Inside the Anti-Entropy base.
"Siegfried, don't stop me! I'm going to fight that bastard Elias! Married! That brat actually dared to marry my Mei without my permission—I can't accept this!!!"
Raiden Ryoma roared in complete breakdown.
At the same time, he was holding a plasma Shadow Showa katana, waving it around while searching for someone. It was obvious that this father who had just had his daughter stolen had already turned into a raging demon.
"Calm down! Calm down! Ryoma, calm down a little! Don't forget you can't beat Elias, and your Mei willingly married him. Tsk tsk—and she didn't even put your name down as the witness, that's really... whoa—!"
Siegfried said while enjoying the spectacle, restraining Raiden Ryoma from behind. However, something astonishing happened.
With the full activation of his daughter-obsession power, Raiden Ryoma actually nearly broke free from Siegfried's Kaslana brute strength.
Even when Siegfried used all his strength, he was still dragged forward by Ryoma's rage, his feet plowing two grooves into the ground.
It could only be said that human potential truly should not be underestimated.
"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down?!"
Raiden Ryoma's eyes were bloodshot.
Just moments ago, Elias had shared the news of his marriage registration with Mei with this long-absent father.
That small red booklet had turned into a blade that pierced through all defenses and stabbed straight into his heart, instantly emptying his HP bar and draining all color from him.
And then, the congratulations from Einstein, Tesla, Welt, and the surrounding colleagues made him cough up blood even more.
Raiden Ryoma: "Congratulations my ass! You bastards—how could you possibly understand how it feels for a father to have his precious daughter, raised for so many years, stolen away?!"
At that moment, Raiden Ryoma even faintly felt a calling. He almost got chosen by Honkai on the spot and turned into a pseudo Herrscher.
Fortunately, Siegfried knocked him unconscious immediately.
That prevented the outcome where a father, driven dark by losing his daughter, became a pseudo Herrscher, attacked his own son-in-law face-to-face, and got beaten to death—possibly even dying righteously.
Elias: (...A bit of a pity.)
Siegfried: "Relax, relax~ Even though I don't like that brat Elias either, Ryoma, you have to admit—he really is worthy of your daughter Mei."
Raiden Ryoma: "Bullshit! My Mei is noble and elegant, polite and powerful, devastatingly beautiful—and now she's even a Herrscher fighting for humanity. Elias is nothing but—"
Siegfried: "Nothing but the savior of the Previous Era, the legendary Flame-Chaser of Eternity and Deliverance, humanity's chimera, a twelve-authority Herrscher—what else was there? A Palatinus? And I heard recently he's become a dual pseudo god of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta, as well as the Noah's Ark of countless bubble worlds... though I don't really understand those last two, they sound pretty impressive."
Raiden Ryoma: "..."
Siegfried: "Oh right, most importantly—when you messed up and got yourself thrown into prison by that fox Cocolia, he became the hero in your daughter's heart. He protected her from school bullying and even stopped her from triggering a Honkai Eruption that would've wiped out Nagazora and killed millions, taking on that mountain of corpses and seas of blood himself."
Raiden Ryoma: "..."
Watching the Kaslana idiot beside him count off Elias' achievements one by one on his fingers, Raiden Ryoma's face turned green. He looked at the Shadow Showa in his hand.
He almost wanted to commit seppuku on the spot with it.
Raiden Ryoma: (Damn it! What kind of absurd life is that? Even novels wouldn't dare write something this ridiculous. There's not a single flaw... and if I think about it carefully, I even owe that guy Elias a lot of favors. I can't accept this!!!)
Beside him, Siegfried also sighed. Some people lived a life more dramatic than the combined lives of everyone else in the world.
He patted his brother's shoulder and continued.
"Ryoma, now you get it, right? Mei marrying Elias is her good fortune."
"Sure, there are maybe... a few more women who like that guy than normal, but we all know Elias is devoted. He definitely won't let your Mei down."
"So having such an overpowered son-in-law should make you happy. Come on, smile—smile. If you won't smile, I will. Hahaha, hahaha!"
Seeing Siegfried laughing loudly, a vein popped on Raiden Ryoma's forehead. He directly slapped him hard across the face.
"What are you laughing at?! Siegfried, something's off with you. Didn't you hate Elias too? Why are you defending him so much today? Explain yourself!"
"Hehe, since Elias married your daughter, my daughter is safe now. Of course I'm happy—haha!"
"Pff—Die!!!"
Raiden Ryoma spat another mouthful of blood. The Shadow Showa in his hand slashed straight toward this idiot dog—but Siegfried caught it barehanded... not completely.
"Damn it, that hurts! What the hell?!"
"Idiot, you dare catch a plasma blade with your bare hands."
Raiden Ryoma rolled his eyes, inwardly remarking that the Kaslana breed of idiot really had no brains—and also ridiculously thick skin, considering he wasn't seriously injured.
"Ahem, alright, alright. The Kaslana family motto is—[Thinking is tiring, just do it]."
Siegfried shrugged, casually admitting their inherited lack of brain usage.
After all, in history there had been three Kaslana family heads who, because the background music of Judgment of Shamash was too hype, got carried away mid-battle and activated Shamash Assault for fun—only to burn themselves to death.
Raiden Ryoma's eye twitched. He suddenly felt the urge to cut ties with this guy—after all, stupidity might be contagious.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Let's get back to your Mei. Ryoma, you need to face reality. It's not whether Elias is worthy of your daughter—it's whether Mei is worthy of him."
Siegfried tried earnestly to persuade his brother to accept it, though with his speaking ability, it only made the latter's face grow darker and darker.
"Even though I don't like that brat either, who can deny that he's the greatest hero in this world? And in the end, aside from Elias, who else do you think can truly make your daughter happy?"
"..."
Raiden Ryoma fell silent once again. The father clenched his fist tightly, then slowly loosened it in resignation. Though Siegfried's words were blunt, none of them were wrong.
It wasn't that Elias needed to be worthy of Mei.
It was that Mei needed to be worthy of Elias.
And... that overly powerful white-haired boy truly was the only one in this world who could bring his daughter happiness.
Raiden Ryoma had no choice but to admit it.
From a purely man's perspective, Elias was far more reliable as a son-in-law than he himself had ever been as a father.
"Oh? Judging by that expression, you've figured it out? In that case, let's skip work and grab a drink. Consider it a celebration—or a way to vent. Your treat, Ryoma~"
Siegfried slung an arm around Raiden Ryoma's shoulders and began dragging him toward Anti-Entropy's bar. This time, Ryoma didn't refuse.
Though usually a diligent and responsible official, today Raiden Ryoma just wanted to drink himself into oblivion. But...
"Why do I have to pay?"
"Come on, it's not my daughter getting married. Your family's got good news, so of course you should treat. It's great—your daughter found a good home, and my daughter is safe now. Double happiness! Today, we drink until we drop."
"Hmph, Siegfried, you're too naive."
"What?"
"Do you really think your Durandal will ever fall for anyone other than Elias in this lifetime? Sure, my Mei married him—but how much do you think laws can actually restrain him?"
Raiden Ryoma let out a cold laugh.
Whether Elias followed the law depended entirely on his own morals. And while his extremely high moral standards reassured everyone...
Just because he was willing to follow rules didn't mean he had to.
As the hero of salvation, the world itself would indulge his whims. Let alone marrying a few more wives in the future—even if Elias wanted the world to bow before him, it wouldn't be impossible.
"Siegfried, believe it or not, it won't be long before you receive news that Durandal has also married Elias."
Raiden Ryoma crossed his arms and made his prediction.
The two marriage certificates of Elias with Elysia and Mei had already caused an uproar in the Valkyrie dorms. Everyone realized they could no longer delay.
The "girlfriend" track was already nearing its end. The next track was called "wife," and everyone had started sprinting toward it. (Though some hadn't even stepped onto the first track yet.)
Siegfried was instantly dumbfounded.
"What the—! Th-this, this won't do! Durandal getting married is way too early! I absolutely don't agree!!"
"Hahaha~ Do you think you can stop it? No, Siegfried—you can't do anything, just like me right now. Come on, let's go drink~"
"Drink my ass! Durandal, my dear daughter, you must stay calm! Don't do anything impulsive!"
Fortunes change, and no one escapes fate.
Although he had just lectured Raiden Ryoma so eloquently, that didn't mean Siegfried himself could accept it. The Kaslana idiot nervously prayed in the direction of St. Freya Academy.
Though it was destined to be meaningless.
Before long, Siegfried would experience the same feelings Raiden Ryoma had right now.
...
Inside St. Freya Academy.
"Wow... the house is completely gone."
After returning from Anti-Entropy, Elias wasn't too surprised to see the Valkyrie dorms reduced to ruins. After all, his girls were at minimum S-rank, with average power easily reaching continent-destroying levels.
The fact that the dorms were merely flattened was already a miracle—clearly, everyone had held back.
As for the result of the fight so far...
A draw... not quite, since they were still fighting.
"Hmm, not bad. Looks like the Godsbane Suit performed exactly as I expected. And... Mei and Ely's coordination is unexpectedly good."
Elias looked at the girls using the sky as their battlefield, then pulled out a bucket of popcorn from the imaginary space and started eating.
Although Mei and Elysia were fighting two against many, they had surprisingly managed to hold their ground. Of course, that was also because the strongest—Herrscher of Finality and Jyahnar—had not joined.
Otherwise, even Godsbane Mei and the Herrscher of Origin likely wouldn't have lasted half a minute.
Seeing Elias return, the girls stopped fighting.
"Waaah! Mei and Elysia are targeting us too hard!"
"Exactly! One counters MANTISes, the other counters Herrschers—there's no way to fight this!"
"And that armor is way too broken! What kind of material is it even made of?!"
What was expected to be a one-sided game had instead turned into something far more intense. The team-up of the top-tier queens from the Previous Era and the Current Era produced results far beyond everyone's expectations.
Elysia didn't even need explaining. As the Herrscher of Origin, her administrator-level authority directly sealed the powers of Kiana, Bronya, Ana, and the black-and-white Sheele from the Previous Era.
Combined with the battlefield effect of the [Herrscher of Origin Elysia Boss] form, which provided full-spectrum enhancement, Elysia's raw firepower might have been lower—but her evasion, defense, and luck were maxed out.
And on top of that... her absurd eighteen-layer health bar.
Elysia: "I can fight all day~"
Then there was Godsbane Mei, who heavily countered MANTISes.
With the mobility of the Herrscher of the Void's authority and the large-scale sustained AoE of the Herrscher of Thunder, the Godsbane Suit pushed Mei's defense, attack, and endurance to the limit.
Not only were ordinary physical attacks ineffective, Elias had even built mental resistance into the armor—so even Fu Hua's Taixuan Eminence was useless.
Combined with her unrestricted use of Honkai energy, resulting in explosive output, Godsbane Mei had already surpassed even Vipralopa-class MANTISes in offensive power.
Given enough time, she could still be worn down—but with the armor's defense, Mei could stand still and let everyone attack her all day without issue.
It could only be said—this was truly the strongest armor Elias had poured his heart into for the Queen of Thunder.
Having entered the realm of "wife," Mei was no longer afraid of those still stuck in the "girlfriend" stage.
As a side note, Himeko had already shut down mentally.
After learning that she had accidentally served as Mei's witness while drunk, the red-haired beauty declared she would quit alcohol and switch to coffee.
Himeko: "Drinking ruins everything! I'm quitting!"
Theresa: "I don't believe you. If you can quit drinking, I can quit bitter melon juice."
Himeko: "..."
Afterward, Elias shook his head and had the Herrscher of Finality rewind time to restore the dorms. Kiana immediately gave him a huge hug and started acting cute while begging for a power-up.
This time, she had been completely humiliated. After her Herrscher of Flamescion powers were sealed, she had been the first one eliminated.