"Then I suppose this counts as my victory~"
Rita carried her war scythe as she walked step by step toward Mei. Against an opponent who could not even think, no matter how powerful her authority was, she would not be able to block Rita's attacks.
At this moment, Mei had already fallen into complete chaos. Forget thinking—she could not even focus her eyes on Rita's figure.
After all, even if the eyes could see the target, if the brain could not process the signals, it was no different from being blind.
However, just as Rita was about to rest the scythe against the "rice cooker"'s shoulder to declare her victory—
"Thousandfold Lightning!"
"Oh my?"
Countless bolts of lightning gathered around Mei. Subspace Lances revolved around her like gears, while an electromagnetic field and an imaginary barrier layered together in defense.
Rita halted her steps, understanding the girl's approach.
Although her ability to think had been thrown into disorder, she had still managed to resist through pure instinct. Everyone present could not help but marvel at how tenacious the Thunder Queen truly was.
Since chaotic thoughts made it impossible to lock onto a target, she simply chose not to lock on at all. Mei unleashed her authority at full power around herself. Even in her current state, it would be difficult for Rita to approach and break through.
But...
Difficult to break did not mean impossible to break.
"There are quite a few options. Should I spend a few minutes dismantling your authority piece by piece? Or directly activate Artificial Cascade and crush through it in an instant? Or perhaps..."
Rita hesitated over which card to use. She was no longer who she once was. She could now calmly deal with difficulties that had once left her powerless—and maintain elegance throughout.
"Though what a pity. As expected, Herrschers really are special. If my opponent were slightly weaker, I could simply seize control of her consciousness. That would be much easier."
In the end, Rita raised her scythe, preparing to adopt the first strategy. Though time-consuming and troublesome, it would allow her to conceal more of her trump cards.
After all, besides Mei, there were still many love rivals. It was better to keep a few tricks hidden.
However, Elias suddenly clapped his hands to stop them.
"Alright, alright~ we'll count this round as Rita's win. Hurry and put away your domain. Even I'm starting to feel a little dizzy."
"Hehe, Lord Elias, you jest."
Rita glanced at the women standing beside Elias and could not help but sigh inwardly at how utterly extraordinary a Chimera was. Not only could he easily resist mental disorder, he could even shield others from its effects.
But that was only natural.
Although the Asmodeus she had fused with was powerful, it was ultimately just a Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast.
The person before her, however, was a Chimera who treated Vipralopa-class Honkai Beasts as food.
Psychic Honkai Beasts were rare, but Elias had likely devoured hundreds, perhaps even thousands of them—such as that Vipralopa-class psychic Honkai Beast known as Nine-Tails.
In short, all of Elias' resistances were maxed out. A Chimera MANTIS had no weaknesses.
"Ugh... I lost, huh?"
After regaining clarity, Mei became a little depressed.
To be countered and crushed by someone she had once casually overwhelmed—now that the roles were reversed, her mood could hardly be good.
"That mental disruption field is too unfair. With only my authority, I really can't deal with it... sigh." Mei let out a breath, feeling the same helplessness she once felt when facing that flat-chested immortal.
"Hm? Mei, what are you talking about?" Elias tilted his head, wearing an expression as though he had just heard a bad joke. "Wait... don't tell me you truly think you're out of options?"
"Elias, you mean..."
"Honestly, I didn't expect my Mei to be a little fool too. You're still the one who restrains Rita the most, yet you didn't realize the correct way to fight?"
"Elias, teach me!"
In a flash, Mei appeared beside him, grasping his hand with blazing eyes. She was not someone who accepted defeat easily.
Rita raised a brow and walked over as well, saying she wanted to listen too. She felt nearly invincible right now—but if there were weaknesses, she wanted to know them.
"Fine. It's actually very simple. Against opponents who rely on frontal combat, Rita is basically invincible now. Let me think... Kiana has almost no chance of winning. Ana might have a thirty percent chance. Mei, you should have had a guaranteed win."
Unfortunately, you chose the reckless approach and handed it away.
Elias sighed, thinking that perhaps he had been too reliable. Without the hardships of the original timeline, the girls lacked certain tempering. In battle, they still seemed rather inexperienced.
But he did not regret it. He could teach them the missing combat skills himself. There was no need to pay for growth with pain.
"Ahem. First of all, you completely failed to make proper use of the Herrscher of the Void's authority. The best method is to deploy imaginary portals across the entire battlefield the instant the fight begins."
"What? The instant the fight begins?"
"That's right. That way, if you encounter an unfavorable opponent, you can immediately create distance or retreat. It's extremely important. After all, as long as the green hills remain, there will be firewood."
Although Elias was now nearly invincible, he still habitually deployed numerous invisible spatial portals the moment a battle started, allowing him to adjust tactics at any time.
"Secondly, stop thinking about clashing head-on all the time. We're Herrschers—we're mages! Only when your MP runs out does a mage pick up a staff and fight in melee. Understand?"
"Uh..."
Mei awkwardly hugged her sword. She had almost retorted that Elias also enjoyed close combat—but then remembered he was not only a Herrscher, but also a fusion warrior.
"In the end, if Rita's domain only covers one thousand meters, then just stay beyond one thousand meters and bombard her from range. The Herrscher of Thunder's attack range ranks among the top of all Herrschers. Forget one thousand meters—even ten thousand meters is nothing."
Elias stared at Mei with half-lidded eyes.
Originally, standing tens of thousands of meters away and smiting the enemy with majestic divine thunder was the proper way to use the Herrscher of Thunder.
Instead, Mei had twisted that authority. Lightning was the arrow of the gods, yet she was using those arrows for close combat. It was utterly backwards...
"And now that you possess the Herrscher of the Void's authority as well, even if you stood on the other side of the planet, in theory you could still hit Rita. You abandoned your absolute advantage yourself."
"Uh..." x2
Mei and Rita froze on the spot. One had finally realized she had been using her authority the wrong way, while the other realized she was not as invincible as she had imagined.
To be fair, if Mei had fought her using that method, Rita discovered she truly would have had no solution. Even activating Artificial Cascade would not have changed the outcome.
"Lastly, let Teacher Elias teach you one ultimate move."
As he spoke, Elias instantly changed into a teacher's suit and glasses. Under Student Mei's expectant gaze, the ultimate lesson began.
"As long as you master the Herrscher of the Void's authority properly, you may not be invincible—but it certainly won't be easy to lose. And if you develop it to its limit... nearly any enemy can be instantly killed."
Elias snapped his fingers. The next second, from tens of thousands of kilometers away, he teleported over a newly born Emperor-class Honkai Beast—Parvati.
"Roarrrrr——!"
Though it had no idea why it had appeared here, Parvati immediately followed its instincts and prepared to attack.
"Watch closely, Mei. The Herrscher of the Void's authority... used in its most efficient and unsolvable way."
Elias snapped his fingers again.
"Roar... ro—"
In the next instant, Parvati stopped moving. Three Subspace Lances had appeared inside its body without warning. There had been no visible launching process—they simply manifested and pierced straight through it.
"Th-This is?!"
Cold sweat broke out on Mei, Rita, and everyone present.
They had not even seen what Elias had done. Their gazes had never shifted away, yet none of them had noticed how Parvati had been pierced.
Only Mei, as the Herrscher of the Void, caught that faint spatial fluctuation. Goosebumps rose all over her body.
"Elias... did you just teleport the lances directly into the Honkai Beast's body?"
"That's right. There is no concept of acceleration or hitting the target. As long as my eyes can see the enemy—no, as long as I can sense the enemy's location—I can teleport the Subspace Lance... directly into the enemy's heart."
To teleport death itself into the enemy's body.
Unavoidable. Undefendable. Untreatable.
An utterly unreasonable absolute kill. No matter how refined the enemy's techniques were, no matter how sturdy their armor, it meant nothing.
If there was a flaw, it was only that battles would become far too boring.
"That's incredible... it can be used like that?"
Mei inhaled sharply, her body turning cold. She felt the overwhelming gap in experience. Though they both possessed the Herrscher of the Void's authority, she was far too immature compared to Elias.
Such a technique must have been honed through countless battles. Mei attempted to replicate it on Parvati's corpse, only to discover she could barely reproduce it.
Teleporting a Subspace Lance into a living body was unimaginably difficult. Mei would need extensive practice.
"Well~ it's not absolutely invincible. Against enemies like Shesha who can revive, or opponents like the Herrscher of Finality protected by Finality's power, this move wouldn't be as effective."
But in other words, aside from such exceptions, it was nearly unbeatable—unless the opponent was some kind of incorporeal ghost.
"As expected of Lord Elias. But may Rita also request a little guidance?"
"Me too, me too! Elias, teach me as well!"
"Could my Rimestar authority also have more applications? Please guide me too!"
The girls immediately crowded around, their eyes sparkling as they asked for instruction.
Elias possessed every ability they had. With his personality, he would undoubtedly push every power to its absolute limit.
And based on their absolute trust in him, they instinctively believed his combat style to be the optimal solution.
If there were answers to copy, why think for themselves?
Elias did not refuse. He poured out all the authority applications and combat techniques he had figured out. From his perspective, his girls were still too weak.
As for the idea that teaching disciples would starve the master—for a Chimera who could grow infinitely and one who bore the mark of [Palatinus], that was nothing more than needless worry.
Elias: "To borrow a certain show-off's words—my evolution is faster than light."
...
Under Instructor Elias' guidance, Kiana and the others rapidly increased in strength. Soon, even the Flame-Chasers felt immense pressure and began pushing themselves harder as well.
But in the current version, the one who had grown the most was still the so-called "Herrscher of Desire"—Rita Rossweisse. This perfect maid had upgraded both her hardware and software by several tiers.
Especially in terms of personal charm.
In the current Valkyrie dormitory, the only one who could surpass Rita in bust size was Aponia, the so-called "pure nun." However, although the airheaded nun had ample hardware, her software—and knowledge—were lacking.
After fusing with Asmodeus' Meta-Morph factor, every movement Rita made was brimming with seductive aura. Elias had been completely immersed in maid indulgence lately, leaving the others thoroughly envious.
"Protest! Rita needs a nerf!"
"A succubus maid is too overpowered!"
"Where's Aponia? Hurry and impose a no-lewdness Discipline on this maid!"
"That's right! Rita must be banned!"
In the end, even Elias felt this was not quite right.
After all, monopolizing the feast would inevitably draw aggro—especially in a dormitory. And even if the others did not protest, doing this every night placed enormous strain on Rita.
This maid, who normally maintained perfect discipline and routine, had been unable to wake early for an entire week.
Seeing Rita roll her eyes back and tremble each time left Elias both tender and guilty.
Rita: "No! I can still continue. Lord Elias, please do not hold back out of pity!"
Mei: "That's too much! We've already let you monopolize him for a whole week! We're starving too!"
Elias: "Emmm... in that case... how about all of you at once? You're all pretty inexperienced anyway."
The girls: "..."
Thus, that very night, the girls met honestly upon the bed. These young women who usually competed openly and secretly formed a united front against the great final boss, Elias—and achieved unprecedented success.
... 0 0
They successfully triggered Elias' second phase.
Before they could celebrate for long, [Reverse God] Elias wiped them all out once again—even the Herrscher of Finality and Jyahnar were no exception.
Though they were defeated again, they had all seen each other's most private and most disheveled sides. In this strange way, their bonds deepened. One could consider them comrades-in-arms.
Elias: "Is this human nature? Only uniting when faced with a powerful enemy. Very well—then I shall become that enemy... tonight, we continue!"
The girls: "Emmm... that's not unacceptable!!"
Though they had united in an unusual way, they still wanted to determine a ranking.
So they began comparing their battle endurance.
First and second place naturally went to the Herrscher of Finality and Jyahnar.
Below them were mostly the Flame-Chasers. After all, the physical constitution of fusion warriors far surpassed that of ordinary Herrschers.
Though even among the Flame-Chasers there existed a certain "plastic sisterhood," leaving them in quiet competition with one another. They were united—but not completely united. Occasionally, they still sabotaged each other...
Eden: "Fortunately that person isn't here. Among us, she's the most dangerous and the most clingy one."
Sakura: "Yes. Thankfully she, like Elysia, hasn't received the information and is still in Elysian Realm."
Griseo: "Grandma Mobius? Indeed. With her personality, even if Brother Elias... defeated her dozens of times, she definitely wouldn't beg for mercy."
Pardofelis: "Uh... that does sound like Snake Sister. I wonder what she's doing with Sister Elysia right now."
Fu Hua: "In any case, let's hope those two take their time getting here."
...
Inside Elysian Realm.
After two full months, Mobius finally emerged from her laboratory. She looked with great satisfaction at her recent research results—and at the twitching Elf Klein lying on the ground.
"Excellent. Longest overtime record successfully updated. Congratulations, Klein. Next, let's aim for three consecutive months of nonstop overtime."
"D-Doctor... I think... I'm broken..."
Elf Klein, sporting dark circles so heavy that even pandas might claim her as kin, spoke lifelessly.
"Oh? Let me see. It's fine~ only part of your brain chip melted slightly from overheating. Later, I'll have Vill-V build you a more heat-resistant one—something that can handle six months of continuous overtime."
"Weren't you just... saying... three months..."
"Klein~ research requires gradual progress. Overtime doesn't. Don't worry, even if you break, I'll fix you~ Now, say thank you, Doctor."
"Th-Thank you... Doctor..."
"Hehe~ good girl."
Mobius revealed a dangerous smile, reaching out to ruffle her adorable assistant's head. Then she skillfully took out a cup of instant noodles from the cabinet and prepared to eat.
Only to discover it had expired.
"Hm? What a waste. I should've eaten it sooner. Klein, lend me some of your salary. I'll go see whether Pardofelis still has any stock of instant noodles—and maybe some little lab rat merchandise to sell."
"..."
Elf Klein did not respond.
Because she had already crashed.