Although Elias had already helped Sheele reclaim her home—
An empty house was nothing but loneliness and silence. In the end, he invited Sheele to move into the Golden Courtyard.
After Sheele moved in, the atmosphere of the Golden Courtyard became warm and healing. Every day when everyone returned home, they would be greeted by a gentle, pure, and innocent girl, smiling brightly and saying, "Welcome back."
That feeling alone could wash away the fatigue of an entire day.
At first, Elysia and the others thought they had gained a new rival in love, but it turned out the household had gained an angel. They immediately welcomed her with open arms! (Though technically, yes... she was still a rival.)
Even Mobius and Kalpas became noticeably more polite in front of the soft, timid, and kind Sheele.
But Sheele herself wasn't satisfied with just that.
"Big Brother Elias, I want to join Fire Moth too. Can you teach me how to fight?"
One day, she came to him with that request.
Although she was timid and afraid of violence, she didn't want to simply wait at home every day for Elias to return.
In both the Current Era and the Previous Era, Sheele was a girl who would summon the courage to take up arms for the sake of someone important.
However, Elias refused her request firmly.
"No, absolutely not. I didn't take you out of that orphanage just to bring you to the battlefield. Besides, girls shouldn't be fighting and killing all day long."
"But Sister Elysia and the others..."
"They're magical girls. That's different."
Given Elias' nature, there was no way he would ever let her fight. In his eyes, the only time a girl should hold a blade was when she was cooking.
Although Sheele felt disappointed, she was still touched by how much Elias cared for her. So she decided to help in other ways—taking care of chores around the courtyard, cooking meals, and offering lap pillows when he was tired.
And honestly, her help wasn't small at all. Among the Flame-Chasers, almost everyone who could cook was also a battle maniac.
Aside from Pardofelis and Griseo, everyone else had missions, work, and Honkai Beasts to deal with. After a long day, who had the energy to make dinner?
So Sheele became the Courtyard's little caretaker, and before long, everyone had grown used to the soft, healing presence of the gentle girl.
Still, all the Flame-Chasers knew one thing—
Sheele was special.
The Elysian Realm was built beneath the Golden Courtyard itself, which served as the home of the fifteen Flame-Chasers. Just like Sakura and Kalpas, Elias had a deep attachment to his concept of "home."
So, no matter how pitiful Sheele's background was, if she hadn't possessed something special about her, Elias wouldn't have gone so far as to let her live in the Golden Courtyard—in their home.
But no one questioned or speculated about it.
Because of their absolute faith in Elias, they trusted that he must have had his own reasons.
After all, within Fire Moth—and even throughout the entire Previous Era—it was common knowledge that the most foolish thing one could ever do... was to doubt Elias' decisions.
The great Savior had already proven countless times that his judgment was infallible.
Even Dr. Mei, known as the pinnacle of human intellect, would immediately assume she was wrong whenever her conclusions conflicted with his.
At this point, Elias was more than just a Savior—within Fire Moth, he was regarded as a prophet, a seer.
Because time and again, he could predict the Herrschers' descents, as well as other supposedly unavoidable Honkai disasters, extinguishing countless potential tragedies before they ever began.
Elias: "Well, it has been ten loops. I remember more than just when the Herrschers appear."
Misteln: "Indeed. Every second of all ten loops remains in your mind, my dear Master. Your memory capacity has already reached its limit."
Elias: "..."
Every time Misteln thought about it, she couldn't help but sigh—this man was simply too greedy!
Back during the very first cycle, Elias had come up with an idea. Since he was going to remember anyway—why not remember everything?
Not just the times when each Herrscher appeared.
But every single Honkai-related event.
Of course, that was practically impossible. From the beginning of humanity's war against the Honkai all the way to the Final Battle, there were nearly ten million incidents worldwide related to the Honkai.
To memorize every event's time, place, and details was like trying to draw on the sand—it would inevitably be erased by the wind or washed away by the tide. Human memory was unreliable at best.
But Elias found a way.
As a Chimera fusion warrior, he deliberately conducted a fusion surgery with a Honkai Beast—and intentionally made sure the operation almost failed. The result was a peculiar side effect.
That side effect was hyperthymesia.
The genetic source came from the Judgment-level Honkai Beast, Garuda.
If one couldn't fully control Garuda's hyper-regenerative mutation, its excessive regenerative ability would affect the brain, making the person incapable of forgetting anything.
Using that flaw to his advantage, Elias successfully memorized every single Honkai-related event—not just from one cycle, but from all ten of them.
Because each time he reset the loop, he tried for a better outcome. Every attempt caused countless new butterfly effects, creating new Honkai incidents that hadn't existed before.
Elias remembered them all. By the eleventh loop, his accumulated knowledge allowed him to perform godlike, seemingly prophetic command decisions.
Where each Honkai Beast would appear, what kind of casualties would result, how that creature would act...
He remembered everything.
And it wasn't like Aponia's vague fate threads—it was crystal clear, down to every minute and second. Thanks to this, the casualties in the Previous Era had been reduced to an impossibly small number, something that even the word miracle couldn't describe.
But this was also the reason Misteln had tried to stop him.
Because there was a price—and it was severe.
On this topic, Elias got scolded mercilessly every time, with not a shred of dignity as her Master.
Misteln: "Ten full loops' worth of every Honkai-related event... What do you think your brain is, a supercomputer?! I'm honestly amazed you can still think straight, let alone stay conscious!"
Elias: "I—I use Fenghuang Down to delete (forget) redundant data, so actually the number isn't that big... only around, uh, thirty million incidents."
Misteln: "THIRTY! MILLION!"
When she heard that vague number, the [Idea] maiden nearly broke down in anguish. As Elias' Stigma spirit, she shared his memories to some extent.
But unlike Elias, Misteln didn't suffer from hyperthymesia—she could forget. In fact, she only remembered about a thousand Honkai events, and not even in full detail.
But Elias couldn't forget at all!
Misteln couldn't imagine it. How could someone still smile, still stay sane, after carrying thirty million tragedies in their mind?
Misteln: "Please, take better care of yourself, you idiot Master!!"
Elias: "Uhh, next time, I promise."
Misteln: "..."
Elias: "Don't worry, I still have some memory space left. As long as I sleep more often, I should make it to the end. Uh... wait, I didn't say anything."
Misteln: "So that's why you won't let me weave you dreams anymore—because there's no memory space left, right?"
Elias had slipped up once, revealing his fragile condition.
As it stood, whenever he was awake, his brain would automatically record everything around him. His memory capacity had already reached the limit of the limit.
That was why sleep had become his most effective form of relief—because when asleep, his memories stopped accumulating. It was the only time Elias could escape from the crushing weight of thirty million recollections.
But sleep was allowed—dreaming was not.
Because even dreams would be recorded automatically.
And time in dreams flowed differently from reality; an hour of sleep could equal an entire lifetime within the dream.
Not long ago, while resting on Sakura's lap, Elias had dreamed of a peaceful life as an ordinary man—living happily ever after with a shrine maiden. The memory of that dream alone had consumed the little space remaining in his already-overloaded mind.
"It's fine. I already asked Aponia for a [Discipline]. From now on, I won't dream anymore."
Elias pointed to his head as he said this.
The essence of [Discipline] was absolute mental restraint. After Aponia imposed the decree 'Never dream again' upon him, he no longer had to worry about the dangers of dreaming.
That was the first time Misteln truly understood what it meant to feel both powerless and furious. When she learned what he'd done, she wanted to use Fenghuang Down to wipe his memories clean with one swing.
"You really are... Ugh, forget it! Just hurry and finish this loop. End this journey—this torture—and erase everything already!"
"Actually... I'm really fine. It was hard to get used to at first, but now I've adjusted. At most, I just get headaches sometimes. And memories can be useful..." Elias muttered defensively.
Once, during a previous loop, he had burned all his memories with Fenghuang Down to amplify the power of Taixuan Eminence—one swing of his blade had knocked the Herrscher of Finality offline for ten whole days.
Misteln: "I regret it so much. I never should've made those memory backups! I should've just erased you entirely like Fu Hua in the Current Era!"
Elias: "Wouldn't have worked. Even if you didn't back them up, I'd just memorize everything again, one by one."
Misteln: "..."
At that moment, Misteln seriously considered telling the others—gathering all the Flame-Chasers to restrain Elias together and using a simulated Fenghuang Down to delete his excessive memories.
Everyone knew that despite being invincible in battle, he never guarded himself from his allies. The plan actually had a high chance of success.
But Elias, who knew his [Idea] spirit too well, instantly saw through her thoughts—and threatened her on the spot.
Elias: "If you break our agreement, then this loop won't be my last. I'll just start it all over again."
That one sentence completely disarmed her. The maiden of [Idea] realized, helplessly, that she had no power to oppose him. Her beloved Master was a gentle tyrant—
Kind to everyone, but when he decided something, no one could change his mind.
"So, keep this a secret, alright?" ( ^▽^ )
"...I understand, Master. But I have a feeling everyone will find out sooner or later."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible~ If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, there won't be a third person in the world who knows."
Elias said with full confidence, believing there was no chance of exposure.
But that was, in truth, a kind of unavoidable arrogance.
After carrying the weight of every tragedy and saving the world eleven times, Elias had unconsciously developed the illusion that everything in existence was under his control. He never realized that every secret in this world would, eventually, be revealed.
...
Two months after Sheele moved into the Golden Courtyard—
"Time's almost up..."
That day, Elias stared at an hourglass.
Perhaps as a personal reminder—or as a ritual gesture—he had crafted thirteen hourglasses, each representing the time of a Herrscher's descent.
Now, the sixth hourglass was almost empty. That meant the Sixth Herrscher was about to appear.
Elias' eyes gleamed with anticipation as he looked outside, where a girl was sweeping fallen leaves with gentle care.
He thought to himself—it wouldn't be long before he met the other Sheele.
The simulated Abyss Flower and Fenghuang Down were ready, and the new vessel for consciousness had already been constructed. Everything was prepared—only the final moment remained.
Elias' lips curved upward. After double-checking that everything was in order, he called toward the doorway.
"Sheele, come to my room tonight. There's something very important I need to tell you."
"!!!"
Clatter.
The broom in Sheele's hands fell to the ground.
Those words instantly reminded the girl of a certain "gift" she'd received from Elysia and the others not long ago—an Elias-themed doujin.
Recalling the "intense" content she had read, Sheele's cheeks turned bright red and her head began to steam.
(A boy inviting a girl to his room at night... In the book, that usually meant... that kind of thing, right? Isn't that too soon for me? But... if Big Brother Elias wants to...)
"Uh... Sheele, are you okay?"
Elias looked on with a perplexed expression.
He saw his little angel holding an imaginary broom, blushing furiously while making sweeping motions in the air.
If Elias ever found out that Sheele was imagining scenes from a doujin about him, he would absolutely demand to know why Griseo insisted on drawing them every loop—and would sternly warn his pink-haired elf not to give such books to pure-hearted girls like Sheele! Otherwise, he'd make her the heroine next time... as a cream puff.
(Elysia: Wait, did you say... cream puff? Where do I sign up?!)
...
That night—
With a nervous yet expectant heart, the freshly bathed Sheele, dressed in soft pajamas, quietly made her way to the boy's room. But when she entered, what she saw was Elias standing there holding two simulated Divine Keys.
She froze on the spot.
"B-Big Brother Elias... what's this?"
"Sheele, what I'm about to tell you might sound frightening—but please, don't be afraid."
"O-okay."
Seeing the solemn look on his face, Sheele braced herself for something serious. Yet no matter how much she prepared, she wasn't ready for what came next.
"Sheele... you're going to become the Sixth Herrscher."
"Eh?"
"In five minutes, the Honkai will choose you—you'll awaken as the Sixth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Death."
Elias placed the sixth hourglass before her.
As Sheele watched the grains of sand fall steadily, she felt as though she were watching her own life count down. Her mind went blank.
Although she wasn't a member of Fire Moth, she had spent time around Elias and the others. Being surrounded by the fifteen Flame-Chasers who fought on the frontlines against the Honkai, Sheele had learned much about the Herrschers.
And because of that... she despaired.
She didn't want to become a Herrscher—not at all!