"Otto, have you prepared yourself to repent!"
When Elias spoke those words, the one who reacted most strongly was neither Otto nor anyone else present.
It was a golden Divine Key.
The Void Archives in Otto's hand trembled slightly. The golden light of the cube flickered on and off, like a heart pounding in nervous terror.
[No way, no way... but that tone, those words, that power... Otto! You idiot! If you still want to live, then kneel down right now and beg this Lord for forgiveness!]
"Void Archives, what are you talking about?"
Otto stared at the golden cube in shock. It had been five hundred years since he obtained this Divine Key, yet he had never seen Void Archives so flustered.
That fear—like encountering a natural predator—even he could feel it clearly.
And as intelligent as he was, he made a judgment in an instant.
To make a Divine Key from the Previous Era react like a turtle thrown into boiling water, shrinking in panic and terror—
Could this white-clad youth before him also be from the Previous Era? And moreover... did he have a close relationship with Void Archives, or rather, with the Divine Keys themselves?
[Idiot, idiot! You absolute idiot! Otto Apocalypse, you are committing the greatest stupidity of your entire life!]
Void Archives spoke in frantic alarm.
"That is rather an exaggerated claim. The greatest stupidity of my life was five hundred years ago, when I allowed Kallen—"
[Stop going on and on about Kallen, you pathetic lovesick fool! You have no idea how serious this is. You don't even realize you're doing something more foolish than getting that saintess killed! And that is—making an enemy of this Lord!]
If Void Archives had hands, it would have grabbed Otto by the collar, shaken him violently, and slapped him a few times to make this self-righteous clown understand his stupidity.
It had already shut down all of his permissions, refusing to allow him to use any of its abilities.
"Void Archives, it has been a long time," Elias said calmly as he looked at it.
[Yes. The First Divine Key—Void Archives—offers you its highest respect, great Lord Savior.]
"I have no need for your respect. You are merely my weapon. Do not forget what you are."
[...My deepest apologies. I have overstepped.]
Listening to their exchange, Otto sucked in a sharp breath.
His pupils trembled as he looked at Elias. The fool's entire body began to shake uncontrollably.
In that instant, he understood exactly who he was standing against.
(Savior? The Savior of the Previous Era! He's the man recorded in Void Archives' archives? The Flame-Chaser who led the last civilization to a flawless victory against the Honkai? This living myth is standing right in front of me?!)
At that moment, Otto felt his limbs go weak. Precisely because he possessed Void Archives, which contained all records of the Previous Era, he understood better than anyone the terror of that age.
Emperor-class Honkai Beasts were as common as stray dogs. Judgment-class roamed everywhere.
Vipralopa-class Honkai Beasts—creatures never even seen in the Current Era aside from special cases like Vishnu—appeared every few days. There had even been Planet-class Honkai Beast.
Even the Herrschers born under such overwhelming Honkai intensity were undoubtedly far stronger than those of the Current Era.
And yet, in such a despair-inducing age, everything had been overturned by a single individual.
According to Void Archives' records, under the leadership of that Savior Flame-Chaser, from the first Honkai Eruption to the final battle against the Cocoon of Finality, the total number of human casualties caused by the Honkai throughout the entire civilization had not exceeded one hundred.
Such an achievement was nothing short of fantasy. Otto could scarcely imagine how such a feat had even been accomplished.
The Honkai intensity of the Current Era was far weaker than that of the Previous Era, yet even a single high-tier Honkai Beast could cause more than a hundred deaths.
What a ridiculous and absurd comparison. They had fought through an entire era and lost fewer lives than that.
In the past, Otto had often imagined what kind of majestic figure the Savior Flame-Chaser must have been.
And now he was facing that very majesty.
Even opposing it.
(Ah... to think I am standing against such a monstrous existence. Heh. This truly is terrible. After all, even becoming an enemy of the entire world—or of Finality itself—might be easier than becoming the enemy of this Savior.)
At that moment, Cecilia, the Snowwolf Squad, Theresa, and the surrounding Valkyries had all heard the exchange. Their eyes widened in astonishment. Most of them knew nothing of the Previous Era, but... it sounded overwhelmingly formidable.
And those who did know of that era—
Not one of them looked at Elias without reverence.
"I never expected this. Truly, I never did. I made many guesses about your identity, but I never imagined you would be the Savior of the Previous Era. Heh. For such a Savior to grace us with his presence—it truly brings glory to my humble Schicksal."
Otto placed a hand over his chest and gave a hypocritically respectful bow.
"Put away that false face of yours. I have already said it, Otto Apocalypse. I am here to make you repent."
"Very well. Then may I ask whether the great Lord Savior requires me to kneel immediately and weep bitterly? Heh. Very well, enough jokes."
A flash of cold ruthlessness passed through Otto's eyes. So what if he was the Savior of the Previous Era? It was already too late. He had completely placed himself on the opposite side.
For his own selfish desire, he had tried to force the girl this Savior loved into a marriage she did not want. He had even led troops to attack her and her squad.
If he put himself in the other's position—if Cecilia were replaced with Kallen—Otto would undoubtedly torture the perpetrator until they begged for death.
Yet he still asked with a one-in-a-million sliver of hope.
"If I were to concede now, would you—"
"No forgiveness."
Before Otto could finish speaking, Elias coldly cut him off, leaving him with no possibility of reprieve or leniency.
"I see. What a pity. In that case, allow me to struggle a little. Since you have stepped onto Schicksal's territory, even a Savior will not leave unscathed."
Since he was already an enemy, then whether this man was a living myth or a legend—
Otto had only one choice.
To kill him.
For the sake of his long-cherished wish remaining untouched by anyone.
Moreover, Otto was astonished to discover that his blood was actually beginning to boil. Perhaps it was because he had been the Overseer of Schicksal for too long. It had been hundreds of years since he had last stood as the challenger.
At that moment, Void Archives was trembling in fear. For the first time, it truly understood what it meant—ignorance breeds fearlessness.
Its records of Elias contained only battle results. Those pale lines of text could not display even one ten-thousandth of the Savior Flame-Chaser's true power and terror.
And that was precisely what had given Otto the inexplicable confidence that he could stand against him.
"Make an enemy of you? Laughable. You are no longer worthy."
Elias looked down at Otto from above.
Long before he had traveled back in time to the Previous Era, this man had already been defeated by his hand. And now—
The gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.
The most cunning, dangerous, and mad fool in this world was no longer someone Elias even bothered to regard. No matter what schemes or tricks he employed, absolute power would shatter them all.
"No matter how cunning or dangerous one's nature may be, the ignorant are always foolish. They believe their opponent exists within the boundaries of their imagination, never realizing how impoverished that imagination truly is."
"How arrogant. All units, attack!"
At Otto's command, the Valkyries and soulium puppets immediately launched their assault toward Elias.
Of course, Otto had never expected these forces to defeat the legendary Savior Flame-Chaser. At best, they might drain a bit of his Honkai energy and allow him to observe his techniques.
However—
"I once seized the divine battle boots, trod upon gravity as bedrock, shattered heaven and earth. King of Destruction—Suppress."
Facing the massed Valkyries and soulium puppets, Elias merely lifted his right foot and brought it down lightly upon the ground.
In an instant, violent gravity descended.
Gravity as heavy as mountains crushed down upon everyone. The soulium puppets were instantly compressed and shattered. The Valkyries were forced to their knees, utterly unable to move.
Under such overwhelming gravitational force, without Elias' permission, no one had the right to stand. He could impose gravity thousands of times stronger at will. Blood within the human body would be forced downward, unable to circulate.
If they wished to avoid catastrophic cerebral ischemia, they had no choice but to kneel.
Yet life and death still rested entirely in Elias' hands.
With a mere thought, he could flatten their flesh and bones thinner than paper.
"What a... monster!!"
Even Otto could not help but curse aloud.
Compared to Elias' control over gravity, Welt's gravity felt as gentle as a massage.
With just this single move, Otto was already nearly stripped of his ability to resist. After all, there was no weapon or method in this world capable of defending against gravity itself. He watched as his own body was gradually compressed.
Clenching his teeth, he made his decision.
"Honkai Fissile Bombs—fire!!"
The Schicksal arsenal nearby received the command and immediately launched every Honkai Fissile Bomb in its inventory. Their target was none other than Elias, standing within Schicksal Headquarters.
Once again, Otto displayed his ruthlessness.
To defeat Elias, he was willing to sacrifice Schicksal Headquarters itself. He intended to bury the entire floating island—and all the Valkyries present—with Elias.
"With an entire floating island and so many beautiful Valkyries accompanying you on your final journey, surely the great Savior will be pleased. But I am not certain the fissile bombs alone will suffice. Let us add a little more firepower."
As he spoke, Otto issued another command.
All missiles, fissile bombs—even nuclear warheads within the floating island—were set to self-detonate. He had transformed the entirety of Schicksal Headquarters into a colossal bomb ticking down to destruction.
The resulting explosion would likely be powerful enough to obliterate a small nation in an instant.
(This should kill him. Even if it succeeds, I will likely need to lie low and rebuild for quite some time. Fortunately, I still have spare soulium bodies in several branches.)
Yet just as Otto prepared to use this soulium body to witness the largest firework in history—and the fall of a myth—
"You want to flip the table and self-destruct? Did I approve?"
A deep green light flashed in Elias' eyes.
In the next moment, the countdown within Schicksal Headquarters halted.
Under the authority of erosion, the entirety of Schicksal's system had already become his possession.
At that very moment, the Honkai Fissile Bombs entered his field of vision. A faint smile curved his lips. Seeing these things again stirred not the slightest ripple in his heart.
Still, just as he had done twice before, he rose into the sky and charged directly toward them.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!
Countless explosions erupted.
The Valkyries on the floating island felt as if their eardrums were about to shatter. The shockwaves spreading outward even stirred a tsunami across the Mediterranean Sea.
"Elias!!"
Cecilia cried out the white-haired youth's name. The faces of the Snowwolf Squad and Theresa turned pale.
Everyone present stared fixedly at the sky, filled with flames and black smoke. Otto widened his eyes as well. He had to see Elias' fall with his own eyes to feel at ease.
And then—
Six pure white wings emerged from the smoke.
With a single gentle beat, all the smoke was dispersed. What appeared before them next was the most exalted and sacred figure in this world.
"Heaven Devourer of Ten Thousand Beasts—descend upon this body."
"Above heaven and below heaven, I alone stand supreme."
"At the end of [Reverse God], fall—and become divine."
Golden dragon horns crowned him like a sovereign's diadem. Crimson-gold flames ignited amid his snow-white hair. His ears lengthened into elegant elven points. White Honkai Beast exoskeleton formed a holy armor, encasing his noble form.
Upon each of the six wings—angelic in appearance—two differently colored gemstones were embedded, symbolizing the twelve Herrscher authorities he commanded.
If there was a single flaw in this [Reverse God] form, it was the divine halo suspended behind him. It rotated slowly, releasing prismatic Honkai radiance that formed an aurora.
Because his pseudo-divine authority was incomplete, the golden Imaginary halo was covered in fine cracks.
Though still exquisite and sacred, it was like a flaw upon a perfect work of art—something that stirred regret.
Yet appearance was secondary.
The moment Elias unleashed [Reverse God], everyone felt as though a deity had descended. Absolute power swept away all despair and crisis.
"Do you still wish to defy me, Otto?"
"..."
Gazing up at that impossibly perfect figure, Otto felt a profound sense of powerlessness.
The Honkai Fissile Bombs—his ultimate trump card for flipping the table—had failed to leave even the slightest scratch upon Elias.
They had not even singed a single strand of his hair.
How was this supposed to be played?!