"Haah~ How long was I asleep?"
"About three hours."
"...That's quite a while."
Elias stretched lazily but didn't move away from Sakura's lap pillow. Instead, he smiled and nuzzled his face against the girl's smooth, shapely thighs—fair and taut, the kind one could spend a lifetime admiring and still not get enough of.
Sakura's face turned red as warmth spread through her body. It tickled, making her instinctively press her legs together.
"Ahem. Did you have a nice dream? You were mumbling something in your sleep," she asked softly.
"Mm. Yeah, a beautiful dream—a dream about you, Sakura."
Elias' golden eyes softened into a smile, as if savoring the lingering sweetness of a fine delicacy. He almost didn't want to wake up from it.
"I dreamed I was just an ordinary man... and I met a shrine maiden. We got married and lived a peaceful, happy life together. No Honkai, no danger—only the gentle days beneath falling cherry blossoms."
As he spoke, Elias reached up and wrapped an arm around Sakura's neck, pulling her down into a kiss.
For a moment, Sakura lost herself completely, almost as if through that kiss, she could glimpse the dream he spoke of. Of course, that was impossible—this wasn't some fairy-tale illusion.
But even just imagining it from his words, she couldn't help but long for it... even though she knew that dream could never come true.
If nothing else, the boy before her could never be a normal person—even in a world without Honkai.
The Savior shone like the sun not because of his power, but because of his heart.
Sakura knew very well that Elias wasn't someone she could ever truly have to herself.
"Elias... can you tell me why you love me?" she asked quietly. "I'm not as radiant as Elysia, not as artistic as Eden, not as intelligent as Mei, and not as... well-endowed as Aponia."
The fox-eared girl nervously clenched her hands, recalling the other Flame-Chasers and feeling utterly ordinary in comparison. Even her fox ears drooped a little.
"I'm so plain... so why do you like me so much?"
"Huh?"
Elias raised an eyebrow, giving her a look that said, What are you even talking about? He reached out and gently pinched her cheeks, looking slightly exasperated.
"I don't even know where to start. Come on, Sakura—have a little confidence in yourself. I could talk about your good points all day long. You're every bit as beautiful as Elysia and the others."
"R-really?" Sakura blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected him to speak so highly of her.
"You should be a little greedier, Sakura. You're always so considerate—it's making me feel guilty." Elias chuckled helplessly.
His fox-eared girl never asked for much. She was easy to please, never jealous, never demanding. Even when surrounded by other women, she never competed for his affection—she simply accepted him, quietly and wholeheartedly.
A single moment of affection from him could make her happy for days. She was gentle, devoted, and impossibly patient.
Elias often thought that Sakura was the kind of girl who made a man want to marry her and spend his life with her.
"I don't care about status or position," Sakura said with a gentle smile, as soft and fleeting as the blooming cherry blossoms. "As long as I have a place in your heart, that's enough. I'm happy just as things are now."
She was like his shadow—always there, silently following and supporting him. A thoughtful, devoted girl who appeared when he needed her and vanished when he didn't.
She was the epitome of the loyal warrior maiden—the kind who lived and fought only for the one she served.
(Sakura: 'Ninja Art—Captain's gacha, all guaranteed. Captain's missions, zero drops.')
In every cycle, Elias would save Sakura's parents and restore her hometown, returning to her the chance to live as an ordinary shrine maiden.
Under his protection, Sakura didn't even need to become a Flame-Chaser. Realistically speaking, Elias alone could now lead Fire Moth to victory against the Honkai.
In fact, if he were willing to accept a certain level of civilian casualties... Elias could have saved the world even without Fire Moth.
The Savior who had rescued humanity eleven times possessed power beyond comprehension.
And yet—
In every cycle, Sakura always found her way back to him.
Even without her memories, she repeatedly gave up the peaceful life of an ordinary human—just to end up by his side once more.
That was why—
"Sakura, you're too good for me. I really, really love you. Without you, I don't think I could go on," Elias said, eyes brimming with warmth that could melt steel.
He wrapped his arms tightly around the girl in front of him, utterly captivated. This beautiful, gentle soul had captured his heart in the simplest, purest way possible—through companionship.
Unlike Elysia, who had shared his origin, Sakura's path to him was always different in each cycle. No matter how long or winding the road, she would always come back to him—every single time.
Even when Elias didn't go looking for her, she still came.
"E-Elias, that's way too much... I-I wasn't ready for that..." Sakura's voice stuttered as his sudden words pierced straight through her heart. Her face turned bright red, her fox ears twitching uncontrollably as steam seemed to rise from her head.
She had never imagined he liked her that much. She'd thought her favorability barely reached half of that of a certain pink-haired elf.
But looking into Elias' eyes now—burning with unrestrained affection—Sakura realized how deeply she had underestimated his feelings for her.
The fox-eared girl hugged the white-haired boy tightly, burying her face in his chest as tears glistened in her eyes.
"I always thought... I was the one furthest away from you."
"Because of my Signet?"
"...Mm." She nodded slightly.
"Heh, silly girl. My Signet and yours are actually the closest pair of all." Elias smiled.
He wasn't referring to his [Deliverance] Signet.
Saving the world was something Elias had done every cycle. The road to salvation wasn't a smooth one—it allowed no equals, no companions.
But Elias had already walked that path eleven times.
He had reached the end again and again. And though he never chose to move forward into the future, always returning to the beginning instead, the Signet of [Deliverance] could no longer define him.
He had earned a new Signet—[Eternity].
[Eternity] was proof of his transcendence beyond [Deliverance].
At first glance, it stood in contrast to Sakura's [Setsuna]—Moment.
But to Elias, they were one and the same. This girl, like him, had chosen the same path over and over in every cycle. In his eyes, even if Sakura's Signet had been named [Eternity], it would have suited her just as well.
After all, even if a single strike lasted but an instant—when Sakura unleashed her blade that froze time itself, an eternal moment was born.
"Don't overthink it, Sakura," Elias said softly, patting her head. "Don't you think Eternity and Setsuna (Moment) sound... perfect together? Besides—"
He smiled tenderly.
"I'd gladly trade my eternity... for your moment." (I want to be with you, forever.)
"!!!"
Even with her limited emotional experience, Sakura understood exactly what those words meant.
Her heart leapt, her vision blurred. Just having a small place in his heart had been enough for her—but now, he had given her so much more.
Overwhelmed, she drew a deep breath and declared:
"In that case, I'll be your blade, Elias! I'll cut down all your enemies!"
"Haha, what's this about blades? You're not my weapon, Sakura—you're a person. My beloved girl."
Elias laughed, playfully ruffling her fox ears. He had done this in every cycle—ten times now—and still, he never grew tired of it. Pink fox ears truly are eternal perfection!
"But... if you insist on being a blade, then I'll be your sheath."
A blade exists to protect its sheath—and the sheath exists to protect the blade. Elias liked that kind of relationship.
"Mm! I understand!"
Sakura's eyes shone brightly. She instinctively reached for the Frozen Naraka beside her—a blade that had recently ascended into a true Divine Key. Not long ago, Elias had entrusted her with the Gem of Ice from the Herrscher of Ice.
After all, as Elias had once said, "Better to craft a weapon that protects the world than one that blows it up." Instead of letting Vill-V make another self-destructing Divine Key, he gave Sakura something practical.
Now, empowered by the Frozen Naraka, Sakura's strength had multiplied many times over. Her time-freezing strike had become ten times deadlier. Even Judgment-class Honkai Beasts couldn't withstand it—and Vipralopa-class monsters wouldn't last either.
But that wasn't what made Sakura happiest.
What she loved most was how Frozen Naraka and Elias' Seven Thunders of Retribution in its tachi form looked together—they were like a perfect pair, matching weapons for matching souls.
"Oh, right," Elias said suddenly, his tone growing serious. "I've told you this before, but I think I need to say it again."
"Eh? What is it?"
"Because you're strong now, Sakura—and because you love me so much... you must never save me in the future." Elias gripped the handle of her blade firmly as he spoke.
"!!!"
Sakura's fox ears trembled violently.
Her expression instantly turned bitter. She knew exactly what he meant.
Because of Elias, the Flame-Chasers would now all live to see fifty thousand years into the future—not as memory constructs, but as living, breathing humans.
They were people of the past who would one day reach the future. Which meant... they could potentially interfere with the past Elias had already changed—the Second, Third, and Fourth Eruptions of the Current Era.
If they wanted to, the Flame-Chasers could interfere.
But Elias forbade it.
"Really... I can't?" Sakura asked, her voice trembling with frustration.
"No. Absolutely not. It would end badly," Elias said firmly, shaking his head.
In this twelfth cycle, he had already revealed his identity as a man from fifty thousand years in the future to all of the Flame-Chasers—and told them everything he had done.
(And for once, the pink elf hadn't been the first to hear it. Elias had gotten to witness all of their shocked faces at once—and oh, how satisfying it was.)
After learning of Elias' "past," which to them was still the "future," the Flame-Chasers were left stunned... and deeply pained. In each of the three great Honkai Eruptions of the Current Era, Elias had paid a terrible price.
Especially during the Second Eruption.
When they learned that a still-weak Elias had stood alone against Schicksal's entire missile barrage to protect everyone—and died in the process—the Flame-Chasers' hatred for Otto Apocalypse shot through the roof.
Several of them had even started secretly planning that, once they reached the Current Era through cryosleep, they would hunt that man down and subject him to every form of torment imaginable before killing him.
"Sakura, please. Listen to me. I don't want to return to the Current Era with memories that were never supposed to exist."
"But Elias—how do you expect me to endure that?!" Sakura's voice broke with anger and grief.
Knowing what would happen to him—knowing she could act, yet being forbidden to—was unbearable.
Ever since learning of Elias' suffering during the Second Eruption, she had imagined countless times the day she would reach the future... and use her blade to protect him.
Whether it was the human experimenters of Babylon or Otto Apocalypse himself—anyone who had ever hurt Elias—Sakura swore she would cut them all down with her own hands.
And now... he was telling her she couldn't.
"Trying to change a fixed fate will only trigger the world's corrective force," Elias said softly. "It'll end up even worse—just like what happened with Aponia. So please... don't save me."
There was genuine sorrow in his voice. He too had once dreamed of being saved. If someone had rescued him from that cold operating table, he would have loved them forever.
But sadly, even if the chance existed, it was something that couldn't be done. Only two beings in existence could truly defy fate—himself, and that certain pink-haired elf.
After ten cycles of reincarnation, however, Elias no longer dared let Elysia use the power of Origin again. Changing fate at the cost of one's own existence—that was something only he should bear.
Those unable to withstand the world's correction force would only bring about a worse ending by trying to alter destiny. Elias didn't want to create new regrets or tragedies.
"I... understand."
Sakura's fox ears drooped again, her heart heavy.
Elias gently stroked her soft pink hair to comfort her.
"Alright, alright—enough gloomy talk. It's a rare peaceful moment. Let's do something fun instead."
"F-fun?"
"Mm~ I'm thinking... where should I start eating you from this time?"
Elias licked the corner of his lips, his golden eyes reflecting the beautiful girl before him. Her expression, a mixture of tension and longing, melted away into bliss as he drove her sorrow from her heart through pleasure.
...
A few hours later—
"Here, this is a small gift to commemorate your twelfth cycle. I hope you like it." Elias placed a delicate little box on Sakura's chest.
"Eh? W-what is it?" The exhausted fox-eared girl could barely move, her voice weak with curiosity.
"You'll find out someday~" Elias smiled mysteriously.
Every cycle, he prepared a gift like this. Though he always called it a memento of a new beginning, the truth was simpler—Elias just loved giving presents to those he loved.
After all, he happened to know a certain excellent jeweler. The same designer who had crafted the engagement ring he once planned to give Elysia... had now been tormented by his requests for twelve whole cycles.
Just then, as if remembering something, Elias reached into his coat again and produced another small gift, placing it beside Sakura.
"This one's for Rin. Give it to her for me, will you?"
"O-okay... wait—why does Rin get one too?" Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief. Since when did my little sister get involved with him? she thought.
"That's... a secret~"
Elias' smile turned teasing.
He had, in fact, saved Rin eleven times already. Each cycle, she became the Herrscher of Corruption—and each time, Elias saved her. And each time, she confessed her love to him afterward.
Once or twice, he had refused. But Elias was the type of man who couldn't turn away someone who genuinely loved him.
And so...
Clang!
The fox-eared girl smiled sweetly as she drew her blade.
Sakura: "My sister is off-limits. Guess I'll just have to 'cut' her out."
Elias: "..."
In a sense... this was his fault.
After all, with every cycle, he had rewritten both Sakura's and Rin's fates. Though he had erased the tragedies destined for them, he had also taken away their chance to grow up depending on each other.
And so—
The bond between Sakura and Rin, the sisters once inseparable... had grown faint.