"Ahem, Principal Theresa, let's just ignore those Valkyries' silly chatter along the way. Be magnanimous, they were just excited to ship a new pairing."
"I don't care! Which class were those girls from? I'm making them copy St. Freya Academy's rules a hundred tis! How dare they mock their own principal!"
Theresa raised her tiny fists in anger, clearly ready to chase after the girls who dared ship her and Elias.
Elias, laughing helplessly, quickly pulled her back. Could she not be so cute all the ti? Show a little dignity!
"Alright, alright. More importantly, didn't you say you had a surprise treasure to show ? Let's see it, Theresa. I can't wait any longer."
"...Hmph, fine."
Grumbling, Theresa led him to the St. Freya Academy's armory and used her top-level clearance to open a door deep inside.
"Weren't you always pushing to get you a set of fourth-generation Godsbane Suit? I had to argue with Grandpa for ages before he finally agreed."
"Th-this is...?!"
Elias was stunned by what he saw, montarily thinking his eyes were deceiving him.
A sleek armor suit in intertwining red and black, as if forged from molten lava. A ring of black fur adorned the collar, and red floating short blades hovered nearby.
Beside it stood a flaming greatsword over two ters long.
Its na: Surtr, the Godslayer Sword.
And this armor—it was the wrath of heaven, the twilight of the gods. It had burned away the stars and scorched all creation.
Sooner or later, all things would be reduced to ash by it, and in every speck of ash, its na was whispered.
Its na: Vermilion Knight: Eclipse!
"How is this possible? Why is this armor here?!"
Elias stared in disbelief. He could clearly feel the aura of the Herrscher of Fire and the Gem of Haste embedded in it. This was undoubtedly the real thing.
"What do you think? I had to beg Grandpa for ages before he agreed to send over this Godsbane Suit, Vermilion Knight: Eclipse. The only problem is... it's incredibly difficult to use. No Valkyrie has managed to operate it for long."
Theresa spoke proudly, but with a hint of regret.
She didn't truly understand just how extraordinary this armor was. To her, it was just one of the newer models in Schicksal's Godsbane series.
But in truth, this was the Key of Blankness from the Previous Era!
All of Schicksal's Godsbane battlesuits was modeled after this Key of Blankness.
And not just the Godsbane series—
All Valkyrie armor designs were inspired by this single piece.
In that sense, Vermilion Knight: Eclipse could be considered the origin of all Valkyrie battlesuits.
"...Unbelievable. I never imagined Otto would send this here—and with the core still inside. Honestly, I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to get my hands on the Gem of Haste."
Elias was thrilled.
He hadn't even gone looking for the gem, yet here it was, delivered with a full set of armor. His heart burned with excitent as he reached out to touch the Eclipse armor.
But as he noticed this version had been remodeled into a male version—different from the one in his mories—he imdiately understood Otto's intentions.
This was ant to cast him in the sa role Hiko once played in the original story. When Kiana lost control to the Herrscher of the Void, he would don this armor to awaken her.
Otto's generosity in delivering this suit confird it. He expected Elias to use it when the ti ca.
Maybe Otto was just tired of Theresa constantly nagging him for the armor, so he sent it over early for Elias to start getting familiar with.
"Elias, want to try it on? But be careful—don't push yourself. I heard every Valkyrie who tried wearing that armor ended up dead or crippled. At best, they were severely burned by the armor's own power."
"Relax, Theresa. I'm a Herrscher, not so average Valkyrie. And besides... armor born purely for destruction, made to annihilate enemies and even its wearer? That's kinda cool~"
"But I'm the Herrscher of Rebirth. If destruction is its domain, then creation is mine. I wonder what kind of interesting reaction we'll get when I wear you."
Elias' lips curled up into a confident grin. Activating his quantum abilities just at the physical level, the St. Freya Academy uniform he was wearing fell to the ground.
"W-what are you doing?!"
Theresa imdiately flushed red, covering her face with both hands—though peeking between her fingers, eyes glued to Elias.
A mont later, Elias floated into the Vermilion Knight: Eclipse armor in quantum form, instantly equipping it.
"S-such a convenient ability..."
Theresa twitched at the corners of her mouth. Good grief, only Elias would pull sothing like this.
"So this is it... this power is incredible!"
Elias clenched his fist in excitent, marveling again at Dr. i of the Previous Era.
Even without absorbing the Gem of Haste embedded in the armor, he could already access the power of the Herrscher of Fire.
That was the true ability of the Key of Blankness.
The Key of Blankness allowed a Herrscher Core to link with the human body via armor, letting humans temporarily access Imaginary Space and beco Herrschers themselves. The core embedded dictated which Herrscher power could be wielded.
It was an armor that turned humans into Herrschers.
But long-term use inflicted irreversible damage on the body, and only very few could wear it at all.
In short: a life-costing armor.
Dr. i from the Previous Era only used it once before being gravely wounded and never used it again.
But as Kan Rider once said, the stronger the side effects, the stronger the power. Belts with no drawbacks? He wouldn't wear them even if gifted.
Besides, for Elias, the Herrscher of Rebirth, side effects like these barely counted.
"Mhm, as expected. I can wear this as my default gear."
Elias assessed his state. His ever-evolving, incredibly resilient body easily withstood the armor's backlash.
In fact, Vermilion Knight's rate of self-damage couldn't even keep up with Elias' healing from Rebirth powers.
If this armor drained HP constantly, then Elias' regeneration outpaced it so completely that the drawbacks were practically zero.
"The Key of Blankness embedded with the Herrscher of Fire core, plus its exclusive weapon—Surtr. Its destructive power rivals, or even surpasses, that of the Herrscher of Thunder. Excellent~"
This also patched one of Elias' current weaknesses.
The Herrscher of Rebirth's powers were undoubtedly strong, but not particularly suited for direct combat. On the other hand, the Herrscher of Fire's destructive might paired perfectly with it.
The forr's regeneration offset the latter's self-harm. The latter's imnse offense covered the forr's lack of close-range power.
Together, they ford a tanky, buff-stacking berserker of a warrior who boosted himself and debuffed enemies.
"Honestly, fusing the Herrscher Core of Fire would be even more efficient, but... this was a kind gift from Otto. And the Key of Blankness, as a standalone armor, is already at the level of fourth-gen Godsbane gear. I guess I'll graciously wear it~"
Elias picked up the exclusive weapon Surtr, the Godslayer Sword, and gave it a few swings—each arc left trails of searing fla in the air.
If he went all out, its power wouldn't be inferior to a fully unleashed Judgnt of Shamash.
"You wield it so naturally..."
Theresa widened her eyes in astonishnt.
She had considered the possibility that soone like Elias might be able to ta this violent armor, but even with that expectation, the result still amazed her.
At this mont, Elias looked like a knight from a fairytale, clad in fla and glory. There was only one word that could describe him: cool.
"Thank you, Theresa. I really like this armor."
"O-oh, as long as you like it..."
"Now everything is perfect."
Elias smiled in satisfaction.
Theresa blinked in confusion. She could tell Elias wasn't happy because he had gained a powerful new weapon—but for so other reason entirely...
Which was exactly right.
(Now that the Vermilion Knight: Eclipse is my gear, there's no way Hiko can wear it for her final mission. Perfect! Foolproof!)
"Alright, I'm off to the training ground for a quick test~"
"Wait—don't just walk out like that in full armor! Co back here!"
"i! My dearest i! Where are you? Let's have a good sparring match!"
With his dual Herrscher cores, there were only two people in St. Freya Academy who could fight him seriously: i, and a non-restrained Fu Hua.
Seeing him charge out, Theresa rushed after him with her tiny legs, but it was too late.
Along the way, every Valkyrie who saw Elias in his new, flaming knight look felt their hearts flutter. His already sky-high popularity shot up another tier.
Soon after, using only the power of Vermilion Knight: Eclipse, Elias had a satisfying sparring match with i.
...Inside the training field...
"So strong! This is Elias' new power?!"
i, with scarlet twin horns forming on her forehead, stared at her numb right hand in disbelief.
In terms of raw destructive force, she—as the Herrscher of Thunder—had actually been outmatched.
Elias' flaming blade sent her flying back a dozen ters before she managed to steady herself, even putting a nick in her weapon.
"Well, this is a greatsword, after all. Your katana, combined with Hokushin Itto-Ryu, leans toward technique. In a straight-up clash, I'll naturally have the advantage."
"Even so, you're not behind in technique anymore. I can't find a single opening."
"Heh, I have Fu Hua to thank for that."
Elias said this with genuine appreciation.
Compared to when he first enrolled, his combat techniques and strategy had advanced leaps and bounds. No longer did he just rush in swinging like a brute.
And their match wasn't over.
After comparing weapons, it was ti for a pure clash of Herrscher powers.
BOOM BOOM BOOM—!
FWOOSH FWOOSH FWOOSH—!
Crimson lightning and blazing fire collided throughout the training field, creating a scene straight out of myth.
Wherever they went, blackened scorch marks followed. The sheer destructive force could reduce A-rank Valkyries to ash instantly. Even S-rank Valkyries would have no chance within this storm of thunder and fla.
Perhaps only a Valkyrie like Durandal could hold her own against them with her Dea Anchora form active.
But Elias had the foundational technique of the Immortal Phoenix, and trained at a pace far beyond soone who relied solely on daily physical exercise like Durandal. If they ever fought, the winner would be hard to predict.
"...No matter how many tis I see it, it's still insane. And this is them holding back, right?"
Hiko watched in stunned silence.
Hiko hadn't looked away from Elias for a second. While part of it was because of how cool he looked...
More than that, sothing about seeing him in the Vermilion Knight: Eclipse armor gave her an inexplicable feeling of fate.
"Yes. According to Bronya's scans with Heavy Bunny, the two of them haven't even released a tenth of their full Herrscher power. If Elias and i were to go all out, the entire academy would turn into a sea of flas and scorched earth."
"Amazing... No wonder he's Papa Elias."
(Seele, we have to get stronger too.)
Bronya and Seele couldn't help but admire him. Elias was getting stronger and stronger—they had to work harder as well.
"Waaah~ Elias and i are so cool! So you get that cool when you beco a Herrscher? Then I wanna be one too!"
"Dummy Kiana, becoming a Herrscher isn't that easy. And if you lose your humanity, you beco an enemy of mankind."
"But i and Elias both managed it, right? If they can do it, then of course I can too!"
Kiana declared with full confidence, chest puffed out.
That was just how the battle-fool Kaslana was—optimistic and fearless.
anwhile, the duel between Elias and i had co to an end. In the end, fire overwheld lightning.
Even without tapping into his Rebirth powers, Elias' dual-core status gave him twice the Honkai energy that i had as a single-core Herrscher.
"I lost. You're amazing, Elias."
"If I weren't, how could I protect you all? But i, we really need to start developing our Herrscher powers more seriously. Yours and mine aren't just about manipulating fire or lightning—they're about molecular motion and electromagnetism."
Elias spoke with a serious look. Being a Herrscher required brains. Knowledge was the key to power.
A Herrscher who was scientifically illiterate would never reach their full potential.
Hearing this, i nodded earnestly. She planned to start studying electromagnetism that very night.
...
Over the following days, both Elias and i focused on developing their Herrscher powers. i studied practical applications of electromagnetism.
As for Elias, having two different powers ant his curriculum was even more packed. But instead of the molecular control from the Core of Fire, he beca increasingly obsessed with using his Rebirth power to manipulate cells.
And the more he experinted, the more fun it beca.
He could now change the properties of cells, break them down, and reassemble them as he pleased. The effects on the human body were... fascinating.
For example—
"Cat ears! Cat tail! Perfect!"
While a certain paracium was distracted by food, Elias used his Rebirth powers to give Kiana a pair of cat ears and a fluffy tail.
Not a headband or so cosplay accessory—real, living cat ears and tail.
"Eh? Elias, what did you do to ?"
"Nothing much. Just made you even cuter. Take a look."
"Ahh... actually, this is kind of nice~"
Kiana stared dumbfounded at herself in the mirror.
The tail behind her swayed naturally with her will, and the soft ears on her head felt real to the touch. She poked and rubbed both experintally, then imdiately squinted in delight.
"Hehe~ I'm so cute!"
Real Cat Kiana put her hands on her hips and bead proudly.
"Let touch them again! These cat ears and tail are my masterpiece after days of training my powers. Mmm~ As expected of . Genius!"
Elias enthusiastically reached out to pet her.
"..."
Right then, i walked by with a very complicated expression.
She saw Elias happily petting Kiana and Kiana soaking it up with a blissful smile.
Suddenly, all her effort to master high-level electromagnetism for powerful attacks seed... just a bit stupid.
What was the point of all this study and fighting?
Elias' way of using Herrscher powers looked way more fun!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon/DaoOfHeaven
User Comments
0 comments from readers