In a mysterious space that no detection instrument could ever locate.
A massive round table sat at the very center, surrounded by chairs arranged all around it.
Light from some indeterminate source fell upon the great round table, lending it a solemn and imposing air.
Beyond the light, all four directions were consumed by pitch-black darkness. No stars adorned it, no moonlight wandered through it — just pure, absolute black.
As a bell tolled, figures of all different appearances began materializing within this space.
Some had white hair and blue eyes. Some had black hair and black eyes. Some wore expressions as cold and blank as puppets. Others radiated warmth and energy like a blazing fire.
Some were men. Some were women. And some were not human at all.
None of them seemed surprised to find themselves here. They simply found their seats with practiced familiarity and sat down.
Very quickly, every chair around the great round table was filled.
Seeing that nearly everyone had arrived, a young girl with long light-green hair rose from her seat. She held a roster in her hand, her golden eyes sweeping across the assembled figures.
Then she spoke in a tone utterly devoid of emotional inflection: "I'm on duty today. Attendance looks mostly complete — we'll begin roll call now. You all know the procedure. Respond when your name is called."
"Mu?"
"Present." A youth with white hair and blue eyes gave a small nod.
"Lucius?"
"Here." A black-haired young man answered.
"Muu?"
"Present~" A girl with blazing red hair and eyes like rubies smiled and gave a cheerful wave.
"Meow?"
"Mrrrow~" A black cat draped along the edge of the round table raised one fluffy paw.
"Tomb?"
"..."
Unlike the others before her, when 'Tomb' was called, no one stood to answer.
After confirming no response came, Mu swept her gaze around the table and stopped at an empty seat.
"Tomb — confirmed absent. Per the cluster's regulations, weight reduced by 5%." The girl announced in her cool, detached tone, then raised her pen to strike the name from the roster.
At that moment, a flustered voice suddenly rang out.
"Wait — anything but that!"
Everyone looked toward the source. A girl with light-purple long hair and reddish-brown eyes was materializing in the space.
The instant she solidified, she rushed to her seat and dropped into it.
Once she had settled safely in her chair, she let out a long breath of relief and smiled at Mu: "The meeting hasn't started yet, so I'm not technically late. You have no authority to penalize me, Mu."
But Mu only looked her over once and said: "Dress code violation. Conduct damaging to the image of the Lucius Cluster. 5% weight reduction."
At that, Tomb pulled out a small mirror. Reflected in it was a face identical to Elysia's in every way — differing only in hair and eye color.
"What exactly is wrong with how I'm dressed?" Tomb snapped the mirror shut and asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Where is your streak?"
At Mu's question, Tomb looked around the table — and realized that everyone present had some kind of streak or highlight of their own.
Even the black cat draped on the table had a tuft of white fur at the top of its head.
Mu expressionlessly raised her pen and pointed it at Tomb: "You have no streak. That makes you an anomaly among us. This causes an identity distortion within the cluster's self-perception. Per regulations, I am required to penalize you."
"Wait! Who said I don't have a streak!" Tomb parted her light-purple fringe — and there, underneath, was a single lock of pink.
Mu studied her for a moment, then said: "You pass."
She dropped the matter and continued roll call.
Question and answer passed around the round table in turn, voices rising upward beyond it.
Outside the table, the light illuminated this island of activity within the dark.
And beyond the light that bathed the table lay darkness of the most absolute density.
But it seemed no one noticed: from within that darkness — vast as a night sky — faint threads descended, each one connecting to a figure seated below.
Those threads pierced through the darkness, passing through layer after layer of black, until at the very edge of it the darkness gave way to open brightness.
An immensely grand figure spread his hands wide. From his fingertips descended those subtle threads. Looking further upward revealed that this figure was none other than Lucius himself.
He was gazing down at the crystal ball that contained the round table conference within it, hands spread wide, threads dropping from his fingertips — like a puppeteer working a room full of marionettes.
"I'm getting the distinct feeling that I'm developing increasingly schizophrenic tendencies..." Lucius remarked with considerable self-awareness.
The figures seated around the round table below were, in essence, all himself — or more precisely, facets of his personality.
Just as a mountain looks different depending on which angle you view it from, each figure below was a different facet of the individual known as 'Lucius.' Together, they all assembled into the true nature of the mountain called 'Lucius.'
Yes — while the facets gathered around the round table appeared to be having back-and-forth discussions, in his own perception, it was from beginning to end nothing but himself talking to himself...
"One person playing a hundred different roles — if I were ever committed to a psychiatric ward, I'd probably never get out."
As for why he was doing this, there were two reasons.
One was naturally efficiency. After all, a single person's capacity is ultimately finite. It was impossible for him to simultaneously be Mei's father figure, Kiana's good brother, Eden's best girlfriend, Kallen's trusted partner...
But if he could split himself into dozens or even hundreds of facets, then it actually became possible.
Looking at the practical results over this period, the efficiency of advancing the plot had indeed increased dramatically.
The second reason was, naturally, to scheme toward a certain Herrscher position that would appear in the future.
In the future main storyline, almost all Herrscher positions were pre-assigned — each one had a corresponding character slotted in.
But among all those positions, there was one with no definitive main storyline character assigned to it. Which meant he had the freedom to arrange who that Herrscher authority would fall to.
And that Herrscher was — the Herrscher of Domination.
Usurping the position of the Herrscher of Domination was still a long way off, however. What needed to be done now was to resolve the matter of Sa, then recreate the First and Second Honkai Wars to push the plot fully into the main storyline.
"But before any of that — to prevent dying on the eve of defeating Finality, I must first deal with the great threat that is Elysia."
Lucius had come to realize that given Elysia's mobility and her knowledge of him, playing an endless game of hide-and-seek with her was simply not viable.
Elysia could afford to fail an infinite number of times. But one wrong move on his part and that woman would beat him to his knees!
And so, upon unleashing his world-shaking brilliance, Lucius had devised a method to resolve this great threat once and for all.
An irrepressible smile tugged at the corner of Lucius's mouth. His fingertips trembled lightly, sending vibrations traveling down the threads to the round table conference below.
At this moment, roll call had concluded. The many facets had begun discussing their recent operational plans.
And the most pressing matter of all was, naturally, dealing with Sova — that incomprehensible country bumpkin from outer space.
With Kallen's Binding Authority and pseudo-divine power available, as long as Sa could be trapped, the Cocoon of Finality would step in and handle her.
But Sa clearly still had backup plans. There were unanswered questions surrounding both Nicholas and the projection disguised as the white moonlight.
And to resolve this mess, it couldn't be left unaddressed.
Therefore, they needed to simultaneously seal off the descended Sa, while also having someone keep an eye on the white moonlight and Nicholas — cutting off Sova's means of retreat.
As the discussion continued, the facet codenamed 'Tomb' — the Faded Elf — rose from her seat. She pressed both hands flat on the table, her expression filled with unwavering resolve.
"Everyone — leave it to me to cut off Sova's retreat!"
This drew surprised reactions from quite a few of the others.
"Tomb, you've never shown interest in anything except Elysia. Why are you being so proactive this time?"
The Faded Elf clenched her fist, sweeping the room with a serious gaze. "That's because I am filled with a profound love for Earth and humanity. Defending Earth, repelling a cosmic country bumpkin — this Faded Elf will not shirk her duty!"
At those words, quite a number of the other facets made no effort to hide their looks of contempt.
"Defending Earth? You just want to pin down Elysia, don't you?"
Having her true thoughts exposed, the Faded Elf showed not the faintest trace of shame. If anything she straightened up taller.
"I won't deny it — but precisely because of that, I have more than enough motivation to complete the mission!" Her gaze swept across the room as she declared without the least embarrassment: "Who here can claim they'd be more motivated than me for this particular task?"
"...Fair enough. When it comes to letting the lower brain override the upper one, I cannot compete." Mu said in her flat, detached tone. "In that case — let's put it to a vote."
Per the regulations of the Lucius Cluster, in cases of diverging opinions, the majority prevailed.
The vote results came back quickly.
"Basically unanimous approval~?"
The Faded Elf was absolutely delighted — because the collective choice of the facets was also the choice of Lucius himself.
And since nearly everyone had voted in favor, it meant that when it came to matters involving Elysia, everyone was letting the lower brain drive the upper.
And what did that say?
It said that her singular devotion to Elysia was completely justified!
"I won't let everyone down." The Faded Elf made her grand declaration. Then her eyes filled with little pink hearts. "Wheeze wheeze wheeze~! Elysia, my Elysia."
"That's quite enough!" Cold sweat broke out across the foreheads of the assembled facets as they stared at her with exasperated disbelief. "I can't believe this embarrassing creature is actually one of our facets."
But given the rules — once a vote was cast it could not be overturned — everyone could only watch helplessly as she completely lost herself.
"Well then, I'm off to apprehend — I mean, intercept Sa." The Faded Elf's figure gradually faded from the conference.
What the Faded Elf did not know was that the moment she departed, every trace of contempt vanished from the other facets' faces — replaced simultaneously by the exact same knowing smile curling at the corner of each pair of lips.
"Heh heh heh! She probably thinks she's being incredibly clever, doesn't she?"
"Luring Elysia and Sa into a mutual beat-down and then sweeping in to capture Elysia while they're both worn out — does she really think that little scheme is hidden from us?"
"This idiot has had her upper brain hijacked by her lower brain's obsession with Elysia, causing a catastrophic drop in intelligence. Among the entire Lucius network — she is the dumbest one!"
"Since she volunteered herself so enthusiastically — let her make a tiny little sacrifice. After all, whose fault is it for being a dunce?"
Above the curtain, Lucius laughed.
Yes — this too was a scheme. A thoroughly clichéd one at that.
First, he would manipulate the Faded Elf into beating Elysia to her knees.
At the moment Elysia fell into despair, he would appear in the role of the hero — defeating the villainous Faded Elf, saving the beauty in her darkest moment, becoming that single ray of light for Elysia in the depths of her desperation.
In doing so, the multiply-offending Faded Elf would be completely and permanently separated from his own image — and he, Lucius, would remain Elysia's beloved good older brother.
With a debt of gratitude that deep, Elysia would have no reason whatsoever to beat him to his knees ever again.
As for the cost?
"Heh… the Faded Elf will just have to suffer a little."
"She's still 'me,' after all. I'm sure she won't mind."
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