Chapter 624: Ai: I Want to See a Shuraba! I Want to See Blood Flow Like a River!

In the Proper World, inside St. Freya Academy.

"Ahh~ Day twenty-seven without Eli. I'm so bored. If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have gone so overboard back then."

In the Valkyrie dormitory's dining room, Miss Pink Elf lay sprawled across the table, drawing circles on its surface with one finger. Her mood right now was just like the bent flower in the vase beside her.

She had not seen her beloved young man for almost half a month. Her Elias energy was critically low, and Elysia felt like a flower that had gone an entire month without water, on the verge of dying from thirst.

Mei, who was sharpening a knife in the living room, rolled her eyes.

"Bored? Haven't you caused plenty of trouble lately, Elysia? If anything, I think you've become even more unrestrained since Elias left."

"No way~ Mei, you can't falsely accuse me like that. Ever since Eli left, I've even been eating less every day."

"Heh. You still eat three bowls at every meal, and at night you form a kitchen-raiding gang with Kiana and Pardo. Rita has already complained countless times about waking up the next morning and discovering that the food in the refrigerator mysteriously vanished."

"Hehe~"

Elysia cutely tapped herself on the head, blinked, and stuck out her tongue, attempting to charm her way out of trouble. That move would indeed have been highly effective against Elias, but Mei was different.

"Elysia, do you dare step on a scale?" The cook placed both hands on her hips and delivered a soul-piercing question.

"Ahem, there's really no need. I actually weigh myself every morning when I wake up. Today I'm 45.8 kilograms!"

"...Your Ego Signet is crying."

The corner of Mei's eye twitched. This pink elf weighed only 45.8 kilograms? Who would believe that?! Sure, she had Mahe?vara's Meta-Morph factor cheating for her, but even cheating had its limits!

Under the cook's queen-like gaze, Elysia began feeling somewhat guilty, so she whistled and turned her head away.

She absolutely would not tell anyone that her weight had recently begun approaching the terrifying sixty-kilogram mark.

Miss Pink Elf touched her stomach.

Soft and squishy.

Her clothes also seemed to have gotten tighter recently, and even the thigh rings around her legs were leaving clearly visible marks.

Although her appearance remained flawless and breathtaking, radiant as drifting blossoms, like an unparalleled beauty embodying purity itself, there was no question that Elysia had gotten fatter again!

At this rate, she really would have to stop calling herself a "pink elf" and accept Mobius' nickname for her instead: "pink piggy"!

Therefore, her weight absolutely, positively had to remain secret!

Miss Pink Elf's weight was top-secret information of an even higher classification than a nuclear launch code! Anyone who discovered it would end up with eight crystal arrows in their back and have the death ruled a suicide.

Elysia clenched her little fists and warned herself internally.

(Uuu! I really miss Eli, but maybe I should hope he comes back a little later after all. Dieting! Starting tomorrow, I absolutely have to work hard and lose weight! I'll get back to my most beautiful figure before Eli returns... That's what I thought yesterday too.)

Tomorrow after tomorrow, and still another tomorrow.

Elysia wore a complicated expression as she tried to remember how many times she had warned herself like this. Apparently... it had already been fifteen times.

(Uuu, but this really isn't the adorable elf lady's fault! The food every day is just way too delicious. H-How am I supposed to resist?! Eli said it best: those who understand food are wise heroes. In this world, only feelings and delicious food must never be betrayed.)

Ten seconds ago, the pink elf had firmly resolved to lose weight.

Ten seconds later, her determination was already wavering.

Elysia had been in this state the entire time lately.

Monday: Eat!

Tuesday: Eat!

Wednesday: Eat!

Thursday: Reflect. Elysia, oh Elysia, how could you gorge yourself like this? You absolutely have to lose weight. What if you really turn into a piggy?

Friday: Eat!

Elysia: "Compared with losing weight, fighting Honkai honestly feels easier. Wait, could this actually be some conspiracy by Mei and the others? They keep making so much delicious food every day just so I'll get all chubby while Eli isn't here~?"

Even Elysia herself thought that accusation sounded unreasonable. If she could not control her own mouth, how could she blame the cook for making the food too delicious?

However...

(Raiden Mei: According to the weight records Bronya recovered, Elysia is already at 59.3 kilograms. Excellent. Keep it up. Let's try to get this perverted elf past the sixty-kilogram mark before Elias returns.)

It really was her doing!

More precisely, it was Mei + Theresa + Fu Hua, who had been dragged into it by force + Mobius...

Or rather, most of the dormitory had participated. After all, no matter the circumstances, the women never spared any effort when it came to targeting Elysia, the overpowered strongest heroine of the last two seasons.

The Anti-Pink-Elf Alliance had long since been secretly established!

Without damaging their friendship, the women would occasionally trip up this pink elf who had taken far too many advantages. Their latest tactic was precisely this operation: Gourmet Warfare.

Every day, they prepared huge quantities of high-calorie delicacies, allowing this pink elf to gorge herself until her weight steadily increased! In the end, Elias would supposedly become disgusted with this pink elf after she got as fat as a piggy!

What an unbelievably vicious plan.

Elysia, immersed in delicious food every single day, had indeed developed a few suspicions, but in the end, she still fell for it.

If Elias came back just a little later, perhaps he really would get to see a round little pink piggy.

"By the way, what have Mobius and Vill-V been doing lately? I haven't seen either of them for several days."

Elysia asked curiously.

In truth, she vaguely had a guess. Although she had no evidence whatsoever, there was an eighty percent chance it involved her beloved husband, who was currently voyaging through the Sea of Quanta.

After all, while Elysia was obviously the one in this dormitory who loved Elias the most and had the highest affection level for him—proud!—the most extreme ones were always those mad scientists.

Mobius went without saying. She was lewd and insane. No matter how stubbornly she denied things with her mouth, she never held back when secretly taking a bite!

Vill-V was even more obvious. She was a lunatic with eight lunatics living inside one head, and every personality had its own ideas about Elias. Her madness simply came with more ritual and theatrics.

As for MEI... she was the most dangerous one!

That unique secret technique of hers, "God-Slaying Cuisine," was so deadly that even Elias, now a dual Pseudo God, or the Herrscher of Finality would face a life-or-death trial after a single bite.

Elias had already been gone for nearly a month. Elysia had every reason to believe that those three women had definitely "acted up" by now. She simply did not know what they planned to do.

"Them..."

Mei revealed a subtle expression.

"Vill-V has recently been planning to build another warship capable of jumping through and exploring the Sea of Quanta. As for the purpose..."

"Obviously, she wants to search for Eli. You don't even need to guess that part. It's just that the Sea of Quanta is endless. I assume those three understand how absurdly low the chances are of happening to run into him."

Elysia's expression became strange. Calling the odds one in a hundred million would already be generous, unless you were a destined heroine like her, whose fate was tightly intertwined with Elias'!

Otherwise, no matter who went, there was absolutely no way they would just happen to find him.

Mei: "That's why the three of them plan to... solve the problem using something a little more mystical. Simply put, they're bringing Kiana and Pardo along and letting those two navigate by instinct."

Elysia: "You can do that?!"

Miss Pink Elf immediately retracted what she had just been thinking. Apparently, there really were other people besides herself who might find him. With the dormitory's two absurdly lucky cats guiding the way, what did odds below one in a hundred million matter? The final puppet of the Herrscher of Million was already the perfect example.

Mei shrugged. Truthfully, she was also somewhat worried. Precisely because the Sea of Quanta contained everything imaginable, it was filled with dangers. Although she had great confidence in her husband's strength, she knew Elias very well.

Although he himself was powerful enough, sometimes, in order to save something, that man would charge straight into a dangerous maelstrom without hesitation, willingly placing himself in crises he could otherwise have avoided.

And besides that...

Mei was also worried the number of romantic rivals would increase again.

(With Elias'... trait? of running into beautiful girls who need help wherever he goes, one business trip to the Sea of Quanta might mean he comes back with N more romantic rivals again!)

Still, Elysia and Mei were not too worried about that particular issue. Looking at it positively, the two of them were already legitimate wives with marriage certificates.

Even if Elias brought newcomers back, those newcomers would not pose much of a threat to the two of them. Newcomers could join if they wanted. The ones who really needed to panic were the women who still had not gotten marriage certificates.

They had already won. They had already won far too much~

Surely there could not possibly be some absurd newcomer who could speedrun all the way to the wife stage in less than a month, right? Impossible. Absolutely impossible~!

"Speaking of which, Schicksal has been acting a little strange lately."

"Hm? Did something happen?"

"Theresa said Otto has been constantly sending messages lately asking about Elias, saying he has something important to discuss. Knowing that guy's personality, I think there must be some conspiracy behind it."

"That is a little strange, but I don't necessarily think it's a conspiracy. Eli said it best: before absolute strength, every plot and scheme becomes meaningless. Nom nom."

As Elysia spoke, she pulled out some popcorn. Apparently having forgotten all about her precarious weight, she continued eating.

She did not think there was any need to be too nervous. If Otto Apocalypse really had some conspiracy or scheme, he should have been secretly preparing it instead of repeatedly asking every few days whether Elias was around.

Rather than a conspiracy,

it felt more like he needed a favor.

Suddenly, at that very moment,

Vmmmmmm—!

Accompanied by the roar of Hyperion: Moonlight Throne ARK's Imaginary and Quantum engines, the silver-white eternally unsinkable ship crossed the dimensional boundaries of the Sea of Quanta and returned to the Proper World.

Watching the thousand-meter-long warship fly across the sky before finally landing in St. Freya Academy's warship docking area, Elysia and Mei exchanged a glance and immediately moved.

One spread her wings while the other transformed into a streak of lightning and flew toward it.

And it was not just the two of them. Everyone else had obviously noticed the return of Elias' exclusive ride as well. Within only a few seconds, the Current Era and Previous Era groups had both fully assembled.

Inside the Hyperion,

the corners of Ai Hyperion's lips curled into a dangerous smile. She looked at Luna, Rosemary, Himeko, and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, then glanced at Elysia and the others visible through the observation screen.

Ai: "Looks like the war is about to begin. I want to see blood flow like a river! Hahaha~ Hahahaha~!"

Elias: "...Ai, in the name of the Hyperion's captain, I order you: shut down."

Ai: "Noooo! Let me watch! I want to see Captain trapped in a super shuraba, then watch those crazy women stuff you into a sack, lock you in a dark room, and do hehehe things to you!"

Elias: "...Ai, initiate self-destruct sequence."

BOOM! Crack!

With an explosive blast, the AI girl's cabbage-like hairstyle turned into an afro. Then Elias unplugged her main unit aboard the Hyperion, cutting the power and shutting her down on the spot.

"So now... how exactly am I supposed to survive this crisis?" Elias held his head in both hands as he stared at the girls displayed on the warship's screen, feeling as though a giant word reading DANGER had already appeared above his head.

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