In a large, bustling metropolis—
A young couple drew countless gazes, their beauty and aura so dazzling that they stood out even in the crowd.
The girl looked like an elf who had accidentally wandered out of a storybook and into the mortal world.
The boy looked like an angel who had fallen from heaven.
No one dared to approach or flirt; the intimate and affectionate atmosphere between Elias and Elysia silently declared to everyone around that they belonged only to each other.
Even the most self-absorbed people couldn't bring themselves to feel confident in front of them. All they could do was sigh at the insurmountable difference between them and the rest of humanity.
If ordinary people were mere splashes of clay flung aside by Nuwa during creation, then these two must have been masterpieces sculpted over forty-nine days by the goddess herself.
"Slurp~ Eli, tell me, is my list of love rivals about to get even longer again?"
Elysia's expression was one of mock melancholy.
She crossed her arms and bit on her straw, the milk tea cup supported effortlessly by the two round fruits on her chest.
"How could that be~ Am I really the kind of man who flirts around?"
Elias grinned mischievously, pulling Elysia into his arms and stealing her milk tea, taking a big sip himself. The girl pouted adorably, pretending to be mad.
"Hmph~ You tell me. I thought Mei, Pardofelis, Eden, and Vill-V were already outrageous enough, but I didn't expect... Eli, what kind of magic did you use? Even Griseo..."
Elysia held her head in both hands, doubting life itself.
Some time ago, Elias had taken her to visit a newborn baby—and that experience had left her completely stunned.
Because the moment Elias appeared, the baby named Griseo stopped reaching for her parents and immediately crawled toward the young man, begging to be held.
Even Ato couldn't help but wonder for a moment whether Griseo was truly his own daughter... or Elias'.
"Well, if you must know, I've secretly poisoned many people—made them fall helplessly in love with me. You too, my dear Ely, are among them. In fact, you're the one who's been poisoned the deepest."
Elias toyed with a lock of the pink-haired elf's hair, a devilish smile curving his lips. Then, out of habit, he leaned close and gently nibbled her ear.
"Mmm~ Then never give me the antidote... and make the dose stronger," Elysia whispered softly, her cheeks flushed red.
"Of course. I've already prepared a fresh dose in this cup of milk tea. Do you want a sip?" Elias pulled out another large, steaming cup of milk tea from who-knows-where and offered it to her.
Elysia's eyes lit up. Without hesitation, she took it and began happily sipping, soon revealing a look of pure bliss.
Elias smiled faintly. In truth, he had only asked the shopkeeper to add a few extra spoons of sugar. His pink-haired elf was, after all, a hopeless sweet-tooth.
"Speaking of which, Eli, why did you suddenly fly all the way to this city? You're sure you're not here to find another love rival for me, right?"
"Ahem, definitely not this time. Although, yes, I do have someone I need to meet... but this time, she's neither a friend nor a lover. She's my beloved enemy."
Elias's golden eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint flashing through them. His usual warmth faded, replaced by cold killing intent.
Elysia shivered all over.
"Your enemy? Eh? Really? There's actually someone in this world who dislikes my Eli?"
Miss Pink Elf found that almost impossible to believe.
To her, Elias could only be described as universally charming—beloved by all, regardless of gender.
Forget about girls like Eden, Sakura, and Hua; even guys like Kevin, Kalpas, and Kosma had shown absolute loyalty after meeting him.
Everyone else seemed to feel the same way. The entire world appeared to favor the boy named Elias, as if every person he met was born with at least sixty points of affection toward him.
System: (After ten reincarnations and eleven acts of salvation, even ordinary people who never retained their memories instinctively harbor affection for the one who saved them countless times.)
If one were to put it into words—
It could be said that the world itself had fallen in love with Elias.
"Hehe~ Of course, there are those who hate me. But to be precise... they're not exactly human."
"Eh? What do you mean?" Elysia blinked in confusion.
"..."
Elias simply shook his head, refusing to explain further. Having long since grown used to being cryptic, he instead turned his gaze toward a tall, silver-gray-haired woman walking past.
As she brushed by him, Elias suddenly reached out and took her hand.
"Eh?! H-handsome, w-what are you doing?"
The woman jumped in shock. She stared at the young man who had grabbed her hand, originally ready to get angry—but the moment she saw that impossibly handsome face, her irritation vanished completely, replaced by infatuation.
In Elias' other hand, a lotus-shaped pseudo Divine Key glowed faintly, emanating the light that represented the Zeroth Power.
"Such fragile peace... In the Previous Era, at 9:37:23 a.m., November 11th, 2325, the First Honkai Eruption occurred. The Herrscher of Reason descended, annihilating this entire prosperous city. Time remaining: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0."
And the instant the countdown reached zero—
Boom!!!
The woman, who had been swooning a moment ago, suddenly transformed into a divine apostle. Her eyes lost every trace of humanity as terrifying Honkai energy surged toward her.
"W-what... what's happening?!"
"This is the truth of the world, Ely. Our journey ends here for now. The war between gods and humans is about to begin once again. Let's fight—for the world's sake."
Those were words worthy of a Savior. Yet Elias spoke them with a weary smile, his expression filled not with valor, but exhaustion.
He drew out a black-and-white spear—an imitation of the Abyss Flower—and with practiced precision, as if he had done it hundreds of times before, he slit his own wrist, letting his blood soak into the weapon.
"I am the Black from the abyss, I am the White descending from the heavens. Born before Creation, existing beyond Oblivion, I shall grant the fountain of life freely to those who thirst."
"By my blood, I shall save all living beings. Lilium Sanguineum! Abyss Flower—Zeroth Power!"
Elias hurled the blood-soaked spear into the sky.
Before the Honkai Eruption could claim the lives of the city's people, a rain of blood-stained white petals fell from the heavens, blanketing the entire metropolis and shielding every soul from Honkai corruption.
Though the Abyss Flower was not the genuine one, Elias himself held the Herrscher Core of Death. And this was only a city-scale eruption—a mere ripple compared to what he had faced before.
Besides, he was now a fusion warrior—a Chimera.
After ten cycles of reincarnation, Elias had long since mastered using the Herrscher of Rebirth's powers to perform Meta-Morph surgery on himself. During his travels with Elysia, he occasionally encountered Honkai Beasts—and collected samples along the way.
Of course, unlike his late-stage self from the first cycle—who had merged with tens of thousands of Honkai Beast genes—this current Elias had only fused with about a thousand.
Even so, he was already a Chimera. Given time, by devouring just one new Honkai Beast species at a time, he would eventually regain his former might—the being who had once devoured tens of thousands of beasts and become the [Reverse God].
As for whether becoming a Chimera during the first Herrscher's era would increase the world's difficulty or put pressure on civilization, Elias had already tested that theory in previous loops.
It didn't increase the difficulty at all.
After all, he wasn't truly a part of this civilization—or even this world. As a traveler from another universe, his existence was exempt from the Honkai's influence.
Though, if he shone too brightly, the Honkai would still try to target him deliberately. Not that Elias particularly cared.
In any case... the Herrschers were doomed.
"Humans, prepare yourselves for des—wait, what's going on?! Where's my Honkai energy?! Why is it so low?!"
The newborn Herrscher of Reason had just descended. She was ready to summon heavy firepower and reduce the entire city to rubble, to announce her and the Honkai's arrival to the world.
But then she realized... her energy bar was empty.
Her Honkai Eruption hadn't killed a single person.
As a result, the Honkai energy within her was pitifully low. She could barely even manifest a small handgun.
Just as the Herrscher of Reason hesitated over whether she should use her tiny handgun to carry out the grand mission of destroying humanity—
"Herrscher of Reason, come to think of it, in the first cycle, you were the only Herrscher I didn't personally deal with. Fire Moth handled you on their own. I guess I'll make up for that now."
"You? You're the one behind this?!"
The Herrscher of Reason's expression changed drastically. Instinctively, she realized that the reason her Honkai energy was so abnormally low was because of something the white-haired boy before her had done.
But before she could even raise that little handgun toward Elias—
"Now, let's have a heart-to-heart."
Elias' smile turned cruel as his Chimera-enhanced strength locked the Herrscher's body firmly in place.
Then, with his right hand—imbued with the power of space—he reached straight into her chest, opening the imaginary space within her body.
Herrscher of Reason: "Aaaaahhhh!!!"
Since he had yet to reclaim the Gem of the Void, Elias' current spatial powers were incomplete—making the process far from painless.
Still, his efficiency was unmatched. Within seconds, a silver-gray Core was pulled cleanly from her body.
After all, this was already his twelfth cycle. He was a veteran at this.
"No—! My Core! My Core! How could this happen?! Who even are you?!"
The Herrscher of Reason was completely dumbfounded. She had only just descended ten seconds ago, and her Core was already gone.
Elias looked down at the Core in his hand with a bored expression. Then he snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Dozens of floating turrets—Key of Reason constructs—appeared around them in a ring, their barrels charging with concentrated Honkai energy, ready to fire at any moment.
"Herrscher. Choose—submission or death."
"I... I refuse!!!"
With a defiant scream, the Herrscher of Reason was swiftly subdued by Elias. Thus ended the First Honkai Eruption of the Previous Era. From the Herrscher's birth to her capture—the entire event lasted fifteen seconds.
Elias: "Mediocre performance. Barely passing."
Elysia: "Uh... so, what just happened?"
The entire process had happened far too quickly. The truth of the world? The war between gods and humans? Elysia couldn't make sense of anything that had just unfolded.
Elias: "..."
Eventually, Elias explained everything about the Honkai to her. Only then did the pink-haired elf finally understand.
Seeing her enlightened expression, Elias couldn't help but laugh helplessly. After all, this girl—who was herself the Herrscher of Origin, the beginning to his end—knew absolutely nothing about the Honkai.
Not long after, Fire Moth detected a brief but massive Honkai energy spike and launched an investigation.
However, all they found were blood-red petals scattered across the entire city. Beyond that—nothing. Every resident of the city was safe, merely confused.
They only remembered feeling an instant of discomfort... and then nothing.
...
Three days after the First Eruption—
At the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean, a massive, unknown black prison had appeared.
A white-haired boy walked its corridors.
He arrived before the cell of its sole prisoner.
"Save your strength, Herrscher of Reason. Without your Core, you couldn't even defeat a B-rank Valkyrie. Escaping this prison—The Deep End—built specifically to confine beings like you, is nothing more than a delusion."
Elias spoke coldly, his tone devoid of emotion.
Using the Herrscher of Reason's own authority, he had constructed The Deep End—a prison designed to contain gods themselves. In every cycle, the Herrscher of Reason was always its first resident.
"So? Does it feel like home yet?"
"You vile human! Let me out!"
The Herrscher trembled with rage.
At the moment, she wore a black-and-white striped prison uniform. Her wrists and ankles were bound tightly by soulium chains. As for her once-elegant Herrscher armor—it had long been stripped away.
In Elias' own words—
"A prisoner should look like one. Even if you're a messenger of the gods, here in The Deep End, you're nothing more than an inmate. You don't need that fancy armor."
The Herrscher of Reason gritted her teeth, feeling the familiar aura radiating from the prison walls. She quickly realized the truth—this was a structure built using her own power!
A prison created from her own authority... to imprison herself.
Did she have no dignity left at all?!
"Herrscher of Reason, you should feel honored. As the first vanguard of the Honkai, you didn't manage to kill a single person."
"Pff—! Human, are you mocking me?!"
The Herrscher of Reason nearly coughed up blood. How could she possibly feel proud of that? She was the god's apostle of destruction! To be captured without killing anyone was the height of humiliation!
Yet Elias only shook his head sincerely.
Then, he reached out and gently placed his hands around her neck, gazing deeply into her eyes as he spoke.
"Mock you? No... I'm actually happy for you, Herrscher of Reason. Because if you had killed even a single person, then I... would have had no choice but to kill you too."
"!!!"
The Herrscher trembled from head to toe, cold sweat dripping down her back. She could tell he wasn't lying.
If she had killed anyone, this boy really would have taken her life. The realization filled her with both fear and anger. She was a Herrscher—a messenger of the gods—and yet, in this man's eyes, her life was equal to that of a mere human?
"Hmph! Did you forget whose body this is? When I descended, her consciousness was erased! So, I did kill someone!"
"Heh~ That person is still alive."
The Herrscher smirked proudly, flaunting her supposed kill, but Elias only shook his head again.
"That's an illusion. You didn't actually kill anyone."
"What?! Impossible!"
"Herrscher, you're in no position to call me a liar."
Elias spoke coldly.
During his ten cycles of reincarnation, he had discovered a way to save the human consciousness of a Herrscher's original host—and it was surprisingly simple.
By using the Zeroth Power of the Fenghuang Down, one could extract a person's consciousness from their body and store it within the relic. The Herrscher would then only possess the empty shell.
The idea had come from the Current Era's Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Sentience. In the original timeline, after Fu Hua was shot through the head by Otto, her consciousness had been transferred into Kiana's body—while her physical body was occupied by the Herrscher of Sentience.
Using the Herrscher of Rebirth's power, Elias had reconstructed a new body for that woman and reintegrated her consciousness into it. She was now living peacefully once again.
(It's a pity this method doesn't work on the Herrscher of Origin... My dear Ely, you're far too special.)
The power of Origin didn't reside in Elysia's body—Elysia herself was the power of Origin. Elias had once tried to possess her body to activate that authority... but his attempt had been utterly futile.
Meanwhile, the Herrscher of Reason completely broke down.
What the hell?! Her only kill didn't even count?!
"Damn it! You detestable human! Let me out of here! I'll fight you! I'll kill you myself!"
"Heh~ You really need some discipline. I can't stand people with filthy mouths. Don't worry, I'll help you learn your lesson."
"W-what are you going to do?!"
"Didn't I just say it? Discipline."
Elias' tone was calm and merciless. A whip materialized in his hand—crafted from his Chimera power. Even the faintest flick produced a terrifying crack through the air.
"Are you ready to repent, Herrscher?"
Cold sweat streamed down the Herrscher's face as she trembled uncontrollably.
"S-stay away from me... Don't come any closer!"