"Seems I might've gone a bit overboard… Sakura, wake up. Wake up, we're still in the middle of a mission."
"Ring… marriage… husband and wife… having children…"
The pink fox girl, who should've been a composed and capable warrior, was now staring blankly at the ring on her left ring finger, giggling foolishly while daydreaming about something.
Elias looked helplessly at Sakura's current state. Though he found it amusing, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
(Ah, I really am a sinful man… but we can't keep going like this. Maybe I should give her a little scare.)
"Ahem, Sakura, if you keep acting like this, I might have to take that ring back."
"No! You can't!"
The result was immediate. The next moment, Sakura snapped out of her fantasy. She quickly hid her left hand behind her back, while her right hand had already drawn the Frozen Naraka.
At this moment, she regarded that ring as something as precious as her own life. Anyone who dared try to take it would be instantly cut into hundreds—no, thousands—of pieces by her blade.
Of course, Elias was an exception. But if he truly took that ring away, Sakura felt she might rather die.
"Then focus on the mission, Sakura. Try to be the calm and reliable you again, okay?"
"Uh… alright, I'll try…"
Sakura nodded awkwardly but still couldn't stop herself from gently rubbing that "mission prop" of a wedding ring.
Though she was a professionally trained assassin, she still couldn't suppress the corners of her lips from curling up.
Elias couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. He reached out to pat the girl's head, then the two of them began walking toward the headquarters of the religious group.
...
"Oh? The two of you wish to join our faith? Welcome, welcome! A warm welcome indeed! But before you can be accepted, you'll need to fill this out—to show your devotion and sincerity."
Inside the sect's base, Elias and Sakura, disguised as newlyweds seeking to join the church, hadn't raised any suspicion.
After stating their intent, a man in a white robe enthusiastically greeted them.
Hearing that they had to show their faith and sincerity, Elias initially thought it was going to be something like those pyramid schemes from his previous life—maybe filling out personal information about themselves and their families.
But when he took the paper and looked at it, he realized it was a moral questionnaire, similar to those "ethics tests" given to middle schoolers, full of basic moral judgment questions.
However, if people really answered truthfully according to what they thought, most adults would probably score a zero… or even negative.
But that wasn't the shocking part!
The real surprise came when Elias turned to the next page after finishing the moral section, feeling nostalgic like he was back in school again.
"The hell—what is this?!"
Elias' eyes widened instantly, and even the pen in his hand dropped to the floor. Sitting beside him, Sakura—who had also turned to the next page—froze as well.
"What kind of questions are these?!"
If her fox ears were visible, they would've been standing straight up in disbelief!
And no wonder—they had every reason to be stunned.
Because the second page of this so-called questionnaire had a completely different tone.
Question 1: Please write down the height and weight of the Savior, Elias.
Question 2: Please describe the Savior Elias' personality and hobbies.
Question 3: Please list ten of the Savior Elias' greatest accomplishments.
Question 4: Please draw a portrait of the Savior Elias.
Question 5: In your opinion, what kind of person is the Savior Elias?
Elias: "What—the—hell?!"
He stared blankly at the questionnaire where his name appeared in every question. At that moment, Elias was utterly dumbfounded—but one thing was certain: this so-called religious group was anything but normal!
Looks like he'd have to investigate this thoroughly.
The test had almost given him a heart attack. Still, after taking a deep breath, Elias decided that for the sake of the mission, he'd better continue filling it out.
Elias awkwardly realized he couldn't answer some of the questions at all. The ones he had just seen were already the easier warm-ups, but the ones below were each more ridiculous than the last.
For example, one of the fill-in-the-blanks asked him to state exactly how many people he had saved during the Third Honkai Eruption—not an estimate, but down to the precise single digit!
(Damn! How am I supposed to remember how many people I saved? I've even forgotten the rough number!)
He only ever remembered the time and place of each Honkai Eruption and the total casualties it caused.
Because Elias never cared how many he saved—he only cared how many he failed to save.
(Can't answer! Next question!)
Please write an 800-word essay praising the Savior Elias. (10 points)
(…What the hell! How am I supposed to write this? And shouldn't essays be worth 60 points? You're shorting me 50 here! Feels like a massive loss just writing it!)
Elias' eye twitched wildly. He was confident about many things, but not to the level of narcissism required to write an 800-word essay praising himself.
His face wasn't that thick. He had the strong feeling that if he wrote it, the instant it was finished, it would become the blackest black history of his life. In short, his pen refused to move at all!
(What kind of insane questions are these? I really want to see what the test-maker looks like! One thing's for sure—this religion is definitely messed up! But what should I do now…)
There were even questions like: [What kind of instant noodles does the Savior like best?], [What kind of music does the Savior prefer?], [What kind of girls does the Savior like (personality + appearance details required)]. Questions like these left Elias completely dumbfounded.
Humans often can't truly understand themselves.
Looking at the series of questions about himself, Elias broke out in a sweat. He had the feeling he might kind of, sort of know the answers—but if he wrote them down, they'd definitely be wrong.
(Favorite instant noodles? Uh, I don't even like instant noodles that much. Favorite music? Can't I check my listening history first? Favorite type of girl? And I have to write it in detail?! Test-maker, are you sick?!)
Looking over the entire paper, Elias found that only his height and weight he could answer with confidence. Everything else he had almost no certainty about, and he was starting to panic.
Sha-sha-sha-sha-sha~
Just then, the rapid sound of a pen tip racing across paper reached Elias' ears.
He turned to look and saw Sakura beside him writing furiously, fully focused and completely unbothered by the questions.
Sakura: "These are just some simple basic questions."
Elias glanced at the examiner's position, then quietly activated the authority of the Herrscher of Reason, constructing a small paper ball and tossing it at Sakura.
"Pss-pss! Sakura!"
"Hm?"
Engrossed in answering, her pen tip practically sparking, Sakura blinked when she felt something hit her. She opened the paper ball and read the message inside.
[Sakura, let me copy your answers!]
"Ah…"
Sakura sneaked a glance at Elias' test paper. When she saw it was almost completely blank, she couldn't help but feel both amused and helpless.
But just as she was about to show him her paper, she suddenly realized she had gone completely overboard.
Especially the essay—she had already written nearly 1,800 words for an 800-word minimum. Sakura was even confident that if given enough time, she could write an entire book!
But this was something she absolutely could not let the main subject see.
(If Elias saw this essay… no, no way! Absolutely not! Too embarrassing!) This essay she could show to anyone else in the world—except Elias.
"Ahem, Elias, how can you cheat on a test? Please write it yourself. Don't worry, these are all easy giveaway questions."
"Sakura, what's wrong with you? You're joking, right? Easy giveaway questions?! For me this is more like a deathtrap than a freebie!"
Elias' eyes widened. He couldn't believe Sakura had rejected him. For a moment, he wondered if the world had gone mad, sinking into deep thought.
(Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?)
"You two over there—please focus on your tests! No whispering, or it will be treated as cheating!"
(Damn it! I refuse to believe I can't cheat today!)
Elias' determination flared. He activated his Herrscher power, forming a pseudo-Fenghuang Down to control the awareness of everyone in the room. Then, without even trying to hide it, he boldly glanced toward Sakura's paper.
"Elias, dame!"
Sakura's expression changed drastically. She immediately covered her paper with both arms.
Of course, a pseudo Fenghuang Down couldn't truly manipulate the minds of fusion warriors—at best, it could only create illusions. So Sakura knew that as long as she kept her paper covered, he couldn't actually see anything.
Elias' eye twitched violently. Watching the fox girl bend over the desk, tightly pressing her paper to her chest just to keep him from copying, he began to regret giving the real Fenghuang Down to Hua earlier.
Before long, the exam ended.
"Ah… I'm done. Let the world end already…"
Elias' eyes went blank as he slumped forward, pulling Sakura into his arms in frustration and biting her soft shoulder in mock revenge. He decided that tonight, he'd definitely have to "punish" this disobedient fox properly.
"Didn't you once promise to offer me your heart and fight by my side? And now you won't even let me copy a few answers. Sakura, I'm so disappointed in you."
"I-I'm sorry, Elias, I was wrong! Can we, um, continue this at home? I-I'll let you play with my ears…"
"Hmph! I'll forgive you if you let me tease you for another five minutes."
Elias glanced down at the lotus-shaped imitation Divine Key in his hand and thought to himself that giving the genuine one to Hua had truly been the right choice. With this fake, he could still use it for mischief—like now, masking what he and Sakura were doing from everyone around them.
Meanwhile, the examiner quickly graded the stack of papers.
"What's this? How could someone do this poorly? Over half of it isn't even filled in. Sigh~ truly one of the worst I've ever seen."
"..."
Elias instinctively pulled Sakura in front of him. He didn't need to look to know that was definitely his test paper.
But then the examiner's expression changed. The dark clouds of irritation vanished, replaced by a radiant smile.
"Oh? And this next one—remarkable! Truly remarkable! Especially this essay—though only worth ten points, it's over two thousand words! Such profound understanding and devotion toward Lord Elias, expressed with absolute sincerity! This person can be directly promoted to senior believer…"
"…"
"D-don't look at me like that, Elias…"
Sakura lowered her head in embarrassment. Feeling the admiring gazes of everyone around her, the battle-hardened assassin suddenly had no idea how to react.
Soon, the two of them stood side by side—a stark contrast. Elias holding his failed paper, Sakura holding a perfect one. The difference was hard to accept.
Then the examiner approached them.
"Welcome, both of you, to our faith."
"Uh… didn't I fail, though?"
Elias raised an eyebrow. Honestly, he just wanted to go home. His spirit was tired.
But the other man grabbed his hand enthusiastically and slapped a book—thick as a brick—into it.
"Precisely because you failed, we must recruit you even more. Rest assured, in our church, you will come to fully understand Lord Elias' greatness and holiness. This Elias Encyclopedia, Version 7.0 is for you. Let us together bask in the Savior's radiance, Eli Gate."
"..."
Elias wanted to say something but found himself speechless. Staring at the book in his hands—an encyclopedia of himself—he had zero desire to open it and seriously considered handing it back.
Sakura, noticing his distress, helpfully took the book from him… or perhaps she just wanted to read it herself. Either way, the fox girl was already flipping through it with interest.
The examiner once again smiled approvingly.
"You are truly devout, Miss. Eli Gate."
"Ah, th-thank you… Eli Gate…"
"Sakura! Snap out of it! I think you're actually getting converted by this weird cult!"
Elias squeezed Sakura's small hand to remind her—they were here to investigate, not to actually join!
But at this point, there didn't seem to be much need for further investigation. The situation was obvious—this was a religion that worshipped Elias. Its followers even called themselves the Eli Gate Faithful.
The two of them looked up at the banner hanging above the hall—Welcome to the Church of Elias.
(Ah, this is so damn embarrassing…)
(This religion… is amazing!)
Elias could hardly bear to look, while Sakura's eyes sparkled with fascination.
"What is even going on here… Sakura, can we just go home and sleep? I really don't want to stay here anymore."
Elias' face flushed red as he almost pleaded with her.
After submitting their membership forms, they had been led into the inner hall. Everyone there wore white robes, each holding a book like a holy scripture—Elias Encyclopedia, Version 7.0—and were enthusiastically discussing his past deeds.
At the very front of the hall hung a massive portrait of Elias—and it was stunningly well done. One glance and you could tell it was the work of a true master, worthy of being displayed in a museum.
Elias felt like he couldn't take it anymore.
Just standing here made it hard to breathe.
It wasn't that there wasn't some tiny flicker of pride buried inside—but it was completely crushed by the overwhelming shame. He was extremely grateful he'd disguised his face today. At least no one recognized him.
But just as he grabbed Sakura's hand and prepared to leave—
"No, dear, I think we have to continue investigating! There's definitely something wrong with this church!"
"Uh… d-dear? Oh, right—we're supposed to be newlyweds right now."
Elias froze for a second before realizing it was perfectly in-character.
"Alright then, my lovely wife Sakura, why don't you tell me what's so suspicious? Because if we stay here any longer, I might start losing my sanity."
"Wife… I'm Elias' wife… hehe, hehe… I'm Elias' wife…"
"Hey! Snap out of it, Sakura! You're breaking character—again!"
Elias grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and shook her gently, pulling the pink fox girl out of her blissful daydream. She gave him a slightly resentful look before answering seriously.
"Dear, don't you think these followers know way too much about you? Many of the questions on that test weren't things they could've found from public information online—and this book too, everything inside is frighteningly accurate."
Sakura's tone grew solemn.
The internet had plenty of information about Elias, but most of it was limited to records of his battles and achievements. However, both the test and this encyclopedia contained detailed descriptions of his daily habits.
Information that outsiders shouldn't possibly know.
"I have to keep investigating! I must uncover the full truth behind this Church of Elias!"
Sakura declared with absolute determination.