"This is for you, Eden. A gift to celebrate your singing once again sweeping this era."
Elias handed Eden a pale golden Herrscher Core.
"This is the Core of the Herrscher of Dominance?"
"Mm. It's one of the thousand Gems of Desire I possess. But I have no intention of turning you into the Herrscher of Dominance. This gem is merely a key."
"A key? Then could it be..."
Eden took the gem and pondered for a moment, then revealed a look of surprise. Elias nodded as he continued.
"That's right. This is the key that leads to the theater. My golden theater that makes hearts yearn for it is the real gift for you. I hope your debut can make use of it."
"...Elias, although I have no intention of boasting, my wealth truly can buy any priced object in this world. Yet you always give me gifts whose value transcends money itself. It really makes me so happy that I don't know what to do with myself."
Eden looked at the Gem of Domination in her hand and decided to store it away properly. She did have the habit of giving gems to others after getting drunk, but no matter what, she would never give this gem away.
"Golden theater? What is that supposed to be? Don't tell me it's a grand theater built out of gold."
"You idiot, Kiana. How could something like that be possible."
"It feels like Elias gave an incredible gift. Sister Aponia and the Class Monitor look really envious."
The people of the Current Era still did not know what the Golden Theater was.
The corners of Eden's lips lifted. She did not have the habit of flaunting her wealth to others, but at this moment, she very much wanted to show off once.
Elias also nodded. Imitating a certain Roman mumbling monster, he spoke.
"Witness thy talent. Hear the cheers of ten thousand thunders. With pride born of the Flame-Chasers in my heart, I display the radiance of gold. The time of opening has arrived. This is the Golden Theater—!"
The overly dazzling golden light made everyone involuntarily close their eyes. Then, the very next second, Mei and the others heard beautiful symphonic music, accompanied by a rain of roses falling from the sky.
When they opened their eyes again, everyone could not help but be shaken by this golden theater that was luxurious and romantic to the extreme.
"It actually really is a grand theater built out of gold."
"Waaah! This place is way too gorgeous!"
"Project Bunny is detecting spatial abnormalities. Could this be some kind of other space? By the way, even if you gathered all the gold in the entire world, I don't know if it would be enough to build a theater like this."
"Elias, just how many things do you still have that we don't know about? Later, you have to explain everything properly!"
Anyone who set foot in this Golden Theater for the first time was inevitably shocked.
This was an existence that no amount of wealth an ordinary person could pursue in an entire lifetime could compare to. It was the true symbol of wealth. At the same time, the form of a theater also made it a symbol of art.
A symbol of wealth and art. The first person Elias thought of was his beloved great artist.
"This is the stage that truly suits you, my dear Eden. From now on, this Golden Theater belongs to you. I look forward to seeing you sing here."
"I will, Elias. I promise you that very soon, the name Eden will once again be known to the world. But... at that time, I might need a partner. May I invite you to take on that role?"
Eden tightly gripped the Gem of Domination in her hand and looked expectantly at the white-haired boy before her. She wanted to be a little more greedy.
"Of course. This is both my honor and my happiness. I really miss the days when we performed together in the past. I've always been looking forward to having the chance to do it a few more times."
Elias agreed without hesitation. To him, music was as ordinary and ever-present as a daily necessity, but he did not mind displaying it to the world on a splendid stage.
"That's wonderful then. Do you need to come up with a stage name?"
"I'll just make one up when the time comes. I might as well leave it to you to decide, Eden. More importantly, I've already reached my limit of patience. Could I trouble you to sing a song right now?"
As Elias spoke, he constructed a microphone and handed it to Eden. His golden eyes were filled with anticipation and longing.
"I haven't heard your singing for over ten thousand years. If this keeps up, my ears are really going to break. And Eden, you owe me many, many songs now."
"Yes, that's true. I really do owe you a lot of songs."
Eden was momentarily stunned, then couldn't help but laugh. In the past, she had promised to sing one song for Elias every day. Now, she owed him more than ten thousand years' worth of songs.
She never imagined that someone engraved with gold like herself would one day owe such a "huge debt".
"Then let's make up for today's share first. White, is there any song you'd like to hear?"
"Let me think. Then today, sing 'If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking'."
"Your taste is as refined as ever."
After that, within this grand theater of gold and roses, the peerless songstress began her performance.
Even Kiana, who knew nothing at all about musical art, felt as if her ears were about to get pregnant and her soul was being cleansed just from listening to Eden's singing.
After leaving the Golden Theater, all the girls immediately raised Eden's threat level to the highest tier, even above Aponia. After all, when it came to talent, she gained far too many bonus points.
And she was also the number one super-rich woman in history.
Mei: "If I were that rich too, would I be able to keep Elias?"
Bronya: "Project Bunny, starting today, analyze the stock market. Bronya is going to start making money."
Aponia: "If it's singing, I actually know some hymns as well."
After that, everyone's gaze once again gathered on Elias.
Elias also straightforwardly chose to lay everything bare.
He reconstructed another copy of that brick-thick compendium of abilities he had once given to Otto from a parallel world and handed it to everyone. Immediately, Mei and even Eden were shocked by the extent of his power.
Especially after Elias demonstrated Artificial Cascade.
The overly sacred and perfect form of [Reverse God] was deeply branded into the eyes of the girls, nearly turning them into believers.
"I told you already. The current me has obtained power that can protect everyone from all dangers. From now on, my life will be a power fantasy. Hahahaha~!"
Feeling his own strength, Elias couldn't help but swell with confidence. However, at this moment, he still didn't know.
The Herrscher of Finality from the Previous Era had not returned to Honkai.
That Honkai goddess would awaken in this era before long, and... a certain Planet-class Honkai Beast was also about to become active once again.
...
Half a month passed after that.
Perhaps because the Flame-Chasers would occasionally shut themselves inside memory domains and not come out for long periods of time, the departure of Eden and Aponia had miraculously still not been discovered.
And during this process, the two women were also successfully conquered.
Eden's strength undoubtedly surpassed that of ordinary S-rank Valkyries, but her chances of victory against Herrschers were not high.
As for Aponia's [Discipline], although it was unsolvable, the girls quickly thought of a method so simple it was ridiculous... that was to directly bet their own ears.
"I never thought I'd be defeated so easily. Although Honkai energy intensity is inferior to the Previous Era, the Herrschers of this era all possess humanity and are better at fighting people."
"Yes, because they are not apostles of gods, but warriors who fight for humanity, known as Valkyries."
Eden and Aponia were both astonished. The two of them had originally thought that even if they were not combat-oriented Flame-Chasers, they would not be defeated so easily.
They clearly felt that the difference between the Herrschers of the Previous Era and the Current Era was absurdly large.
The Herrschers of the Previous Era almost only knew how to throw out skills. They specialized in ultra-large-scale indiscriminate annihilation and were simply weapons used by Honkai to destroy human civilization.
Although ever since Elias activated the cycle, these Herrschers would be instantly captured the moment they appeared...
Kiana and Mei, Herrschers of the Current Era, were completely different. Although they had far less Honkai energy than the Herrschers of the Previous Era, they possessed extremely high-level combat skills.
Eden: "If they were to accept Meta-Morph surgery, their strength would leap forward tremendously. By then, aside from Kevin, it would be hard to say if anyone else could secure a guaranteed victory."
Aponia: "Yes. This is truly an era that cannot be underestimated. Elias and Ely really succeeded. They created an era where Herrschers can become human. It's truly remarkable."
Eden: "By the way, that Herrscher of the Void, Miss Kiana, is Kevin's descendant... Is it appropriate to say it that way?"
Aponia: "This... I'm not sure. Later on, wasn't that child Adam raised by Kalpas? And back then, when that child called Kalpas 'Dad', the expressions on Kevin's and Su's faces are still vivid in my memory."
Eden: "Pff!"
That incident had been laughed about among the Flame-Chasers for a full fifty thousand years. At the time, Kalpas was so shocked that the mask on his face fell off, Kevin and Su were petrified on the spot, and Ely even took photos.
"Although their personalities differ, Miss Mei and Miss Kiana are undoubtedly Herrschers of humanity just like Ely. Though it would be nice if the latter could stop sleeping during class."
Eden said with mixed laughter and tears. She had never imagined that one day she would actually become the teacher of two Herrschers.
Mei, though a romantic rival, was without doubt a good student. As for a certain paramecium, she truly treated Eden's singing as a lullaby.
Eden would not forget that during class, while she was playing the piano, a snoring sound suddenly rang out.
"I heard she failed her exam again this time."
"Uh, has that child ever passed?"
...
Inside the St. Freya Academy teachers' office.
"Student Kiana, you're really something~"
"Hehehe, of course! I'm super amazing!"
"..."
Elias chopped the paramecium on the head with a hand strike.
"I wasn't praising you! Biology, history, geography, and physics added up to a total of twenty-one points. History was even zero. Back then, even Kevin wasn't as stupid as you!"
"Wuu... that hurts. I'm sorry..."
Kiana hugged her head and crouched defensively, awkwardly staring at the exam paper covered in red crosses. She had already done her absolute best to guess, but the result was still this miserable.
Kiana seriously suspected that back then she had given half her luck to Elias, which was why she even guessed so many multiple-choice questions wrong. Otherwise, she would have at least gotten forty-two points.
Teacher Elias let out a deep sigh. As a lover, he dearly loved Kiana. But as a teacher, he truly wanted to hang this paramecium up and beat her.
Ignoring the paramecium on the floor, Elias turned his head to look at a certain white-haired beauty beside him.
"Madam Cecilia, you wouldn't want your daughter to repeat a year, would you? I don't need to spell out what needs to be done next, right?"
"Yes, Teacher Elias. I'm very sorry for causing you trouble. I'll definitely supervise Kiana properly from now on."
Cecilia blushed as she bowed apologetically to Elias.
"Mm. I know Madam Cecilia has many missions and classes, but please try to spare more time for Kiana. If this keeps up, she'll really become a D-rank administrative Valkyrie."
"Kiana, did you hear that?"
"I... I understand, Cecilia A-Ah... Mom."
Kiana hesitated for a moment before speaking.
After the Fourth Eruption passed, Cecilia, Sirin, Bella, and Aurora, Agata, and Galina, who had been rescued back then from the Babylon Labs, all joined St. Freya Academy from Anti-Entropy.
In fact, St. Freya Academy was originally built by Theresa based on Cecilia's ideals. After joining, she became a Valkyrie instructor and also an active S-rank combatant.
As an aside, Cecilia had already boarded a battleship, and the one she boarded was Elias' Hyperion.
Although Elias did not impose any special constraints, from a positional standpoint, Cecilia was now his subordinate.
"Prepare yourself, Kiana. Starting tonight, hellish remedial lessons begin. No matter what, you must reach the passing line before next week's make-up exam. Understood?"
"Huh? Next week already?!"
"That's right. Cecilia and I will teach you together. If you still can't pass even then, I'll have no choice but to ask my snake to give you a brain surgery and swap your brain."
As Elias spoke, he rubbed Kiana's head. He refused to believe that making this paramecium pass an exam could be harder than saving the world.
"Do your best, Kiana. I believe you can do it. If you pass next week, I'll make your favorite fried chicken."
"Mm, thank you, Auntie Cecilia... Mom. But speaking of which, why are you both blushing?"
"Cough, cough!!" x2
Elias and Cecilia coughed hard at the same time. When their gazes met, they immediately looked away.
Thankfully, there was only one paramecium present. Otherwise, if it were someone else, they would have already noticed something.
"It's nothing. It's just a bit hot. In any case, hurry back and study properly. If you fail the make-up exam, you'll really have to repeat a year."
"Oh..."
In the end, Cecilia led away the dejected Kiana. However, the former was clearly not in a normal state.
After the two of them left, another white figure appeared out of thin air in the office. She affectionately hugged Elias from behind, pressing her entire body against him.
"I'm sorry, Master. That day was my fault."
"Misteln, don't say that. It was an accident."
"...Yes, it really was an accident."
Misteln gave a bitter smile as she looked at Elias.
Half a month ago, on one particular night, Eden, Aponia, and Fu Hua had gone to her to discuss how to continue delaying things so that the Elysian Realm side would not discover them, as well as matters of forming an alliance.
That night, Misteln had already made plans with Elias. But because it was indeed important business, she accidentally lost track of time during the discussion and ended up being late by quite a while.
Elias, who had waited a long time in the bedroom without anyone showing up, decided to go look for her. As a result, he happened to run into Cecilia Schariac, who had just finished a mission and returned to the academy.
And so, he mistook her for someone else.
"On a moonless night, with the same appearance as me and the same Schariac aura, it's understandable that Master would mistakenly identify you. If anyone is to blame, it should be me for being late."
Misteln said with deep self-reproach.
"Eh~ this isn't a matter of helplessness. Judging by the result, I did do something bad, didn't I? Looks like I'll have to change that habit next time. Otherwise, Cecilia wouldn't have been unable to make a sound at all."
Elias shook his head and sighed.
"Ah? Do you really have to change it?"
"Mm. Next time, I can't just seal the mouth with a kiss."
In front of a Planet-class MANTIS, the resistance of an S-rank Valkyrie was so weak that Elias hadn't even noticed it was resistance.
However, after that, something happened that he didn't know how to evaluate. The system notified Elias that he could begin time-space traversal with Cecilia Schariac as the target.
This was the same mode used when Elias had traveled to Bronya's and Seele's pasts. Although no gacha was required, it did require a certain level of favorability with the target.
Elias: "So... her favorability didn't drop but rose instead? Why?!"
Misteln: "Uh, probably, maybe, possibly... part of it was because of me."