Honkai Impact: Become Their Hero

As for how to further strengthen his beloved Mei, Elias already had quite a few ideas.

"Getting stronger is actually pretty simple. Either absorb more Herrscher Cores, or become a MANTIS. Aside from that... just wear better equipment~"

As he spoke, Elias opened a portal and transported Mei along with himself into the training room of St. Freya Academy.

However, fusing more Herrscher Cores was somewhat difficult. After all, not everyone was like Elias, a vessel of Finality capable of infinitely accommodating Herrscher Cores.

Mei, who had already fused two Cores, was basically nearing her limit. And more importantly... Elias didn't have any particularly powerful Herrscher Cores on hand right now. It wasn't like he could just hand her a Core from the Herrscher of Dominance.

The second option was becoming a MANTIS, but there was also an issue with materials. Honkai Beast samples suitable for Mei were extremely rare, and none were currently in storage, so that would have to wait.

"Hmm... in the end, I can only put more effort into equipment. Perfect, I've got an idea."

"Oh? Elias, are you going to make a weapon for me?"

Mei's face lit up with joy. She instinctively tightened her grip on her exclusive weapon obtained after becoming the Herrscher of Thunder—the Key of Castigation—already imagining sending it to the warehouse to gather dust.

If Elias personally crafted a weapon for her, she felt like she would instantly become several times stronger just by holding it.

No need to ask why—call it the power of love.

"Mm-hmm~ Amber recently sent me all of Schicksal's S-rank battlesuit data and blueprints. I've pretty much figured out the principles. Now, I'll forge a Godsbane Suit that belongs solely to you, Mei."

"A... Godsbane Suit?"

Mei's expression turned somewhat complicated upon hearing that.

In truth, the battlesuit gained after becoming a Herrscher was already comparable in performance to Schicksal's fourth-generation Godsbane Suits.

Moreover, they were perfectly tailored to each Herrscher.

So even if Elias created a new Godsbane Suit for her now, the enhancement might not be that significant.

Just like her exclusive weapon—the Key of Castigation—it was already the most suitable weapon for the Herrscher of Thunder. To surpass it, at the very least, one would need a Divine Key of the same attribute, like the Seven Thunders of Retribution.

"Alright, alright~ I know what you're thinking. Just watch. The Godsbane Suit I make for you won't be comparable to the junk those lucky dogs churn out."

As he spoke, Elias activated the authority of the Herrscher of Truth.

He directly retrieved, from the records of the Imaginary Tree, the most durable metal he could currently construct, then fused it with the properties of nano-soulium.

The resulting special alloy became the base material for Mei's Godsbane Suit—a supermetal far beyond the technological level of the current civilization. Its performance could only be described as absurd.

Elias weighed the newly created metal in his hand and judged that even Shamash Assault wouldn't be able to damage it, while its Honkai energy conductivity reached a full 100%.

Perfect.

"Right, I also need to consider compatibility. Bronya's Herrscher of Truth leans toward long-range versatility, so in that case, Mei should go with something more straightforward and direct."

"Eh? Elias, what are you—?"

"Don't move. I'm taking measurements~"

In reality, he was taking advantage of the situation—but he didn't neglect the task at hand.

He pulled Mei into his arms, one hand brushing over the girl's delicate body. In the next moment, an intricate, dazzling deep-purple battlesuit materialized over the Thunder Queen's form.

First, her right arm—the one that wielded the blade—was encased in an exoskeletal gauntlet, while her left arm was adorned with a slightly oversized sleeve. Next, her lower legs and feet below the knees were covered in somewhat heavier armor.

Then, a two-meter-long violet katana appeared at her waist, embedded with a pseudo-Herrscher Core of Thunder.

Even without injecting Honkai energy, the blade's sharpness alone was enough to easily slice through the armor of a Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast.

After that, a purple mechanical halo appeared behind the Thunder Queen. In an instant, Mei felt all her power surge to unimaginable heights. As the halo activated, the overwhelming amplification made her feel as though she were dreaming.

But such an increase was only natural—because this mechanical halo had been created by Elias using his own Imaginary halo as a reference.

Although even with the authority of the Herrscher of Truth he couldn't fully replicate it, this version still operated at roughly thirty percent of the power of Elias' own halo.

Yet even thirty percent was enough to multiply Mei's strength more than tenfold. Soon after, six violet Honkai energy floating blades hovered around her like wings of light.

"Done~!"

Elias nodded in satisfaction at his creation.

Clad in this Godsbane Suit, Mei now looked like a battle goddess who commanded lightning itself.

And this battlesuit wasn't just for show—its performance far surpassed all of Schicksal's S-rank battlesuits combined, not even reaching a tenth of its capabilities.

Mei stared blankly at her own hands. Without exaggeration, she felt like she could split the entire continent of Asia in half with a single strike—a Honkai version of an all-cleaving blade wouldn't be a problem at all.

Or even...

"Feels like... I could reach it."

The Thunder Queen gazed at the bright moon hanging in the night sky.

She felt that if she swung her blade with full force now, she could cross the 384,403.9-kilometer distance and carve a visible scar into the moon.

"This is the Godsbane Suit you made for me, Elias? It's incredible... It feels like it's increased my strength dozens of times over! But... how am I even able to control it?"

While marveling at the suit's overwhelming power, Mei couldn't help but question how she could still move freely after putting it on.

Because based on what she could sense, the energy consumption of this battlesuit...

Three seconds.

That was all it would take to completely drain the Honkai energy within her body.

As a post-awakening dual-Core Herrscher, Mei possessed around 6000 HW worth of Honkai energy. While this was nothing compared to Elias, it was already an enormous amount.

For example, if Mei were to release all her Honkai energy at once, it would be enough to trigger a devastating Honkai Eruption across the entire Asian region.

Yet even such terrifying Honkai energy could only keep this Godsbane Suit running for three seconds. The price of overwhelming power was equally overwhelming consumption—Mei's mere 6000 HW of Honkai energy didn't even qualify to properly activate the suit.

And the reason she could currently use it "without any consumption" was, of course, because of Elias.

"Elias, what did you do? Don't tell me... the Honkai energy this suit consumes is being paid by you?"

"Bingo~ As expected of my Mei. So smart."

Though it wasn't visible on the surface, when Elias created this Godsbane Suit, he opened up a small Imaginary space within it—and then... threw fifty pseudo-Cores inside.

These pseudo-Cores didn't provide abilities. Their sole purpose was amplification, pushing the suit's power to its absolute limit. In essence, the suit now possessed fifty super-engines, each one capable of powering a battleship on the level of the Hyperion.

Of course, to make all fifty pseudo-Cores operate at full capacity simultaneously, Mei's own Honkai energy was completely insufficient.

Thus, Elias also placed a real Herrscher Core inside—the Gem of Domination.

"There's a Gem of Domination inside this Godsbane Suit. In a sense, the suit itself is basically one of my avatars. And... Mei, do you remember the characteristics of the Herrscher of Dominance?"

"You mean... that ability to communicate regardless of distance through something like 'quantum entanglement,' and to share senses, information, and even power?"

"Exactly~ That ability might seem unimpressive compared to other Herrschers' powers, but it's actually ridiculously broken. At the very least, it makes cheating on exams incredibly easy."

Elias showed a complicated expression.

As everyone knew, whenever exams came around, it was a test of whether students were united—and in that regard, the Herrscher of Dominance had a natural advantage.

Kiana had once begged Elias for a Gem of Domination.

Just so she could log into the Herrscher of Dominance network and ask others for answers whenever she encountered questions she didn't know.

After all, for the Herrscher of Dominance, it didn't matter if they couldn't solve a problem themselves. They weren't fighting alone—they were a thousand people working on a single test.

"This kind of communication ability is absurdly strong. Even the Elysion Pedion of the Herrscher of Binding can't block it. To this day, the academy still hasn't found a way to stop them from cheating."

Elias had once tested this using his own Dominance avatars. Even if one was in the Sea of Quanta and the other in Imaginary Space, they could still maintain flawless communication.

The signal strength was simply ridiculous.

Next, he even planned to throw an avatar to the edge of the solar system just to see if the connection would still hold...

"By embedding the Gem of Domination into the Godsbane Suit, it becomes linked to me. So the Honkai energy that originally had to be supplied solely by Mei can now be paid by me instead."

"That won't do! Wouldn't that put too much burden on you—"

"Not at all~"

"Huh?"

"I regenerate about 200,000 HW of Honkai energy per second. This level of consumption isn't even as fast as my recovery. Did you forget? I've got hundreds of bubble worlds inside me constantly supplying energy. And besides... when has this Pseudo God ever run out of energy?"

"..."

Mei was rendered speechless.

200,000 HW per second? That meant Elias regenerated more Honkai energy every second than thirty of her combined.

She suddenly felt like she had been worrying over nothing. This dual Pseudo God of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta probably had an energy reserve that stretched from Earth to Mars.

This Godsbane Suit consumed 2000 HW of Honkai energy per second—equivalent to creating a Herrscher every second. For Mei, that was an astronomical figure. For Elias, it was barely worth mentioning.

Mei: "..."

As a refined young lady, Mei suddenly felt as though she had been... kept by a ridiculously wealthy patron.

The dignity of the Thunder Queen was once again in danger.

But...

This Godsbane Suit was simply too irresistible!!

Unlike Bronya, the Herrscher of Truth, whose strength lay in versatility, Godsbane Mei was pure destructive output.

Elias' design principle was simple—use an overwhelming amount of Honkai energy to push the authority of the Herrscher of Thundervoid to its absolute limit, then amplify it even further through the Godsbane Suit.

Although Mei's own physical limits meant she couldn't yet destroy a planet, she had already reached surface-level devastation.

At the very least, taking on Miss Pink Elf wouldn't be a problem. Even if Elysia, as the Herrscher of Origin with administrator privileges, could suppress abilities, she couldn't suppress raw Honkai energy.

And Godsbane Mei, even without activating Herrscher abilities, could easily split mountains and seas with sheer Honkai energy alone. With abilities added, her power would increase severalfold.

Moreover, with the defensive capabilities of this suit, even Kevin wielding Might of An-Utu would need a long time just to scratch it.

"Isn't this... a bit too exaggerated?"

After hearing the full explanation of the suit, Mei trembled slightly, her expression stiff. She had wanted to become stronger—but jumping to this level all at once felt like too much.

"How could it be? I still think it's a bit lacking. And besides, Mei is my wife now—of course the equipment I give my wife has to be the very best."

Elias said it as if it were only natural.

"I'll have Gray Serpent check Fire Moth's storage later. If we're lucky and find suitable Honkai Beast genes for you, we can strengthen you even further."

"...Thank you, Elias."

Mei clenched her fists. While she felt happy, she was also troubled—this person had given her so much, yet all she could offer in return was a simple thank you.

Love wasn't a transaction, but at this moment, the Thunder Queen found herself disliking the fact that she had nothing to give Elias.

"Mei, you're overthinking again."

"Elias... how can I ever repay you?"

"Well... if you feel indebted, then just love me even more than before."

Elias pulled the Godsbane girl into his arms, kissing her soft lips and breathing in her pleasant scent. Then he created an exquisite queen's crown and placed it upon her head.

"Cook more delicious meals for me. Become even more beautiful for me. And even... give up your pride for me."

"Is that really enough?"

Mei tilted her head, feeling it wasn't nearly enough. That amount couldn't even express one ten-thousandth of what she felt.

Without exaggeration, she would do anything for Elias.

Morality, ideals—none of it mattered.

As long as he liked it, Raiden Mei was willing to become anything. Because just as she had once said—

Compared to this world, Elias was more important.

"I just need Mei to keep loving me. If you still think it's not enough, then I don't even know what more I should ask for... so just figure it out yourself~"

Elias smiled like the sun.

Mei felt herself struck once again. The Thunder Queen could only smile bitterly.

"...Alright. I'll think about it carefully."

"Mm~ It's getting late. Let's head back to the dorm."

Elias took Mei's hand and began walking toward the dormitory.

"!!!"

Hearing this, Mei's eyes instantly lit up.

The Thunder Queen tightened her grip on the marriage certificate in her hand, thinking that it was time for a triumphant counterattack.

She couldn't wait to see what expression that pink elf would make soon!

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