"Fifty thousand years have passed..."
While Elias and the girls were enjoying their harmonious and beautiful daily life together, deep within the Earth's core—6,359.4 kilometers beneath the surface—a pair of noble golden eyes filled with divinity slowly opened.
At the very moment this goddess awakened, Honkai energy vast enough to seem infinite surged outward. The terrifying fluctuations were so immense that they even affected the climate more than six thousand kilometers above, on the surface.
"The time has come. I should go see him."
The divine being in the form of a young women murmured softly.
This was no mere metaphor. She was truly a god—the Herrscher of Finality from the Previous Era. At this very moment, she ended her long slumber and awakened in the Current Era fifty thousand years later.
With a casual gesture, she opened a spatial gate, crossing over six thousand kilometers to arrive at the surface. All Herrscher authorities were merely projections of the authority of the Herrscher of Finality. Therefore, her ability to use the portal of the Herrscher of the Void was perfectly reasonable.
The instant the Goddess of Honkai stepped onto the surface, dazzling sunlight fell upon her. It illuminated her pure white hair—immaculate and flawless like that of the white-haired boy—causing it to shimmer with crystalline brilliance.
The Herrscher of Finality looked up at the azure sky. Even the sun seemed dim compared to the radiance of her eyes. The first thing she did upon returning was... restrain her Honkai energy.
"I mustn't be discovered."
The Herrscher of Finality spoke to herself.
What she had raised her head to look for was not the sun, but the moon—or rather, the Cocoon of Finality upon the moon.
At this moment, the Goddess of Honkai was suppressing and concealing her energy fluctuations to avoid being detected by the Cocoon.
Back in the Previous Era, Elias had seized Elysia's authority of Origin and made a wish that removed the shackles from all Herrschers. That redemption had also descended upon the Herrscher of Finality.
After gaining humanity, she had finally taken Elias' words to heart. Thus, the Goddess of Honkai made a decision: before destroying a civilization in the future, she would first seek to understand it.
However, she had no interest in any civilization where Elias did not exist. So she voluntarily entered slumber for fifty thousand years, sleeping from the Previous Era straight into the Current Era.
As a Herrscher who commanded the authority of time, setting herself a fifty-thousand-year alarm was simplicity itself.
As for how she pinpointed the era in which Elias lived, the reason was that she had been struck too many times by the Taixuan Eminence strengthened by his burning memories. During that process, she had come to understand the boy's memories.
And now, the Herrscher of Finality was rather like a little girl who had run away from home.
Originally, after finishing her errand for home (the Cocoon of Finality)—destroying civilization—she should have returned home (into the Cocoon's embrace). Instead, because she had developed an interest in a certain boy, she decided to follow him to his home instead (the Current Era).
The Herrscher of Finality was unsure how the Cocoon of Finality would react to her actions. Thus, she chose to conceal her presence, preventing the Cocoon from discovering that she was on Earth.
(Cocoon of Finality: Damn it!)
At this moment, however, she had already drawn attention.
"Whoa, who is that?"
"She's so beautiful... Is that a girl?"
"Yeah, and her clothes are so strange."
"Huh? Why does she have those weird wings on her back?"
The surrounding passersby stared at Finality in shock.
As the Goddess of Honkai, the Herrscher of Finality's charm was beyond question. She was the most exalted and noble existence in this world—the most perfect and flawless supreme being.
Her beauty was so sacred that it made people instinctively question whether she was truly human.
Even a mere glance from the corner of her golden eyes, brimming with divinity, was enough to make ordinary people tremble violently and fall to their knees on the spot.
It was as though anything she beheld in this world would become her possession.
Although Elias had removed her shackles and granted her humanity, her essence—like that of a certain Miss Pink Elf—was that of a goddess born high above all.
By that logic, Elias' repeated acts of blaspheming a deity in the past were truly sins beyond description.
"Who permitted you to gaze upon me?"
The Herrscher of Finality spoke calmly.
She felt no joy at the attention she attracted. In her past memories, any lifeform that met her gaze had been a rebel attempting to defy divine judgment.
Among them, the most blazing and unyielding eyes belonged to the boy who shared her hair and eye color.
After being looked at with such eyes, she found all other gazes uninteresting. Thus, she immediately activated the authority of the Herrscher of Sentience, causing everyone within a radius of ten thousand meters to cease noticing her.
"I should go find him. But... where is this place?"
The Herrscher of Finality frowned slightly. She did not know the way.
(According to Elias' memories back then, he should now be at a place called St. Freya Academy. But where exactly is that? Should I use my authority to blanket the planet and search?)
The authority of the Herrscher of Wind allowed the thousand winds to serve as ears and eyes, gathering information. With the power of the Herrscher of Finality, it would be effortless to let the winds of Herrschers envelop the entire globe and find Elias among seven to eight billion people.
However...
Using power on that scale would inevitably alert the Cocoon of Finality on the moon. Currently in a runaway-from-home state, Miss Herrscher of Finality had no desire to be found by her family.
Just as she was feeling slightly troubled—
"Hm? This faint aura..."
Suddenly, she sensed a familiar presence. In terms of importance, it ranked just below Elias—the one who occupied first place in her heart regardless of whether the feelings were good or bad.
"Perhaps she knows. I'll go ask her."
Having made her decision, the Goddess of Honkai took a single step. With that one step, she crossed over half the globe and arrived at a villa island in the sea near the Far East.
The Herrscher of Finality gazed down at the "island" beneath her feet. Her golden divine eyes instantly perceived its true nature, and she spoke.
"So you can no longer move? As expected of him—to injure you to such an extent. But fifty thousand years have passed. Why haven't you recovered at all?"
"Because Elias took my 'heart.' Although that allows me to sense his existence, it also means I can no longer generate the Honkai energy needed to restore myself."
A pleasant female voice responded to the Herrscher of Finality.
A beautiful young women clad in white holy garments appeared out of thin air. She had long deep-sea-blue hair and azure eyes, like a daughter born of the ocean itself.
Upon seeing her appearance, the Herrscher of Finality raised a brow, a trace of "surprise" crossing her face.
"That form of yours..."
"Isn't it beautiful? It took me a full fifty thousand years to craft this human body."
The blue-haired girl spun lightly in place, displaying her figure. It was a perfect body in no way inferior to that of the Herrscher of Finality—yet it had taken her fifty thousand years to sculpt this supreme masterpiece.
"If you hadn't wasted your already limited Honkai energy on such matters, perhaps you would be able to move by now."
The Herrscher of Finality evaluated her coldly.
In her eyes, aside from possessing Herrscher-level Honkai resistance (max), this body was undeveloped in every other aspect due to its lack of Honkai energy.
If she were to rate it, it was simply a body far stronger than an ordinary human, blessed with flawless beauty—beyond that, there was little else to say.
"It couldn't be helped. If I wish to communicate with him, a human body like this is indispensable. And besides... I had nothing else to do for these fifty thousand years."
The blue-haired girl shook her head helplessly.
"Even if I wanted to recover Honkai energy, I couldn't. I had too little strength—so little that I couldn't even hunt the Honkai Beasts in the sea. And unlike you, I cannot conceal my aura."
"Indeed. You are far too large. Even weakened to the point that you cannot move a single tentacle, you remain an untouchable existence to those lower species."
The Herrscher of Finality spoke expressionlessly.
At this point, it was already obvious.
This blue-haired girl was the Planet-class Honkai Beast who had caused Elias and the others so much trouble during the final battle.
Ever since she had been defeated by the Flame-Chasers and crashed to Earth, she had remained in a severely wounded, immobile state for fifty thousand years. Unable to recover no matter how she tried, and with nothing else to occupy her time, she had immersed herself in the grand undertaking of sculpting a human form.
"Still, I truly didn't expect that after completing your mission, you wouldn't return to the Cocoon, but instead remain on this planet... Finality, tell me—what is your purpose?"
"Isn't it obvious? To take revenge on him!"
The previously calm Herrscher of Finality's tone instantly grew impassioned the moment Elias was mentioned.
However—
"That won't do. He belongs to me."
The blue-haired girl said calmly. Within her magnificent azure eyes flickered an incomparable possessiveness. Even before the Herrscher of Finality, she showed no intention of yielding.
"..."
In the past, any existence that defied her would have been erased without hesitation—even if it were her own companion Honkai Beast.
But perhaps due to the humanity she had gained—or perhaps due to Elias' influence—the Herrscher of Finality did not act.
"Hmph. You're welcome to try. But I'd advise you to be careful. This time, don't let him kill you completely."
"Oh my~ That might not be so bad. So why have you come to see me? Surely not to reminisce."
"I do not engage in meaningless acts. I merely wish to know where he is. Give me a direction."
"...I see."
The blue-haired girl's eyes narrowed slightly. Though she had yet to fully understand humanity, a Planet-class Honkai Beast was far more intelligent than humans. She instantly grasped the Herrscher of Finality's current state.
Her lips curled upward, forming the radiant smile she had once observed on humans—though she only knew that it was an expression meant for joy.
And she was indeed joyful.
Because an opportunity had arrived.
"Finality, how about making a deal with me? You help me restore my strength, and I'll take you to Elias."
"A deal? It seems you've learned quite a bit from humanity over these fifty thousand years. However... why should I make a deal with you? You are my companion Honkai Beast. You ought to obey my command."
The Herrscher of Finality folded her arms and looked at the blue-haired girl.
"That's not quite right, Finality. You've misunderstood."
"What?"
"While I was indeed born as your companion Honkai Beast, the mission bestowed upon me by the Cocoon of Finality was to obtain Elias—not to obey your orders. So... if you refuse to help me, I'll go complain to the Cocoon."
The smile on the blue-haired girl's face deepened. It was clearly cunning, yet appeared so pure.
"!!!"
The Herrscher of Finality's heart skipped.
She immediately regretted coming here. Had she known, she would have searched for him slowly on her own. She had never imagined her companion Honkai Beast would threaten her.
Though this creature was already terribly weakened, she still maintained a direct connection with the Cocoon of Finality.
Even if the Herrscher of Finality killed her now, it would be too late. As beings directly created by the Cocoon, upon death they would return to it—just like a certain Herrscher of Origin.
In simple terms, even if the blue-haired girl died, she could still complain.
"Don't look at me like you want to kill me. Cooperation has its benefits. For example, I can help you conceal your presence from the Cocoon of Finality. With my aura as cover, you can use greater power without being discovered."
"Are you implying my current strength is insufficient?"
"It's more than enough to deal with other ants. But didn't you say you want to take revenge on Elias? He's no ant. Do you truly believe your current strength is enough against him?"
"...It is not."
The Herrscher of Finality lowered her eyes slightly.
In her mind, she recalled the white-haired boy who had defeated her twelve times. Even at her peak, she had struggled to subdue him—let alone now, when she was deliberately restraining her power.
"And if you help me restore my strength, I can assist you as well. The two of us working together—surely even Elias would struggle to withstand it."
"That makes sense. Very well. I will help you."
Convinced, the Herrscher of Finality gave a slight nod. The next moment, she abruptly reached out and grasped the blue-haired girl's slender neck. Vast, oceanic Honkai energy surged into her body.
Though she had restrained her aura and limited her output ceiling, the total quantity of Honkai energy within the Herrscher of Finality had not diminished in the slightest.
The colossal Honkai energy—enough to rupture a bubble world nearly equivalent to the real world—rapidly restored more than half of this Planet-class ray-type Honkai Beast.
However, she did not allow her to fully recover.
"That's it? Why did you stop? I'm still missing quite a bit."
The blue-haired girl tilted her head. She had recovered only about sixty percent of her total Honkai energy. In this state, even if she exerted herself fully, she could only barely pierce through the moon.
"Hmph. Without the power of Finality, you cannot harm me. But at your peak, you were indeed an existence comparable to me. Therefore... I will not allow you to fully recover."
"Are you worried I might betray you? Finality, I am your companion Honkai Beast. You should trust me."
"And who was it that just threatened to report me to the Cocoon?"
The Herrscher of Finality questioned coldly.
"Hehe, who knows~"
The blue-haired girl stuck out her tongue playfully. They were likely the worst pair of Herrscher and companion Honkai Beast in history.
"Enough~ Let's not waste time. I'll take you to Elias right now. He's actually quite close. He's on that small island over there."
"...So close. I should have searched on my own."
"Too late to say that now~ Let's give Elias a huge surprise together! Oh, right. Since I can move again, I'll hide my true body as well."
The blue-haired girl lightly kicked the ground with her delicate foot.
The "island"—which was in fact the true body of the Planet-class ray-type Honkai Beast—slowly sank beneath the sea.
Incidentally, the ownership of this island happened to belong to Raven. The villa had only just been completed not long ago.
And so, let us congratulate the little island-loving Raven once again on losing the villa island of her dreams.