At Sakura and Rin's home.
"Brother-in-law, are you always this free every day now?"
"Hm? Am I that free?"
Hearing the girl's remark beside him, Elias blinked in surprise. One hand held a game controller, the other grabbed a handful of popcorn—his expression clearly saying, I didn't know I was that free.
Rin twitched her eye as she watched the TV screen—her own in-game character was being mercilessly crushed by Elias, who played with just one hand. Her HP bar was almost empty, yet Elias' remained completely untouched.
Although Rin had lowered her standard so much that just draining Elias' mana bar would count as a win, against someone of her level—barely one-third as good as Bronya—
Elias didn't even need to use skills.
Normal attacks were more than enough!
"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, B, A... okay, victory!"
"Aaaaahhhhh!"
For the sake of ceremony, he even used a special move to finish Rin's last sliver of HP, achieving a satisfying Overkill. Rewarding himself with a mouthful of popcorn, Elias was quite pleased.
To be honest, even defeating an Emperor-level Honkai Beast didn't bring as much joy as winning a match against Rin and watching her fume in helpless rage.
"Nice~ That makes my forty-fifth consecutive win. You can throw the controller at the ground if you want, Rin."
Elias said understandingly, knowing that losers needed some way to vent. After all, he could just reconstruct a new controller later.
"..."
Rin took a deep breath, then raised her small fists and pounded lightly against Elias' chest.
"Ahhhh! Seriously! Sis never plays games with me, but when you do, Brother-in-law, I can't even have a proper gaming experience! Can't you go easy on me just once?!"
Elias shrugged, showing no remorse. As a player of pure devotion, he refused to ever hold back in games. After all, holding back would upset Bronya.
"Hmph! Brother-in-law, you really are too free! As the Savior, is it really appropriate to spend every day lying around here playing games?"
Rin grumbled as she grabbed a handful of popcorn from Elias' bucket and stuffed it into her mouth. Still, despite her words, she secretly hoped he would stay here longer.
Today marked the third day since Elias had moved into Sakura and Rin's house. The white-haired boy had completely blended into the sisters' home, becoming part of their little family.
During the day, he spent time either gaming with Rin or going out with both sisters. But at night, the bedroom doors of Elias and Sakura were tightly shut—no matter how Rin tried to peek, she couldn't manage it.
Every night, strange noises came from behind that door—Sakura's voice in particular made Rin both thrilled and restless. She had spent all of last night secretly eavesdropping, and now had dark circles under her eyes.
"Rin, I'm actually quite busy, you know."
Elias said seriously.
"Brother-in-law, the way you're saying that—while playing games and eating popcorn—doesn't sound convincing at all."
Rin rolled her eyes.
"But it's true. Every day, I've got a small goal: to exterminate a thousand Honkai Beasts. Nine hundred ninety-seven, nine hundred ninety-eight, nine hundred ninety-nine, one thousand. Done~ Today's quota complete."
"???"
Rin's eyes widened as Elias closed his eyes and counted to four. When he declared the day's work finished, she was left completely stunned.
The next second, the windows of their house opened on their own, and golden swords flew in through the air.
The blades were still stained with a purple liquid—Honkai Beast blood.
"Hm~ hm~ hm~"
Elias conjured a towel, humming as he wiped the blood off the Swords of Domination before neatly storing them back into his imaginary space armory.
"Sis—Brother-in-law—what did you just do?!"
"Nothing much. Just used telekinesis to handle a group of Honkai Beasts several kilometers away."
"...Brother-in-law, you're amazing. As expected of you."
Rin swallowed hard and gave him a thumbs-up.
Then Rin reflected inwardly that her mindset had been too small—her brother-in-law was literally invincible, even capable of performing moves straight out of a cultivation novel. He was truly amazing!
Clearly, she had been too modest before. Once the holidays were over, she'd have to go brag to her classmates about this!
"But come to think of it, has something been going on lately? Why does it seem like a lot of people are moving away?"
Rin asked curiously. The streets had become much quieter recently, and under Fire Moth's latest announcement, countless people were now migrating with their families toward the former Mu Continent.
Elias knew that the Bubble World Migration Project had already begun. Though the Mu Continent had sunk, The Deep—built beneath it and capable of opening a channel to the Sea of Quanta—still remained.
He had given Mei the coordinates of the bubble world.
The channels were already established.
At this point, over a billion people of the Previous Era had been transferred into the bubble world. However, it wasn't just the people that needed to be moved—every usable resource had to be taken as well.
Even though Elias had lent Mei the Gem of the Void, greatly increasing transport efficiency through the Herrscher of the Void's authority, moving all of the era's resources would still take a long time.
"The final boss battle is about to start. We need to clear the battlefield before the fight begins."
"Waaah~ That sounds incredible! Brother-in-law, are you guys about to fight the final boss of Honkai?"
Rin asked with stars in her eyes.
"Yeah, but before that, there's a mini-boss."
"A mini-boss? No problem! You're so strong, Brother-in-law—you'll totally crush them!"
"Ahem... well..."
Elias' expression turned a bit awkward as he looked at Rin. He really wanted to tell her that the so-called "mini-boss" was actually her. Was she sure she wanted him to "crush" her like that?
"I've cut some fruit. Would you two like some?"
At that moment, Sakura walked in carrying a tray of freshly cut fruit.
"Yes!" x2
Elias and Rin answered in unison.
The pink-haired, fox-eared girl smiled as she sat naturally between them, feeding fruit to both Elias and Rin, whose hands were occupied by controllers.
Elias felt that in the past few days, he'd been thoroughly spoiled by this gentle fox-eared maiden. Only recently had he realized that, like Rita and Raiden Mei, Sakura was also the type to dote and care deeply—a natural-born caretaker.
She was just too perfect as a homemaker.
"Sakura, you should eat some too. As for dinner, I'll cook tonight. Anything you'd like to eat?" Elias said, deciding he really ought to pull his weight instead of being lazy all day.
"Anything's fine. Everything you make is delicious anyway."
"Brother-in-law, I want beggar's chicken!"
"Alright, alright, then we'll go grocery shopping later. Hopefully the supermarket still has people around."
Sakura gazed softly at the two of them beside her, feeling as if she were dreaming a beautiful dream.
Right now, they looked just like a small family of three.
Elias and she were the parents.
It was just a pity that Rin was her sister, not her daughter.
But that wasn't an unsolvable problem—if she didn't have a daughter, she could always make one~
Thinking about the fulfilling nights of the past few days, a faint blush colored Sakura's cheeks.
She sincerely hoped Rin could take a bit longer before becoming the Herrscher of Corruption, so these happy days could last just a while more.
"By the way, Brother-in-law, did you know? My sister used to be a shrine maiden back home!"
Rin suddenly spoke up. Having lost all desire to continue gaming after another crushing defeat, she decided to change the topic to something that would surely catch Elias' interest.
"Oh? A shrine maiden?"
As expected, Elias' attention was instantly captured.
He put down his controller and looked toward Rin eagerly, silently thinking: (Is every pink-haired fox girl from Hoyoverse bound by the 'shrine maiden' archetype?)
"That was a long time ago—before the Third Herrscher appeared. Rin and I were still living back in the Far East. Our family managed a local shrine that was fairly well-known in the area."
"But one day, an Emperor-class Honkai Beast suddenly appeared nearby. Before Fire Moth could arrive, it had already caused catastrophic destruction..."
"Rin and I lost our parents back then. After Fire Moth took down that Honkai Beast, we were taken in as survivors of the disaster. Later... I was trained to become an assassin of Fire Moth's secret unit, Cocoon."
Sakura let out a helpless, bitter smile.
"The rest you already know, Elias. It's been years now. I doubt the shrine still exists."
The Far East seemed to be favored by the Honkai—it was constantly plagued by high-level Honkai Beasts. There was even a time when three Emperor-class appeared within a single month.
Even the Honkai Beast fused into Kalpas—Asura—though technically only an Emperor-class, possessed destructive power exceeding that of a Judgment-level Beast. And it too, had originated from Sakura's homeland.
Because of this, the Far East region had earned the nickname [Far East Abyss]. Even the locals had grown tired of constant disasters, leaving their homeland in search of safer places to live.
"Ah~ what a pity. Back then, around this time of year, Sis would wear her beautiful shrine maiden outfit and perform the kagura dance. So many people came to watch every year."
Rin's eyes softened as she sank into the warmth of past memories.
"Near our shrine, there was a plaza filled with cherry blossom trees. Every year around this time, they'd all bloom at once. The petals would drift through the air and fall over our shrine."
"I loved watching my sister dance in the cherry blossom rain more than anything."
Rin said as she hugged Sakura's arm tightly, sincerely wishing that one day, she could see her sister don that red-and-white outfit again and dance among falling petals.
"That sounds beautiful. I'd like to see it too."
Elias said softly, imagining a girl dancing gracefully in red and white beneath a shower of pink petals. The image was so lovely that he felt he'd remember it for the rest of his life.
"Mm... when the chance comes, I'll definitely dance for you."
Sakura's cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment, but she truly wanted to show Elias her most beautiful side.
Yet, a tinge of melancholy crept into her heart—she didn't know when such a chance would come. After dealing with the Herrscher of Corruption, Elias would have to prepare for the final battle.
And after that, he might return to his own era. Though they would meet again in the future, thinking about that fifty-thousand-year gap made her chest ache.
She couldn't help but worry—would the white-haired boy before her even remember this promise by then?
She didn't notice that her expression had been fully captured by Elias' eyes.
"Sakura, I want to see it now!"
Elias said impulsively, gripping her hand. A boy who defied even fate itself—how could he allow such a regret to remain?
"Eh? N-now?"
Sakura froze in surprise.
"Yes! Right now! Since it's the right season, there's no time like the present. Let's go to your old home!"
"Yay! I'll go grab Sis's shrine maiden outfit! I kept it all this time just in case it might be useful one day—good thing I did!"
Rin's eyes sparkled as she dashed off to her room. To Sakura's astonishment, her little sister soon returned holding a folded set of red-and-white garments.
"Nice job, Rin. You're getting an extra chicken leg tonight."
Elias gave her a thumbs-up with a grin.
"Hehe~ Brother-in-law's the best! Sis, go change!"
Sakura stared blankly at the outfit—something she thought would only ever exist in her memories.
At that moment, her heart was in turmoil. She felt utterly conflicted!
"Wait! Even if shrine maiden robes are loose, this is from five or six years ago—I won't fit...!"
But before she could finish protesting, Elias and Rin had already pushed her into the bedroom.
Sakura twitched at the corner of her mouth as she stared at the outfit in her hands. Considering this might be her last chance, the fox-eared girl bit her lip and finally gathered her courage.
A few minutes later, when she stepped out of the room—
"Oooh~~" x2
Both Elias and Rin gasped in amazement.
Sakura stood before them in a shrine maiden outfit with bare shoulders, a black undergarment beneath, a shimenawa tied around her waist, and a checkered short skirt paired with white thigh-high socks and wooden sandals. Though the outfit was traditional in design...
However, since the outfit was several years old, even though she managed to squeeze into it, it had turned into a tight fit.
Elias knew that Sakura was the type who looked slender when dressed, but in truth had a very full, alluring figure—definitely surpassing even Raiden Mei.
Now, in this slightly undersized shrine maiden outfit, her figure was outlined in perfect detail. Despite the outfit's traditional purity, there was an undeniable hint of sensuality about her.
"D-don't stare at me like that..."
Sakura's cheeks turned crimson, her fox ears drooping low. Yet, feeling Elias' heated gaze upon her, a quiet happiness bloomed in her heart.
"Ahem! Well then, let's be on our way!"
Elias coughed lightly, regaining composure before opening a spatial gate to the Far East. Even though the Gem of the Void was currently on loan to Mei, he still retained some fragments of its authority.
As long as he supplied sufficient Honkai energy, even a fragment of that power could produce results surpassing a complete authority.
But when the three arrived in the Far East—
"Ah... this..."
The entire region had become a wasteland.
The land once ravaged by the Honkai Beast Asura remained scorched and lifeless. Although the lesser Honkai Beasts were instantly erased by Elias' Holy Blood Domain upon his arrival, the earth still bore deep scars of ruin.
When the trio finally reached the plaza, there wasn't a single cherry blossom in sight. They realized at once—nothing of their past beauty remained.
"Uuu... how could it become like this..."
"I'm sorry, Elias... I don't think I can dance anymore."
Sakura and Rin's hearts sank. This was their homeland, and seeing it in such a state broke them both deeply.
However—
Elias refused to accept that reality.
"Your turn, Abyss Flower."
He drew out one of his favorite Divine Keys—the Abyss Flower—and gently caressed the weapon's barrel, speaking softly as if in gratitude.
"Elysia, thank you for this."
Within Abyss Flower lay the genetic records of countless lifeforms from the Previous Era. By infusing Honkai energy into it, those recorded lifeforms could be recreated. Elysia had once found cherry blossoms beautiful and preserved their genetic sequence within this weapon.
Elias plunged the Abyss Flower into the scorched ground.
Moments later, a massive cherry blossom tree sprouted from the earth.
A soft breeze passed through, lifting countless pink petals into the air before they gently fluttered back to the ground.
"As expected... it's beautiful."
Elias smiled faintly, his voice filled with awe.
Sakura and Rin stared in a daze, tears streaming down their cheeks.
For a fleeting moment, they felt as though they had returned to the past—to the peaceful, gentle days that once were.
"Sakura, would you dance for me?"
"It would be... my honor."
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Sakura smiled—a smile even more radiant than the falling petals around her.
Elias smiled back, then activated the Abyss Flower's built-in BGM playback function, choosing a soft, ethereal instrumental melody.
The next moment, the fox-eared shrine maiden began to dance beneath the drifting cherry blossoms, her movements graceful and serene, in perfect harmony with the music's tranquil flow.
As she danced, Sakura spoke silently in her heart:
(Elias, this kagura dance isn't meant to honor the gods... it's my way of thanking you—for letting me stay by your side, and for saving everything that I am.)
(From this moment onward, Sakura will no longer belong to the gods... but to you alone—the shrine maiden of the Reverse God.)