"Elias, we found the last puppet!"
Within the Nation of Domination, the girls rushed over without stopping after finding the puppet. Seven days had already passed, and they did not want to keep Elias waiting any longer.
However, when Mei and the others used the previous spatial coordinates and the pseudo Cosmic Juggernaut to open a spatial portal back to the Nation of Domination, they were greeted by a sight that nearly broke them.
"Oh my~ Everyone's finally back."
"Slow. It's already been seven days."
"..." xN
Inside the alternate space that was almost completely filled with puppet wreckage, Elias and the Herrscher of Finality were embracing and kissing each other. The two of them fought monsters while openly displaying their affection, without the slightest trace of hardship.
Elysia and the others sucked in a sharp breath. They had never expected Finality to learn the art of stealing a march on them too!
Yet they could not complain. Although the two were flirting, they had not neglected their actual work. The number of puppets they had destroyed had already exceeded five hundred million!
"So you found the final one after all? Forget it. The outcome will not change. As long as human malice continues to exist, the Herrscher of Million will never end."
"W-What did you say?!" xN
When the battered divine puppet spoke those words, the girls, who had not yet learned this information, widened their eyes in shock.
Elias, however, merely waved a hand with a relaxed expression.
"All right, all right~ Don't listen to this thing's nonsense. Thanks to everyone finding the final puppet, the equation for victory is now complete. I'll be the one to bring the Herrscher of Million to an end."
"..."
The girls' anxious hearts immediately settled. Looking at the confident white-haired youth, the trace of panic that had just arisen within them vanished without a trace.
It was as though, as long as this person stood before them, every predicament would be shattered. No matter what crisis they faced, this white savior would always lead them out of the hopeless night and toward the most beautiful ending.
Even Otto, despite being Elias' enemy, trusted him without reservation in this regard, let alone the girls who loved the white-haired youth so deeply.
"Senti, you're the trump card I've been saving!" Elias said to the Herrscher of Sentience.
"Huh? What? Me?"
The Herrscher of Sentience, who had been standing with her hands on her hips and preparing to watch Elias perform, froze on the spot. Senti blinked blankly and pointed at herself with her right hand, wearing an expression that clearly said, 'How come I didn't know I was this amazing?'
"Oh my~ The great Lady Herrscher of Sentience has no need to be modest. Now come save the world with me!"
Elias revealed a smile as brilliant as the sun, then firmly grasped both of the Herrscher of Sentience's hands.
Her eyes immediately widened. Her heart raced, and her blood boiled. Gazing at the white-haired youth's beautiful smile, the Herrscher of Sentience felt as though she could accomplish anything. Even if Honkai itself appeared before her, she could smash it apart right now!
"Ahem! Fine! Since you put it that way, Elias, the great Lady Herrscher of Sentience will save the world from this crisis... Uh, what exactly am I supposed to do?"
"It's simple. Lend me your Core for a moment."
"That's all? Here, take it."
The Herrscher of Sentience handed over her Core without hesitation. This action was essentially no different from offering up her own heart.
After all, for a consciousness that did not require a physical body, the Herrscher Core could be considered her true form as well as her sole weakness.
Yet even without considering the bond Elias and Senti had built during this period, she had also recently inherited a certain flat-chested immortal's feelings toward Elias from Fu Hua's memories.
Aside from romantic affection, there was also absolute trust.
After all, to anyone born in the Previous Era, Elias' words were absolute truth. The reverence and trust accumulated through those twelve attempts to save the world had made Elias an existence equivalent to faith itself during the Twilight Era.
Countless Fire Moth soldiers had once declared that if Elias gave the order, they would obey without hesitation even if it meant marching to their deaths, though they knew perfectly well that the Savior who remembered every tragedy would never issue such a command.
"It has been a long time since I exercised an authority through a Core. Let's make it a little extravagant this time. Maximum Honkai energy injection. Authority of the Herrscher of Sentience, expand to maximum range!"
"Hm? Wait! Don't tell me you're planning to...!"
The divine puppet's eyes widened. At this moment, even an entity filled with divinity could no longer remain calm.
Elias' own authorities had been stolen. Among the Current Era's forces, the only Herrschers who still retained their authorities were the Herrscher of Finality, the Herrscher of Origin, and the Herrscher of Sentience.
The Herrscher of Sentience was the final trump card Elias had deliberately concealed and protected—their opportunity to defeat the Herrscher of Million once and for all!
"I seize the divine brush, command the will of all beings, weave dreams into reality, and reign as king of the mind!"
At that moment, within the intrinsic world...
An immense dream enveloped the entire planet.
As the dual Pseudo God of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta, Elias possessed a total volume of Honkai energy equal to that of the Herrscher of Finality, so vast that no instrument could measure it.
Pouring such an enormous quantity of Honkai energy into a single Core was enough to unleash power capable of affecting the entire planet. At that moment, everyone in the world fell into the dream Elias had woven.
The authority of the Herrscher of Sentience, pushed to its absolute limit, broke through its own boundaries and reached an entirely new height, completing its ascension.
Perhaps she should be called the Herrscher of Transcendent Sentience from now on.
"You intend to directly manipulate the consciousness of everyone in the world? Alter humanity's personalities? Create a world without malice? Indeed, with the ascended Herrscher of Sentience and your Honkai energy, accomplishing such a thing may truly be possible."
The divine puppet made no further move.
It understood that the power of the Herrscher of Million alone could not stop Elias. Even though he could not divide his attention at the moment, the Herrscher of Finality and the others were still present.
"Alter their personalities? That's far too dramatic. I'm only temporarily screening all malicious thoughts from human minds. To everyone else, it's merely a pleasant dream where they become good people, and everyone around them becomes good as well."
Elias shrugged as he spoke.
Thanks to a certain Miss [Idea], Elias was also an expert at dreaming. What he was doing now was quite similar to what the Herrscher of Sentience had done during the first cycle of the Previous Era.
The only difference was that Elias possessed more than enough Honkai energy.
He did not need to create a memetic weapon and secretly draw people into the dream one by one as the Herrscher of Sentience had once done. Instead, he directly wove an illusion that enveloped the entire world.
"...That truly was a blind spot. I miscalculated."
The divine puppet spoke indifferently. While possessing the Herrscher of Million, it could clearly sense the malice within the minds of eight billion people fading as they sank into the dream Elias had woven.
At that moment, the scales of human nature tilted entirely toward goodness.
Under the control of Elias, the Herrscher of Transcendent Sentience, the mortal world truly transformed into a flawless paradise. The world became purer and more beautiful than ever before.
Human benevolence was being amplified without limit.
Gentleness, peace, integrity, kindness, diligence, tolerance, humility, chastity, temperance, generosity, loyalty, unity, and countless other virtues took root within the human heart.
The flawless and beautiful flower of humanity bloomed in dazzling splendor.
Malice had vanished completely, as though everyone in the world had become Elysia.
One could even say that, in this single instant, the species known as humanity had ascended into angels.
"Herrscher of Million, it is time for your finale!"
Elias drew a holy sword from his chest.
It resembled the treasured sword of a hero from a fairy tale, its silver blade intertwined with gold, indestructible and capable of cutting through anything.
This was Holy Blade Durandal.
Even for Elias, fighting continuously for so many days and weaving a dream that enveloped the entire world had consumed no small amount of Honkai energy.
Yet with the infinite energy supplied by the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta, each of his attacks could still unleash its maximum power. At that moment, the immortal blade capable of cleaving space and severing continents erupted with dazzling light.
The sword had not yet finished gathering power, but the alternate space containing the Nation of Domination had already begun to tremble and collapse.
"Wait, wait, wait! We're going to die! We're really going to die this time!"
"Stay away! Don't come any closer! Aaaahhh!"
"G-God, what are we supposed to do?"
"Defeat is inevitable. Accept reality and die."
"What?! Honkai, you goddamn piece of—"
Watching Honkai immediately go offline when the situation turned unfavorable, even the utterly loyal Herrscher of Million could no longer endure it. Every puppet completely broke down. What was that supposed to mean, 'Accept reality and die?'
Was that something a goddamn bastard like Honkai should say?!
The Herrscher of Million, which had previously shown no fear of death, erupted with an overwhelming desire to survive. The puppets instantly gathered together as countless puppet strings intertwined.
Then, an enormous black-and-gold puppet mechanism emerged.
Its name was the Herrscher of Dominance!
However, this Herrscher of Dominance, formed from the Herrscher of Million, was naturally more than ten thousand times stronger than the one created by the Herrscher of Thousand in the original story.
"We will not lose! We will not die! This is the Nation of Domination! Our stage! And we... are the embodiment of humanity's hideous will!"
Countless colossal golden puppet hands smashed toward Elias. At the same time, every stolen authority roared to life as the Herrscher born from human evil launched its final frenzied resistance.
"Don't even think about touching Elias again!"
"It's time to end this, Herrscher of Million!"
"It's also time you returned the authorities you stole!"
Kiana and the others charged forward without hesitation, blocking every attack for Elias before he finished gathering power.
No matter how frenzied the Herrscher of Dominance's attacks became, they could not break through the defensive line formed by the girls.
"No! It isn't over! We understand the ugliness of this world better than anyone because our very existence is proof! So you should give up! The world you protect has never been beautiful!"
"Indeed, this world is far from beautiful. I once witnessed the entirety of human history along a road of time spanning fifty thousand years, so I can understand your argument. But..."
Elias stared directly at the Herrscher of Dominance.
His attack was fully charged. The holy sword in his hand released a radiance brighter than the sun, yet the light was also incomparably gentle, causing no pain even when gazed upon directly.
Then the white-haired youth performed an ordinary horizontal slash, cleaving apart both the alternate dimension that contained the malice of humanity and the Herrscher of Dominance constructed from that malice.
"If this world isn't beautiful enough, then we'll change it! We'll transform this world into the one we desire!"
"...I see... So this is the path you chose... Savior... Elias... You truly are... incredible..."
At the final moment before its destruction, the Herrscher of Million finally understood the difference between itself and Elias. Both knew the malice of the world, and both had experienced countless failures.
Yet throughout that process, the puppets had abandoned hope. They surrendered to the darkness within their hearts, ceased struggling, and chose to become accomplices of Honkai—avengers who sought revenge against the world.
Elias was different. Even after enduring the most hopeless circumstances and facing the worst possible choices, he never surrendered to reality. He stubbornly resisted again and again until he ultimately protected everything he loved.
They were polar opposites.
They were the embodiment of perseverance and surrender.
The body of the Herrscher of Dominance began to collapse and disintegrate. All the authorities it had stolen dispersed, while every puppet string snapped apart. The time for the final curtain had arrived.
The blindfolds symbolizing "escape from reality" slipped from the puppets' faces. The one million Herrschers who had been unable to stand on humanity's side all turned to look at Elias.
Their eyes were filled with admiration, envy, and longing.
Herrscher of Dominance: "Ah... What a dazzling person. If only everything could start over..."
Elias: "..."
And with that, the subjugation of the Tenth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Million, was complete.