend to release them.
But how could he possibly hand them over so easily?
He had painstakingly captured each and every one of them alive.
If he didn't make Otto cough up a few liters of blood, it would be strange for someone with Elias' temperament to let the matter rest.
Elias: "Besides, I can't keep spending my Eden's money all the time. As a man, I should earn money to support the family—even if it's only 150 billion."
Though it was just some "small change."
After all, the unit in a certain songstress' bank account had already broken into the trillions. Even if 150 billion fell onto the ground, whether Eden would bother bending down to pick it up was another question entirely.
But as the saying goes, what should be taken must be taken.
And just imagining the expression on Otto's face at this very moment made Elias' mood brighten even further.
...
Inside Schicksal Headquarters.
"150 billion? Why doesn't this man just go rob a bank! No, wait, it seems no bank even has that much money. Damn it... this is troublesome."
Otto stared at the email with an ugly expression.
First of all, refusing the deal was not an option.
Schicksal was currently in a severe shortage of combat strength. C-rank Valkyries aside, losing so many B-rank and A-rank Valkyries was genuinely fatal—let alone important quasi-S-rank figures like Theresa and Cecilia.
Money could be earned again. But if this batch of high-end combat power was gone, Schicksal's overall strength would drop by several tiers. No matter how vast Schicksal's foundation was, it could not withstand that kind of blow.
It was already beyond what Otto could bear.
But to actually pay...
Schicksal truly did not have that much liquid capital at the moment.
"This is already on the level of a national budget. Schicksal alone can't afford it. Tsk... no choice. I'll have to request funding from the United Nations. But dealing with that bunch of old foxes gives me a headache just thinking about it."
Otto pressed his temple in frustration, though his soulium body had no need for such a gesture.
In truth, he very much wanted to make a partial purchase—redeem only the A-rank and B-rank Valkyries, along with Cecilia and Theresa. But if he did that, the impact would be unimaginable.
The morale of all Valkyries would suffer a devastating blow. Their loyalty would never be as firm as it was now.
"Ah..."
Otto let out a long sigh. Staring at the Honkai Fissile Bomb launch button before him, he hesitated for a moment before ultimately abandoning the impulse to fire a missile and reduce Elias—along with the captured Valkyries—to ashes.
After that, the Archbishop of Schicksal scraped together funds from everywhere. Yet he was still short of the required amount.
Otto: "Guh! It's really gone. Not a single drop left! No... wait, I still have..."
He suddenly remembered a hidden reserve fund.
It was the development budget for the sequel to Kallen Fantasy.
"..."
Otto stared at the encrypted funding key in his hand. His heart was bleeding. Heaven knew how difficult it was to pry money out of Amber's hands. Even as Archbishop, it felt like ascending to the heavens.
That meticulous modified secretary was excessively serious. Even in front of Otto, she showed proper respect—but any assigned work was supervised and executed with absolute rigor.
The key issue was that Otto had brought this upon himself.
Amber was an artificial being he had created in his attempt to revive Kallen. She bore Kallen's face.
And in front of that face, Otto always found himself at a disadvantage. In simple terms—he was restrained.
After hesitating for a long time, Otto ultimately decided that the funds for the Kallen Fantasy sequel would not be handed over.
As for the remaining shortfall...
Otto: "Forget it. I'll shut down one or two branches. Sell off a couple with poor performance."
At that moment, Elias had no idea that he had nearly altered the original course of fate.
Because... Otto had almost decided to cut the Babylon Labs and the Oceania Branch.
The former was the place destined for him to become the Herrscher of the Void.
The latter was where Wendy would undergo the artificial Herrscher experiment.
...
"It really came through. Not bad, not bad."
Elias looked at the newly arrived funds in his account, his mood bright.
He was even considering what would happen if he simply breached the contract and refused to return the people. Just how furious would Otto become?
If he could anger that soulium man to death even once, it would probably unlock some remarkable achievement.
But unfortunately, he couldn't do that.
To ensure that subsequent history unfolded normally and that the future was not drastically altered, Schicksal still had to exist for now.
He could wound it badly—but he couldn't destroy it outright.
"As expected of the Lord. With this, Schicksal has suffered grievous losses. Its momentum is greatly diminished, and it will be difficult to recover in the short term. With Anti-Entropy acting as a check, our World Serpent can accelerate its development in the shadows."
Gray Serpent spoke with a face full of reverence.
Looking at the white-haired youth seated upon the throne—who had single-handedly suppressed the strongest force of this era—his admiration surged endlessly like a torrential river.
Ever since Elias had pulled him from the disposal pool fifty thousand years ago, Gray Serpent's fanatic devotion had only deepened—especially after learning of Elias' reincarnation.
He no longer regarded him as a god.
But as something beyond that.
The Flame-Chaser before him—the savior—was Gray Serpent's faith.
"Mm. Develop well. By the way, here's some information I brought back from the future—about a few promising individuals."
"Yes! I will recruit them immediately!"
"Mm. You may go."
Elias spoke only briefly. In truth, the necessity wasn't that great.
With absolute strength in hand, the power of an organization was almost optional to him.
When one was strong enough—so strong that all others could only gaze up in awe—one could afford to disregard factions entirely.
Thus, for Elias, building a force was less about augmenting his power and more about alleviating loneliness—and giving himself a place to belong.
The base fell silent for a moment. Yet Gray Serpent did not immediately withdraw. After hesitating briefly, he spoke.
"Lord, forgive my boldness in asking."
"What is it?"
"Have you truly given up on Lady Cecilia Schariac? With your strength, I believe you could have simply taken her by force..."
"Heh. Gray Serpent, you don't understand romance. Perhaps in the future you should try dating a mechanical girlfriend. And of course I haven't given up on Cecilia. It's just that... right now, she needs some time to lose herself in confusion and struggle."
Elias idly played with the mask he had worn for the past week, recalling the seven days he had spent with Cecilia. Though only a few hours had passed since their parting, he was already beginning to miss her.
At that, he could only laugh helplessly. He had grown accustomed to death, to pain, to endless reincarnation—yet he could never grow used to tragedy, nor to partings like this.
But many things only reveal their importance after you let go.
And love was something even more complicated.
Elias was certain that his love was beautiful—flawless and pure. Anyone loved by him would be happy. Of this, the girls of Elysian Realm and St. Freya Academy would readily testify.
But what of it?
No matter how beautiful love was, it still depended on whether the girl was willing to accept it. Cecilia had already fallen in love with him, yet she had not taken that final step.
(Emmm... come to think of it, this really does feel like my first proper relationship. The others were all too easy... practically throwing themselves at me.)
The corners of Elias' lips curled upward as he recalled Elysia's indignant, puffed-up expression from earlier.
The travel route for his dates with Cecilia over these days had been designed by a certain pink Miss Pink Elf.
Of course, she had not done so willingly. It had all been a wonderful misunderstanding. Elysia had assumed Elias intended to go on a date with her, and so she had enthusiastically crafted an entire romantic travel plan.
Only after finishing did she discover that this time, she had no role to play. She was not the heroine.
Thus, watching Elias and Cecilia happily follow the itinerary she had painstakingly designed, the pink Miss Pink Elf had thrown a tearful tantrum—rolling around, wailing, pitiful beyond words.
"It seems I'll have to spend quite some time compensating Ely. And Eden, Mobius, Vill-V, and the others as well. After all, once this time travel ends, the next time we meet will be twenty-three years in the future."
Looking at the 150 billion in his account, Elias instructed Gray Serpent to use a discreet channel so that a certain dog Archbishop would not discover it, and transfer all the money into Eden's card.
"Since Eden says her money is my money, then naturally, my money is hers as well. Though it's only a mere 150 billion."
To the Flame-Chaser bearing the Signet of [Gold], such an amount merely added a small stream to her ocean-like wealth.
Still, it was Elias' gesture.
To those who treated him well, he would respond with everything he had.
His gaze then shifted toward the distant Schicksal Floating Island. Raising a hand, he touched his lips. It seemed the taste of the white-haired girl's first kiss still lingered there.
Though Cecilia believed she had not given him enough in return, Elias felt he had already gained much. After all, in a journey for two, happiness was not felt by only one person.
Those seven days were treasures just as precious to him. He would never forget them.
And so...
"Cecilia, I won't let you escape."
If he desired something, he would claim it.
Elias would never release the one he loved. His love was not only gentle—it also possessed an overbearing, unstoppable side.
...
Ten days later.
Schicksal Floating Island Headquarters.
Cecilia lay sprawled over her desk, her gaze vacant as she watched grains of sand fall through an hourglass. If she simply flipped it over, the sand would flow back again.
But time could not be manipulated so easily.
The hourglass was one of Elias' gifts.
Cecilia lifted a hand to her lips, feeling that the return gift she had given him back then was far too little. How could a single first kiss repay a week of such happiness?
She had gained an enormous advantage.
Yet if possible, she did not want to merely receive. She wanted to grant Elias an equal happiness in return.
Ever since leaving you, it feels like something inside my chest is missing. No matter what I do, I can't fill this emptiness. Elias... I miss you so much.
Cecilia hugged the prize they had won together at a shooting game in the amusement park—a Homu doll.
Burying her delicate face into the plush toy, two crystalline tears welled at the corners of her eyes. Before they could fall, they were absorbed into the fabric.
Though Cecilia had left Elias' side,
She had left her heart with him.
Ten days had passed since their parting, yet time had lost its meaning for Cecilia. Her time had frozen on the day she separated from him.
Now, whenever she closed her eyes, memories surfaced unbidden. She immersed herself in recollections of him, asking herself the same question hundreds upon hundreds of times.
"If back then, I had accepted Elias' invitation—if I had taken his hand... how would things have turned out?"
There was no need to think.
Surely that happiness would have continued.
Surely she would not be left with only memories like now.
But...
"It's enough. I'm already satisfied."
Cecilia clenched her hands tightly. At least she still had her memories.
She had obtained something she would never forget. She could still recall every minute and second of those seven days, and the white-haired boy's face and smile at the very end.
Cecilia looked at her terminal. It was filled with photographs of their time together. The girl in those photos looked completely different from the one she now saw in the mirror.
She had never known she could smile like that.
Yet after leaving Elias, Cecilia realized she had forgotten how to smile again.
"I truly regret it. At the very end, I didn't take a picture of you. But it doesn't matter, because... I will never forget what you look like, Elias."
Cecilia spoke with unwavering resolve.
Even if all other memories blurred and faded, she would never forget his face.
She rose, picked up her weapon, and walked toward the training grounds. Unlike before—when she had been like a puppet carrying out orders without purpose—
Now, there was a clear goal in Cecilia's eyes.
To meet Elias again.
She had already broken her promises to him twice. But this promise of reunion—she would never fail it. This was the absolute bottom line she had set for herself.
And so, since returning that day, aside from immersing herself in memories of the white-haired boy, Cecilia devoted all her time to training and research.
As long as she became an S-rank Valkyrie and successfully replicated and mass-produced the Schariac Holy Blood, she would be granted freedom.
What Cecilia did not yet know—
Was that their reunion would arrive far sooner than she imagined.
And that a certain Archbishop could be far more inhuman than she had ever expected.