"Humans… must not release… any more Honkai energy… Damn it… Why can a mere human… possess so much Honkai energy… This is impossible… guh!"
The Herrscher of Binding's face was pale, her expression twisted in pain.
She stared up at the [Reverse God] Elias in the sky, disbelief and despair clouding her divine eyes.
Even though she lacked particularly powerful offensive abilities, within this barrier—where only she should have been able to freely wield boundless Honkai energy—
She should never have been defeated!
Her Elysion Pedion could, in fact, expand infinitely. Everything within its reach would be absorbed of its Honkai energy, and everyone under its dome would perish.
The supposed "maximum radius" of one hundred kilometers—that was merely the limit shown in the original timeline.
But to confront a certain Savior who had grown too strong, Honkai had granted this Herrscher even greater power!
(So why… why has it come to this?!)
The Herrscher of Binding knelt upon the ground, clutching her head in anguish. She could not comprehend why she now appeared so pitiful.
She was supposed to be the strongest emissary of God.
Within this domain of divine grace—
She was supposed to embody holy catastrophe itself.
By her calculation, victory had already been hers the moment she deployed the Elysion Pedion.
A barrier that nullified Honkai energy and severely weakened all other forms of power—no fusion warrior, no Honkai-powered mech, could possibly rival her.
Even the Elias of the Ninth Eruption might have had a chance of losing against her.
Moreover, with her ability to expand the barrier infinitely, she had envisioned a world where humanity would be forced to retreat, step by step, ceding all ground for survival.
Until, at last, humanity would be cornered into a final, narrow patch of land—awaiting death under what they once called "divine grace."
Even if some dared to enter the Elysion Pedion to slay her, it would have been far too late.
By then, her barrier would already have encompassed nearly half the planet, and any who entered would perish before even catching sight of the Herrscher herself.
"So why—why did it turn out like this?! Why can he still use his power inside my barrier?! Why can he release so much Honkai energy?! This—this makes no sense!!"
Kneeling on the ground, the Herrscher of Binding glared at the radiant figure in the sky, her voice filled with confusion and unwillingness.
She had only one real weakness—
The expansion speed of the Elysion Pedion had a limit. Ten meters per second was the fastest it could grow.
But unless someone could unleash an amount of Honkai energy far exceeding the barrier's absorption rate, faster than its expansion, it was unbreakable.
As the barrier expanded, its capacity to endure Honkai energy increased proportionally. By that logic—she was infinite.
And yet…
Elias had taken only as long as a single song. In that time, the Elysion Pedion had managed to expand outward by merely 1.8 kilometers—before being nearly torn apart by the flood of Honkai energy he unleashed.
For the record, the Fire Moth's evacuation response was quick—those near the barrier had long been safely withdrawn. Not even a single stray dog was left behind.
"Your posture isn't bad. Very good—I like it."
At that moment, the [Reverse God] Elias descended from the sky.
Wearing a smile that could have stolen countless hearts, he looked down upon the kneeling Herrscher of Binding.
Elias mused that this Herrscher was surprisingly humble—she had instinctively assumed the perfect posture for surrender. Quite admirable.
"Oh? So this is what you look like. Hahaha, how interesting—truly amusing~"
"Human! What are you laughing at?!"
"Nothing. You just happen to look a lot like an old friend of mine. Don't move—yes, don't move. Let me take a good look at you. It's been over a decade since I last saw her, so let me borrow your face for a moment."
Elias tilted the Herrscher's delicate chin upward, his eyes softening as he gazed at her flawless, beautiful face.
He almost felt like opening one of Eden's finest wines—sipping leisurely as he admired the sight before him.
"Don't touch my face, you filthy human!"
The Herrscher of Binding felt utterly humiliated. A mere human dared to grasp her chin, meeting her gaze with such insolent eyes! Enraged, she opened her mouth to bite Elias' hand.
Why didn't she use Honkai energy to strike back?
Because she couldn't. Her body was already overflowing with power; one more surge and she would detonate.
"Ah~ so disobedient."
Elias shook his head and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the [Reverse God]'s Honkai energy output intensified.
"Ahhhh! Stop it! Please stop! I can't hold it anymore! The barrier— it's breaking!"
The Herrscher of Binding could no longer even remain kneeling. Her body tilted, collapsing onto the ground.
Only her face—one that stirred Elias' memories—remained lifted, his hand still holding her chin, keeping it from touching the dirt. But her expression was one of complete ruin.
"What a pitiful face… Let's push it a little more."
"No, no more—please, no more, aahhh! %￥#%￥%%"
By the end, the Herrscher could no longer even scream coherently. Elias, completely at ease, alternated between amplifying and reducing his Honkai output, as though testing her limits.
She felt as if she were being toyed with—utterly broken.
Crack… crackle… crk-crk…
Fractures spread across the Elysion Pedion, each one growing, webbing through the golden barrier until it seemed ready to shatter entirely.
The Herrscher of Binding's eyes rolled upward, her lips parted, a drop of crystal slipping from her mouth. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably; her consciousness blurred—she was truly on the verge of breaking.
"To think you'd make such a face with Theresa's features… Not bad, not bad at all. So tell me—why resist? Wouldn't it be easier to just behave?"
Elias squeezed her cheek lightly.
She bore the face of Theresa.
Or rather—a matured version of Theresa.
The Herrscher of Binding stood over 1.6 meters tall, noticeably taller than the 1.45-meter Theresa of the Judah Launcher days. Her figure was far more developed—not a child, but a white-haired, blue-eyed beauty in a white-and-gold nun's habit.
Judging by her attire, she had likely been a nun in this city before becoming a Herrscher. Elias found the irony fitting.
"So, in the Current Era, Theresa must've been the original vessel for the Herrscher of Binding… but Otto snatched the Core from her instead. And what did he get out of it? A CG and a BGM?"
Elias chuckled to himself.
"Well then, since you've got such a lovely face, I'll spare your life this time. But since things are already this far… let's finish it with something big."
"What—what are you planning?!"
"Honkai energy—full release."
"No, don't—!!"
BOOM!
As Elias unleashed his full Honkai energy, the Elysion Pedion finally reached its limit. Golden cracks raced across the barrier, expanding in all directions until it shattered completely—bursting into a rain of radiant gold.
In the moment the barrier vanished, everyone felt their agony fade. The Flame-Chasers' Honkai reserves began to recover, and Prometheus' systems flickered back to full function.
"Ababa… ababa…"
The Herrscher of Binding was completely broken.
It felt to her like being forced to swallow an entire bathtub of liquid—ready to burst at any moment.
Elias frowned slightly. Even though she was a Herrscher, if she actually exploded from overfilled Honkai energy, that would be humiliating.
Still, at this rate, she really wouldn't last much longer. The glowing Honkai patterns on her skin were spreading rapidly—if nothing was done soon, she would detonate.
"Relax. I'll 'save' you now."
Elias placed one hand behind the Herrscher's back and extended the other toward her chest.
Then, the power of the Herrscher of the Void activated.
Taking advantage of the Herrscher of Binding's dazed state, Elias broke through her core's defense mechanism in one swift motion. His hand reached through the dimensional portal at her chest, searching briefly before grasping hold of something.
"The Herrscher of Binding's Core—belongs to me!!"
Elias clenched the golden Core tightly and pulled it free.
"Guh—!!"
The stunned Herrscher's eyes flew open, a cry of pain tearing from her lips. A crystalline tear fell from her eye as she felt something precious ripped away from her very soul.
"Not bad~ Herrscher Cores are always more beautiful than any gemstone. This Gem of Judgement shines quite nicely. If it weren't a Core, I'd give it to dear Ely as a present."
Elias admired the Core under the sunlight, its golden glow reflecting in his eyes. At last, he thought, his collection of Herrscher Cores was nearly complete.
"G-give it back… Give it… back to me…"
"Eh~ If I give it back, how am I supposed to save you?"
"What…?"
The Herrscher's body was completely drained of strength.
She could only watch helplessly as Elias embedded her Core into a set of pristine white armor. The next moment, she felt a power—familiar, yet terrifyingly stronger—resonate within her.
"I hold the Chains of God, forge the divine prison, judge sin—King of Judgment!"
"You… you can't possibly—!!"
"Elysion Pedion—activate!"
As Elias raised his hand, a compressed Elysion Pedion—barely one meter in diameter—materialized and fell upon the Herrscher of Binding.
Having lost her Core of Binding, she still retained a fragment of her power. Yet how could she resist a barrier conjured by the [Reverse God] himself?
Thud!
Her forehead struck the ground as her body folded into a full prostration before Elias.
Of course, it wasn't her will that forced her to kneel—it was the Elysion Pedion. The barrier had sealed her Honkai energy and even disrupted her bioelectric flow, leaving her paralyzed. OTZ
"No… impossible… how can you… use my Core… and why is this barrier so much stronger…?"
The Herrscher's voice trembled in disbelief and terror. The difference between her own Elysion Pedion and Elias' was like that between earth and sky.
She could seal only 10,000 HW at once—while Elias could suppress 300,000 HW in a single strike! And with every passing second, his barrier drained 10,000 HW from its target.
Even Kevin, in full [Diabolic] mode, would last barely a second inside. Even if Elias went easy on him and ignored the first wave, twenty seconds would be his absolute limit.
(Even the [Diabolic] Kevin fifty thousand years from now would still get crushed under me. Hmm, I really am invincible.)
Elias quickly assessed his current capacity.
He possessed 600,000 HW of Honkai energy by himself, plus another 200,000 HW from Heaven Devourer. And now, with the newly embedded Gem of Serenity and Gem of Judgement—his total reached a staggering 900,000 HW!
To put that into perspective, in the Current Era, his ship—the indestructible Hyperion—had a reactor output of merely 1,380 HW.
Even Anti-Entropy's mighty Moonlight Throne battleship, powered by four Herrscher Cores, produced only 12,000 HW.
Elias alone could power seventy-five Moonlight Thrones.
"Guh… my power… it's fading…"
"Most of it was mine to begin with~"
"Damn you… human…"
The Herrscher of Binding could only watch in despair as her Honkai energy drained away. Never had she imagined that one day she would become the prisoner of her own Elysion Pedion.
Meanwhile, Elias familiarized himself with the new power of Binding—and was soon left speechless.
He had assumed the Honkai would not strengthen her any further, believing her Elysion Pedion's maximum range to remain a hundred kilometers, as in the original timeline.
But no—now it could expand infinitely.
This wasn't a simple enhancement.
It was an apocalypse-level upgrade—an ability that left no room for survival.
If this Herrscher of Binding were to appear in the Previous Era—without Elias' intervention—then even the Fire Moth would not have achieved a pyrrhic victory. Forget the Thirteen Flame-Chasers—every single one of them would have perished.
(Honkai… are you really this afraid of me?)
Elias raised an eyebrow, glancing up toward the moon.
Why had the Herrschers been strengthened so dramatically? The answer was obvious—it was because of him. Ever since the Ninth Herrscher, every subsequent descent had been tailored to counter Elias specifically.
"So the next one—the Herrscher of Corruption—will probably be altered as well. But that doesn't matter. She'll never even be born~."
Elias had already devised countless methods to prevent Rin from becoming the Herrscher of Corruption.
(So even if that Herrscher's been enhanced, it's useless if she can't exist in the first place~)
"Vill-V, lock her up in The Deep End."
"Roger~ Congratulations, Herrscher, you're under arrest!"
Vill-V pulled a pair of silver soulium cuffs from her fourth-dimensional pocket and clasped them onto the Herrscher of Binding's wrists. She beamed with satisfaction—another addition to her collection in The Deep End.
"Elias, the Core! Hand it over, now~!"
"Hold on. Later."
Elias lightly slapped away Vill-V's outstretched hand. He wasn't done experimenting with his newly acquired power.
To be honest, the Divine Keys didn't help him much anymore. Embedding Herrscher Cores directly into the Key of Blankness was far more efficient—allowing him to wield their powers freely.
But the Divine Keys were crucial to the Current Era.
Unlike the Previous Era—where Honkai descended only after civilization had advanced—the Current Era had faced Honkai since its very beginnings, even in tribal times.
If Elias chose to forgo creating the Divine Keys and instead kept all the Cores for himself, he would indeed reach his maximum strength when he returned to his timeline.
But without the Divine Keys, countless more would die. The civilization might not even survive long enough to reach the modern age.
(It's fine. Being both a Chimera and a Palatinus already makes me absurdly powerful. Even without the Cores, residual Herrscher authority remains within me. And in the end… I can just reclaim them all once I return~)
When Elias returned to his original timeline, his strength would be unmatched. Then he could simply retrieve the Divine Keys one by one—and reintegrate the Cores into himself.
Elias chuckled. "You should thank me, Theresa. If not for my divine mercy, your title as 'Judah Launcher' would be long gone. Without your S-rank Valkyrie gear, Oath of Judah, you'd be hopeless."
He wasn't talking about power.
He meant her daily life.
Without the Oath of Judah taking care of her, Theresa could hardly manage to live on her own.
And according to Himeko, even her duties as the academy headmistress were mostly handled by Judah on her behalf.