(I—I can't believe this!!!)
Cold sweat poured down Elias' back.
He had the sudden, almost irresistible urge to hurl the crown away with all his strength.
What kind of crown was this supposed to be?!
This was clearly a civilization-ending switch—one capable of freezing the world and bringing back the Ice Age!
Elias could hardly imagine what kind of mental state Vill-V had been in when she created such a Divine Key.
Granted, its effect was terrifying enough to deserve the name [Key of Permafrost: Annihilation of All]. If he actually used this thing, the Herrscher of Finality would have nothing left to do.
Elias: "..."
In the end, Elias didn't take it off. Seeing the lovestruck, adoring expression on Vill-V's face, he thought—well, if it's an extinction switch, then so be it. Wearing it for a while shouldn't blow up the world.
"They really weren't lying when they said the most beautiful things are often the most dangerous. Ah~"
Elias sighed, raising a hand to conjure an ice mirror.
He looked at his reflection wearing the icy crown—and he had to admit, it looked quite impressive.
The exquisite crown of frosty blue seemed sculpted by a master artist from pure crystalline ice. The Herrscher Core of Ice was embedded at its center, shimmering with a gorgeous azure glow, radiant and mesmerizing.
But then he thought about the terrifying power sealed within it, and any appreciation for its beauty vanished.
"My dear great inventor, I'm supposed to be a hero here—why did you make a Divine Key capable of destroying the world?"
"This, this is just for emergencies~! In case something ever happens to you, Elias, we could at least take the enemy down with us! And besides… doesn't 'destroying the world' just sound really cool? I heard every boy dreams of that at least once in his life!"
Vill-V blinked innocently as she said it.
Elias' wishes were hers to fulfill—whether for good or evil. After all, she was his great inventor!
"Uh… you're… a new personality, right? How should I address you?"
Elias compared the Vill-V before him with all her known personalities—but none fit. This one carried a twisted innocence laced with extreme madness.
Even the Pure Evil persona seemed tame by comparison.
"Lover. I'm your lover!"
Yandere Vill-V answered without hesitation.
"I was born for you, Elias. I love you more than anything in the world. For you, I'll do anything—and I can do anything! So… please, love me too, okay?"
(...)×8
The other Vill-V personalities twitched internally, though none dared voice a protest.
After all, this personality had literally been split off as 'the lover.' But because she had emerged from within the Pure Evil's mental domain, her thoughts had turned extreme and negative—thus, the Yandere was born.
Expert: (This is… way too heavy!)
Flavorful: (Aaaah! You're scaring Elias!)
Self: (What do we do? I don't want him to hate us!)
Magician: (Crap! Yandere, you idiot! We just got together with Elias!)
Because the Fifth Divine Key was the Yandere's creation, her emotions had surged wildly the moment it was mentioned.
And since the other Vill-V personalities were still dizzy from kissing Elias earlier, they had lost control—allowing the "mad dog" to escape her cage.
Now, every one of Vill-V's personalities was filled with regret.
If they had known this would happen, they would've used [Fenghuang Down] to erase the Yandere completely! Now, even if the world didn't end with Annihilation of All, they were sure they'd at least die along with her!
However…
"Alright. I'll love you too."
Elias patted the Yandere's head gently, then pulled her into his arms with a tender smile.
"R-Really? You mean it, Elias? You're not lying?!"
Yandere Vill-V's eyes widened with pure delight.
"Mhm. I swear it with everything I am. I'll love you just as much as the other Vill-Vs. You were born for me—and that makes you all the more precious."
Elias affectionately rubbed his cheek against Vill-V's.
Just moments ago, the Divine Key [Annihilation of All] had seemed terrifying—but now, the more he looked at it, the more pleasing it appeared. Elias decided that from this moment on, he would wear it everywhere he went. For now, he wasn't taking it off.
After all, this was the first gift—no, the first equipment—that his "lover" had personally crafted for him. How could he possibly dislike it?
Though Elias was indeed a savior destined to protect the world, in his heart, the people beside him would always be far more important than some mere world.
This personality, born under the name of "Lover," existed solely for him.
Just thinking about it filled Elias with a warmth and joy that made him want to hold her tightly and shower her with affection. Sure, her way of showing love was a bit extreme—but that was fine.
Elias felt he could accept that.
Magician: (W-wait, he's okay with this?!)
Conductor: (His acceptance level is off the charts?!)
Expert: (Uh… that's certainly unexpected.)
Self: (As expected of Elias! Even a yandere can be loved! This is wonderful~)
Vill-V was a master of deception—even the most advanced lie detectors in the world couldn't expose her falsehoods.
And precisely because she was so skilled in "fraud," she was equally adept at detecting lies in others.
Now, Vill-V was utterly certain—every word that the white-haired boy before her spoke was genuine, heartfelt truth.
Elias truly was willing to love the Yandere.
Few people knew this, but though Elias had both high offense and defense—and was as difficult to win over as Elysia herself—there was actually a simple way to capture his heart.
That was: [True Heart for True Heart].
As long as you offered him sincere, unconditional affection, Elias would always respond in kind. After all, as an orphan in his past life, part of him had always longed for something simple.
Elias: (It matters who I love, yes—but what matters even more is who's willing to love me.)
Of course, Elias' standards for "love" were extremely high. After all, there were millions—perhaps even tens of millions—of people in this world who claimed to love him.
But in his eyes, their affection lacked purity.
The outsiders loved him as a savior.
Vill-V and the others loved him as himself.
And Elias only responded to the latter.
"Lover, my sweet Lover~ That's such a nice name. By the way, where were you just now? Never mind, let me make up for that missed kiss."
"Mmm—!"
As he spoke, Elias pressed his lips against Yandere Vill-V's.
Her entire body trembled with excitement as she clung tightly to him, greedily deepening the kiss.
The passion of that moment made the other Vill-V personalities in the mental space swallow hard, all of them watching in silent envy.
Yandere: (I have no regrets. None at all. Elias said he loves me—he truly loves me! Ahhh… how utterly divine this feels!!)
And as the mood reached its peak—
Under the watchful eyes of the eight remaining Vill-V personalities, the Yandere Lover slowly unbuttoned the white-haired boy's shirt.
...
Several hours later—
Inside Vill-V's mental domain.
Magician: (W-wait a second! How is this fair?! I was the first one to kiss him! Shouldn't I have been the first to ascend?!)
Conductor: (Seems like subtlety doesn't work. When it comes to Elias, direct honesty is the most effective approach.)
Expert: (Hmm. Noted, noted…)
Self: (Envious of Yandere—no, I mean, Lover.)
At that moment, all of Vill-V's personalities agreed to officially change the title [Yandere] to [Lover]. Just the fact that she had been the first to "ascend" among them all was enough to earn that honor.
Thus, [Yandere] → [Lover].
In the real world, after their time together, Lover smiled sweetly—utterly content. She was overjoyed that she existed as a personality born purely from love for Elias.
And her affection, which had already been immeasurable, deepened even further.
Her love grew stronger.
But… her madness grew deeper too.
Lover: "Ahhh, I want to do this forever (lust). I want to make Elias mine alone (greed). I want to just devour him (gluttony). I want the two of us to live a lazy, decadent life together (sloth). I don't want to share Elias with anyone. I want to steal Elysia's place (envy). Yes! Elias belongs to me alone (pride)! And anyone who stands in my way—I'll destroy them all (wrath)!!"
Self: (A-amazing! She just managed to hit all seven deadly sins in one breath!)
Conductor: (Yeah… maybe we should just call her Yandere again.)
Magician: (Fully agreed.)
Model-15: (Same here.)
Thus, [Lover] → [Yandere].
After their intimate time together, Elias and the Yandere cuddled for a while longer before reluctantly returning to the topic of the Divine Key.
The Fifth Divine Key—[Annihilation of All].
Elias decided to treat it as a mere ornament. He would never actually use it to destroy the world, of course—but since it was crafted for him by his Yandere Vill-V, how could he not wear it?
Besides, among all Divine Keys, [Annihilation of All] had the highest aesthetic value. Once placed upon Elias' head, his already celestial beauty ascended to an even greater height.
His long white hair, flowing like snow, combined with the ice crown gave him the air of a prince from a frozen kingdom—noble and divine beyond measure.
And yet…
(To be honest, I kind of want to try it… If I poured all 800,000 HW of my Honkai energy into it and unleashed [Annihilation of All], freezing the world solid—the sight would probably be… beautiful. Spectacular, even~)
Elias narrowed his eyes and licked the corner of his lips.
There's a demon living inside every human heart.
If you handed someone a nuclear launch button, most people would tremble in fear and refuse to touch it—but a few… their fear would twist into excitement. Their fingers would tremble—and press the button anyway.
Elias admitted that a demon lived inside him, too.
But thankfully, beside that demon, an angel lived as well.
"Ahem, anyway, let's leave it at that. I just hope there's never a day when I have to use this Divine Key. Moving on… Vill-V, did you finish building the [Cosmic Harmony]—uh, I mean, the [Star of Eden]?"
Elias looked toward the dark-red sphere resting on a nearby rack—the Ninth Divine Key, [Cosmic Harmony / Star of Eden], which should've been lost forever after the self-destruction of the Herrscher of Earth's Core.
However, Vill-V's expression turned into one of distaste.
"It's just a defective prototype. I recreated it by simulating the Herrscher of Earth's powers—it's basically a gravity-control weapon. Sure, you could make a miniature black hole with it for fun, Elias, but without an actual Core, it's far weaker than the other Divine Keys."
"Uh… that's still incredible, though."
Elias laughed helplessly.
Creating a gravity-based weapon purely through technological research, without relying on a Herrscher Core—that level of genius could only be described as divine.
"Forget about the defective one. Elias, look at this! I haven't introduced the Tenth Divine Key yet—[Swords of Domination]!"
Vill-V proudly pointed to the neatly arranged rows of 999 identical blades, her smile radiating satisfaction.
"[Swords of Domination]? Weren't those the mass-produced Divine Keys that Mei commissioned you to make? They were meant for ordinary fusion warriors to use in combat. What do they have to do with me?"
Elias tilted his head.
The Core of Dominion's output was only one-thousandth that of the main Herrscher Core, so the resulting weapons couldn't be particularly powerful. Elias hadn't expected much from them.
But Vill-V only gave a cold, smug laugh.
"Those people? They don't deserve them. Sure, I designed the [Swords of Domination] so even average fusion warriors could use them—but these ones here are for you, Elias."
"Oh? Go on, I'm listening."
Elias' eyes brightened with curiosity.
"One sword's power isn't enough—but if you use all nine hundred and ninety-nine at once, the sheer number alone would make them a formidable weapon. Besides, I've imbued each sword with a recreated fragment of every Herrscher of Dominance's abilities."
Vill-V placed her hands on her hips, her expression bursting with pride.
"!!!"
Elias couldn't help but lean back, gasping sharply.
He had once said that the Herrscher of Dominance were individually weak—their powers were merely degraded fragments of earlier Herrscher abilities. But that was only true under insufficient Honkai energy.
After all, each Herrscher's Honkai energy concentration didn't exceed 100 HW. With such limited energy, even using those downgraded powers, they could barely stand against an Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
However…
What if the one wielding those powers was Elias?
Even if the abilities were weakened copies, under the amplification of his 800,000 HW Honkai energy, their potency would easily surpass the originals!
This was the very definition of "raw power makes miracles." A level 100 minor skill could easily outshine a level 1 ultimate move.
And the most terrifying part? Elias could actually simultaneously control all 999 [Swords of Domination]!
Among the many Honkai Beast abilities he had gained as a Chimera MANTIS, one was the power to convert Honkai energy into psychokinesis—the same ability once possessed by the Emperor-class Honkai Beast fused by Dystopia.
With Dystopia's mental strength and Honkai energy, she could only control around fifty weapons at once. But Elias? Controlling nine hundred and ninety-nine swords was effortless.
He could hardly resist the urge to test it.
"Let's give it a try… rise!"
Elias focused his mind, directing his psychic force toward the blades.
Clang! ×999
In an instant, all 999 [Swords of Domination] rang out in unison.
Under the pull of his psychic power, every sword floated up at once, spinning and weaving through the air—each moving in a distinct pattern, as if nine hundred and ninety-nine invisible warriors were performing unique sword arts simultaneously.
And when Elias infused them with his Honkai energy—
An astonishing sight unfolded before him.
Every [Sword of Domination] manifested a different ability.
Some blazed with flames, others shimmered with frost; some turned transparent and vanished from sight… It was as if the Herrscher of Dominance had been reborn, empowered, and united under Elias' command!
Gazing at his reflection in the ice mirror, Elias felt like a sword immortal straight out of a Shenzhou martial legend.
"My great inventor, Vill-V—you truly are my eternal goddess—!"
Elias grabbed Vill-V's face and planted a deep kiss on her soft lips.