Missiles rained down like a torrential storm.
This was the rain of destruction sent by the Fool.
Schicksal's heavy missiles were far more devastating than any conventional weapon—each one capable of turning an entire town into a sea of fire in an instant. And now, over a thousand of them were plummeting down all at once!
"Lord Overseer… does this mean he's abandoning us…?"
"No… this isn't real… this can't be real!"
"I don't want to die! Someone, save me!"
"Mom… Dad… ahhh! Ahhhhhh!!"
Panic and despair consumed the Schicksal Valkyries. It was only in this moment that they realized Otto Apocalypse had discarded them as mere pawns.
Their sole purpose had been to hold the Herrscher of the Void in place until the missiles fell.
Otto: "As an unprecedented multi-core Herrscher, your destruction must be grand. Let these hundreds of A-rank Valkyries and three S-rank Valkyries serve as your funeral pyre, Herrscher of the Void. No need to thank me, hahaha~"
Cecilia lowered her Abyss Flower.
Siegfried let his Judgment of Shamas slip from his grasp.
Theresa and the Oath of Judah fell into silence.
Even as S-rank warriors, none of them could possibly survive an assault of this magnitude.
A saturation bombardment of this scale was designed to leave no survivors—to ensure that everything in the area would be reduced to nothing but charred remains. Once they were all dead, Otto would simply reappear and collect the four Herrscher Cores from the ruins.
(If it were just me, I could escape.)
Elias made his judgment in an instant.
If he were alone, he could still escape into the Imaginary Space through the Void Authority and wait for the storm to pass before reappearing.
But only he would make it.
Cecilia, Siegfried, Theresa, Sirin, and the others—at least half, if not more, would not have time to be saved. Moreover, Imaginary Space was an extremely hostile environment for normal humans.
It was flooded with Honkai energy. Ordinary people wouldn't last more than a few seconds before transforming into zombies or Honkai Beasts.
If that was the case—
The answer was clear.
When Elias opened his eyes again, his brilliant golden irises locked onto the descending storm of destruction. He stood firm, like an undying flame burning even in the midst of a torrential downpour.
"Imaginary Barrier—Ideal Fluid Shield—maximum output, activate!!"
He soared into the sky.
The young man's outstretched arms seemed as if they were holding up the entire sky. This was his choice—Elias chose to face the apocalypse head-on!
His figure, a lone silhouette against the falling inferno, was as breathtakingly tragic as a moth flying toward the flames.
"Herrscher of the Void! What are you doing?!"
"Everyone, get down immediately!"
"Elias, don't tell me you're going to—!"
"Master, your Core won't withstand this!"
Voices rang out from all around him, but Elias could no longer afford to respond.
He poured every last ounce of his power into his shields, directing all of his Honkai energy into the force of protection—transforming himself into an unbreakable wall against thousands of incoming missiles.
"I knew it… I knew you would step forward!"
Inside Schicksal's operations command room—
Otto sprang to his feet in excitement, knocking over his chair.
His eyes were fixed on the screen, staring at Elias with an unwavering gaze. And before the missiles could be teleported away through spatial manipulation, he detonated them midair.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!!
The skies over Siberia erupted into a cataclysm.
It was as if a thousand suns had suddenly ignited in the sky.
"F*CK!!"
Elias roared in fury.
Stopping a missile before it detonates is simple—
After all, no matter how dangerous an explosive is, if it hasn't gone off, it's nothing more than a chunk of metal. Teleporting it away poses no real difficulty.
But intercepting a missile mid-explosion?
That required dozens of times more Honkai energy.
Elias could only grit his teeth and endure.
The first Herrscher of Reason, Welt Joyce, once constructed a massive citywide barrier to shield Manhattan. Yet a single Honkai Fissile Bomb completely drained his power.
Now, even as a four-core Herrscher, far surpassing Welt Joyce in strength, Elias was facing not just one bomb—
But every single heavy missile Schicksal had to offer! And among them, no less than a dozen Honkai Fissile Bombs!
(I can still hold on! The Ideal Fluid Shield won't break so easily. And with the Imaginary Barrier isolating excess shockwaves and heat—this is fine!)
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
"..."
Everyone was frozen in place, staring blankly at the sky.
That boy—the Herrscher shielding them from complete annihilation—
He looked like nothing more than a fourteen or fifteen-year-old child. Yet here he was, facing an apocalyptic catastrophe all alone.
He had protected everyone—even those who, just moments ago, had stood against him.
One by one, the Valkyries fell to their knees. Their weapons slipped from their trembling hands, their hearts heavy with remorse and guilt as they gazed up at Elias.
"No… Elias, please…"
Sirin's face was drenched in tears.
She desperately reached toward the sky, but no matter how much she stretched, she couldn't reach him.
His radiant figure, too bright, too overwhelming—it made her heart ache to the point of suffocation. If only she could take his place, if only she could bear this pain in his stead.
"Just… a little… more…!"
Blood poured from Elias' eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. His body had been pushed past its very limits.
Even though his Herrscher Cores were linked to the Imaginary Space, allowing him to draw infinite Honkai energy at will—
He had already pushed all four Cores to their absolute maximum output.
Cracks spread across all four Herrscher Cores, mirroring the fractures spreading across Elias himself.
"…Herrscher of the Void, you are truly admirable."
Otto watched the scene with an uncharacteristically solemn expression.
Reality was truly a cruel joke.
The Herrscher, a being supposedly destined to destroy humanity, was now the one protecting it—
While Schicksal, the organization that claimed to "fight for all that is beautiful in the world," was currently bombarding the most beautiful existence of all.
For the first time, Otto Apocalypse faltered.
He stared at the screen, at Elias—the boy throwing his very life away to protect others. And suddenly, he thought of the most precious person in his heart.
His one and only saint—Kallen Kaslana.
Identical.
They were exactly the same.
Both were noble and kind-hearted souls. Both were powerful warriors. Both, in times of crisis, would sacrifice themselves without hesitation to save others.
Both had the power to escape, yet chose instead to endure the suffering for the sake of those around them.
And both… had died because of Otto Apocalypse.
That, too, was the same.
"..."
For the first time, Otto hesitated.
He saw Kallen's image overlapping with Elias'—
It was as if fate had placed him back in that moment from five hundred years ago.
For the first time, the rational villain felt the impulse to abandon his plan, to cease the attack.
Otto did not want to kill his saint a second time.
And yet—
"Apologies, Herrscher of the Void. In the end, what I have loved was never some saint—it was Kallen. I was the one who caused her death. And to atone for that one mistake, even if it means making countless more, even if it means killing you, who is just like her… I will not stop."
What he loved was not the ideal of sainthood.
What he loved was Kallen Kaslana—
She was his one and only selfish desire.
Otto clenched his fist, and with a flicker of will, he redirected one of the missiles toward a different target.
...
Elias, his gaze locked on the sky, immediately noticed the sudden change in trajectory.
His eyes followed the missile as it veered off, heading somewhere else—as if targeting something beyond this battlefield.
"Otto!!!"
A horrifying realization struck him. His golden eyes widened in shock as he pushed his already-overloaded Herrscher Core past its breaking point, desperately tracking the missile's path.
He knew exactly where it was headed.
Block Town.
The first town he and Sirin had visited after escaping Babylon Labs.
The town where Bronya's mother still lived!