In the end, under the "heavenly voice" of the Herrscher of Death, Shigure Kira, Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Sentience finally calmed down—especially the latter, who obediently admitted her mistake.
In Senti's words, rather than letting that "heavenly voice" invade her ears, she'd rather have her skull blown open by the old relic's Ki Impact—at least that way, death would be quick.
Elias shrugged, thinking that people truly misunderstood the idols they supported, just like he once had.
Although Elias had once also thought Shigure Kira's singing was basically a sonic weapon, things were different now!
He had endured countless sessions of training and adaptation, looping that recording over a thousand times!
Enduring the intense discomfort and the trembling of his brain, Elias eventually discovered that one day, something inside his mind seemed to snap—and then... he adapted to Shigure Kira's singing!
Now, he even thought it sounded pretty good!
Elias: "So that just proves my taste wasn't refined enough before to appreciate Kira's voice! Ah, what a beautiful melody... listening to it even seems to strengthen my willpower."
Eden: "Ah... my poor Elias, has your sense of hearing already broken?"
Shigure Kira: "Waaah! P-please stop saying that! I'm sorry for being tone-deaf!"
In the end, under Elias' arbitration, the two finally reached an agreement. Senti got her wish and obtained Fu Hua's phoenix feathers, but as the price...
Her allowance for the next three months was gone, all of it converted into payment to Fu Hua.
Senti: "Oh no—!"
Fu Hua: "This works out quite well~"
Although all her feathers had been plucked, thanks to the Garuda ICHOR's incredible regenerative ability, it wouldn't take long for Fu Hua to grow new ones. So there was no need to worry about her staying bald forever.
Fu Hua: "Thank you, Judge Elias, for your fair ruling. Hmm? By the way, what were you doing with Elysia just now?"
Elysia: "Hehe~ ta-da! Elias and I were planning our next team-building event."
Fu Hua: "...You've already taken down another Herrscher that quickly?"
As everyone knew, during the Previous Era, Fire Moth's team-building events were always handled by three people: Elysia, Kevin, and Elias. The first actually organized proper activities, the second would gather everyone at a noodle shop to eat together...
At the very least, those two were still doing actual team-building. But if it was left to Elias... things were different.
Although it was also called team-building, every time it turned into a campaign to hunt down the next Herrscher—like during the first cycle of the Previous Era, when they dealt with the Herrscher of Earth and the Herrscher of Binding.
Elysia: "No, no~ this time it's a proper team-building trip. We've been fighting Honkai for so long—it's important to relax once in a while~ And since Senti was just born, it'll definitely be a long time before the next Herrscher appears."
Elias: "Exactly! This time, the focus is on being relaxed, happy, and full of positive energy!"
Fu Hua: "...Alright. Though maybe it's just my imagination, but I have a strange sense of foreboding."
...
A few days later.
Everyone chartered a private plane and headed to Shenzhou, beginning a long-overdue team-building trip for the fifteen Flame-Chasers after fifty thousand years.
This time, even Kevin, Kalpas, and Su—who were all working (as a traffic officer, boxer/chef, and doctor respectively)—were dragged along, and Kosma had finally ended his wandering journey.
Of course, it wasn't just the Flame-Chasers. The girls from the Current Era also joined the trip, along with the Herrscher of Finality and Jyahnar.
With this lineup, sweeping through the entire solar system wouldn't be a problem.
Raiden Mei: "Um... can I ask something first? Why did we come to... a noodle shop to eat right after getting off the plane? Shouldn't we be heading to a hotel first?"
Bronya: "That's right. And Bronya would also like to know why all of you are so practiced at this."
The moment they got off the plane, everyone went straight to a noodle shop. The fifteen Flame-Chasers moved in perfect unison, finding seats and placing their orders.
And every single one of them looked eager, as if they had flown three hours from the Far East to Shenzhou just for this bowl of noodles.
Elias: "Ah~ it's an old tradition."
Eden: "Although I'm not particularly fond of noodles, since this is our long-awaited reunion, it's only fitting."
Kevin: "That's right. It feels just like before."
Kiana: "Ahh~ it smells so good! Boss, one extra-large beef noodle bowl for me!"
Kalpas: "Hmph. The noodles here... aren't bad."
Although the Current Era girls found this tradition strange, they decided to follow along.
After all, the noodles really were delicious. And somehow, as they ate, Mei and the others began to feel a strange sense of belonging.
...
Meanwhile, in the gap between worlds.
Within a bizarre space devoid of concepts like sky, land, or day and night, an enormous nation was slowly taking shape.
Dark gray walls, hundreds of meters tall, twisted into strange angles as they extended outward. At the point where two walls met stood a massive ancient gate, and behind it were countless buildings with architectural styles vastly different from the real world.
But the most eye-catching structure was a castle. The dark iron fortress radiated overwhelming pressure—majestic yet grotesquely distorted, like the lair of a demon king.
This entire space was filled with negative emotions. Even the air felt heavy. No matter how optimistic a person might be, staying here long enough would gradually drag them into despair and pessimism, until they were eventually swallowed by this eerie kingdom and became part of it.
And suddenly, at that moment—
"Hehe... hehe... how many now? How many do we have already?"
A sharp, grating laugh broke the silence. Any normal person would be terrified, because the one speaking was a wooden puppet.
"Not sure~ everyone, count! Count~"
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
...
"Nine hundred ninety-nine!"
"One thousand~!"
Over a thousand golden puppets called out their numbers one by one.
Their appearances were identical—all of them looked like little girls with short golden hair. However, when they spoke, their heads would rotate a full 360 degrees, and a pair of golden horns was mounted atop their heads.
Their overall color scheme consisted of black, gold, and white.
Black enveloped white, with gold accents adorning the exterior.
Their eyes were all covered by black blindfolds, a Celtic triquetra symbol was imprinted on their foreheads, and two wires extended from their bodies. When they moved, their joints creaked, making them appear both exquisite and eerie.
Clearly, these puppets were the inhabitants of this kingdom.
"One thousand! Yay! We finally have one thousand companions! What a memorable number!"
"But it's still not enough! One thousand is too few—far too few!"
"That's right. If we're to face that person, just one thousand of us would be wiped out instantly."
"Companions, companions, companions—we need more companions! Keep increasing our numbers, but remember to be silent, quiet... we must not be discovered by that terrifying one."
"That's right, hehe. As long as we gather enough companions, we won't have to fear that person anymore!"
"All for Honkai! Hahaha! Hahaha! I can't wait to kill that so-called savior!!"
The voices of the puppets echoed throughout their kingdom, unheard by anyone but themselves, while their numbers continued to grow, one by one.
One thousand one hundred, one thousand two hundred, one thousand three hundred... but just how many they would eventually reach—no one knew.
As their numbers increased, this eerie kingdom filled with negative emotions expanded its territory, becoming even more twisted and grotesque.
Honkai: "I told you... I will return!"
...
At this moment, unaware of the danger gathering in the darkness, Elias and the others were still enjoying their rare team-building trip. After all, even heroes needed a vacation.
Fortunately, Shenzhou's magnificent landscapes were breathtaking, soothing the fatigue everyone had accumulated over time.
However, after a full day of carefree fun, that very night, something shocking occurred in the girls' room of the luxury hotel where everyone was staying, as they were having a girls' talk.
"Could everyone help me? I... want to confess to Elias, but I don't know what the best approach would be."
"..." xN
All the girls looked in shock at Fu Hua, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed. For a moment, they thought they had fallen into an illusion created by the Herrscher of Sentience. But that was clearly not the case—after all, Senti, exhausted from the day's wild fun, was already fast asleep.
"Um, Hua... my ears must have gone on strike just now, so I didn't hear clearly. Could you repeat that?"
Elysia took a deep breath and perked up her elf ears, while Sakura's pink fox ears twitched beside her. The others also focused their attention.
"I want to confess to Elias, but I don't know the best way to do it. Could everyone help me?"
The straightforward Fu Hua repeated herself honestly.
Gasp! xN
Everyone inhaled sharply in unison, making an outstanding contribution to global warming prevention.
"Oh my god, C-Captain actually figured things out?!"
"Bronya is deeply shocked! Captain, you actually...!"
"Hua, did you take Mobius' medicine or something?"
"Everyone, stay calm! We must remain calm at times like this!"
"My heavens, has a fifty-thousand-year-old block of wood finally sprouted?!"
The girls stared wide-eyed at Fu Hua, who was sincerely asking them for advice, almost suspecting she was Senti in disguise.
Seeing their shocked expressions—as if the sun had risen from the west—Fu Hua couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her eye, unsure of what to say.
Over these past few days, she had come to a realization.
She couldn't wait any longer!
It was time to bring this fifty-thousand-year-long secret crush to a perfect conclusion. If the Herrscher of Sentience could confess successfully on her very first day of existence, then there was no reason she couldn't.
Recently, Fu Hua had been stimulated a bit too much—she felt she had to pull herself together.
And if she kept silently loving him like this, Elysia and Mei might even end up having children together! She couldn't still be stuck on the sidelines by the time everything was over!
That would be far too tragic... though, to be fair, things were already pretty tragic as they were.
"Emmm... in that case, alright!"
"Mm, if it's Hua, it's not unacceptable."
"Captain, go for it! You have to win Elias this time!"
Elysia and the others didn't hesitate long before deciding to help Fu Hua with her confession. After all, as they always said—if it were anyone else, they definitely wouldn't agree.
But this was Fu Hua—the last truly honest person of both the Previous Era and the Current Era. Anyone who knew the story of the Immortal Phoenix couldn't help but respect and admire her.
Even that man who rarely acted human—Otto—held deep respect and admiration for Fu Hua. And good people deserved good endings. She should have obtained her happiness long ago.
Of course, the most important reason was that since she hadn't made her move for so long, even the onlookers were getting anxious!
"Don't worry, Hua! Leave it to us!"
Elysia patted her own modest chest confidently before giving a thumbs-up. The slight ripple made Fu Hua narrow her eyes, feeling a bit unable to look directly.
"This is the perfect chance to take things all the way with Elias during this trip. Ah~ it hasn't been easy—after fifty thousand years, our Hua is finally going to make her move."
"Mm. Then I'll leave it to everyone."
"No problem! Leave it to us. By the way, who else hasn't made their move yet? Should we use this chance to push them along too?"
"Emmm... I think Griseo is the only one left? Huh? Where did Griseo go? Wasn't she just here?"
Everyone looked around in confusion, but in the end, they couldn't find their beloved little mascot.
"Wait! Could it be that Griseo—!"
"...Hua, if you had even half of Griseo's initiative, you wouldn't be in such a miserable state."
At this very moment, outside Elias' room.
A sky-blue-haired girl in her pajamas stood there, holding a paintbrush in one hand and a sketchpad in the other, looking adorably at Elias.
"Big Brother Elias, can I paint a picture of you?"
"Hm? It's already so late, and you still want to paint?"
"Please, Big Brother Elias—just one. Griseo will finish very quickly."
"...Alright. Since it's Griseo's request, of course I won't refuse."
"Mm~ Big Brother Elias is the best!"
Griseo immediately revealed a happy smile and walked straight into Elias' room.
As for painting... it was just an excuse. What really mattered was that after she finished, she had no intention of going back to her own room.
Such a rare opportunity—of course she was going to sleep together with him tonight~