"You people of the Current Era really know how to have fun."
Vill-V stared in astonishment at St. Freya Academy. The great magician who was always the one surprising others now found herself thoroughly shocked by this Far Eastern lair of demons—this so-called Herrscher Academy.
What did it mean to use Honkai's power to defeat Honkai?
She had once thought that in the Previous Era, relying on the massive number of Honkai Beasts controlled by Elias to fight Honkai had already embodied that philosophy to the fullest. But she never expected the Current Era to take it even further!
They were directly using Herrschers to fight Honkai!
Everywhere in the academy, Herrschers were coming and going. It was completely absurd!
And if they were ordinary Herrschers, that would have been one thing—but even the Herrscher of Finality had already enrolled and was now honestly attending classes as a first-year student of St. Freya Academy.
Vill-V felt that she simply could not comprehend it—but she was utterly shaken.
(Elysia's Authority of Origin is way too outrageous. She can actually let Herrschers break free from Honkai's control... No, wait, it was Elias who made the wish back then. And he was the one who moved these Herrschers' hearts. Yes, Eli Gate!)
Vill-V drew a cross over her chest and offered a devout prayer in Elias' direction.
As for a certain pink elf...
She could just rot forever in Elysian Realm.
Now Vill-V, like the others, decided she was not leaving either. Without the slightest politeness, she claimed a room in the Valkyrie dormitory, and only on the next day did she remember to greet the girls and introduce herself.
"A pleasure to meet you all. I am the greatest magician, engineer, and trickster of the Dusk Era, the seventh Flame-Chaser of Fire Moth, bearer of the Signet of [Helix], Vill-V. Oh, and most importantly—my absolute favorite identity—Elias' great inventor."
"...She's so over-the-top." xN
Raiden Mei and the others watched Vill-V standing on a self-built stage, delivering her flamboyant introduction beneath streamers, background music, and spotlights. Every single one of them felt that something about her was... deeply questionable.
"Don't underestimate Vill-V. She's very capable... although she's also very troublesome," Sakura said with a subtle expression.
"Huh? Sakura, I can't believe you'd describe someone like that."
Raiden Mei looked at the fox-eared girl in surprise. Only then did she notice that the women from the Previous Era were all looking at Vill-V with similarly complicated expressions—half exasperation, half helpless amusement.
"Uh... is this Vill-V really that strong?"
"No. If we're speaking purely in terms of combat strength, as long as I had Star of Eden, I could defeat Vill-V as well," Eden said, gently swirling her wineglass and shaking her head.
"But that is impossible. Just as no one can use a Divine Key against Elias, no one in this world can use a Divine Key against Vill-V."
"Why?"
"Because she is the creator of the Divine Keys. Every Divine Key contains a backdoor left behind by Vill-V."
"What?!"
Durandal and the others immediately revealed shocked expressions.
Anyone who had ever used a Divine Key knew how terrifying and powerful those weapons were. Every single one of them could change the course of a battle!
The moment they realized that Vill-V was the inventor of the Divine Keys, they understood that raw combat strength was not the true measure of her ability.
"Not just the Divine Keys. Soulium was also invented by me. Or rather, most of the technology your Current Era excavated from the ruins of the Previous Era—those were my works."
"Th-that's incredible?!" xN
Everyone collectively sucked in a sharp breath, staring at Vill-V with undisguised shock. If Otto Apocalypse were here right now, he would probably be kneeling to her.
After all, Schicksal was the organization that had benefited most from the Previous Era's technology—and all of that technology contained Vill-V's backdoors. If she so wished, Schicksal could be paralyzed at any moment.
"Oh my, those are just trivial things, not worth mentioning. My finest creations are still the Divine Key series. I specially designed them as exclusive weapons for Elias."
The great inventor declared proudly.
"Ehehe... In any case, Vill-V isn't a bad person, but you'd better be careful when dealing with her. Remember, among the Divine Keys she made for Elias, there's one that can destroy the world," MEI reminded them.
"MEI, there's no need to bring up ancient history. Besides, are there really few people in this academy now who can destroy the world?"
"That's... true."
Even so, Vill-V was immediately placed on everyone's "dangerous individuals" list.
After all, if Elysian Realm was a massive mental hospital, then Vill-V was unquestionably its most severe case.
As someone with extreme multiple personality disorder, Vill-V possessed an outrageous number of attributes—genius, chef, master craftsman, magician, occultist, inventor, optimistic, self-deprecating, cold, yandere, chuuni, gentle, evil...
She was practically a chaotic composite entity!
And yet she was also an absolute super beauty, with curves easily ranking in the top three among the Flame-Chasers! Moreover, every single personality adored Elias—there was even one that was a full-fledged yandere lover.
Elias once commented—
Elias: "Marrying one Vill-V is like instantly gaining an entire harem. Every personality has a different character—it's way too interesting!"
Raiden Mei: "Tch! This person is definitely a major threat. She even has the chef attribute."
Kiana: "Exactly. The threat level is way too high—really, really 'high'! What did you people of the Previous Era even eat growing up? Why are all of you so..."
Bronya: "Idiot Kiana, don't forget Class Monitor Fu Hua. Isn't she small?"
Kiana: "Oh right, right, I almost forgot."
Fu Hua: "...Kiana, Bronya, the two of you come here for a moment. This immortal shall kindly open your skulls today—free of charge."
Bonk!Bonk!
Accompanied by two dull thuds, the paramecium and the board were left with only swollen lumps on their heads. The flat-chested immortal who refrained from actually cracking their skulls was truly too gentle.
Himeko: "If this keeps up, Fu Hua might one day get so angry she turns into a Herrscher. You'd better restrain yourselves."
Raiden Mei: "Ehehe~ Let's not worry about the class monitor who still hasn't managed to secure her position. A new powerful rival has already appeared. Multiple personalities... what a troublesome opponent."
Vill-V: "Ladies and gentlemen, I think instead of guarding against me here, we should form a united front to deal with those two boss-level targets over there."
Everyone: "..."
Following the direction of Vill-V's pointing finger, everyone's expressions darkened.
They saw that at this very moment, Elias was being tightly clung to on both sides by two breathtakingly beautiful girls.
One of them was the most noble and powerful being in this world—a true goddess who had already surpassed the realm of a mere queen.
The other was equally powerful, a girl of the abyss who combined pure sweetness and seductive charm in a single body.
Vill-V: "Even though they haven't had much screen time so far, these two are absurdly overpowered in terms of stats!"
Raiden Mei: "Yes... and the path of snatching Elias back by force is completely blocked now."
MEI: "In that case, we can only negotiate."
Looking at the Herrscher of Finality and Jyahnar—who stood like two absolute defensive walls monopolizing Elias—the women of the Previous Era and the Current Era exchanged glances and, for the first time, formed an alliance.
There was no helping it. The enemy was simply too strong.
Absolute beauty plus absolute strength.
Finality and Jyahnar practically had the word invincible written all over their faces.
On top of that, due to their lack of common sense and excessive danger levels, Elias—the only person in the world capable of keeping them in check—had to stay by their side at all times for the time being.
Raiden Mei and the others did not even have time for their usual dates anymore.
All the girls: "This situation must be dealt with immediately. Temporary truce! Unite against the common enemy!"
Because Jyahnar and Finality were so overwhelmingly overpowered, someone even proposed releasing a certain pink elf—who was also absurdly strong—from Elysian Realm to go down in mutual destruction with the two of them.
Eden: "Let's forget it. I feel like Elysia would be physically one-shot. These two can only be handled with strategy."
Aponia: "Yes. And we must resolve the current situation before more victims appear."
Although there was only one victim so far, a victim had indeed emerged due to Finality and Jyahnar.
That victim was Natasha Cioara—also known as the Little Island Doomsday Crow—whose newly built island had once again vanished.
Raven: "Waaah! My island! My island! They're all gone! You died such tragic deaths! I can't even avenge you this time—the enemy is just too strong!"
Raiden Mei: "That makes it the fourth island, right?"
Bronya: "Does she carry some kind of curse that guarantees any island she buys will sink? This is truly pitiful..."
Of Raven's three islands this time, one had been the exposed portion of the Planet-class manta ray Honkai Beast rising above the sea, while the other two were blasted away when Jyahnar experimented with the Authority of the Herrscher of the Sea.
The moment she received the news that morning, Raven had dropped to her knees on the spot.
Then she rolled around on the ground without a shred of dignity, crying and wailing. It was genuinely tragic.
Especially the one that had just been completed—she hadn't even lived on it for a single day. She had thought her dream would finally come true, only to return to square one overnight.
By coincidence, Elias had actually placed defensive measures on Raven's island strong enough to withstand even a Judgment-class Honkai Beast. But the opponent this time had been Planet-class...
At this point, it almost felt like some cosmic will was deliberately targeting her.
Everyone silently observed a moment of mourning for the Little Island Doomsday Crow.
Raven: "Ha... haha... Why would an island fly? Someone tell me—why would an island fly...?"
Rita: "Um... has she broken down?"
Raven: "No! No! I won't give up! Villa island—my dream will definitely come true! And... no matter the cost, humanity will defeat Honkai!"
Everyone: "...She's lost it."
The Little Island Doomsday Crow was trapped in an eternal curse of sinking islands, yet because her obsession ran too deep, she stubbornly refused to give up.
Thus, let us look forward to how many more island villas will sink in her future.
After a brief discussion, in order to "criticize" the Herrscher of Finality and the Herrscher of the Sea for monopolizing the public resource known as Elias over the past two days, the girls... first sent out Kiana.
Kiana: "Leave it to me! If I go, I'll definitely make those two obediently hand Elias back!"
All the girls: "The enemy's attitude is unclear. Send out a paramecium as cannon fodder to test the waters first."
... A few minutes later ...
Kiana: "Ahem! Um... you're called Jyahnar, right? Hurry up and give Elias back to me. I... I'll trade you Bronya's limited-edition Homu collection for him."
Bronya: "!!!"
In the living room, the paramecium cautiously approached the trio while holding a giant yellow rabbit plush toy, offering it to the Planet-class Honkai Beast girl.
She looked exactly like a rookie zookeeper feeding a ferocious beast.
Although the Kaslanas were famously reckless, at critical moments they could display surprising quick thinking. Kiana did not charge in blindly. Instead, she chose the seemingly more approachable Jyahnar to attempt communication.
However...
"Please do not call me Jyahnar. Call me... the Herrscher of the Sea. 'Jyahnar' is a special name that only Elias is permitted to use. Also, I have no interest in anything other than Elias."
Jyahnar glanced at the yellow rabbit for a moment, then immediately shifted her gaze back to Elias. She did not even allow others to speak her name.
This hopelessly lovestruck girl had started with an affection level shaped like a sideways eight the moment she was born.
She was unquestionably the number one Elias-only fan in existence.
"Yeah... this one can't be handled..." xN
The girls instantly reached a conclusion.
They had to admit that this Planet-class Honkai Beast girl's devotion was no less intense than their own. She was a formidable rival.
"Impossible! How can someone not like Homu?!"
Kiana's eyes widened in shock.
"..."
Everyone facepalmed in unison, speechless. They dragged the embarrassing paramecium away. Bronya snatched back her Homu plush and even had Project Bunny fire a shot at Kiana for good measure.
As for who would test the remaining Herrscher of Finality...
Everyone looked at one another, then collectively took a step backward.
And then—
All the girls: "Rock, paper, scissors!"
The process was unimportant. The result was what mattered.
And the result was that a certain flat immortal stared at the two fingers she had raised and began deeply questioning her life.
Fu Hua: "Why is it always me who gets hurt?"
All the girls: "As expected of you, Hua! You lost again and again and again. Hurry up and go!"
Fu Hua: "...Let me activate my Honkai Form first."