Since capturing the Tenth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Earth, the global Honkai energy concentration of the Previous Era had risen once again.
Anyone could see that the war between humanity and the Honkai had entered a white-hot stage.
However, for humanity, it somehow didn't feel that way. Many people had a strange sense that they were unknowingly about to clear the final stage, even though the Honkai was supposed to be a civilization-ending disaster.
Yet, it had turned out to be surprisingly easy to deal with.
Because even after the subjugation of the Tenth Herrscher, the total number of casualties caused by the Honkai worldwide was fewer than a hundred.
Still, many had already realized the truth.
Everyone thought: "Ah, so we were being carried all along."
At this moment, inside the Fire Moth's command room, reverent gazes were cast again and again toward the white-haired youth sitting at the main command seat—the savior Flame-Chaser who had single-handedly carried the entire Previous Era.
No matter how they searched through the dictionary, only one word could describe him perfectly—perfection.
After all, whether it was direct combat, tactical command, or scientific research, Elias seemed capable of everything. To many, he was practically omniscient.
"Elias, this is today's fourth global Honkai energy event report observed by the Divine Key Echo of the Sky—approximately 389 incidents."
Mei handed Elias a report. After glancing through it, he immediately began marking specific entries.
"Mm, I see. These thirty-nine cases need special attention. Dispatch higher-ranked fusion warriors to handle them."
"For this one, send Kevin. A fire-type Judgment-level Honkai Beast will emerge there—tell him its weak point is located in the torso."
"For this location, send Sakura. Remind her that saving lives is the top priority. There should be ruins here—two people are buried beneath. They can still be rescued within ten minutes."
"Have Kalpas destroy this site. It's a cult worshiping the Honkai—they're even attempting to breed humans with Honkai Beasts. Disgusting. Tell him to wipe them out quickly."
"And next…"
Elias glanced at the date, then recalled the events that had occurred on this day in previous cycles—each Honkai-related incident that had taken place. He marked them one by one.
These were all small mistakes the Fire Moth had made in past cycles—minor failures that wouldn't have affected the larger picture even if left unchecked. But Elias remembered them all.
Because even small failures meant sacrifices.
And preventing those sacrifices wasn't difficult.
As long as he remembered each tragedy and warned others about them, that was enough. So he didn't hesitate to let those painful memories occupy part of his mind.
"That should cover everything. Go on."
"...Got it."
Mei's eye twitched as she looked down at the report. This level of detail was beyond mere prediction—it was practically future sight. Every piece of intelligence was so specific it bordered on the terrifying.
Without Elias' data, even the Fire Moth of today would've made mistakes. They might have still succeeded in the end, but casualties would've been inevitable.
Now, however, the Previous Era had its own script to follow.
Mei couldn't help but think—if the Honkai truly possessed consciousness and intelligence, it would probably want to file a complaint about their side cheating.
(Honkai: Damn it! The enemy's got the script! How are we supposed to play?!)
"Oh right, today's the day that Honkai Beast is born. It'll be faster if I go in person," Elias suddenly muttered, as though remembering something.
"You're going to deploy yourself?" Mei blinked.
"Yeah, don't worry. It's just a fast-flying Honkai Beast that'll be born today. But aside from me and Kevin, no one else can probably catch it. Besides…"
That Honkai Beast had a high compatibility rate with Griseo.
Elias would never forget the time he and the Herrscher of Finality had fought to mutual destruction. The latter's counterattack had hurled him from near the Moon down into Earth's atmosphere—he'd nearly fallen to his death.
If not for little Griseo activating her Artificial Cascade and flying independently from the ground into space to catch him, he would've died that day.
From that day onward, Griseo became Elias' little goddess. In every cycle, he spoiled this young Flame-Chaser bearing the [Stars] Signet beyond all measure. And these wings that could one day let her fly freely—Elias wanted to personally obtain them for her.
"If anything unexpected happens, contact me immediately."
As he spoke, Elias opened a spatial gate and teleported directly to the location where the target Honkai Beast was set to appear.
Mei nodded and sat down at the command seat.
Whenever Elias wasn't present, she was the brain of Fire Moth.
Though she didn't possess the ten cycles' worth of recorded scripts that Elias did, she was still capable of making flawless judgments each time.
What amused Elias, however, was that many people now treated him and Mei as the dividing line between genius and mortal. No matter how precise Mei's commands were, she could never compare to someone who already knew exactly what was going to happen.
In truth, though, if they were to compare pure intellect, even ten Eliases combined wouldn't surpass Mei. At the very least, whenever they played chess, Elias had never once defeated her.
After all, she was the pinnacle of human intellect—the very person Prometheus once called the greatest genius in human history. The only reason Elias performed better than such a Mei was simply because he remembered everything.
...
Far East.
"Because it's a bird-type Honkai Beast, it was born in a bird's nest? Heh, what a joke."
Elias looked at the massive stadium named Bird's Nest before him—this was where the Judgment-level Honkai Beast would be born.
He glanced at the gear-shaped pocket watch Vill-V had given him.
"Five, four, three, two, one... there it is."
As the countdown ended, a small, bird-like Honkai Beast about two meters long appeared out of thin air. Its feathers shimmered a soft blue.
Though small in size, the creature exuded the energy signature of a Judgment-level Honkai Beast.
It didn't possess great offensive capabilities, but it was the fastest and freest flying Honkai Beast in existence—and also one of the most beautiful.
In addition, it bore a name that contrasted its delicate appearance yet sounded undeniably majestic—Dragon Sparrow.
The name was personally chosen by Elias, based on its birthplace in Shenzhou and its unique characteristics.
The Dragon Sparrow was said to be a variant of the mythical phoenix, though unlike the phoenix's brilliance, its juvenile form resembled that of an ordinary waterbird.
Upon reaching adulthood, however, it would possess wings vast enough to cover the heavens, said to be able to shroud the sun, moon, and stars. There was no place in existence that it could not reach—and once the Dragon Sparrow took flight, it would never again descend to the ground.
At that moment—
Li-li!!
The newly born Dragon Sparrow let out a sharp cry. The instant it saw Elias, it nearly fell from the sky in fright.
The terrifying aura of a Chimera fusion warrior triggered its primal instinct of deathly fear.
Without hesitation, the little bird spread its wings and took off in a desperate flight.
BOOM—!
As it flapped its wings, a sonic boom erupted—the creature's speed instantly surpassed that of any human fighter jet.
"Haha~ still as fast as ever."
Elias chuckled softly. The Dragon Sparrow's flight speed could easily rival even the Herrscher of Wind.
Perhaps by sacrificing its offensive capability, it had gained this unique gift. The Dragon Sparrow possessed a trait Elias dubbed 'Freedom'—no external interference could affect its flight.
In simple terms, debuffs didn't work on it. Neither the Herrscher of Ice's freezing nor the Herrscher of Earth's gravity could restrain it.
It naturally generated a magnetic field that shielded it from most forms of interference—its resistance was astonishing. In Elias' words, borrowed from a certain card game king: "This monster cannot be targeted by effects."
Extreme speed combined with such resistance—
That was the true reason the Dragon Sparrow was classified as a Judgment-level Honkai Beast. Otherwise, despite its high Honkai energy density, it would've only been categorized as Emperor-class.
"Come to think of it, I've never tested whether Elysion Pedion would work on the Dragon Sparrow. Surely it can't be immune even to that, right? That'd be too absurd. Well, whatever—let's catch it first."
Elias looked up at the sky. The Dragon Sparrow had already vanished into the distance. Against any other opponent, even if it couldn't win, it would have easily escaped.
Unfortunately for the Dragon Sparrow, its opponent was Elias. Even if it could fly to the other side of the planet in mere seconds, it could never escape the white-haired youth's grasp.
Li-li.
After flying more than a hundred kilometers, the Dragon Sparrow finally slowed down. It had been utterly terrified—it had just been born, only to encounter the most terrifying human in existence.
Dragon Sparrow: (Scared to death!)
The moment it saw Elias, its instincts screamed at it to run. Never, under any circumstances, should it become his enemy.
But just as the Dragon Sparrow thought it had successfully escaped, a black-and-gold portal suddenly opened before it, and a hand emerged—
Catching it perfectly.
"Got you, Dragon Sparrow."
"Li-li!!"
"Sometimes flying too fast isn't a good thing. You can't brake or turn in time. Be good, and I won't kill you—for now. I want to see if I can tame you."
As Elias spoke, he conjured a birdcage forged entirely of ultra-hardened soulium and gently placed the Dragon Sparrow inside.
"When I retire someday, I'll walk the bird, drink tea, and let others pay the bill. Taking a Judgment-level Honkai Beast for a stroll will definitely be impressive."
Elias smiled in amusement.
"Li-li!!"
The Dragon Sparrow tried ramming the cage a few times. Though its strikes managed to cause slight damage, the nanostructured soulium repaired itself faster than it could destroy it.
Then, as Elias deliberately released the aura of the Honkai Beast Heaven Devourer, the little bird immediately froze and trembled in submission.
...
Thus, the Dragon Sparrow Honkai Beast—which had taken Fire Moth three whole months to capture during the first cycle—was caught by Elias in under a single minute from the moment of its birth.
...
Upon returning to Fire Moth—
"Brother Elias, is this the Honkai Beast Griseo will fuse with? It's so cute!"
"Not only cute, but powerful. If I hadn't gone myself, even your Uncle Kevin might've had trouble catching it. But since my little Griseo's undergoing fusion, of course she deserves the best!"
"Mm~ thank you, Brother Elias!"
Griseo's eyes sparkled as she gazed at the Dragon Sparrow. Whether it was strong or adorable didn't matter much—what mattered was that it had been caught personally by her beloved Brother Elias.
That alone made her overjoyed.
Because Elias pampered Griseo to no end in every cycle, the little girl's affection for him had long exceeded all limits.
Even combined, the affection from her parents—Ato and Blanca—couldn't amount to one-tenth of what she felt for Elias.
But that was only natural. No matter how busy he was saving the world, Elias always made time to spend with Griseo.
Elias: (Saving the world and playing with little Griseo—honestly, the latter's more important. After all, they say children are the future of the world. So really, I'm doing my job!)
Yet, for some reason, across ten cycles, Elias had never once succeeded in stopping Griseo from drawing her own books. It was almost as difficult as changing Elysia's fate of self-sacrifice.
"Griseo, are you ready?"
At that moment, Mobius had also completed her preparations.
...
Although the success rate of the Meta-Morph surgery was extremely high, whenever it involved Griseo, both Elias and Mobius gave it their absolute all.
"Mm! Griseo will do her best! I want to become a fusion warrior like Brother Elias and Grandma Mobius, so even if it hurts a little, I'll endure it!"
"Hehe~ don't worry, it won't hurt. How could I ever let you feel pain, Griseo?"
Elias smiled, gently patting the girl's head. The Meta-Morph procedure was now fully perfected—especially since this time, both he and Mobius were performing it together.
The chance of failure was smaller than the odds of a tablet surviving longer than Aponia in the future—practically nonexistent.
And with Elias' use of Misteln's Dreamweaving authority, Griseo would only experience a beautiful dream. When she awoke, she would already be a Judgment-level fusion warrior.
Even though Griseo had gained tremendous power, both Elias and Mobius only wished for her to live a long, peaceful life—and to possess the strength to protect herself when it truly mattered.
Aside from that, they had no other purpose. As for treating Griseo as a combat asset... ridiculous. Since when did the group's precious little one need to fight? Was Elias' [Reverse God] form not strong enough already?
Incidentally, because of how much Elias and Mobius doted on Griseo, there had once been rumors within Fire Moth that the two of them were more like her parents than anyone else.
The Serpent had been quite delighted by that.
Blanca and Aponia, however, were not amused.
...
Two hours later—
With the combined expertise of Elias and Mobius, a Meta-Morph surgery should've taken no more than half an hour. Yet, this time, they had drawn it out for two full hours.
Perhaps not even when fighting the Herrscher of Finality had the two of them ever been this meticulous.
The result, of course, was a flawless success.
"Griseo, how do you feel?"
"Mm... the world feels so vivid. It's like... I can see the colors of everything."
"What? The Dragon Sparrow had that kind of ability?"
Mobius blinked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she glanced toward the caged Dragon Sparrow, already considering dissecting it for study later.
Elias, on the other hand, thought, As expected, this ability manifested.
Just like with Aponia, after becoming a fusion warrior, the Meta-Morph factor didn't merely grant Griseo the Dragon Sparrow's abilities—it also amplified her natural gift.
After Aponia fused with the Emperor-class Honkai Beast Mitra, her innate power of persuasion evolved into SWARA, the ability to directly influence minds.
Likewise, after Griseo fused with the Judgment-level Dragon Sparrow, her innate ability to perceive the essence of others evolved into a power that allowed her to see the true nature of all things through colors—and even extract those colors to paint with them.
To Elias, this was undoubtedly a blessing. More power was always better. Still, Griseo was too young; it would take her a long time to learn to control it properly.
At that moment, Griseo looked around in delight. To her, the entire world had suddenly become dazzlingly colorful.
(How wonderful... Grandma Mobius really is a bright green color. And Brother Elias must be white, of course... huh?)
When Griseo's gaze fell upon Elias, her expression froze. A moment later—
Tears began to flow from her eyes.