"Uwaa, my neck is all sticky..."
Elias stared helplessly at himself in the mirror.
He tilted his head to the right, exposing the left side of his neck and collarbone. Clear, glistening traces remained there, while his fair skin had turned an unusually vivid red.
A few crystalline droplets were even sliding downward.
But the most outrageous part was undoubtedly the distinct bite mark.
Judging by the neat arrangement of the impressions, the person responsible clearly had exceptionally healthy teeth.
Elias turned a helpless gaze toward the culprit beside him.
Whistle, whistle, whistle...
Vill-V guiltily turned her head and looked elsewhere.
"Whistling won't conceal the outrageous thing you just did to me. Sigh... I'm happy that you like me so much, Yandere, but you should know that what makes humans human is our ability to control our emotions through Ideas."
"Woof, woof!!"
"...Switch to another personality right now! Your Meta-Morph factor is clearly a spider, not a dog!"
"Ehehe, but I want to be Elias' dog!"
"..."
As expected of the most perverted Yandere personality, she could openly declare that she wanted to be his dog without the slightest shame. By now, she had somehow produced a collar, fastened it around her own neck, and was attempting to stuff the leash into Elias' hand.
The corner of Elias' eye twitched violently. He activated the authority of the Herrscher of Transcendent Sentience, condensed its consciousness-manipulating power onto the index finger of his right hand, and flicked Yandere Vill-V on the forehead.
Thump!!
"Ouch!!"
Yandere Vill-V released a miserable cry before being forcibly logged out. At the same time, the other personalities, who had long been waiting for their chance, surged forward and fought to take control.
In the end, Expert successfully seized control of the body.
"Lock Yandere in solitary confinement for a few days, Vill-V, assuming you still want to preserve your reputation."
"Mm, we really should. We can't keep letting that woman run wild. Sigh..."
Expert and the other Vill-V personalities nodded in agreement. They could accept outsiders calling them mad scientists. To a certain extent, that could even be considered recognition.
But they absolutely could not accept being regarded as perverts!
Looking at herself in the mirror with a collar around her neck, even the usually calm Expert blushed with humiliation. She hurriedly snatched the leash from Elias' hand and tore the collar apart.
Meanwhile, inside Vill-V's mind...
Yandere had already been completely locked inside a dark room. Although her authority had now grown so great that even Self found it difficult to restrain her...
When every Vill-V personality, including Pure Evil, stood together against Yandere, she was ultimately no match for all of them combined and could only obediently accept confinement.
Yandere: 'I'll definitely be back!!'
Conductor: 'Tch! Don't ever let that humiliating thing escape again!'
Magician: 'Exactly! That woman is going to ruin the image of this century's greatest magician!'
Flavorful: 'Just out of curiosity, what did Elias taste like? Ahem, don't misunderstand. This is merely the perfectly normal curiosity of a chef.'
Self: 'Why don't we lock Flavorful up too...?'
The advantage of having so many personalities in one mind was that Vill-V would never feel bored even if she were the only person left in the world, and loneliness was entirely foreign to her. However, there were also times when the Vill-Vs genuinely wanted to slaughter every single one of their other personalities!!
...
Afterward, Hyperion flew back to Earth from the moon.
Elias expanded a new territory within the Elysian Realm, which existed inside a separate dimension, then used the authority of the Herrscher of Reason to construct an exclusive battleship docking area.
He then returned to St. Freya Academy together with Ai and Vill-V. It was necessary to introduce the former to everyone else, since she was a new companion joining their faction.
"By the way, Ai, I'm planning to take Hyperion on a trip through the Sea of Quanta soon. Help me chart a route, and mark all the bubble worlds that are on the verge of collapse."
"Yes, Captain~"
Ai nodded, then activated Hyperion's observation system and began surveying the Sea of Quanta.
As a new model of Hyperion and a composite Divine Key containing the authorities of every Herrscher, the battleship naturally possessed the functions of other Divine Keys as well.
For example, the abilities of the Cosmic Juggernaut.
This eternally unsinkable vessel could perform detailed observations of a certain region within the Sea of Quanta, while its radar could detect every bubble world inside its observational range.
It could also judge the condition of each bubble world based on the energy fluctuations it emitted, determining whether it was barely stable or already on the verge of collapse. In the latter case, Elias could absorb it into his body during his future travels.
That way, those bubble worlds could continue to exist.
As long as he himself remained undying, the bubble worlds within his body would remain stable forever.
Thus, Elias truly deserved his title as the "Noah's Ark of Civilization." However... one could only wonder how a certain ferryman drifting through the Sea of Quanta and desperately searching for a way to save bubble worlds would feel upon learning about this.
(I also need to recover that thing. Sigh... I left in such a hurry back then that I didn't notice it, and I never recorded the coordinates. Who knows when I'll encounter it again?)
Elias sighed and silently prayed for a certain bubble world, hoping it had not yet perished.
Back then, Elias, Jyahnar, and the Herrscher of Finality had fought inside the Sea of Quanta. Their battle had overturned heaven and earth, crushing countless uninhabited bubble worlds in the process. In the end, the Herrscher of Finality had been defeated by the combined efforts of Elias and Jyahnar.
At the time, the Goddess of Honkai had continuously fallen through the Sea of Quanta before eventually landing in a bubble world called "Teyvat." Although Elias had ultimately succeeded in establishing a peaceful contract with Finality and later won her over...
The Herrscher of Finality only remembered afterward that she had left her signature weapon inside that bubble world.
That was the weapon of the Herrscher of Finality, and it contained an immeasurable amount of terrifying Honkai energy. Elias could hardly imagine what that bubble world had become by now.
Although it was not his fault, from the perspective of that bubble world, this was undoubtedly a calamity that had descended from nowhere. It had been peacefully existing within the Sea of Quanta when, one day, three absurdly powerful monsters suddenly barged in and left behind something unimaginably terrifying.
"Hopefully that bubble world can hold on until I find it. But there's no use thinking about it now. Time to go home and eat~"
"Uh, Elias, are you sure this is all right?"
Vill-V looked at Elias with a strange expression. She had no objection to returning for lunch, since she happened to be hungry as well, but the bite mark left by Yandere was still visible on Elias' neck.
If the others in the dormitory saw it...
Wouldn't every last one of them explode on the spot?!
"Hehe, of course there's a problem with this, but it isn't my problem. After all... I'm the victim~"
Elias spoke with a hint of smugness.
He was not the one who had bitten anyone.
He was the one who had been bitten.
Elysia and the others would definitely explode when they saw the bite mark, but their anger certainly would not be directed at Elias~ As for what would happen to a certain two-toned, fluffy-haired great inventor, he had no idea~
Elias raised a hand and touched his neck.
Even without a mirror, he could feel the bite mark through the obvious indentations in his skin.
At that moment, the Valkyries passing by after class all froze. They stared at the single red patch on the young man's fair neck, complete with a woman's bite mark. It looked as though he had been bitten by a vampire, yet rather than appearing ugly, it was strangely erotic.
The Valkyries immediately released quiet squeals.
It was easy to predict that this incident would soon become the top story on the academy's internal forum. After all, without exaggeration, Elias was currently the secret crush of every Valkyrie at St. Freya Academy.
The appearance of a woman's bite mark on his neck was no less shocking to the Valkyries than a Honkai Eruption!
Elias revealed a sly smile. In truth, a mark this minor could be erased without a trace in an instant if he used even the slightest amount of the Herrscher of Rebirth's authority.
But...
(Hehe~ This feels a little exciting. I'll leave it there for a while longer.)
Watching Vill-V's troubled expression while bathing in the curious and envious gazes of the Valkyries brought him a certain amount of pleasure.
This was one of the effects of becoming the Herrscher of Good and Evil. Compared to before, Elias had developed a slightly more devious personality.
"Come on, Vill-V. Let's go back and eat."
"Ahem, I-I'm suddenly not hungry anymore. You and Ai can go ahead, Elias. I need to return to the workshop and continue my research."
Vill-V turned to flee as she spoke. Even a three-year-old knew whether it was better to skip a meal or provoke everyone's wrath and get killed. She was not some idiot who valued food more than her own life.
However, in the next instant, Elias swept Vill-V into a princess carry and ran toward the dormitory.
Master Vill-V's heart nearly stopped. The sensation of being carried happily down the road to hell was truly indescribably complicated.
...
Inside the Valkyrie dormitory...
"I'm back~ Rita, Mei, what delicious food are we having for lunch today...? Huh?"
The moment Elias returned to the dormitory, he sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. Everyone was seated in the living room, and the sight of so many beautiful girls gathered together could only be described as breathtaking.
From little girls to mature beauties, from innocent to seductive, from intelligent to adorably foolish, from washboards to watermelons, from graceful young ladies to noble goddesses, every possible type and style was present!
(Ahh~ This magnificent sight belongs to me alone. I will never share it with anyone... Wait, no! This isn't the time for that! What's with this oppressive atmosphere?!)
The instant he entered the living room, every woman turned to look at him. Their gazes were burning and urgent, like a group of beautiful hunters who had just spotted the finest prey imaginable.
Gulp!
Elias subconsciously swallowed.
He suddenly felt that he was not particularly hungry either.
He wondered whether he should pay Kevin and the others a long-overdue visit, share a bowl of ramen with them, and perhaps discuss the profound philosophical question of "why do birds fly?"
However, at that moment, a maid stepped forward.
"My~ Lord Elias, have you brought yet another girl back to the dormitory? It seems we'll need to prepare another room. Before that, however, please put Miss Vill-V down. And later, I would appreciate a proper explanation for the bite mark on your neck."
Rita rubbed Elias' neck with an ominously kind expression, as though trying to erase the offending bite mark through sheer force.
"But for now~ We have something very important that we need you to explain honestly, Lord Elias."
"Huh? D-Did I do something wrong?"
Elias instinctively shrank back.
Faced with his inexplicably imposing maid and the assembled women, he subconsciously assumed he must have messed something up.
"How could that be? Lord Elias has done nothing wrong. Rita is merely curious about how high my affection toward you is."
"!!!"
"And Rita isn't the only one. I believe everyone feels the same."
"...Ely!!!"
The moment he heard that, Elias whipped his head toward the guilty-looking Elysia. The pink elf, who had been standing with her hands on her hips and looking every bit as imposing as the others, immediately bent her knees, clasped her hands together, and adopted a pitiful apologetic pose.
"Sorry, Eli. I accidentally let it slip."
"What?!"
"I only drank a teeny, tiny bit too much. Ehehe~"
Elysia awkwardly scratched her head. Earlier, she, Eden, Aponia, Mei, Himeko, Rita, Cecilia, and several others had held a small girls' drinking party.
They had intended to drink just a little before the meal as an appetizer.
Unfortunately, Elysia had accidentally drunk a little too much. The tipsy pink elf had then proudly boasted about her affection level of 730%.
Naturally, the women immediately became suspicious. After questioning her further, they learned that Elias, as the Herrscher of Good and Evil, possessed the ability to measure how much affection other people held toward him.
And so, the fuse of the shuraba was lit.
Elias: "...Just now, my affection toward Ely dropped by one percent."
Ely: "Nooooooo!!!"