Inside Helixcraft.
"Vill-V, I'm here to pick up the Divine Key."
Using his authority, Elias bypassed the long puzzle-solving process that normally would've been required to open the massive gates.
He didn't deny that having to defeat bosses or elite monsters to get keys, or answering riddles to open doors, was romantic and fun.
But that kind of thing belonged only in games.
It was like how no one would ever set a dozen-digit password just to enter their bedroom. That would be way too troublesome. Although Vill-V's monsters and puzzles were always interesting, after playing a few times, Elias had grown bored of them.
Still, not wanting her painstaking designs to go completely to waste, Elias kept a few ceremonial habits…
Clank clank clank—!
"Ohh~! Amazing!"
Misteln marveled at the massive door before them. Gears meshed and turned, countless intricate components producing sounds like a symphony—an irresistible melody for any boy.
The next second, steam gushed out. With a series of clattering mechanical sounds, the gigantic metal gate that seemed to lead into a steampunk world slowly opened.
In truth, the door could have opened instantly, but Elias always chose to watch the whole one-minute-long "fancy performance."
"Welcome! Welcome to Helixcraft!!"
As the gate fully opened—
Vill-V stood atop a high platform, countless spotlights instantly converging on her figure. She shone as brightly as Eden on stage! (In the most literal sense.)
Then Vill-V leaped down, stepping onto drones coated with stealth layers, striding toward the two as though walking on air.
"As long as it's not 'welcome to the Theater of Domination,' I'm fine. Cough, cough. Your entrance is as dazzling as ever, my dear great inventor—or rather, should I call you the Great Magician?"
Elias gave her a round of applause, showing due respect.
He also nudged Misteln beside him, signaling her to give some applause too. Experts loved rare materials, while magicians loved applause and admiration.
"Bingo~ Correct! As expected of my cutest audience, always able to tell at a glance which Vill-V I am."
"With personalities this distinct, how could I not recognize you?"
"Haha! Is that so? Then here's a reward for the right answer—ta-da~!"
Vill-V pulled out a pair of black-and-white guns from under her skirt. After striking a few flashy, theatrical poses, she handed them to Elias.
They were an extremely cool pair of pistols—more like hand cannons!
A black-and-white body, gilded barrels, and a red Herrscher Core set into the safety. The Herrscher of Fire's Core had been split into two fragments, embedded inside the guns.
"The Seventh Divine Key is finally complete? Looks like another era-defining masterpiece."
"Of course. Come, let me give you a proper introduction to this Divine Key's abilities."
Vill-V proudly puffed out her chest. She couldn't wait to introduce her latest creation to Elias, though he honestly thought it wasn't necessary.
After all…
(Hmm, as expected—it's Judgment of Shamash.)
Elias narrowed his eyes. He wasn't surprised in the slightest. He had already played with it countless times fifty thousand years later. At this point, there was no need for Vill-V to explain.
Or so he thought…
"This Divine Key has three forms. The twin pistols you see now are just the basic mode."
"This form is mainly prepared for when it's lent to others—it can fire flame lasers powerful enough to annihilate lower-class Honkai Beasts. Ah, but that has nothing to do with you, Elias."
Vill-V added. She knew Elias was already someone who could make lower-class Honkai Beasts drop dead just by standing there. So the pistol mode wasn't designed for him.
She thought it was all Dr. Mei's fault. Mei had said they couldn't just design the Divine Keys for Elias alone—after all, he only had two hands. And just in case, there had to be a "gentler" form that others could use as well.
"Mhm, I get it. Hoo~ what a familiar feeling."
Elias nodded in understanding. The moment his Honkai energy poured into the twin pistols…
The Herrscher Cores set into the safeties locked together. The body of the guns extended and shifted into a sword hilt. Golden flames surged skyward, condensing into a blazing crimson-gold blade of pure energy!
Then, the greatsword began to transform again. What was once symmetrical twisted into a far more violent form.
"Ohh~! As expected of Elias, going straight from the second form to the third form!"
Vill-V exclaimed in admiration. Though she sounded surprised, she wasn't at all.
If the first form was designed for ordinary people, then the second was for high-ranking fusion warriors. But this third form—this was built for Elias.
It was extreme violent output tailored perfectly to his demands! Every strike in this form could give the Earth a stroke! The ultimate cure for fear of insufficient firepower!
"Remember—absolutely never use it at full power!"
Vill-V suddenly warned with a grave expression.
This was a Key of Destruction that burned all to ashes. At its maximum, she had set its output to be enough to burn half of Australia with a single strike.
But she knew all too well—when her Divine Key ended up in Elias' hands, it always unleashed power far beyond its supposed limits.
If Elias used it recklessly at full strength now… even Vill-V couldn't estimate what level of destruction would result. But she was sure of one thing.
It would surpass even Herrscher-level Honkai Eruptions. This fragile world could not withstand Elias at full power.
"Mhm, I know."
Elias nodded in agreement.
He thought back to when he first wielded Judgment of Shamash: Might of An-Utu. One strike had been enough to fell the Judgment-level Honkai Beast Chiyou. And now, his strength had grown manyfold since then.
If he poured all 30,000 HW of Honkai energy into Judgment of Shamash now, even he couldn't imagine the sight. But he knew for certain—currently limited to Might of An-Utu, the weapon would surely overload and break after just one swing.
"I believe you'll use it wisely, Elias. Now, here comes the most important part."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
Elias looked surprised. He had thought this was the end—after all, the three modes of Judgment of Shamash had already been shown. Could there really be a hidden ability?
What kind of function was it, that even the Kaslana family, after using it for thousands of years in the future, had never discovered?
Seeing his astonished look, Vill-V smiled with satisfaction, then took back the greatsword to demonstrate.
"Of course, all of that was just its basic functionality. As the masterpiece of the century's greatest engineer and magician, how could it end there?"
"Uh, you sure you didn't sneak this in while the Expert was offline? Let me guess—she got mad?" Elias raised a brow and guessed casually.
"Hahaha! Super mad! But since all of us personalities modified it, she couldn't single me out for punishment!"
The Magician admitted without hesitation, even outing the others.
"…Poor Expert. I'll make sure to be extra thoughtful when preparing her next gift of thanks."
Elias shook his head in sympathy.
The Expert's inventions were always serious and proper—no gimmicks, just clean, optimal results. But every time she went offline, the others modified them.
The Magician made them flamboyant in appearance, the Occultist carved prophecies into them, the Conductor added quirky surprise functions, and lately, yet another personality had started doing the same—though Elias hadn't figured out whose style it was yet.
"Hooray~ another gift this time!"
The Great Magician cheered happily.
Whenever Elias commissioned something from them, he always prepared thoughtful gifts in return—not just for the Expert alone, but for every personality that had contributed.
In this regard, he was always attentive, and it earned unanimous praise from all of Vill-V's personalities.
"Now, first, by turning this little dial, you can recolor the greatsword's flames. Imagine a blue flaming sword—doesn't that feel super cool and unique?"
Vill-V twisted the mechanism on the blade. In the next second, the red flames turned blue, and Elias' eyes lit up.
"Not bad, good taste."
"Hehe, and it supports multiple colors at once too! If you want, you can even have rainbow flames! And in twin-gun mode, if you hold down the trigger for more than five seconds…"
Vill-V demonstrated as she spoke.
After she held the trigger for five seconds, a mechanical voice rang out:
[Fireworks Mode: Activated!]
The terrifying weapon, capable of blasting apart any lower-class Honkai Beast with one shot, suddenly began launching dazzling fireworks. Even Misteln beside them was stunned.
"And the fireworks can be customized too. Elias, Elias, what do you think of this feature?"
"Cool! Absolutely amazing! Even a weapon born for destruction can bring beauty and brilliance. Truly worthy of you, Vill-V—what a fantastic design."
"Elias, I knew you'd get me!"
Vill-V happily pulled Elias into a big hug, thinking to herself that this was exactly why she loved making things for him.
Unlike someone else, Elias never got mad or dismissive when she added fun features to her inventions. Not like a certain someone who would smash the item on the spot and demand a rebuild. Too much!
(Vill-V: "I'm talking about you, Dr. Mei! Just because I wanted to give Prometheus a transformation into a Gundam and reproductive functions… was that really worth getting so angry over? 'Mechanical dolls can't get pregnant'—well, I'll be the one to break that prejudice!")
If Vill-V actually depended on Fire Moth's funding, Mei would've long since cut her down so harshly she couldn't make another one of these flashy contraptions again—worse off than Snake herself!
After that, Vill-V spent a full hour introducing all the surprise functions of this Divine Key.
Elias listened with great interest, while Misteln beside him was dumbfounded.
She couldn't understand how so many functions could be packed into such a small weapon body. Was this a Void Archives trick?
After hearing everything, Elias nodded in appreciation and gave it a score of 90 out of 100. But that shocked Vill-V.
"What?! Only 90? No, I can't accept this! Elias, tell me—what part are you unhappy with?!"
"Mhm, Vill-V, I admit these functions are excellent. But my dear great inventor, how could you forget the most basic yet most crucial feature?"
Elias spoke gravely, staring at the Key of Destruction in his hands like a piece of jade yet to be fully carved, his eyes full of regret.
"Did I really overlook something that important? Quickly, tell me!"
"It can't play BGM."
"!!!"
Vill-V stiffened, as though struck by lightning.
"If it's a weapon made for battle and destruction, how can it not automatically play high-energy BGM during fights? That's a huge deduction."
Elias continued seriously.
"You should know, as a great once once said: 'In my BGM, I am invincible. A proper weapon must have a music function.'"
"I see… I see! Truly words of wisdom! I've attained enlightenment! Watch me modify it right now!"
Vill-V said, trembling with excitement.
She immediately took the Divine Key back and spent a full thirty minutes adding a BGM playback function, plus a new karaoke mode where it could transform into a microphone.
Only then did Elias nod in satisfaction, exclaiming that it was now perfect.
"Oh right, Elias, give this Divine Key a name," Vill-V said at last.
"Hm? You didn't name it already? Oh~"
Elias suddenly remembered—of course, the great inventor before him was absolutely hopeless at naming things.
If Vill-V were left in charge, this Divine Key would've ended up with some monstrosity of a name like: "Super-Ultimate Flame Blaster + Fireworks Launcher + Music Player…" One of those ridiculously long, tasteless types.
"Key of Destruction: Judgment of Shamash. How about it?"
"Ohh~ As expected of you, perfect name!"
Vill-V immediately gave him a thumbs up in praise. It didn't matter that she was bad at names—wasn't Elias right here to do it instead?
At last, Elias happily took Judgment of Shamash into his hands, thinking to himself that he'd probably changed this Divine Key's fate too. After all, it was originally destined to be the exclusive weapon of a certain popsicle.
Misteln: "I think the real issue isn't that…"
As an [Idea] who had witnessed everything, even she was struggling to imagine this Divine Key's future.
And sure enough, fate corrected itself.
Not long after Elias had used Judgment of Shamash a few times on the battlefield—and Kevin happened to see it…
"Elias! My good brother! I've never begged you for anything in my life, but this time, I really must—please, let me borrow that super cool Judgment of Shamash to play with!"
"No. I haven't had enough fun with it myself yet!"
Elias kicked the husky-like Kevin away and hugged Judgment of Shamash tightly. He felt maybe Kevin was too unpolished because Elias had been too strong.
Just look at him—completely lacking in composure. Sure, his combat strength wasn't low, but could he show a bit of dignity? Kevin, you're supposed to carry the title of Deliverance in the future!
(Wait a sec… aside from the Herrscher of Reason, I've basically taken down all the Herrschers so far… Damn! Were you guys slacking off?!)
But just as he was about to get angry, Elias realized—it wasn't that Kevin and the others were weak. It was that he himself was too strong.
Elias: "Oh. Never mind then."
In truth, the gloomy, self-isolated Kevin of the original story might not even have been stronger than this husky version standing before him.
After all, the former was only following Dr. Mei, while the latter had chosen with his own will to fight and overcome the Honkai.
In the end, Kevin did manage to borrow Judgment of Shamash. In exchange, he promised to fulfill three requests from Elias in the future without question. Whenever Elias wasn't using it, Kevin could take it for a spin.
...
In the future—the Current Era—it was said that whenever Honkai Beasts threatened humanity, the leaders of the Kaslana family would appear with Judgment of Shamash in hand. To the sound of blazing hot BGM, they would descend, wielding this legendary weapon to save the people…
For others, that might have seemed unbearably embarrassing.
But for the husky-blooded Kaslanas, it was the perfect ancestral relic.
Pairing Judgment of Shamash—complete with a high-energy BGM player—with the Kaslanas was like injecting a husky with pure adrenaline!
(Honkai Beasts: Please, keep these crazy dogs away from us!)
Elias didn't know it yet, but the feature he had asked Vill-V to add to Judgment of Shamash would become a morale buff for the Kaslanas.
In the future, three heads of the Kaslana family would actually get so hyped by the BGM that, mid-battle, they couldn't resist drawing out Shamash for dramatic effect—only to burn themselves to death…