"We must not let the people be harmed! Evacuate as many as possible—quickly! Move!"
"Leave the Herrscher to Lord Elias and the others, but we must also do what we can!"
"Coordinate with the mechs and eliminate any remaining Honkai Beasts—don't let them interfere!"
While Elias and the others engaged the Herrscher of Earth in battle—
Tens of thousands of mechs and fusion warriors were racing against time to enter the Mu Continent. But their goal wasn't to join the fight alongside the Flame-Chasers; rather, it was to evacuate as many civilians as possible from the battlefield.
After all, although these ordinary people had escaped instant death from the Honkai Eruption, the land had now become a battlefield of monsters. Even the aftermath of a single clash could result in massive civilian casualties.
And yet, the evacuation proceeded with astonishing efficiency. In less than a minute, hundreds of thousands of residents had already been successfully relocated.
Of course, that was only natural—
Because everyone was giving their all, clenching their teeth and pushing themselves to the limit.
These lower-ranked fusion warriors knew full well that their strength was nowhere near that of Elias or the Flame-Chasers, but even so, they protected the ordinary people in their own way.
At the same time, people all over the world turned their gaze toward the Mu Continent, praying and cheering for their heroes.
...
On that battlefield watched by billions—
"Tch! So it really did deviate from the original story."
Elias' expression darkened as he stared at the Herrscher of Earth and the colossal elephant-shaped Honkai Beast beneath her feet. It was a type he had never seen before—without a doubt, a countermeasure the Honkai had prepared specifically against him.
After a brief moment of thought, Elias quickly deduced the situation.
It was well known that companion Honkai Beasts existed to protect their Herrschers.
And the Vipralopa-class were especially unique—they didn't require a massive Honkai energy source to be born.
"So that's it… the Herrscher's blue potion, huh? Using this method to make up for Honkai energy shortage—damn you, Honkai."
Elias had already guessed one of the Vipralopa-class elephant's abilities: it could transfer its vast Honkai energy to the Herrscher of Earth.
If that were true, it would explain why—despite preventing the Honkai Eruption—the Herrscher of Earth still possessed an overwhelming amount of Honkai energy.
"Human, you're quite perceptive. Yes, that's one of Gracius' abilities. As long as it exists, I'll have an endless supply of Honkai energy!"
The Herrscher of Earth looked down at Elias with surprise at first—but quickly regained her composure, smiling triumphantly. After all, even if he knew, what could he possibly do?
With a casual wave of her hand, she inverted the gravity of everything nearby—trees, cars, even boulders—sending them hurtling toward Elias and his team.
"Out of my way. I have no time to deal with such childish tricks. Kevin, we're going to take out that pseudo–black hole!"
"Understood!"
Elias ignored the Herrscher's assault completely. There was no time to waste dealing with the "pebbles" she threw.
Elysia immediately deployed a crystalline barrier to protect him, while firing a volley of crystal arrows that intercepted the Herrscher's attack midair.
Then Kalpas, Sakura, Hua, and the others charged forward together, launching their assault against the Herrscher of Earth.
"This isn't good… it's already grown this large."
Elias frowned deeply as he stared at the pseudo–black hole before him.
He knew this was the devastating technique capable of sinking the Mu Continent itself. And unlike the ones Welt created using the Star of Eden, this one was on an entirely different level.
Welt's pseudo–black holes only spanned over ten meters and were already quite powerful—but the one before them was hundreds of meters wide and still expanding rapidly!
"Help! Somebody help us!"
"No! I don't want to die yet!"
"Ahhhhhh—!"
Seeing countless people being dragged toward the gravitational abyss, Elias immediately activated the Herrscher of the Void's authority, teleporting them all to safety.
Meanwhile, Kevin stepped forward, Judgment of Shamash blazing in his hands.
"Shamash Assault!!!"
A blazing inferno burst forth—powerful enough to annihilate a Judgment-level Honkai Beast in an instant. Yet, in the next second, the roaring flames were sucked straight into the massive pseudo–black hole, vanishing without a trace along with the nearby buildings.
"What?!"
Kevin was stunned when his attack failed to make even a dent. Elias frowned slightly—just as he'd expected.
In the original storyline, Kevin had been able to slice open a pseudo–black hole using the Judgment of Shamash, but that was after he'd undergone the transformation of Project Chimera and grown for fifty thousand years. Moreover, that black hole had only been a few dozen meters wide, created through the Star of Eden.
The current Kevin, however, had yet to undergo Project Chimera. His Judgment of Shamash had merely reached the level of Might of An-Utu, and the pseudo–black hole before them had been created by the Herrscher of Earth herself—a void large enough to consume the entire continent.
It was perfectly normal that he couldn't cut through it.
"Elias, what now? Should you take over?"
Kevin reluctantly held out the Judgment of Shamash. He believed with absolute certainty that if anyone could slice apart that cursed pseudo–black hole, it would be Elias.
"No. I just spent a huge amount of energy. If I tried to split this thing open by force, it'd drain what little Honkai energy I have left."
Elias shook his head and didn't take the weapon.
Kevin froze. He immediately remembered—the young man beside him had just used nearly all his blood and an enormous amount of Honkai energy to save hundreds of millions on the Mu Continent from annihilation.
He clenched his fists, guilt washing over him. I'm still too weak. I should be sharing his burden, not dragging him down.
"I'll… I'll try again!"
Kevin raised the Judgment of Shamash once more, ready to pour all his remaining Honkai energy into a single, desperate strike.
"There's no need. Leave it to me," Elias stopped him.
"Huh? You've got a plan?!"
"Of course. I've played this scenario in my mind countless times already."
Hearing that, Kevin's eyes lit up with hope. As expected of Elias. Always reliable.
However, in the very next moment—
He almost dropped the Judgment of Shamash in shock.
"Elias, what the hell are you doing?!"
Before Kevin could stop him, the white-haired youth shot straight toward the pseudo–black hole. Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, he plunged directly into it.
"Hahaha! Excellent! So, realizing he had no chance, he chose suicide instead!"
The Herrscher of Earth burst into laughter. So this was the Savior? Pathetic.
"Shut up! You don't understand him at all!"
"Suicide? Herrscher—you'll be the one dying soon!"
"Ahh, Eli, you're always so reckless…"
Sakura, Kalpas, and Elysia were startled at first, but their faith never wavered.
They firmly believed in the young man who always created miracles—the Savior who always defied the impossible. He must have had his own reason for doing this.
"Hmph! Humans truly love deluding themselves. Once inside my pseudo–black hole, how could anyone possibly still—"
ROOOOOAAAAR!!!
Suddenly, a deafening dragon's roar erupted from within the pseudo–black hole, shaking heaven and earth. Instinctively, everyone turned toward the source.
"What?!"
Even the Herrscher of Earth's eyes widened in disbelief.
From within the pseudo–black hole, a massive white figure emerged—a majestic, awe-inspiring white dragon. Its colossal form tore through the pseudo–black hole, shattering it apart.
"Elias!"
Elysia trembled all over, calling out his name in shock.
At that moment, she wasn't thinking about the danger being resolved. What filled her heart was pain—because she saw the white dragon's body covered in countless cracks, blood seeping from every one of them.
ROOOOOAAAAR!!!
The wounded Savior White Dragon roared toward the sky. Though it carried no sound-based power, the sheer force of its presence dwarfed even the Vipralopa-class war elephant beneath the Herrscher's feet.
The Savior White Dragon was a hundred times larger.
"W-What… what is this dragon?!"
The Herrscher of Earth felt her composure falter. When her gaze met those ancient, intelligent draconic eyes, an involuntary shiver ran through her entire body.
Then—the Savior White Dragon moved.
Its colossal claw curled into a fist and came crashing down like a falling meteor.
The Vipralopa-class war elephant Honkai Beast shielded the Herrscher of Earth with its massive body, but its movements were too slow to evade the incoming strike.
ROOOAR—!!
The enormous creature let out a pained cry as the Savior White Dragon's fist sent it flying like a cannonball. It crashed through over a dozen abandoned skyscrapers before slamming heavily into the ground.
But the White Dragon wasn't finished yet.
Roooar!!
Terrifying Honkai energy gathered within its maw—radiant and blinding like a miniature sun, divine yet deadly.
In the next instant, a blinding beam of white light shot downward toward the Herrscher and her companion beast.
BOOOOM—!!
Everything the light touched was reduced to nothingness. Its destructive power far surpassed even Kevin's Shamash Assault by severalfold.
"This… this time it's over, right?"
Hua swallowed hard, unable to imagine any being surviving such an attack.
Meanwhile, the Savior White Dragon transformed back into the white-haired youth. Elias gasped for breath, wiping the blood from his lips.
"Cough, cough… as expected, destroying it from the inside was far easier."
He turned to glance at the ruptured pseudo–black hole behind him, a satisfied grin tugging at his mouth.
Cutting open a fully expanded pseudo–black hole from the outside would've cost an unimaginable amount of Honkai energy. Though his regeneration rate was high, completely exhausting his energy reserves would've been dangerous.
So instead, Elias had chosen to dive straight into the pseudo–black hole, activating his artificial cascade mode. In his Savior White Dragon state, his body was strong enough to withstand its devouring force.
By combining this with the [Gigantification] ability he'd obtained from Chiyou's Meta-Morph factor, he'd expanded his draconic form to the point that it physically burst the pseudo–black hole apart before it could fully stabilize.
(Still… even if it saved energy, damn, that hurt!)
Elias hissed through his teeth as he looked down at the countless lacerations covering his body.
The pseudo–black hole had injured his draconic form, but it was mostly surface damage. Once he activated the Herrscher of Rebirth's power, he'd be fully healed in seconds.
"Elias, that was way too reckless!"
"Don't worry, I'm fine, aren't I?"
"You call this fine?!"
Kevin shouted, unable to bear the sight of the youth covered in wounds. He could already imagine how heartbroken Elysia and the others would be if they saw him like this.
Just as Kevin was about to lecture him further—telling him not to shoulder everything alone and to let them share the burden—
"You damn human!!"
ROOOAR—!!
"What?! They're still alive?!"
Everyone turned toward the distant ruins in disbelief—even Kalpas thought he must have misheard. The Herrscher and her companion beast had survived that?!
Amidst the floating debris, lifted by reversed gravity, the Herrscher of Earth and the colossal war elephant emerged from the wreckage.
They were far from unscathed—the Herrscher's right arm was gone, and the elephant's body was cracked all over, clearly heavily damaged.
But alive nonetheless.
The Flame-Chasers stood frozen, unable to believe their eyes. How could they still be breathing after taking a punch and a blast from Elias' artificial cascade mode?
"Beep—Elias, can you hear me?"
Just then, Mei's voice came through the comms.
"Mei? What did you find?"
"Mm. I think this Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast can manipulate its own density. Judging by how it withstood your artificial cascade attack, its upper limit must be extremely high—maybe even the ability to nullify its own density completely. Looks like the Honkai really has it out for you this time."
In the Fire Moth's command center, Mei was explaining her hypothesis to Elias while simultaneously directing the evacuation of the Mu Continent and formulating a strategy to counter the Herrscher of Earth.
Elias' eye twitched. Without a word, he raised the Seven Thunders of Retribution—and fired directly at the war elephant.
"Tch! You were right after all."
Elias clicked his tongue in annoyance.
The bullet from the Seven Thunders of Retribution, which should have disintegrated its target down to atoms, failed to do so. Upon impact, it merely softened a portion of the Vipralopa-class war elephant's dense hide.
That alone confirmed Mei's theory.
The denser a substance, the harder it becomes—since the closer and stronger the molecular bonds, the greater its resistance to force.
If this Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast could infinitely increase the density of its body, it wasn't strange that it had survived an attack from the Savior White Dragon.
"Vipralopa-class… always beyond all logic," Elias muttered, half in awe and half in irritation.
He made a mental note to claim this creature's remains later—its biological data would be invaluable for enhancing his own future Project Chimera adaptations.
"But no matter. If I can make it crack once, it means it has a limit. I'll just hit it a few more times."
"Hah, that's so like you," Mei replied, her tone both admiring and worried. "But be careful of the Herrscher's gravity authority. Don't let her use it on a wide scale—just triple gravity is enough to crush ordinary people instantly."
"Yeah, I know."
Elias nodded, then separated the Divine Key—Abyss Flower—into its two components. In one hand, he wielded White Flower; in the other, Black Abyss. Each spear pulsed with opposing powers of creation and decay.
The Herrscher of Earth glared at him in rage and fear, clutching the stump of her severed arm. Screaming furiously, she unleashed her authority, increasing the gravity around Elias a hundredfold.
"Did you forget about us?"
While her attention was focused entirely on Elias, crystal arrows, frozen blades, and flaming fists struck from every direction. The Vipralopa-class war elephant barely managed to block them in time.
"Damn it!"
Cold sweat dripped from the Herrscher's forehead.
She had nearly died again—if not for the Honkai granting her this outlier-class companion beast, she would have been killed dozens of times over already.
Every one of the Flame-Chasers present was strong enough to slay her on their own. Even with her overwhelming control over gravity, she couldn't completely suppress fusion warriors of their level.
But the next second, her expression calmed.
She remembered her purpose—the command the Honkai had given her upon birth, and the method to fulfill it.
"Humans… you will all perish!"
"Oh? You can still talk big?"
Elias charged forward, the twin spears of black and white spinning in his hands. Each step left deep craters in the ground under the crushing weight of her gravity.
Then, unfurling his draconic wings, he soared into the air, channeling the Herrscher of Wind's power to assist his flight—defying the immense pressure as he dove straight toward the Herrscher.
No matter how heavy the chains, nothing could bind the white-haired boy.
ROOOAR—!!
The colossal war elephant swung its trunk like a whip, tens of meters long, trying to smash him out of the sky—but he slipped past it effortlessly.
"Out of my way! I'll deal with you later, beast!"
Elias landed atop the creature's head.
Now, he was less than five meters away from the Herrscher.
And when a Herrscher allowed a MANTIS of Elias' level to close that distance—their fate was already sealed.
With a flash of light, the Black Abyss spear thrust forward like a dragon, piercing straight through the Herrscher's chest.
But—
"Hahahaha! You're too late!!"
The Herrscher's face twisted into a crazed grin.
"What—?!"
Elias' eyes narrowed, a bad premonition creeping up his spine.
Then suddenly—he sensed it.
A massive shadow loomed over the battlefield.
When he looked up, his pupils constricted.
From beyond the clouds, a colossal meteor was descending upon the Mu Continent.