Himeko and Pom-Pom stopped what they were doing as they heard the sound of music playing. 

"Do you guys hear that?" March asked as she exited her room with Stelle in tow. "It's kind of relaxing," 

"It's not from the Phonograph," Pom-Pom said, waddling to the parlor car along with the group. Having nothing to do, the female nameless and Dan Heng entered the parlor, only to watch in awe at the sight of Welt Yang, nodding as their newest companion, aside from Stelle, sat behind a grand piano. 

The young man moved gracefully and fluidly as he let his hands play the notes of the music. 

"I see, so you were the one that wrote this song," Welt said.

"Yeah, I left the notes in my journal. Bronya probably found it and she must have used it." Cerberus replied as he finished playing the song. 

"You always were a good musician, only second to your skills in combat," Welt said, adjusting his glasses. "Although, you are a better geologist," 

"Well, I do cheat in that regard," Cerberus said with a smile. "Speaking of which, how were Bronya and Seele? Did they get married yet?" 

"Are they talking about Seele and Bronya?" 

"Can't believe Bronya made a gaming company and she even interned with you," Cerberus said with a mile. "Is that favoritism, Uncle Welt?" 

"Well, she is my student and successor," Welt said with a smile. "Just like you and little Reese,"

"One, that little shit is my niece. Two, Reese is a gremlin," Cerberus said with a smile, fondly remembering his niece and how excitable she had been. 

"Really? She perfectly reminds me of you when you were younger," Welt said with a smile before the mood turned somber. "And Kiana," 

"Kiana... huh?" 

"She helped raise Reese." 

"She did not take no for an answer, did she?" Cerberus said, his voice softening as he remembered his childhood friend.

"And you'll be in a world of hurt if she finds out that you proposed to Asta," the Herrscher of reason, said with a smile. 

"I doubt that," Cerberus said with a smile 

"Well, Kiana was one of the few that believed you were still alive," Welt said with a smile. "In fact, she worked hard and even has a unit named after you, Gaius company," 

"Hard to believe that Kiana, a girl obsessed with being a pervert towards Mei, could be so focused on a task,"  Cerberus said.

"Well, you spent 8 years in a seal," Welt said with a kind smile, shocking the audience. 

"8 years... it felt like a long time inside the seal," Cerberus whispered as he leaned back, falling off the stool only to float in the middle of the air. 

"Sealing an ancient and unstoppable force does that to you. And the fact that you are weaker now but still able to fight like you once did, it's still terrifying to think." Welt said with a smile. 

"My spear arm is still as strong and my swordsmanship skills got better." 

"But you're still better with a bow compared to them, after all, didn't you shoot down a god-like being with your bow and stone lances, oh, Herrscher of the Cosmos?" 

"Why, thank you for the compliment, Herrscher of Reason," Cerberus said with a smile as a pair of wine glasses appeared in his hand and Welt's own. Osmanthus wine filled the glasses as the former Geo Archon took the scent, reminiscing on days long gone, and with a sip, he found himself back in the express with just him. "Osmanthus wine tastes the same as I remember..." Stelle and the trailblazers blinked as they heard the sheer melancholy in Cerberus' voice. "But where are those who share the memory?" 

It was then that the entire crew of the express saw how burdened the former Archon was. He looked old, older than he should have been. 

"You can still return," Welt said, looking at his nephew. 

"I can't... they all moved on now. I can't burden them." Cerberus said as he drank the wine, finishing it in one go. "Even if I do, I no longer have a place there," 

"The road of a ruler or an Archon is a lonely path," Welt said, remembering how the young man in front of him once fought by himself against overwhelming odds, not once retreating or yielding. 

"And only another ruler knows the burden of leading," Cerberus finished as he stood up. "But still, I want to explore and find new worlds, it always has been my wish." 

"And not the creation of an empire? Do I need to remind you of your proposal to Miss Asta?" Welt said, causing the young former Archon to sigh. 

"Tesla," 

"Touche, my nephew, Touche," Welt said with a smile. "You know, Kiana will never forgive you if she finds out," 

A shiver formed on the former archon's body. "Well, I am putting as much space between-," 

"You stink thief!" Reese Crozzo, Cerberus' nephew suddenly popped in the express in a holographic form. 

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Cerberus shouted as he saw the state of his niece. "THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT!" Reese, who was going to reprimand Cerberus, cowered as the young man raised his voice. "How can this little gremlin use the Adeptus art of Dream Trawler? Without a ritual!" 

"I'm not a gremlin!" The hologram Reese shouted angrily as she kicked his shin, only to jump and hold onto her foot in pain. Gently, the former archon grabbed his niece's cheek and defying the laws of reality, stretched the hologram's cheek. "No! Let me go! Stinky-rus!" 

"I had to meditate and shift through 6,000 years worth of memory just to learn it and a few weeks to revise the ritual!" Cerberus then stretched her cheek, causing Himeko to sweat-drop at the sudden shift of attitude of the former Archon, from melancholy to annoyed pride. "And you managed to use it in just a few days after I lent you a portion of my power- thwack!" 

An amber spear smacked the young man on the head, causing him to fall and grab his head while Reese held her cheek in pain. The uncle and niece duo, rolled on the floor of the express as they tried to ignore the pain. Welt just shook his head with a smile. 

"Well, well, how the turn tables," March proudly said with a smile, smugly taking photos of how the former Archon rolled and held his head in pain. 

"Who is this little one?" Himeko asked, making Reese stare at her in awe. 

"Pretty lady!" Reese shouted with a smile, causing Himeko to giggle at the holographic child. "Hello! I'm Rillianne! Rillianne Crozzo! You can call me Reese!" 

"You little gremlin!" Cerberus shouted, holding his Niece delicately yet firmly as he rubbed his knuckles on the girl's head playfully. 

"No! Let me go, stinky thief!" Reese shouted as she tried to wriggle from her uncle's (she doesn't know) grasp. 

"Why are you calling me a thief anyway?" Cerberus asked, licking his hair back, revealing his right eye that was just covered. 

"Because you stole my uncle's face!" Reese shouted as she finally got off and landed on her bum. "Owiee..." Cerberus looked at Welt and the others, warning them to not reveal anything. 

"Are you gonna ignore her calling you stinky?" Stelle asked, wondering why the girl was here again. 

"She's a gremlin, it happens-" Dan Heng and Welt winced as Reese delivered an amber-coated fist on the former archon's crotch, causing the unyielding Archon to collapse and hold his crotch in pain. "You little-" 

"Shut up! You stole my awesome uncle's face and you made daddy cry!" Reese said, kicking Cerberus while he is down only to slip and fall face-first on the ground, resulting in her crying as she writhed in pain similar to her uncle but holding her face instead. 

====

Back on Earth, 

Adam shivered in fear as he stared at the picture of the legendary friend of her instructor, the same man that the sky people used as a construct that took him, his comrades, instructor, miss Bronya, Miss Seele, and Void Archives to beat. 

"You know, Rex used to own your sword," Mr. Reve, the sword-saint of Schicksal said with a smile as he fondly looked at the picture of his younger brother. "Rather, he designed the original with Kiana," 

"It did?" 

"Yes, that's why when you fought his construct, he effortlessly beat you until you used your own techniques," Reve said with a smile. "Thankfully, that construct never was able to imitate the reasons why Rex was so terrifying to fight." 

"You mean, he wasn't at full power?" Adam asked, paling in fear as he remembered how much effort it took to beat the construct and how it effortlessly kept up with them all while using a spear the fact that the main weapon he was the best with was a bow, made him thankful that the construct used a spear.

"Yes, if he was, then he would have conjured a nigh-indestructible shield that will reflect all your attacks and manipulate the earth around him," Reve said as the form of his younger brother dueling the original Herrscher of Stars appeared in his mind. "Thankfully, you beat that construct in a duel before I arrived," 

Adam shivered in fear and fell to his knee at the sheer malice and hatred that radiated off the second-born Crozzo's form. If the younger of the two was this terrifying in regards to people insulting their brother, how worse can the oldest be? 

"Well, knowing Rex, he probably has the plan to travel the cosmos and thinks he no longer deserves us. That idiot," Reve whispered with a pained smile. "Don't walk the same path as our brother did, Adam. Rex walked his own, and you should forge yours just as he did," Reve said, gently rubbing his adoptive sibling's head just as he walked away. 

===

Kiana Kaslana smiled as she held onto the white cape that she wore, hugging it tightly, the young woman felt the connection she had with Finality be stronger with each day as she gathered enough power while focusing on the presence deep within the cosmos that contained the power of her best friend. 

"Woah!" Reese, her niece, said in complete awe. "You look so pretty, Auntie Kiana," 

Smiling at the compliment, Kiana looked at her niece... "Why do you look more like a chipmunk than usual?" Kiana asked, noticing how a bit swollen her niece's cheeks were and how she held her foot in pain. 

"I'm not a chipmunk!" Reese shouted as she ran away. The final Herrscher giggled as she watched her niece run away only to trip on a root. "Stupid Auntie... acting like Cerberus." suddenly, the world stood still as a devious grin appeared on the gremlin's face. She remembered the girls that looked like big Sis Seele and Bronya and how they seemed interested in Stinky-Rus like her aunt. 

Standing up and creepily turning around towards Kiana, an amber glow appeared over her eyes, and brown covered the tips of her hair.

"R-Reese?" Kiana asked, finding it creepy and a bit awesome how the kid in front of her managed to use what Rex dubbed the Archon form in less than five days of receiving the power of Geo. 

Somewhere, a young man with H/C hair shivered as images of a child with amber eyes and dark hair with brown tips appeared in his mind while a man with dark hair begged him to stop the gremlin before being whacked away by an amber spear. 

"Oh~ Auntie! You know, I saw Stinky-Cerberus making kissy faces with sexy girls that looked like big sis Bronya and big sis Seele," Reese, the gremlin said, focusing on the image of Seele and Bronya of the world where she first met Cerberus/Rex. "I heard they were gonna Snu-Snu," the child naturally lied as she breathed, fueling the flames of anger at the final Herrscher. 

In her mind, if Auntie Kiana beats Cerberus' butt, then her uncle will return. 

"I... I see, sweetie," Kiana said, causing Reese the gremlin to pale as she found the part she miscalculated. Her Auntie Kiana was a bit of a dumb dumb, but she was a scary lady when angry.

The successor of the geo element sweated nervously as she saw how strained her aunt's smile was and how her eyes were terrifyingly cold. 

"Kiana-chan?" Mei asked, noticing the spike of Honkai energy from her fiancee. "Is something wrong?" 

Shivering in fear, Reese panicked. Her plan backfired and an angry Auntie  Kiana was a scary Auntie Kiana. 

Having an idea of what happened, Mei looked at Reese in disappointment as she hugged Kiana gently. Thankfully, Kiana's perversion to Mei was stronger than the anger she just had. 

"Wah!!! Grauntie Senti!" Reese cried out to Sentience as she ran away, making a promise to apologize to Cerberus later. 

====

Mobius hummed as she bathed in the sunlight that entered the room through the windows of the room that she shared with her lover and the father of her child. Naked as the day she was born, Mobius gently brushed Reinhardt's hair. She was relieved to find out that her little brother, Rex, was alive. Sure, she had some idea but to confirm it was another thing. 

"Well, it's so glad to see you relaxed like this," Mobius whispered before glaring in annoyance at how a pair of pink gem-like eyes looking at her mischievously, "Shut up," Mobius said, pushing Elysia away only for the pink-haired woman to giggle and curl up while hugging Reinhardt's sleeping form, several bite marks and red marks littered her body. 

"You three should get up," Kallen said with a smile as she entered the room, dressed in an oversized hoodie with her hair draped over her shoulder. "Rita and Sakura just finished cooking," 

"Aww~ I wanted to spend more time with Rein~," Elysia said, smiling smugly as she held the oldest of the Crozzo sibling in front of Kallen. Blue eyes became ice-cold as Kallen turned around and left the room. 

====

Anemo, the girl of promises, smiled as she held them all, seven gems. 

Yellow for the ideal of contracts of the Geo element, earned through a contract with the successor of her father

Purple for the ideal of eternity from Electro, willingly given,

Green for the ideal of wisdom from Dendro, gained through the equivalent exchange of knowledge

Red for the ideal of war from Pyro gained through martial might

Blue for the ideal of Justice gained through manipulation of the 

Ice-blue for the ideal of love gained through her desire to reunite with her father

finally,

Cyan for the ideal of freedom, the same ideal her father gave his entire being for. 

"The garden of recollection has agreed, princess of recollection,," a formless entity whispered as Anemo smiled. The winds around her picked up to reveal her true form, a teen with bright sky-blue eyes that glowed with the power of finality. Beautiful black hair tied to a ponytail with white streaks that harmoniously sang and danced with each other. A beautiful white dress with golden accents and cyan outlines covered her dress as she let out a hum. A golden tiara was pressed on her head, keeping her bangs away from her hair.  

The white dress that she wore similar to her mother's was the final gift her father had given her just as his soul broke, yet through sheer will, he had granted her a lot, a name, a life, a dream, and more. 

----

Omake: Why Rex can't go back

"So, Cerberus," March said, looking at the young man who was deep in his meditation on the middle of the pond. "Why can't you go back home?" 

"I swear to god that if you don't get out of here, I'll make you my bitch!" Were the hidden meaning of Kiana's words as she desperately tried to break the seal 

Cerberus, who used a modified version of the Adeptus art, Dream Trawler, found himself shivering in fear as he noticed how Kiana prepared a lot of things and he saw a collar and a whip with the label, "For stupid Rex,". 

Mei was not any better. The innocent princess he once knew was gone and she was sharpening a lot of Knives. The former Archon knew that he would be killed by a pissed-off Former Herrscher as evidenced by her mumbling his name over an over again. 

He also saw Bronya reading over a PDF file that was detailing the best way to detain him should they meet. Luckily, Seele hasn't changed a bit. 

"I have done a lot of evil things and I can only go back once I have repented for them all," 

"Translation: I am too scared to go back home," March said, teasing the former archon. 

----

Omake: Seele (Jarilo-VI) and Cerberus, Scythe shenanigans

"A scythe?" Cerberus asked, holding onto Seele in a princess carry while standing on the tip of his spear that stuck out of a building. 

The Wildfire member blushed a bright red as she was carried by the Amber monarch. 

"Y-yeah... a-any problem with that?!" Seele asked, only to blush more when a sincere and true smile appeared on the Amber monarch's face. Gently, an amber monument formed under the spear as he set her down on it. 

"Look closely," Cerberus said with a wink as an amber pole appeared in his hand before he disappeared into a cloud of amber dust, missing the bright pink dust that covered Seele's face. 

Smiling, Cerberus appeared in front of a group of Fragmentum monsters and effortlessly sidestepped a monster just as a scythe blade appeared while he spun the pole, cleaving the monster in half just as he stabbed the blade through the ground before delivering a one-two combo that stunned a monster that was too close, pushing it back.

Not a moment later, the former Geo Archon kicked the scythe up into the air and thrust it forward like a spear, its tip pierced and severed it in two. Noticing an approaching monster, the former archon jumped into the air while spinning the scythe over his head while using the momentum to effortlessly sever the last monster in half. 

Dispersing the scythe, the former archon tightened his gloves and smoothes his clothes before slicking his hair back, 

"Man, I'm not as good big sis Rita," The former archon whispered as he turned around and noticed the awe-struck look Seele gave him. Remembering how adorable his world's Seele was, the young man gave Jarilo-VI's Seele a wink. 

Stelle observed the two, looking intently at her fellow trailblazer while patting the baseball bat on her palm, making March shiver and hide behind Dan Heng. 

-----

Omake: (pre-story events, during St. Freya academy,) 

Rex Crozzo let out a sigh as he found his friend, Kiana Kaslana's lower half sticking out of the hole that she always used to sneak out. 

"Rex! Help me!" Kiana whined as she kicked her legs, trying to wriggle herself out of the hole. 

"Your ass got fatter, that's why you're stuck,"

"I'm gonna kick your ass if I get out of here!" Kiana roared as her begs for help were replaced by angered noises at the comment Rex made about her butt. 

"If you don't shut up, people will find you," 

"Wait! No! Please help me!" Kiana begged once more before an idea formed in her mind. "wait! Rex! I want you to call Mei-Senpai! She can save me and then," A perverted giggle escaped her lips, causing the Geo Archon to sigh.

Removing his shoe, the young man pressed his foot on Kiana's ass. 

"Kya! Pervert Rex!" She was having way too much fun with this. 

Without effort, the young man used his foot to push Kiana into the hole, with enough force to free her and used an amber construct to plug the hole. Putting his shoe back on, the young man suddenly felt himself get pulled up and before he knew it, Kiana carried him over her head as she ran towards the arcade. 

----

Rex blinked as he saw Mei completely covered in the contents of the condensed milk that just exploded. Wisely, the geo archon handed her a towel and made sure to not face her while using his powers to seal his emotions and... Thoughts regarding the sight away, 

"And you call me a pervert," Kiana whispered and for some reason, the geo archon can see a pair of cat ears and a tail that twitched smugly in the air. "Sorry, but Mei is mine." 

"I have Bronya," The dead stare Kiana gave the archon terrified him. 

----

Rex and Bronya lay on a pair of beach chairs side by side with sunglasses on their eyes. The dup had just won a bet with Kiana and they have enjoyed their rewards. 

"I must say, you are quite the cultured one, Bronya," Rex said with a smile as a bright red Kiana, dressed in a two-piece mai swimsuit uniform with cat ears carried their drinks. 

"Da, Rex-Onii-sama is also a man of culture," Bronya said with a smug undertone in her monotone voice. 

"M-meow~, H-h-here's you drinks, m-master, meow~," Kiana said, stuttering and turning bright red as she said her lines. The gamer and the archon looked at each other with a nod of their heads as they toasted their drinks. 

----

Rex smiled as he rubbed Seele's head, The duo was alone because the other girls were busy with training. Feeling the archon's rough yet gentle hand on top of her head, Seele let out a small chuckle as she leaned in for more. 

"Mr. Rex, look!" Seele, the criminally innocent girl, showed him a HOMU-themed keychain. 

"Bronya would love that," The archon said, enjoying the bright smile that formed on Seele's face. 

"Oh, Mr. Rex, here," Seele said, fishing a locket from her pocket with the shape of a shield. "thank you for always looking out for me," 

"Thank you, Seele," A sincere smile formed on the Archon's face as he looked at the locket, opening it, a small tear formed in his eye as he saw a picture of him and the girls with another picture of him and his family in the other. Not wanting to see the girl see his tear, Rex gently patted her head to make her stop looking at him as he wiped his tear away, 

===

Sneak peek: 

"Woah, those are big tits," Cereberus whispered as he looked at the holographic form of Kafka his face red with the scent of alcohol escaping his mouth. "will you be my ara-ara dommy mommy?"