A massive meteor descended from the sky.
Elias and the Flame-Chasers' eyes widened in horror. In that instant, a flash of memory crossed his mind—his pink-haired elf's words from earlier that day.
Elysia: (They say there'll be a meteor shower tonight! Isn't that exciting? Let's all watch it together later. What kind of wish should we make?)
Elias' eye twitched violently.
Indeed, a meteor shower was predicted for tonight—over a hundred streaks of light across the sky. Most of the meteors would normally burn up upon entering the atmosphere, and none were expected to reach the surface according to the original trajectory.
But now, the Herrscher of Earth had used her gravity authority to forcibly drag them down from the cosmos.
"So that's how it is… Honkai planned this from the start. You were meant to destroy the world this way."
"Hahahahaha~! That's right! But it's far too late for you to realize that now! The meteors of extinction are already falling! The end has arrived!"
The Herrscher of Earth cackled madly, ignoring the fact that her body, pierced through by Black Abyss, was already beginning to crumble away.
After Elias had destroyed her pseudo–black hole, she no longer had enough Honkai energy to apply gravity across the entire Mu Continent. Even though the Vipralopa-class war elephant could restore her energy, there was still a limit.
And this—calling down the meteor shower meant to simply streak across the sky—was the mission bestowed upon her by the Honkai itself.
"Let me… add a little more!"
"What?!"
"Tell me, human—have you ever seen stars shatter?!"
The Herrscher of Earth grinned as she exerted her authority once again. Instantly, the hundreds of falling meteors broke apart under her gravitational pulses, fragmenting into thousands of smaller pieces.
But that was no blessing.
What was once a catastrophe of a hundred meteors would now become a rain of thousands—vastly widening the area of devastation.
...
Inside the Fire Moth command center.
Mei trembled and fell back into her chair, her entire body cold with dread.
"No… interception… impossible…"
Countless contingency plans flashed through her mind—ordering every mech on the Mu Continent to fire at full capacity, even ramming into the meteors themselves.
But at best, that would only reduce a fraction of the damage. Worse, it could further fragment the debris, making the destruction even worse. No matter what humanity tried, the meteors would still strike the surface.
"Unless…"
A single, desperate thought formed in Mei's mind.
The hyper-logical strategist's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at the white-haired boy on the main screen.
"I'm sorry, Elias… I wasn't strong enough. I can't think of another way…"
"Don't blame yourself, Mei. Leave it to me."
Elias stabbed the Herrscher a few more times with Black Abyss as petty revenge before lifting his gaze to the sky, where destruction itself was falling. His eyes hardened with determination.
When Elysia saw that look in his eyes, her heartbeat faltered. She didn't yet know what he intended to do—but she instinctively felt that once again, he would bleed for the world's salvation.
"It's fine. I won't let them reach the ground, so don't worry, Ely…"
(No… what I'm worried about isn't the meteors.)
Elysia denied the thought in her heart.
What she feared wasn't the falling stars—it was the boy she loved, who was about to sacrifice himself again. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to stop him.
Because she knew—if those meteors were allowed to fall, the world would suffer unimaginable devastation.
And only one person could prevent it.
The boy she loved.
"Elias… please… be safe."
Elysia's hands clenched into fists, her nails piercing her palms.
She silently cursed herself for being able to say nothing more powerful than that—for being helpless to do anything.
She wanted to run to him, to hold him tight—but there wasn't even time for that now.
The white-haired boy spread his draconic wings and soared toward the heavens.
His eyes locked on every meteor streaking toward the Earth.
"If I can't reduce their impact, then no matter where they fall, it'll still be a disaster. In that case… I'll just send them back!"
Elias no longer held back his Honkai energy. All eight Herrscher Cores within him began to operate at full capacity—but only the Herrscher of the Void's authority was being pushed beyond its limits.
He opened spatial portals along the descent path of every meteor, with the other ends leading directly into the depths of space.
The white-haired boy was attempting to send back every star the Herrscher had dragged from the sky.
"I will—rewrite the fabric of the cosmos!!"
Elias grinned arrogantly, imitating Su's tone as he shouted, and expanded each portal to its maximum size.
"Cough—!!"
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
To simultaneously deploy thousands of large-scale portals across such immense distances—even for an eight-core Herrscher—was an unbearable strain. And anchoring the exits in outer space only made it worse.
Elias knew he was doing something beyond human capability. Were he not also a Vipralopa-class MANTIS, his body would have long since collapsed.
But still—
"I've already done this twice before!"
He adjusted the portals' sizes with practiced precision, minimizing the energy output needed to return the meteors to the void. He couldn't help but recall his past experiences.
The first time had been during the Second Eruption of the Current Era.
The second was when Kiana had become a Herrscher.
Thanks to a certain lucky idiot, Elias had gained far too much experience in teleporting large, hazardous celestial objects.
"Impossible…"
The Herrscher of Earth stared blankly at the scene before her.
Not just her—the Flame-Chasers, and even the entire world, were speechless. Words could not capture the sheer awe and disbelief of what they were witnessing.
Everyone stared as the white-haired youth soared through the heavens, returning the stars meant to destroy the world back to the sea of stars above.
His figure was so small—yet so magnificent, so divine. Like a radiant angel defying a god of destruction.
"Ahh… Lord Elias…"
"Please… please succeed!"
"This is… the true savior!"
"Eli Gate! Eli Gate! Eli Gate!"
Hundreds of millions raised their voices in prayer.
Elias' Honkai energy burned rapidly within him. Cracks began to form across the Herrscher Core of the Void.
Every time another meteor passed through the portals, he felt as if his own body was about to burst apart.
Holy Blood burst from his veins, spilling across his body as the thousands of portals trembled violently—but they did not collapse.
"GO BACK—ALL OF YOU!!!"
Elias roared, forcing the portals forward to engulf every last meteor.
At the same time, the portals in space completed their function, expelling the meteorites harmlessly back into the void.
In that moment—the crisis was over.
"UOOOOOOOOHHHHH—!!!"
The world erupted in thunderous cheers.
Countless people looked up at the boy in the sky with tears streaming down their faces—crying, shouting, embracing each other with uncontainable emotion.
The people of this era already knew that their Savior was the maker of miracles, a living legend. Yet every time they witnessed him create another, their hearts trembled all the same.
Even high above, Elias could hear their cheers. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Cough… heh~ looks like the membership count for Eli Gate's gonna skyrocket again. Gotta ask Mei to allocate more funds for Ely."
Even now, he still had the heart to joke.
Slowly, Elias began descending from the sky.
He felt… happy. Compared to the Second Eruption, when he'd barely survived after exhausting everything, this time he still had strength to spare.
He really had grown stronger—strong enough to protect what he cherished. That realization filled him with quiet joy.
"White Flower—Zeroth Power!"
"Ely?"
At that moment, a wave of life energy surged into his body.
The white flower of creation—once a bloom that only ever shone for others—now blossomed upon Elias himself. Turning his head, he saw Elysia wielding the Divine Key, White Flower.
Elysia's compatibility with Black Abyss and White Flower was actually quite high, though she had always refused to use it before—simply because it wasn't pink. But right now, she didn't care about color anymore.
If it could heal Elias' wounds, she would use anything.
"Thank you, Ely. I feel much better now."
"Promise me, Elias—don't ever do something like that again, okay? We'll get stronger, I swear. So… please…"
Elysia's voice trembled, filled with both pleading and guilt.
She hadn't stopped Elias from preventing the meteor strike—because she couldn't bear to watch countless innocents die. But when she saw his blood spill, she felt a wave of regret crash over her.
She loved all people… but were they as important as Elias?
Perhaps… not.
...
Just as everyone began to think the crisis was over—
ROOOAR—!!
A deafening, deranged elephant's bellow echoed through the battlefield.
Everyone turned toward the Vipralopa-class war elephant. Its massive body was disintegrating into particles of light.
The companion beasts of Herrschers were bound by absolute loyalty. The creature was now converting its entire being into pure Honkai energy—for the Herrscher of Earth to absorb and regenerate.
Elias frowned. Futile.
Even now, Black Abyss was still lodged in the Herrscher's chest. Wounds inflicted by the power of Decay could only be healed through its opposite—Creation. Anything else was impossible.
Even if the beast gave her all its energy, she lacked the means to restore herself.
But this time—Elias had underestimated the Honkai.
He didn't know this was the Honkai's final gambit—its last attempt to test his limits.
It wanted to see if, against the white-haired boy who had defied it time and time again, it could still destroy the world through sheer, overwhelming force.
Thus, when the Herrscher of Earth was created, she had been given one last [Mission].
"Everyone—die with me!!"
The Herrscher's eyes went wild. She plunged her hand into her own chest, clutching her Herrscher Core—and began compressing all the Honkai energy from the dissolving Vipralopa-class beast, along with the remnants of her own power, into it.
Elias' pupils contracted. He understood instantly.
She was triggering a Core self-detonation!
"Damn it—can't we get a break for once?!"
Grinding his teeth, Elias felt his mind go numb. They'd already stopped the Honkai Eruption, destroyed the black hole, and prevented the meteor strike! Wasn't this battle already spectacular enough?!
Did there really need to be an encore after the climax?!
She had holes in her body from being impaled by Black Abyss, and Elias had long given up trying to capture her alive—but to think she still had enough strength left for this final act of madness!
And of all things—she chose to self-destruct her Core!
That explosion would easily surpass the power of a hundred Honkai Fissile Bombs. And worse—after it went off, there wouldn't even be a Herrscher Core left behind to recover!
"Mei! What's the evacuation status on the Mu Continent?!"
"Twenty percent! It's not enough!"
The Fire Moth command center had fallen into chaos once more. They had barely finished cheering for the Savior's triumph when an even greater disaster loomed above them.
Cold sweat streamed down Mei's face as she ran calculations for the self-detonation's yield.
The Herrscher's actions were effectively simulating a collapsing star—compressing Honkai energy within the Core until the structure itself reached a fusion threshold.
This would turn the Core into pure, unstable Honkai energy.
The resulting detonation would obliterate the Mu Continent entirely—leaving not even dust behind. The nearest continental mass, Eurasia, would likely suffer severe damage as well.
"Run! Elias! Take everyone and get out of there, now!!"
Mei's voice trembled as she screamed into the comms.
Even she could find no solution this time.
The Herrscher's resolve had been absolute. The Core had already entered its final countdown. Killing her now wouldn't stop the explosion.
(Over eighty percent of the population hasn't been evacuated yet… but with Elias there, Elysia and the others can teleport back if needed… Damn it! Is there really nothing we can do this time?)
Mei slammed her fist against the control console, trembling in frustration.
Elias had already saved the world from every conceivable catastrophe—the Honkai Eruption, the pseudo–black hole, the meteor storm. He had done everything. So why, after all that, was it still not enough?
Damn this Honkai… damn this Herrscher! For once, can you not trample on his efforts?!
But just as despair began to sink in—
"Mei, I'll buy us some time."
"Huh? What? Elias, what are you—?!"
Mei's head snapped up. He hadn't given up.
"Keep leading the evacuation. I'll hold her off. It's not time to give up yet."
Elias said calmly, removing his comm earpiece.
Before Elysia and the others could even react, he opened a spatial portal beneath their feet.
"Elias, you—!"
Just as he never guarded himself against those he loved, they never guarded themselves against him.
Elysia barely had time to speak before she fell through the portal—followed by the others. They immediately tried to return, but Elias had already sealed the gate.
"If I let you all stay, I can't promise I'd be able to protect you—and besides, you'd just stop me anyway."
He smiled faintly at the place where they had vanished, then turned toward the Herrscher of Earth, who was moments away from self-detonation.
"Herrscher of Earth, I'll admit—this move of yours is ruthless. But… you won't succeed. Star of Eden!!"
"Wha… what…?"
The nearly lifeless Herrscher's eyes widened as she stared at the dark red sphere forming in Elias' hand. It radiated a familiar, dreadful power.
"Do you know? Einstein's theory of relativity says that time slows down near a black hole's edge. I don't know how much time you have left before detonation, but I can stretch every second into a minute."
Inwardly, Elias gave a silent thanks to Welt.
This was a trick taught to him by the man who had practically engraved the Star of Eden into his DNA—the master of pseudo–black holes himself.
'A Hundred Creative Uses for Pseudo–Black Holes' — by Welt Yang, Professional Sit-Up Enthusiast.
"Star of Eden—Zeroth Power!"
With the authority of the Herrscher of Reason, Elias constructed a pseudo–black hole from the Star of Eden, sealing the Herrscher of Earth within it.
He would've preferred to use the Herrscher of the Void's power to imprison her in the Imaginary Space—but the Herrscher's authority had gone completely berserk. The warped gravity surrounding her distorted even Elias' portals, preventing a stable transfer.
Besides, if she exploded inside his Imaginary Space, it wouldn't just kill her—it would kill him too.
"Relying on Mei alone probably won't be enough… ah, screw it. Guess I'll have to push myself a little harder."
Elias sighed and dropped to the ground, sitting cross-legged.
Around the pseudo–black hole, he began constructing every defense he could manage—imaginary barriers, ideal-fluid shields, molecular partitions—anything he could think of.
Simultaneously, he opened thousands of large-scale portals across the Mu Continent to evacuate the remaining civilians. But this process consumed even more energy than when he had teleported the meteorites.
Elias' face turned deathly pale.
"Ahh… this one's really gonna kill me…"