The next day, at St. Freya Academy.
"Hey—ha!"
"Yah!"
Accompanied by two sharp cries, one white and one golden figure moved at supersonic speed across the training grounds.
They were two incomparably beautiful female beasts. Though they possessed human consciousness, their forms were no longer entirely human, and every clash between them resembled colliding comets, brimming with raw power.
The two currently sparring were none other than Kiana and Durandal. At this moment, both had activated their Chimera Artificial Cascade forms.
Durandal bore a pair of golden horns upon her head. Her body was clad in black-and-white Honkai Beast armor, and behind her spread a pair of golden avian wings. In her hand was a black, transformable knight lance.
Kiana, on the other hand, had white cat ears atop her head. Her body was wrapped in a bandage-like outfit resembling that of a certain white-haired demonic/succubus form, and a white tail extended behind her. In her hand, she wielded the blazing Flamescion Sword.
"As expected of you, Kia~na. Take another move from me!"
"No problem. Come at me all you want—Durandal."
The two girls smiled at each other. This earth-shattering battle, which would have seemed apocalyptic to ordinary people, was nothing more than a game to Kiana and Durandal in their Artificial Cascade states.
Nearby, Mobius watched with excitement as she collected data from the two.
"Not bad, not bad. The Herrscher of Flamescion's Honkai energy has already exceeded 230,000 HW. But that Palatinus individual actually has 250,000 HW—truly worthy of someone with a bubble world inside her. The monsters of this Current Era are no fewer than ours back then."
"Both of them have already surpassed Kevin when he first became a Chimera. Watch closely—the outcome is about to be decided."
Elias narrowed his eyes. Their earlier exchanges had merely been to gauge each other's foundations. The next clash would be a true full-power collision—and the decisive blow.
"The path of Palatinus begins here!"
Durandal summoned her Honkai war steed, Krishna. Holding the black lance Midnight Ataegina, she charged at Kiana at full speed.
"All things in existence—judgment upon you!"
Meanwhile, Kiana unleashed the full extent of her Honkai Beast abilities. Within mere seconds, flames, ice, storms, mental interference, and thousands of other Honkai Beast powers surged toward Durandal.
It had to be said—their Chimera Artificial Cascade forms reflected their styles as Valkyrie and Herrscher. Durandal's form focused entirely on enhancing her physical body, while Kiana's emphasized releasing a vast array of abilities.
In simple terms—one was a knight, the other a mage.
And the result of this clash—
Durandal's charge was not interrupted. With her superb riding skills and Krishna's speed, she broke straight through the thousands of Honkai Beast abilities Kiana had unleashed.
Though she sustained some injuries, they were nothing to her current self. However, just as her lance was about to reach Kiana—
"!!!"
Her expression suddenly sharpened. Her lance shifted from an attacking thrust into a defensive guard behind her back.
Clang!
"No way—you blocked that?!"
Kiana widened her eyes in admiration. At that moment, she stood behind Durandal with the Flamescion Sword in hand. This strike should have been impossible to react to—yet Durandal had still blocked it.
She had just used the time ability of Imaginary Construct: Nihilius, briefly stopping Durandal for one second. That single second should have been enough to decide victory.
Yet Durandal had still resisted it.
"Whew... that was close. You suddenly disappeared from my sight, Kiana. Then my instincts sensed danger, and I reacted defensively without thinking."
"Well, looks like I still couldn't take the title of strongest Valkyrie from you this time. We'll fight again next time."
"Of course. Next time."
The two bumped fists. Then, hearing applause from not far away, both Kiana and Durandal smiled brightly and instantly dashed to Elias' side.
Kiana and Durandal looked like two children eager for praise. Elias placed a hand on each of their heads, patting them while giving high praise for their strength.
The others around them also looked at Kiana in a new light.
For example, Mei and Bronya—after learning this morning that Kiana had gained her power through her own efforts rather than relying on Elias, they had both shown surprise.
"Hehe, now there's no one this lady is afraid of anymore!"
"Kiana, don't get cocky. Careful you don't flip over."
Elias had already become addicted to the cat ears atop Kiana's head. At that moment, Pardofelis also wandered over, drawn by the temptation. How could Elias possibly refuse such a sight?
Right hand on Kiana, left hand on Pardofelis—he shamelessly began petting both of them. At that moment, Elias felt like he had obtained the entire world. A sense of pure satisfaction welled up within him.
"Sakura! This is bad—our crisis has arrived!"
"Yeah... this is truly serious now."
Elysia and Sakura both wore tense expressions. Watching Elias completely absorbed in cat ears, they felt their positions as elf ears and fox ears were under grave threat.
"Eli, pet me too~"
"Elias, I... me as well..."
"Sorry, Elysia, Sakura—today is Cat Ear Day~"
For once, Elias actually refused Elysia and Sakura. Everyone nearby gasped, glancing at the sky as if expecting a sudden storm to roll in.
Ever since the women of the Previous Era had appeared, the Valkyrie dormitory had increasingly begun to resemble a zoo.
The things Elias was obsessed with included cat ears, elf ears, fox ears, and oni horns.
He now planned to rotate them daily.
"By the way, I didn't expect you to go to Mobius for Chimera surgery, Kiana. I actually prepared a different enhancement plan for you."
Elias rubbed against Kiana affectionately, clearly enjoying the fact that she had literally turned herself into a cat. Not only did she have cat ears, but also a pure white tail behind her.
It was said that cats only let those they trust touch their tails. Naturally, Elias didn't hesitate to reach out. The luxurious sensation made him utterly addicted.
Elias: (I could play with this for a lifetime!)
Meanwhile, Kiana's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Enhancement plan? How would you enhance me? Don't tell me this young lady can get even stronger? Yay!"
"Mm~ originally, I planned to take a trip to a parallel world and bring back a set of Herrscher Cores to install for you, Kiana. But... now that you've already become a Chimera, we'll put that plan on hold for now. Ahm~"
As he spoke, Elias suddenly bit down on Kiana's cat ear, looking as if he wanted to devour the little cat whole.
Back when Elias returned from the Previous Era to the Current Era, he had accidentally wandered into a parallel world once, and from that world obtained the Core of the Herrscher of Dominance—the Gem of Domination.
And that Gem of Domination was still within his body now. This proved one thing: as long as Elias could traverse parallel worlds, he could continuously obtain Herrscher Cores.
Kiana was the same type of Finality vessel as Elias. Although, as an artificial human, her innate talent might not match his natural-born body, she still possessed the qualification to become Finality.
Moreover, now that she had become a Chimera MANTIS, her physical capabilities had been greatly enhanced. She would no longer end up like in the original story—where, despite being created using Sirin's genes as a Finality vessel, she was unable to accommodate too many Cores.
"Travel to parallel worlds... th-that's possible?"
"Emmm... maybe, probably, possibly."
Elias replied uncertainly. Even for him now, traversing parallel worlds was an extremely difficult challenge with an absurdly low success rate.
However, so-called parallel worlds were simply other leaves growing on the Imaginary Tree. As an Imaginary Pseudo God, the difficulty for Elias to cross worlds was naturally lower than for ordinary people.
And if they counted the Herrscher of the Void from the Previous Era, the Herrscher of Finality, Elias himself, and Herrscher of Thundervoid Mei—
They currently had four Herrschers who controlled spatial authority. If all of them worked together, opening a passage to a parallel world... didn't actually seem that impossible.
Everyone: "..."
Though no one spoke, the looks they gave Elias clearly conveyed the same thought—this guy was getting more outrageous by the day.
Elias: "Ahem. Alright, stop looking at me like that. I'll get embarrassed. And didn't I just say? This plan is on hold~"
Everyone: "On hold? Cancel it! You're not allowed to do something that reckless!"
MEI, Vill-V, and Mobius all wore complicated expressions.
These three mad scientists, standing at the pinnacle of human intellect, had to admit—compared to the white-haired boy before them, perhaps they weren't crazy enough. Their thinking was still too conservative.
At the same time, the idea of locking Elias in a little dark room had been growing stronger in everyone's minds lately.
The outside world was too dangerous, and his fate was far too turbulent.
It might be better to bind him with chains, lock him in their bedroom forever, and spoil him into uselessness.
Thinking this, Mei, Rita, Sakura, and the other girls skilled at taking care of others all ignited with determination.
"W-whoa, everyone's gaze is scary. Fine, fine—I won't go to a parallel world. And honestly, I've been planning to push forward the Honkai progression on our side lately."
"Hm? Eli, are you planning to take on a new Herrscher? Let me think—who's next? Uh... the order of Herrschers in the Current Era is completely messed up now. Aponia, can you foresee it?"
Elysia asked the moth-like girl beside her.
"I can. The threads of fate tell me that the next Herrscher to appear will be the Herrscher of Sentience. However... beyond that, I can no longer foresee anything."
Aponia said regretfully. In the past, she had been a slave to fate, but once the authority of Origin altered the future, her abilities had become blurred.
Now, she could only glimpse fragmented pieces of the future.
After all, it wasn't just the authority of Origin—Elias himself was an existence that broke fate. Every step he took forced predetermined destiny to change.
"Herrscher of Sentience, huh... that's a bit troublesome."
"Mm." xN
All the Flame-Chasers present nodded in agreement.
Back in the Previous Era, if not for the information about the Herrscher of Sentience that Elias had obtained through reincarnation, and the presence of Misteln, who possessed an Idea Stigma capable of being invincible in dreams—
The Era of Dusk would have suffered devastating losses under the Herrscher of Sentience's assault.
After all, just imagine it.
A Herrscher with no physical body, capable of existing in memetic form, and possessing the authority to freely distort human minds—how terrifying would that be?
Moreover, the Herrscher of Sentience could descend without triggering a Honkai Eruption, appearing silently. Without mental resistance, even the strongest individuals could be turned into puppets.
If it chose to hide, it could even be harder to find than the Herrscher of Dominance.
Yet despite such terrifying power, in the original story, the Herrscher of Sentience caused no truly devastating losses.
Aside from Otto Apocalypse getting killed once, and one of World Serpent's bases nearly being demolished, the Current Era suffered virtually no losses—not even Bronya's driver's license was taken away!
So really—everyone should thank Senti!
"Don't worry. Little Senti is easy to deal with," Elias waved his hand dismissively.
"L-Little Senti?" The girls were stunned. The way Elias addressed it made them feel things were not so simple.
But their worry faded. Seeing Elias' calm and composed demeanor, they understood he already had a complete and perfect plan.
Before this savior Flame-Chaser, who specialized in countering Herrschers, the upcoming Herrscher of Sentience had only two choices.
Either stand on humanity's side... or be captured and thoroughly "educated" before becoming Elias' obedient pet.
"Eli, do you need us to do anything?"
"I do. This time, I need Hua's help."
"Eh? Me?"
Fu Hua pointed at herself in surprise. She hadn't expected to have a role this time, and immediately felt a bit touched.
Recently, she had felt like she was becoming invisible. Once a proud top-tier combatant, she had now been continuously surpassed due to rapid power scaling. With only stats but no "assets," the flat-chested immortal had become a frequent target of teasing.
Her Dao heart had been shattered more and more often.
Now that she heard she had a chance to shine, Fu Hua was instantly fired up.
As the saying goes—what goes around comes around. Do not bully the immortal for being flat!
Fu Hua: "Elias, tell me what I need to do."
Elias: "Mm, I'll be direct then. Hua... I need your body. Can you give it to me?"
Fu Hua: "???"