"Wait! You're just leaving like that?!"
Elias held the unconscious Cecilia in his arms, staring in disbelief at Siegfried, who was already preparing to make a run for it.
He had never expected this guy to simply walk away from the situation. Hey! Since when did heroes retreat at the last second?
"Ah, I really don't want anything to do with Schicksal. You have no idea how many Schicksal special forces tried to drag me back every single day when I first ran away from home— ahem, I mean, when I first began pursuing freedom."
Siegfried revealed an expression as though recalling something unpleasant.
If his mother hadn't desperately pleaded on his behalf back then, Otto might have mobilized the entire Schicksal army to capture him.
From that moment on, Siegfried developed an instinctive aversion—and even a bit of trauma—toward Schicksal. Even if you beat him to death, he wouldn't want to get tangled up with them again.
"Elias, I'll leave this Valkyrie in your care. If you accidentally run into Schicksal personnel, don't mention that you saw me. I'll owe you one. Please."
If he had been alone, Siegfried would have chosen to bring the unconscious Cecilia back and treat her injuries.
But he wasn't the only one present.
Though their interaction had been brief, he believed that this white-haired boy before him was absolutely reliable. Not to mention the terrifying strength he had shown—eliminating Honkai Beasts without even lifting a hand.
Siegfried decided that playing the hero and saving the beauty should be left to Elias. As for himself, he would continue pursuing freedom. At least until he had wandered through every corner of the world, he had no intention of going home.
"...Are you serious?"
Elias' eye twitched. The course of fate had already deviated from its original trajectory—and he hadn't even done anything yet.
"Of course~ I believe you're a good person. And look at her—she's so beautiful. If you save her like a hero, maybe she'll fall in love with you. Do your best!"
Grinning broadly, Siegfried gave Elias a thumbs-up and firmly patted him on the shoulder. Although Cecilia was indeed beautiful, at this age he was actually more drawn to mature, older women.
Then, under Elias' speechless gaze, Siegfried turned and sprinted off. Within moments, he was gone.
"...What am I supposed to do now?"
Elias looked down at Cecilia in his arms with a complicated expression.
He never imagined Siegfried would just abandon her and run. At this rate, the future storyline might be drastically altered. Whether Durandal would even have the chance to be born was now a question.
(Wait. The system said that after its upgrade, its corrective capabilities were strengthened. There should still be room to fix this, right? Besides, I haven't even done anything yet, and it's already turned out like this...)
"Hmm... Cecilia, you don't look much different from your 2014 self."
"Injury assessment complete. Not severe. Judging from the nature of the wounds, this was caused by the gravitational field of Star of Eden. You ran into Welt, didn't you?"
Elias activated the authority of the Herrscher of Rebirth, healing Cecilia's relatively minor injuries. Yet even after her wounds were treated, she showed no sign of waking.
Instead, she unconsciously tightened her grip on Elias' clothes.
"Alright, alright. I'm not going to leave you behind. But in 1991, there aren't many places I can go."
At this point in time, St. Freya Academy hadn't even been established. Raiden Mei, Kiana, Bronya—they hadn't even been born yet. Almost none of the major events had begun.
Fortunately, even in this era, Elias still had somewhere to stay in this timeline.
"Heh. Everyone's going to be quite surprised, won't they?"
After sending out a message using the authority of the Herrscher of Corruption, Elias opened a portal and stepped through it while carrying Cecilia.
...
In a place unknown to the world.
Gray Serpent, who had been diligently occupied with building up the organization, suddenly froze in place as though short-circuited.
The black umbrella he always carried to accentuate his composed image slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
"Impossible. That Lord should not yet have descended into this era. But this channel, this message—this is unquestionably the encrypted communication method used exclusively by Fire Moth!"
Gray Serpent's entire body trembled uncontrollably.
He decisively put aside his current work and rushed toward the hidden coordinates mentioned in the message. Although he was in the middle of an extremely important plan for the organization's development, nothing was more important than welcoming the return of his Lord.
By the time he hurriedly arrived at the base—
He saw a white-haired boy seated upon a throne, holding an unconscious Valkyrie of Schicksal in his arms.
"Welcome back, my Lord!!"
Gray Serpent immediately dropped to one knee, placing a hand over his chest in salute. With a single glance, he was certain—without the slightest doubt—that the person before him was the foremost among the Fifteen Flame-Chasers of Fire Moth, the legendary hero of Deliverance and Eternity.
"It's been a long time, Gray Serpent. Rise."
Elias nodded.
This place was the headquarters base of World Serpent. Since it had not been newly constructed but rather inherited from Fire Moth's base of the Previous Era, he was naturally familiar with its location.
"Thank you, my Lord! But may I ask what exactly is going on? We believed that you would first descend nine years from now—during the Second Eruption."
"Mm. Just a small accident. I traveled here from the more distant future of 2014."
"As expected of my Lord!"
Gray Serpent's attitude became even more reverent, and the admiration in his heart deepened.
Look at their Lord—what an unparalleled existence. Not only was his strength unfathomable, he could even traverse time itself. Truly worthy of being the savior of the Previous Era.
Schicksal? Anti-Entropy? Sooner or later, all of them would bow before their Lord.
"My Lord, have you come because something has changed in the future, and you require our assistance?"
"No. There's no need to worry about the future. Everything is proceeding smoothly. Just maintain the current course until the day you formally meet me in the future."
"Understood, my Lord."
Gray Serpent felt a great weight lift from his heart.
If nothing had gone wrong, that was for the best. It meant his present course of action contained no errors.
At this point in time, World Serpent was likewise still developing. The one who would later become an executive—Jackal—had only just joined the organization. As for Raven, she was probably only one or two years old.
"My Lord… may I ask about the Valkyrie of Schicksal in your arms? Is she someone important?"
"Oh, her… yes. She is indeed someone important."
Elias gently brushed Cecilia's white hair aside with his fingers. In her unconscious state, she resembled a sleeping beauty from a fairy tale, waiting for a prince's kiss to awaken her.
"She is the anchor through which I arrived in this era."
"To think she holds such significance…"
Gray Serpent looked at Cecilia in astonishment. If this woman was the very reason his Lord had descended into this time, then what an exalted existence she must be.
World Serpent would certainly have to take good care of her.
"There's no need to fuss. Let things proceed naturally. Prepare a room and let her recover on her own. She should wake up tomorrow. I'll decide the next step then."
"Understood… My Lord, the other Flame-Chasers have all missed you dearly."
Gray Serpent hesitated before speaking.
He himself had no authority to enter Elysian Realm and therefore did not know the current state of Mobius and the others. But without question, they must long for him deeply.
"I know. I'll go see everyone soon."
Elias felt his heartbeat quicken. He had returned to World Serpent not only because it was the only place he could stay in this era, but more importantly because he wanted to seize this opportunity to see them again.
"Kevin is still in the Sea of Quanta—I know that much. Let him keep swimming for now. But Elysia should still be here, right? She hasn't started traveling the world yet?"
"As far as I know, Lady Elysia has remained within Elysian Realm and has not set out on her journey."
"Good."
Elias let out a quiet breath of relief. If he couldn't see Elysia even in this timeline, he truly would have broken down.
He carried the unconscious Cecilia to a prepared room and studied her sleeping face for a moment. Compared to her future self, this younger Schariac saint still retained a trace of youthful innocence in her temperament.
After tucking her in, Elias turned to leave—only to discover that Cecilia was still clutching the corner of his clothes tightly, as if pleading for him not to go.
"Feeling uneasy? Don't worry, Cecilia. No one here will hurt you. Even if that damned Overseer shows up, I can flatten him."
"Mm…"
Hearing his words, Cecilia seemed to relax slightly. Her grip on his clothes loosened.
Elias removed his coat and draped it over her delicate figure. Then he activated the authority of the Herrscher of Sentience, crafting a beautiful dream for the sleeping girl.
Though Dreamcraft was Misteln's specialty, he could accomplish it now as well.
A faint smile curved Cecilia's lips. The good dream had already taken effect. Elias sat beside her for a while, quietly admiring the sleeping beauty.
"To be honest… I can't help feeling drawn to you either. After all, you look exactly like Misteln. Ah… restraining one's emotions is never easy."
"Anyway. Good night, Cecilia."
After once more using the authority of the Herrscher of Rebirth to thoroughly heal her body, Elias left the room.
He opened another portal. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at an even more secluded location—a luxurious courtyard with a history spanning tens of thousands of years.
Yet due to meticulous maintenance, anyone who saw it would assume it had only recently been built.
Elias walked in as though returning to his own home. Seeing the furnishings and decorations exactly as he remembered—unchanged in the slightest—he felt his entire body relax.
"Just like before. Nothing's changed… Golden Courtyard… it's wonderful."
He sat on the sofa for a while, sighing softly.
He loved this feeling. Even in a strange timeline, there was still a place he could return to—a home.
And now that he had returned home, it was time to see his beloved "family."
With that thought, Elias quickened his pace toward the passage leading to Elysian Realm.
Ordinarily, one had to take an elevator down tens of thousands of meters underground to reach the true entrance of Elysian Realm. The entire process took over ten minutes. But at this moment, Elias couldn't even wait that long.
He transformed himself into a quantum specter and passed straight through the elevator, plunging down the shaft at high speed. He even accelerated his descent midway. In less than half a minute, he reached the true entrance to Elysian Realm.
"I'm back, everyone."
He spoke softly.
Unfortunately, the timing was slightly off.
All the Flame-Chasers were currently in a dormant state, resting within the Fifth Divine Key—The Great Hibernation.
Fifty thousand years was far too long a span to endure second by second. For most of that time, the Flame-Chasers of Fire Moth had remained asleep in their hibernation pods.
"If I remember correctly, each person's hibernation pod is located within their own memory domain. Waking them one by one would be troublesome… Should I just use Corruption to rouse everyone at once?"
Now that he had entered Elysian Realm, Elias' authority of the Herrscher of Corruption could control the entire domain.
It would certainly be the most efficient method. Yet after a brief hesitation, he abandoned the idea.
For no other reason than this—within Elysian Realm, he didn't want to use the power of Corruption.
It brought back too many painful memories.
"In that case, I'll visit them one by one. And first… of course, my dear Elysia."
Elias stepped through the portal within Elysian Realm and arrived at Everlasting Elysian Realm.
Partly because she was the one he most wanted to see. But more because most of the others he had already met again in the future timeline.
On the original timeline, the only ones he had yet to reunite with were Elysia, Pardofelis, Vill-V, and Mobius.
Standing amidst the Everlasting Elysian Realm—unchanged from his memories—Elias paused for a moment.
The blooming Sanctum of Creation white flowers, the floating gardens, the hedge maze, the elf amusement park, the eternal castle—everything was so familiar, so nostalgic.
Elysia's hibernation pod lay at the deepest part of the castle. He immediately made his way there.
At this moment, Elias truly felt like the prince in a fairy tale, come to awaken a sleeping princess.
Half a minute later…
"You really haven't changed at all, Elysia."
At the very heart of the castle, Elias gazed gently at the pink-haired girl resting within the hibernation pod. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful—like a elf princess one could hardly bear to wake.
But he could no longer suppress the urge to touch her, to speak to her.
Taking a deep breath, he entered the code to release the hibernation. His hands trembled so much that he mistyped it twice.
Finally, the pod opened.
After crossing an immeasurable span of time, the white-haired boy and the pink elf met once more in this new era.
Elysia slowly opened her eyes.
The instant her vision cleared, her body trembled slightly. Crystal tears slipped from her eyes uncontrollably.
Her trembling hands rose to cup Elias' face as she murmured softly—
"I… I'm not dreaming, am I…?"
"Hi~ Did you miss me, my dear Ely?"