Honkai Impact: Become Their Hero

"Since there's no downside, then there's no problem."

After giving it serious thought, Elias realized that having the girls of House of the Hearth become Valkyries was actually an excellent choice. He had been overthinking it at first.

He'd instinctively associated becoming a Valkyrie with inevitably facing brutal battles—but that was a misconception.

In a world plagued by Honkai, gaining the power to protect oneself was a blessing. And frankly, even if the story followed its original trajectory, the Honkai would be mostly dealt with in just a few more years.

"Alright, I'll contact Theresa—our relevant personnel—and arrange for your enrollment in Valkyrie School."

"Yay—!" xN

The girls didn't really know what being a Valkyrie entailed, but they knew one thing for sure: they'd get to live with Elias again.

And so, they cheered and high-fived each other joyfully.

"That's surprising. Bronya thought that, knowing your personality, you'd hesitate longer."

"I saw it in their eyes—I knew I couldn't stop them. And... I'm confident. I won't let any of them come to harm."

Elias spoke with absolute conviction.

Never mind the power of the Herrscher of Rebirth—

If anything ever went wrong, he'd just travel back through time to save them. He'd even consider climbing the Imaginary Tree if necessary. There was no way he'd let anything happen to them.

"Heh... that's definitely something you'd say."

Bronya smiled wryly.

This man was always over-worried. Always overprotective. It made them feel deeply loved—but also, if they lacked self-discipline, he'd spoil them into helplessness.

Just like a certain grasshopper.

...The next day...

After breakfast, everyone began preparing to move to St. Freya Academy. Though the late-night call from Elias had left Theresa fuming at first, her mood flipped instantly when she heard he was bringing dozens of girls with strong Honkai resistance to enroll.

She agreed with glee on the spot.

Elias even heard her on the other end of the line, jumping on the bed in excitement—followed by a loud crashing noise.

(Seriously, you're not a kid anymore. You're a current-era fusion warrior with Vishnu genes, able to carry the 152-kilogram Oath of Judah like a feather. Our dorm beds are not warship deck armor—they can't handle that.)

And when the bed collapsed, everyone else on her side apparently heard it too. Instant social death for Theresa.

"What was that noise? Principal, did you just break your bed?!"

"Himeko, I can explain! It's not—"

"My, my... Lady Theresa, it seems Rita will need to revise your meal plans going forward."

"Rita, that's not it! Elias, help me out here! Tell them it was an accident!"

Click.

Elias hung up.

Explain? What's there to explain? Don't you know that explanation is just denial, denial is admission, and admission means yes—Theresa really did break her bed.

Elias gazed up at the sky at a 45-degree angle.

He could almost hear Theresa's scream of rage.

But that was a small matter.

Right now, the girls of House of the Hearth were tearfully saying goodbye to the large villa they'd called home.

Elias, however, had no intention of leaving the house behind.

He was bringing the whole thing with them to St. Freya.

"Star of Eden—gravity inversion."

Elias raised his hand and grasped the air. A Divine Key appeared—about ten centimeters in diameter, deep blue in color, with symmetrical golden patterns on either side.

As the new Herrscher of Reason, not knowing how to materialize the Star of Eden would be downright shameful.

Though in the original story it seemed like the Star of Eden was always breaking, the truth was—it was one of the most versatile and thoroughly developed Divine Keys.

Elias used the Star of Eden to target the House of the Hearth villa, selectively reversing gravity on that patch of land.

To everyone's astonishment, the entire house lifted off the ground—rising into the air and floating like a flying fortress.

"How to store this... I guess I'll just use the Imaginary Space. Tch—I still haven't regained the Herrscher of the Void's full powers, so I can't open that big a portal... but whatever, I can barely fit it in."

Using the remnants of his Herrscher of the Void powers,

Elias opened a gate to the Imaginary Space and stored the House of the Hearth villa inside, planning to retrieve it once they arrived at St. Freya Academy.

Always the one to develop Herrscher powers for practical use, Elias had long treated his Void abilities as a personal storage system. Ultra convenient~

"So cool..."

"Big Brother Elias—is he a magician or something?"

"Um, didn't he always kinda have... superpowers?"

"If we become Valkyries too, will we be able to do stuff like that? That's amazing!"

Elias patted their heads fondly.

Then he looked down at the imitation Star of Eden in his hand.

Though it didn't contain the Previous Era's Herrscher Core of Earth, it functioned nearly identically to the original Divine Key.

With a touch of his power, Elias reinforced the outer casing to keep it from being as fragile as in the story—then casually tossed it to Bronya.

"Duck, it's yours."

"Really?"

"Of course. It's just a replica Star of Eden. As long as I have enough Honkai energy, I can mass-produce these things. And with this, your combat ability should rank S-Class."

"Mm!"

Bronya nodded vigorously and clutched the Star of Eden tightly to her chest.

Elias wasn't exaggerating. With all the weapons he'd developed and linked through Project Bunny 19C, Bronya now had full access to overwhelming firepower.

Her firepower alone had already surpassed the A-rank Valkyrie threshold.

Put her on the battlefield and she could suppress tens of thousands of enemies solo. And with the Star of Eden added in...

Calling her a pseudo-Herrscher of Reason wouldn't be wrong.

"The Hyperion's here. Everyone, prepare to board."

Elias spotted the warship approaching on the horizon.

Only three people could ride the jet-form Project Bunny during the trip over—but now, there were far too many for that. It would be dangerously overloaded.

Besides, the House of the Hearth girls weren't like the triple-As who could ride motorcycles with a dozen passengers or cram a thousand into a single train car.

So he'd requested a pickup from the academy last night.

(That's my woman—Himeko really gets it~)

Elias smiled to himself.

Originally, he'd just planned to request a transport ship. After all, he'd only been a Herrscher for three days—not quite enough time to conjure a full-sized warship by hand.

But Himeko said screw it—let's send the Hyperion. Who cares about energy costs? In this world, what's more important than making an entrance?

Humans are vain by nature. Even Bronya couldn't resist showing off her Big Duck form. And Elias? Of course he'd want to show off in front of his girls too.

"Welcome aboard, Captain~"

The bay doors opened, and there stood Himeko in her red battle uniform, leading a squad of Valkyries to greet them.

The fitted military uniform of a Valkyrie clung tightly to the curvaceous figure of the red-haired beauty. On Himeko, it was both alluring and commanding. Even after her transformation, Big Duck's physique still fell a bit short in terms of sheer presence.

Gulp! xN

The girls of House of the Hearth swallowed in unison.

Himeko's figure and aura were exactly what they dreamed of becoming. One day, they wanted to be women like her.

Elias, however, didn't recommend that goal. Sure, Himeko looked the part—but no one knew better than him what she was like at home.

Couldn't cook, loved to drink, completely useless at housework... Really, she only scored perfect marks in figure, looks, charisma, power, and responsibility.

Hmm, well... those last few traits kind of overshadowed the rest, didn't they?

"Isn't this a bit overkill? I mean, it's one thing for you—but bringing a whole class of students with you? Theresa actually allowed this nonsense?"

"Mmhmm~ That's because this morning, Schicksal delivered a batch of B-rank Valkyrie armor."

"Ah, well—that explains everything."

Elias nodded in immediate understanding.

St. Freya Academy lacked the means to produce its own Valkyrie armor and had been using outdated models for a while.

But just two days ago, Elias had managed to scam 300 brand-new B-rank armors out of Otto. Theresa was thrilled beyond words.

So she was more than willing to overlook a bit of chaos~

These new arrivals were among the first to be assigned armor. Seeing the shiny, power-boosting equipment, these Valkyries weren't just happy to show up—they'd probably call Elias "Daddy" if he asked.

Feeling the adoring gazes from his girls, Elias' vanity was thoroughly satisfied.

"Ah~ Showing off is so fun! But... Rita, why are you here too?"

He blinked at the figure standing among the uniformed Valkyries.

In a crowd of formal military wear, Rita still wore her signature Umbral Rose maid outfit, making her stand out all the more.

Not that she needed the outfit—her elegance and beauty stood out anywhere.

"Surely you jest, Lord Elias. I am your maid. If my master is returning, of course I must come greet him."

"I see. As expected of a pro." Elias gave a thumbs-up, impressed by Rita's unwavering dedication.

The girls of House of the Hearth all boarded the Hyperion.

Elias changed into a crisp white military uniform, topped with a white officer's cap, and sat stylishly in the captain's chair—undeniably the ship's commander.

He'd recently passed the S-rank warship captain exam, and Theresa had kept her promise: the Hyperion was now his personal ride.

With 6 430mm railguns, 6 270mm guns, 10 close-range defense systems, a Nexus-20 energy conduit, a 133-meter anti-ship blade called Solarbrand, and a super electromagnetic railgun—

Even among Schicksal's forces, this was a top-tier warship. It could handle anything short of Judgment-class Honkai Beasts.

Still, Elias wasn't satisfied. He was already planning to upgrade the Hyperion's weapon systems with his powers—

Minimum requirement: 5x the firepower.

...

Upon returning to St. Freya Academy—

Elias first found a place to re-deploy the House of the Hearth villa. With so much unused space and Valkyrie dorms already resembling mansions, the addition didn't stand out at all.

Next came the most critical step: the artificial stigma implantation procedure.

Elias decided to handle it personally.

Clean, efficient, and without the slightest hitch—Elias completed the artificial stigma implantation surgery for the girls. Watching nearby, Himeko, Rita, and the other Valkyries were green with envy.

Himeko: "Ugh~ Can't compare. Back when I got mine, I thought I was going to pass out from the pain."

Rita: "Please, Lady Himeko, don't remind me of those memories. Even with professional training, that's an experience I'd never want to repeat."

Other Valkyries: "Why do these girls look like they're actually enjoying it?! Compared to them, what the hell was all that suffering we went through? Why didn't I meet Elias sooner?!"

Back in their day, stigma surgery was done without anesthesia. Breaking a few teeth from the pain was totally normal.

Though it looked like Dr. Elias was just that skilled, the truth was—thanks to the Herrscher of Rebirth's powers—he could fuse stigmata painlessly and without any risk of Honkai corruption.

Aside from naturally gifted Valkyries born with stigmata, the girls of House of the Hearth had just become the luckiest Valkyries in history.

When Theresa found out, she was over the moon.

"To think you could even do this... My decision to bring you to the academy was the best thing I've ever done!"

In just a few months, Elias had completely revolutionized St. Freya Academy.

Enrollment had soared.

Herrscher-tier powerhouses joined the ranks.

Valkyries were no longer threatened by Honkai corruption.

Cooperation with Anti-Entropy had grown stronger and friendlier.

Schicksal had sent over a large number of top-grade Valkyrie armors.

And now, even artificial stigmata surgeries could be done safely and painlessly.

The more Theresa thought about it, the more it felt like she'd picked up the greatest treasure of her life. She even started to wonder if meeting Elias had used up all her luck for the next decade.

Theresa: (No wonder my gacha pulls have been trash lately... but totally worth it!)

Just from being able to eliminate Honkai corruption and perform flawless stigma implants—

Theresa could already predict it: Elias would be adored by every single Valkyrie. There would be no such thing as a Valkyrie who didn't like Elias.

And after passing the Hyperion's captain qualification test, Elias' role had officially changed. He wasn't just a student anymore.

In theory, he now held command authority over any Valkyrie ranked A or below.

Though Valkyries at St. Freya were students, they were also soldiers. Each one held a military rank.

And as soldiers, obeying orders was their duty.

From now on, following Elias' orders was the duty of most of the school.

Theresa had been waiting for this moment. Once Elias became a captain, she immediately assigned him a secret new title—

Medical Director of St. Freya Academy.

Theresa: "I mean, what choice do I have? The guy's just too damn versatile. Especially when it comes to healing. Our casualty rate is going to drop like a rock!"

No matter how bad the injury—

As long as there was still breath in your body—wait, scratch that. Even if your soul hadn't left your body yet, even if all that was left was your head—

Elias could bring you back.

Fighting the Honkai was dangerous.

No matter how much you trained, against higher-tier Honkai Beasts, survival came down to luck. Severe injuries, lost limbs, and permanent disabilities were all too common.

But humans aren't machines. You can't just swap out arms and legs. A disabled Valkyrie would be forced to retire early—and her life would never be the same.

Not anymore.

With the Herrscher of Rebirth present, as long as you weren't totally dead, any injury could be healed.

Which was why Theresa had issued a new directive to the Valkyries of St. Freya:

Your mission is to survive!

No matter how bad the injury—don't give up!

Even if you have to crawl back with your teeth clamped on a rock—get back!

And Elias will have you fully healed in under a minute!

"I really was so lucky to bring you to this school. You're the savior of Valkyries!"

Theresa lavished him with praise.

"I appreciate that—but I'd be a lot happier if we could also handle... the follow-up issues better."

Elias sighed.

"Huh? What issues?"

"The issue where every Valkyrie I heal insists on... offering herself to me."

"...Wh-what."

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