Inside the dormitory, everyone looked at Siegfried with deep speechlessness in their eyes. Where had this Kaslana husky gotten the courage to challenge Elias? And even sign a life-and-death contract?
Was he worried that Elias wouldn't be ruthless enough?
(When the time comes, I'll let my dear father-in-law witness what true Shamash Assault is—one that can set even the ocean ablaze! I'll give you a literal, earth-shattering finale.)
Elias thought eagerly.
And he truly didn't mind taking on more than one opponent.
If Griseo's father and Raiden Mei's father wanted to join in as well, Elias had absolutely no objections. He would be happy to send them all on their way—ah, no, engage in a friendly spar.
"..."
Seeing the impatient expression on Elias' face, cold sweat instantly broke out across Siegfried's back. He suddenly felt that his earlier decision might have been a little rash.
Thinking back on what he had just said, it sounded suspiciously like: "Everyone, look at me. I have an announcement. I'm an idiot."
After all, everyone knew that Elias had absolutely no intention of respecting his father-in-law. If given a chance to strike lethally, would he hesitate? No. Not even a little!
"Father-in-law, don't worry. I'll apply for extra compensation for you. I won't let the silly goose and my mother-in-law live in hardship."
"Cough, cough! I—I was just joking."
Siegfried immediately backed down, thinking that he was currently alone and outnumbered. A direct confrontation would be unwise. It would be better to drag Raiden Ryoma and Welt into this later.
Maybe he could even ask around in the Previous Era to find fellow tragic fathers whose precious daughters hadn't been snatched away by Elias. They could form a Father's Revenge Alliance together to boost their combat power—er, their victim count!
"Honestly, Dad, you should've said it was a joke earlier."
"Uh, Bianka?"
"I was just about to accept the challenge on Elias' behalf."
"..."
Seeing the relieved look on his daughter's face, Siegfried felt as if his heart were bleeding.
It hadn't even been three hours yet. What kind of love potion had Elias fed his silly goose?!
Teach your father-in-law a trick or two, will you?
(Ah~ What a pity.)
Elias sighed slightly, feeling a bit regretful. He had just missed out on a spectacular father-daughter battle.
To be honest, perhaps because every father figure he'd met since transmigrating into this world had been... somewhat questionable, Elias found it impossible to feel any real respect toward people like Siegfried.
Siegfried—an unreliable giant husky who couldn't even protect his own daughter.
Raiden Ryoma—unable to defeat even Cocolia, and likewise incapable of protecting his daughter.
Mobius' father—a complete scumbag who had even inflicted violence upon little snake Mobius.
Griseo's father, Ato—barely passable. At least he hadn't done anything stupid, but he was constantly busy with work. Back in the Previous Era, Griseo had basically been raised by Elias.
Elias: (It's not that I don't want to respect you. It's just that you really don't give me any reason to. Sigh~ I definitely don't want to become such an unreliable father in the future.)
As for whether disrespecting these old fathers would make them oppose their daughters being with him—Elias wasn't worried in the slightest.
Durandal, Raiden Mei, and Griseo were all grown women now. Not only that, they each possessed strength and unwavering will far surpassing their fathers.
And an unparalleled level of affection toward Elias.
By the way, little snake Mobius' father was long dead...
In short, those three men could not stop their daughters from one day wearing wedding dresses and stepping into the hall of marriage with Elias.
And given the overwhelming gap in strength, they couldn't even achieve mutual destruction with him.
"It's really unbelievable. Just a few months ago, Durandal was still our enemy. Who would've thought that now she's already become Elias'..."
Theresa couldn't help but sigh.
She deeply admired Elias' ability to turn enemies into allies. Although it seemed to depend somewhat on the enemy's gender and appearance, it appeared that as long as they were girls, there was no one he couldn't handle.
Eden and the others nodded as well.
At the same time, they couldn't help but think that there was actually another person with a similar ability—and that person was also their strongest enemy. Fortunately, there was no need to worry for now, because that pink final boss was still sealed inside Elysian Realm reading fan-made books.
Although... it felt like they might not be able to keep it hidden for much longer.
"Let's not talk about the past. Durandal wasn't deliberately opposing us back then. As always—if there's blame to assign, it all belongs to that bastard Otto."
As the biggest troublemaker of the Current Era, any blame could safely be thrown onto Otto Apocalypse.
At that moment, Elias seemed to recall something.
He pulled Eliana Kaslana into his arms, affectionately bit her cheek, snapped a photo, and sent it to Otto Apocalypse, who was thousands of miles away. Then he pricked up his ears and activated the authority of the Herrscher of Wind.
A moment later, the thousand winds carried back the sound of a wineglass shattering at Schicksal Headquarters in Kolosten, along with someone's emotionally shattered howl.
(That felt good~ Whew, almost forgot my daily mission.)
"By the way, if I remember correctly, the reason Durandal was willing to work under Otto was because she believed he could lead humanity to clear the Honkai, right? So what about now?"
Elias asked with a smile, looking at Durandal.
"Does that even need to be asked? Archbishop Otto might have been able to lead humanity through the Honkai, but I've already found someone more worthy of following. That person is you, Elias."
Durandal gazed at him with absolute trust. Whether from a subjective or objective standpoint, she firmly believed that the white-haired youth before her was the best choice.
Otto might have had a possibility of clearing the Honkai—but it was only a possibility. There was still a chance of failure.
But Elias had already achieved a perfect ending in the hell-difficulty dungeon of the Previous Era—an ending that countless civilizations could only look up to in awe. He had pressed the Honkai to the ground and crushed it as a true savior.
If he were thrown into a place like Izumo, where the so-called Yaoyorozu no Kami descended—a dungeon of near-god-level difficulty—perhaps he could overturn fate and forge a completely different ending there as well.
"In that case, there's no longer any need to hesitate, is there?"
Elias gently cupped Durandal's cheeks. He found himself liking this girl with the unyielding will more and more.
"Yes. Because there is only one answer. Elias, I will swear to you—"
"Ah, wait! Don't forget the key prop. When you say that line, remember to snap this cane in half. It's a very important step. Let's do it again. From the top!"
"Ah? Oh! I swear loyalty to you!"
The honest, airheaded Durandal took the soulium cane Elias handed her and snapped it in two as she spoke.
The people nearby twitched at the corners of their eyes, inexplicably feeling as though they had just witnessed some legendary scene.
"Haha~ This is wonderful." The chaos-loving Elias applauded cheerfully.
"Although I don't know what it symbolizes, as long as you're happy, Elias." Durandal smiled as well. Then, as if remembering something, she turned to her close friend beside her.
"Oh right, Rita. About that physically demanding bed-warming task you mentioned for tonight—I'll handle it instead."
"Hmm? Lady Durandal, and why is that?"
"As we discussed earlier, to prevent the Honkai Beast genes in my body from losing control, I need to remain within five meters of Elias for the next month."
Durandal patted her chest as she spoke.
"We'll have to eat together, live together, and sleep together. So I'll take care of warming the bed tonight. Don't worry. No matter what the task is, I will complete it perfectly."
"Ahem, Rita. You understand..."
Elias rubbed his forehead. Rita immediately understood.
"Yes. Please leave it to me. Lady Durandal, would you come with me for a moment? I need to give you a new technical lesson—open the door to a brand-new world, so to speak."
"Hm? Oh. Alright."
The clueless silly goose nodded blankly.
She followed Rita into the next room. Ten minutes later, the two returned—but the silly goose's eyes had turned into spinning spirals, and steam rose faintly from her head.
(It seems a short separation won't cause the Honkai Beast genes to spiral out of control. And now this foolish goose should finally understand the deeper meaning of "warming the bed," right?)
"Rita, how far did you get in the physiology lesson?"
"I only just finished explaining postnatal care procedures after childbirth. Ah~ I sincerely apologize, Lord Elias. I simply cannot bring myself to teach Lady Durandal, pure and flawless as she is, any more knowledge of that sort." Rita replied with a pleased expression.
"...In ten minutes you already reached postpartum care, and you're saying that? You shameless maid. That efficiency is terrifying."
Elias rolled his eyes and looked at the silly goose with sympathy.
Although she possessed overwhelming strength, with this difference in emotional and intellectual cunning, she was probably the one getting toyed with by the refrigerator's owner on a daily basis.
...Then again, perhaps natural innocence was the perfect counter to scheming black-bellied types.
Seeing Durandal still immersed in confusion, Elias decided it was best to leave her alone. With her absurdly strong mental fortitude, she would definitely recover on her own.
For now, he only needed to look forward to nighttime.
"By the way, Cecilia, Theresa, St. Freya Academy is about to begin recruiting new students soon, right?"
"Yes, that's correct. Back then, you, Kiana, Mei, and Bronya were special transfer students. The official enrollment period is coming up soon." Theresa set down her bitter melon juice.
"Hehe, and thanks to you defeating Grandpa some time ago, as well as stopping two Honkai Eruptions, many people are willing to join St. Freya Academy now."
Recently, she had even allocated funds to construct two additional teaching buildings. Just thinking about more rookie Valkyries joining made this Judas-less Judas launcher incredibly excited.
Still, it was only excitement. Even with high pay, becoming a Valkyrie was ultimately a profession chosen by very few, given the life-and-death stakes and the need for Honkai adaptability.
Recruiting a thousand new students would already be considered a lot.
And out of a thousand, producing even ten A-rank Valkyries would be difficult—and that was with lowered assessment standards. If they used Schicksal's standards from twenty-four years ago, let alone ten—even two or three would be hard to come by.
Only A-rank Valkyries could independently handle higher-tier Honkai Beasts.
Which made Elias' thousand clones—each possessing S-rank Valkyrie-level strength—utterly outrageous.
Even if he didn't act personally, those thousand clones alone would be enough to crush all the forces of the Current Era combined.
"You might want to build a few more teaching buildings. I have over a thousand people who'll be enrolling as well," Elias said.
"Huh? Really?!"
Theresa and Cecilia's eyes lit up.
They thought this was an unexpected and enormous surprise. With another thousand joining, they would completely surpass Schicksal in terms of Valkyrie numbers.
...
But that wasn't all. Elias smiled faintly and dropped another bombshell.
"Prepare yourselves mentally. I guarantee that all thousand of them will reach at least A-rank Valkyrie evaluation in the future. There might even be over a hundred S-rank Valkyries among them."
"H-Huhhh?!!" xN
Theresa nearly choked on her bitter melon juice. Cecilia shot to her feet in shock. Himeko almost fell off her chair. Rita inhaled sharply and leaned back instinctively.
A thousand at least A-rank Valkyries? Where on earth had Elias found such a promising future legion?
On the other side, Eden and Fu Hua raised their brows—but soon arrived at a guess.
"Elias, you plan to return their Cores to them?" Sakura asked in surprise, her fox tail swaying behind her.
"Mm-hm~ Why not?"
"Very well. Since it's your decision, it must be correct. Hehe, how exciting. Former enemies becoming companions." Aponia smiled gently.
"...Wait, what do you know?"
Theresa looked at the people from the Previous Era in confusion.
They were all immensely curious about where Elias had found so many super seedlings. Griseo took a deep breath to steady herself before answering.
"Brother Elias is talking about the Herrschers from our Previous Era. They've all lost their Herrscher Cores and have reformed. It's not that they're determined to fight to protect the world—but they're certainly willing to fight for Brother Elias."
"..." xN
Mei and the others felt their eyelids twitch, as if hearing the warning sound of 'A large group of enemies is approaching.'
"A total of one thousand and eleven people. The number is so exaggerated because one thousand of them are the Herrscher of Dominance."
"Those chosen to become Herrschers were essentially vetted by the Honkai itself. Even if they don't act as Herrschers, their talent guarantees they can at least become A-rank Valkyries."
"After I return the Cores sealed within the Divine Keys to them and let them become Herrschers again—setting aside the varied quality among the Herrscher of Dominance—the gold standard of ordinary Herrschers needs no further explanation, right?"
Excluding anomalies like the silly goose,
A normal S-rank Valkyrie couldn't defeat a normal Herrscher.
Just imagining such a scene made the girls collectively inhale sharply.
That was a Herrscher legion!!
Bronya: "In that case... if Bronya were the Honkai, Bronya would probably surrender immediately. There is absolutely no way to win against you."
Elias: "Hehe~ Naturally."
Theresa: "Wait! So is this still a Valkyrie academy or has it turned into a Herrscher academy?!"
Kiana: "Don't sweat the details, Auntie Theresa. With this, St. Freya Academy is invincible!"
However, Elias had no idea at this moment—
The number of Herrschers enrolling as new students would not be one thousand and eleven... but one thousand and thirteen.
As for the two extra people?
Let's first eliminate a certain pink elf.