The Herrscher of Dominance of the Current Era was the only means Elias had found to protect Elysia's life while also freeing the Herrschers from the control of the Honkai.
In this era, humanity had produced a great many "human Herrschers," and more than half of them had betrayed the Honkai, siding with humanity.
To deal with these human-aligned Herrschers, the Honkai had given the once-weak Herrscher of Dominance an epic upgrade—granting them the power to dominate other Herrschers' Authorities.
Important distinction: this was domination, not seizure.
Unlike Elias, who could seize the Herrscher Cores of others and embed them into the Key of Blankness or his own body to wield their powers, the Herrscher of Dominance in this era didn't need to obtain the Core at all. Their "domination" simply stole control of other Herrschers' Authorities.
Elias: "This is the only hope! The Herrscher of Origin and the Herrscher of Finality are unique beings who do not require Cores—their very existence is their Authority."
In other words, as long as he could obtain the Herrscher of Dominance' domination power, he could dominate Elysia's Origin Authority—and make the wish on behalf of that pink-haired elf.
As for returning from the Current Era to the Previous—
That part was simple. He just needed to hijack Otto Apocalypse's plan to ascend the Imaginary Tree, using it to cross fifty thousand years of time and return to the past.
To the very last day of the Previous Era—the day Elias never fulfilled his promise.
Elias: "Otto only rewound five hundred years. Me rewinding fifty thousand shouldn't be too unreasonable, right?"
...
However, a problem had arisen.
Because Elias had returned to the Current Era via the Great Hibernation instead of ending his time traversal properly, the past and future had fallen into severe conflict.
His traversal through the Previous Era took place during the time when Kiana had just awakened as the Herrscher of the Void—but the Great Hibernation brought him directly to the period of the Herrscher of Dominance' emergence.
This caused a massive disruption in the timeline.
The temporal correction mechanism alone could no longer fix it.
Thus, in order to resolve this irreparable paradox, the world generated a new parallel reality to rationalize the anomaly.
In this parallel world, "Elias" had indeed changed the fates of Mei, Kiana, Bronya, Himeko, Sirin, and the others—but at the cost of his own life.
And because this "parallel Elias" had already died, the "true Elias" from the original world could now exist freely here, unaffected by paradoxes.
It should be emphasized that the death of the "parallel Elias" had nothing to do with the "true Elias."
The former perished simply because he had no system.
The system's existence was something truly unique—only the true Elias possessed it. Even parallel worlds could not replicate it.
Elias: "So that means even among countless parallel worlds, I'm still one of a kind! Though, seriously... those shared memories just now were way too real."
Not only the memories but also the emotions and sensations at the time had been transmitted. What the system shared had felt like he had lived it himself.
Still, Elias wasn't too shaken by it. Those experiences weren't so different from what he'd done in his own original world anyway.
No matter the world, he was still himself—a fool who would sacrifice everything for those he loved.
In short, Elias now needed to obtain the Herrscher of Dominance' domination power in this parallel world, return to the Previous Era to save Elysia, and finally make his way back to his original reality.
...
Although Gray Serpent had handed Elias several Herrscher of Dominance Cores, he knew the mission wasn't yet complete.
Elias, familiar with the story's original path, knew that the defeat of the Herrscher of Dominance was merely an illusion. The total count of the Herrscher of Dominance wasn't one thousand—it was one thousand and one.
That missing "one" was enough to revive the remaining thousand.
Which meant that, truth be told, the Herrscher of Dominance was the most persistent—and hardest to kill—Herrscher of all.
(Elias: Yeah, back in my past life, every comment section under those videos had a few people claiming to be the Herrscher of Dominance...)
After their so-called defeat, the Herrscher of Dominance would take advantage of the world's moment of carelessness—when everyone was celebrating victory—to strike again and catch them completely off guard.
In the original story, it ultimately took the awakening of the "Flamescion" form of the Herrscher of Fire to defeat them.
Elias: "With me here, forget a thousand—even ten thousand, ten million wouldn't be able to make a ripple~!"
That wasn't arrogance—it was confidence. The confidence of one who had saved the world across ten cycles of reincarnation.
Gray Serpent: "My Lord! The Cores—they're shrinking!"
Elias: "Hmm. Looks like the Herrscher of Dominance are beginning to revive and attack."
The Herrscher Cores in his hand were shrinking, fading rapidly—as though they were about to vanish entirely. Elias knew exactly what that meant: it was a sign of their resurrection.
When a new Herrscher was born, the previous Core would naturally disappear—just like how, in the original timeline, Mei's awakening as the Herrscher of Thunder caused the Thunder Core inside Kiana to vanish.
The Cores in Elias' hand had only seconds left before they disappeared completely. But that was more than enough for someone who had mastered the Authority of the Void to perfection.
In just those few seconds, he could easily use the Core's residual link to pinpoint the exact location of the Herrscher of Dominance' stronghold.
"Coordinates locked. Open the gate!"
Elias' golden eyes flared brilliantly.
A moment later, a spatial rift tore open before him—and without hesitation, he hoisted the massive Might of An-Utu on his shoulder and charged straight through.
He left behind two stunned World Serpent officers.
"Gray Serpent, His Lordship just went in like that? Shouldn't we provide some kind of support?"
"Jackal, you don't understand our Lord's power. Our 'support' would be meaningless. Even if we followed him in, we'd just be there as a cheering squad."
Gray Serpent spread his mechanical hands, his tone filled with reverence. He thought to himself that the only people in existence who could truly support their Lord were the other Flame-Chasers.
...
When Elias emerged from the portal, he found himself in a bizarre realm.
A labyrinth of shattered corridors twisted at impossible angles, connecting to countless ancient doors of indiscernible design. A grand castle loomed in the void, exuding solemn majesty—but most striking of all was a colossal floating platform suspended in the emptiness above.
It was an extravagant, surreal theater.
"Oh~ The Theater of Domination, huh? The design's not really to my taste, but it's impressive enough. Let's call it… seventy points."
Elias examined his surroundings critically. He preferred Vill-V's steampunk–Victorian aesthetic.
This was the Herrscher of Dominance' base—a vast theater fortress existing within an alternate dimension. It was perfect for ambushes, entrapment, and concealment alike.
Elias raised the Might of An-Utu instinctively, thinking he might as well start with a good old Shamash Assault.
"Wait—no, can't do that. The Theater of Domination itself is part of their Authority. If I wreck it, who knows what kind of backlash it might trigger… and I don't even know who else might be inside."
He shook his head to stop himself.
With his current strength, even a casual swing—let alone Shamash Assault—would reduce the entire theater to ash. And there was no telling if Kiana and the others were already here.
In the original story, the Herrscher of Dominance' main target had been Kiana. It was entirely possible she had already been pulled into the theater.
If he attacked blindly, even if she had awakened as the "Flamescion," she'd still be vaporized in an instant.
"Ugh~ I'm not used to this."
Elias furrowed his brow and sighed deeply.
The lack of intel was bothersome.
He was used to fighting only when every variable was accounted for, when he knew the enemy inside and out.
Although he wasn't entirely ignorant of the Herrscher of Dominance' nature, Elias still felt a twinge of uncertainty.
"I need to get back into my old rhythm… Still, this is getting ridiculous. I've been here for over three minutes now, and not a single puppet of the Herrscher of Dominance has shown up to greet me with a 'Welcome to the Theater of Domination!' or something."
Elias frowned slightly. He remembered that the Herrscher of Dominance in this era were supposed to be quite "hospitable."
As he thought that, he suddenly stopped walking.
A "host" who was normally so eager to greet intruders now hadn't appeared. Could it be because… there was already another "guest" being entertained?
"Kiana!"
The name escaped his lips instinctively. Even if this was a parallel world, that version of the White Comet was still his Kiana.
There was no way he would stand by and let her be harmed. Scanning his surroundings quickly, Elias soared toward the grand castle at the center of the dimension.
And as expected—
Inside the castle, a white-haired girl stood surrounded by countless golden-haired, eyepatch-wearing puppets. They weren't fighting—merely talking.
But that was precisely the worst possible scenario.
The Herrscher of Dominance' strength didn't lie in their combat ability—it was in their words. They specialized in piercing the human psyche, weaponizing mockery and emotional manipulation to provoke despair and corruption.
On a grand tribunal-like platform surrounded by countless seats, the twisted puppets hurled venomous words at her.
Herrscher of Dominance: "Kiana Kaslana—oh no, that name isn't even yours! You stole it! You stole it from the real Kiana Kaslana!"
Kiana: "...It's not a stolen name. It's the name my father gave me. It may have belonged to his real daughter once, but I'll never let it be disgraced."
Herrscher of Dominance: "How noble. You're nothing but a monster created by Otto—a failed experiment with a Herrscher Core implanted in your chest! We're puppets, but you? You're not even human!"
Kiana: "Don't use your twisted standards to judge me. My conviction is my proof of humanity!"
Herrscher of Dominance: "Conviction? To fight for 'all that's beautiful in the world'? How ridiculous! Humanity is wretched and vile—true beauty never existed! And you, as a Herrscher, are the greatest evil of all!"
Bang!
The white-haired girl pulled the trigger, the gunshot cutting through the toxic courtroom air. Her will did not waver.
"I've heard enough of your nonsense. This farce ends now. You can't deceive me. You won't break me. I won't give in or despair—because there are people who trust and believe in me. You can't shake my faith!"
Her voice rang out resolute and clear.
She was no ordinary girl. She was the Herrscher of the Void—K423—but above all, she was a Valkyrie of St. Freya Academy, one who fought to protect all that was beautiful.
Her figure radiated divine grace, like a saint defying darkness itself. No matter how sharp their words, the Herrscher of Dominance could not shatter her conviction—for Kiana Kaslana had always been strong.
However…
"Oh? Is that really so?"
The Herrscher of Dominance smiled mockingly instead of growing angry.
"How admirable, Kiana. But even someone as strong as you must have regrets, don't you? A hollow you can never fill—a pain you can never heal. Your torment, your guilt."
"What are you talking about?!"
"He is your weakest point—the wound you can never mend. If you had the chance to return to the past and save his life, wouldn't you sacrifice everything to undo your sin?"
The Herrscher of Dominance could read the darkness within human hearts—that was their greatest weapon. As embodiments of negativity, they delighted in tearing open their victims' deepest scars.
"Think back to that day, Kiana! Your subspace lance pierced through his body! He fell into the Imaginary Space—a realm no ordinary human could ever survive!"
"No matter how you lie to yourself, you can't change that truth! Do you still remember the gem embedded in his armor?"
"Then open your eyes, Kiana. See it for yourself!"
The next instant, one of the Herrscher puppets held up a gleaming crimson gem.
"!!"
Kiana's eyes widened in horror, her body trembling violently.
Two puppets approached her from behind, their mocking smiles twisting into cruelty as they pushed her forward—until she was face to face with the jewel.
"Well? Well? Looks familiar, doesn't it? Do you remember who held it?"
"The... Gem of Haste…"
"We went through a lot of trouble retrieving it from the Imaginary Space. But alas, we only found this gem."
"N-no… no…!"
"Go on, Kiana—say it! Speak the truth in your heart! The one you loved most—Elias—is already dead!!"
The Herrscher of Dominance laughed maniacally, waving the Gem of Haste like a trophy.
Their words stabbed into Kiana's heart like knives. Even for one as strong as her, the pain was unbearable.
But just as they prepared to twist the knife further—
A blinding white figure descended from above, radiating fury like an erupting sun.
Elias: "Shamash—ASSAULT!!!"