"I'm sorry, Sirin… It looks like I won't be able to keep my promise. I can't go with you to find our new home." Elias gently stroked the violet-haired girl in his arms, his voice filled with sorrow.
Sirin clung to his neck, burying her tear-streaked face into his chest as if afraid he would disappear.
"I don't believe you… You've never lied to me. You promised we'd live a new life together. Elias never breaks his promises to me… So—so that means… we'll definitely be together, right?"
"Sirin, listen to me. Cecilia is a good person. If you stay with her, she'll—"
"No! I don't want anyone else! I want you! You are the most important person in the world to me! And… Elias, I know your wish was for all of us to live together… but I have my own wish too."
"My wish… is to see you alive and smiling. That's all I want—that's enough for me."
Sirin's voice trembled as she shouted, her sorrow overflowing.
Her wish was so simple.
She only wanted Elias to live.
She only wanted him to smile again.
"I want to hear you sing again… I want to hear you tell another story… This time, I won't ever let go of you, so… please, Elias, don't leave me behind…" she pleaded desperately.
"…One day, in the future, we will meet again. It might take years, but I promise you, Sirin—we will see each other again. So…"
With a soft touch, Elias gently pulled Sirin into unconsciousness.
"This is not farewell—only a temporary goodbye."
But when he tried to lay her down, he realized something—
Even without consciousness, Sirin still clung tightly to him.
It was unimaginable that a fourteen-year-old girl could have such strength.
But that was how much she refused to let him go—as if silently declaring that unless someone cut off her arms, she would never release him.
In the end, Elias had to use the Herrscher of the Void's power just to break free from her grasp.
He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
"Sirin, when you wake up, you'll find that everything has changed. You might feel lost, you might feel confused… but don't give up. Never give up."
"This is the future I have carved out for you. Live on, carrying my blessing—so that one day, we will meet again."
Sirin had broken free from her destined fate.
She had survived the Second Eruption.
Her future now stretched beyond what was once predetermined. As long as she kept moving forward, the two of them would eventually reunite in the original timeline.
Elias knew it would take a long time—but the worst fate had already been rewritten. Sirin, Cecilia, and the others had all survived the "Second Eruption."
The lives that should have ended here had been given a future.
He had changed their tragedies.
And now… he would do even more.
With one last stroke of Sirin's violet hair, Elias entrusted her to Cecilia and turned to leave.
"Where… are you going?"
"Isn't it obvious? Taking a beating like this without saying a word isn't my style. There's an old saying in my homeland: 'A drop of kindness should be repaid with a fountain; an arrow of hatred should be repaid with complete annihilation.' Since I can still move for a while longer… of course, I'm going to have a nice chat with that bastard Otto."
After getting Schicksal's coordinates from Siegfried, Elias called out to Bella.
"Roar!!"
The white dragon spread her wings, carrying her master high into the sky, soaring at supersonic speed toward Schicksal's floating island.
Cecilia, Siegfried, Theresa, and the remaining Schicksal Valkyries stood in place, watching him leave.
Recalling what Elias had asked of her, Cecilia fought back the urge to cry. No matter what the outcome, she would always offer him her most sincere gratitude.
"We need to decide our own path forward as well."
Clutching Abyss Flower tightly, Cecilia gazed in the direction Elias had gone, speaking softly to herself.
...
Above the skies—
"Looks like they really are out of options. I'm practically at their doorstep, and they haven't done a thing," Elias mused as he neared Schicksal's floating island, riding on Bella.
He had encountered no resistance whatsoever. It was almost unnervingly smooth—but it made sense.
It wasn't that they didn't want to stop him.
It was that they simply couldn't.
Otto had already exhausted every last missile in his arsenal just to kill him. There wasn't a single one left.
"Roooooar!!"
Now that their enemy's base was in sight, Bella let out a furious roar of hatred.
She could barely contain herself. She wanted nothing more than to tear the golden-haired bastard apart for what he had done to her master.
However—
"Bella, you should go back too."
"…Master?"
The white dragon shifted into her silver-haired human form, staring at Elias in confusion, as if unable to comprehend his order.
"Not just Sirin—Bella, you're my family too. You deserve to live freely, to have a future of your own." Elias gently cupped her cheek, his voice filled with warmth.
With a pseudo-core and a human body, Bella had already evolved from a Honkai Beast into a pseudo-Herrscher.
But she could go even further.
She could become truly human.
To Elias, she was never a mere servant. She was someone he cherished—someone worth protecting.
"No… I don't want to go! I want to be with you forever! I want to follow your will for eternity!" Bella's voice shook as she rejected his command for the first time in her life.
"Thank you, Bella. But… this is my selfishness. I want the people I love to have beautiful futures. So don't make that face."
"But my purpose is to protect you! I can't stand watching you suffer anymore—I don't want you to… to disappear…"
Bella clenched her fists, lowering her head.
"Then, how about this? I order you… to live freely. Live until the day we meet again. Your master isn't going to die—not now, not ever. I never lie."
Elias reached out, wiping away her tears as he soothed the trembling dragon girl. In his mind, he calculated the time left until the Third Eruption.
"About fifteen years, give or take? Alright, I'll be back by then."
"Master… is that a promise?"
"Of course. Pass that on to Sirin and the others too. Until then, protect everyone for me. And… live freely."
"…Yes, Master. I will wait for you. Fifteen years, twenty—it doesn't matter. I will wait for you, always, until the day you return!"
With their promise made, Bella finally accepted his words.
The dragon spread her wings and soared into the distance.
Bathed in the crimson glow of the setting sun, she looked breathtakingly beautiful.
Elias exhaled, glancing at the dwindling timer of [Battle Continuation EX]—just under two hours remaining.
He turned his gaze toward Schicksal's floating island.
"Alright, Otto Apocalypse. It's time for you to experience a Herrscher's vengeance."
Countless portals opened behind him.
Through them, an army of Honkai Beasts surged forth—
Thousands upon thousands, a near-endless tide of Templar-class Honkai creatures, forming a monstrous battalion of destruction.
BOOM—!
Unleashing the power of the Herrscher of Fire, a fiery strike, rivaling Judgment of Shamash's full power, smashed into Schicksal's barriers—obliterating them instantly.
Elias' voice was cold as he issued his command.
"All forces—attack!!"