Elysia Strikes Again

Inside a dimly lit room, a blonde-haired man is enjoying his wine while looking at the white-haired girl fighting the white beasts on the outskirt of the town.

"Hmm… K-423's movements are getting better," he thought. "Amber," he called his aide standing behind him. "Release two more Honkai Beasts next time," he ordered.

"I don't think that is a good idea, Lord Otto," Amber replied. "ME Corp might notice something odd when more Honkai Beasts are in the area. Moreover, there have been sightings of 'Binding' in the city," she added.

"ME Corp, huh? I heard their president is part of Anti-Entropy," Otto mused. If they are part of Anti-Entropy, Otto might not be able to get into a friendly negotiation with them.

*Beep* *Beep*

"I got some news from our spy inside the Radical faction of Anti-Entropy, Lord Bishop," Amber started after getting a notification from a tablet. "The leader of Radical faction, Cocolia, had filed a lawsuit against ME Corp's president, Raiden Ryoma," she informed her superior about the content from the report.

"AHAHAHAHA!!!" Otto laughed out loud. "Infighting? Seriously?" Otto is genuinely saddened to see his old friend's group become like this. Even if they parted on bad terms, Otto's respect for the first Herrscher of Reason is real.

"Anyway, that works in our favor. With that, ME Corp won't have time to worry about our little experiment," Otto smirks. "As for 'Binding'… I have already come to agreement with her. She won't interfere unless we put her precious person into danger."

"Lord Bishop, this is Rita," The two inside the room heard a knock on the door.

"Come in, Rita. Do you have anything you wish to report? It is not like you to come here personally while leaving Bianca alone," Otto asked.

"I wish to report about the boy, Lord Bishop," Rita answered after walking near Otto.

"Ah yes, that boy," Otto suddenly remembered. He has been seeing that boy during K-423's lunchtime these days. Otto must admit that the boy does look like him, but that's it. Nothing is surprising about that. "I should order them to return this week. Durandal is more needed in other places than watching over a random boy," he thought.

"His name is Lloyd Mervyn, 16 years old. Currently living together with a female roommate and a maid. As if he suddenly appeared out of nowhere this year, our investigation prior this year yielded no result," Rita started.

"Hmm… interesting," Otto mused. "I might have to reevaluate him then," he thought.

"Four days ago, Durandal-sama sneaked up on him on his way back from his work," that sentence made Otto groan in annoyance. Durandal… his student, is still as hot-headed as ever.

"But thanks to that, we managed to learn something interesting from him," Rita taps on the tablet, pulling out a slide and showing it on the large screen in front of the blonde-haired man.

"Lloyd Mervyn is proficient in fighting CQC and according to him, his mother taught him for self-defense," Rita started.

"I see…," Otto sips the wine in his glass. "Can you win?"

"I afraid not, Lord Otto. Even in his brief interaction with Durandal-sama, I'm afraid Durandal-sama will lose if the fight keeps going and Durandal-sama noticed that too," Rita replies in shame.

"Interesting," Otto mused. He knew his student's fighting skills the best. It seems he must reevaluate the usefulness of that boy. Furthermore, his closeness to K-423… Oh yeah. It's all coming together.

"Mister Lloyd's trust in us seemed to double after knowing we are from Schicksal," Rita informed the man sitting on the chair. "According to him, he was born and raised in Schicksal back in his branch," she added.

Otto was confused. He thought his organization mainly raised girls to fight against Honkai. Although there are boys, they are rare, and he can even remember all the boys' names. And the one who can fight on the frontline, such as the boy, is even rarer.

"Which branch?" he asked.

"Imaginary Tree's branch, Lord Otto," Rita replied.

Otto blinks and blinks again. "Wait, Rita. I might have heard wrong, but which branch is he from?"

"Another branch of the Imaginary Tree, Lord Overseer," Rita replied.

"How?" This time, even Otto was stunned by how absurd it sounded. Traveling from one Bubble Universe to another, he understands. But one Imaginary Tree branch to another? It should be impossible.

"Mister Lloyd also said he didn't know how he got here," Rita answered with a hint of disappointment, but she didn't show it on her face.

"Is that so?" Otto's voice trailed off. "Did he tell you anything about his branch?" he asked. Even a little bit of information can be beneficial for his goal. After all, different branches might have gone down into a different path unknown to him.

"According to him, it was 1487 back in his branch," Rita's answer made Otto widen his eyes slightly.

"Did… did he tell you anything about that branch?" The blonde-haired man's voice trembled a little. Hey, at least he can hope, right?

"You are the Overseer of Schicksal in his branch," Rita's words struck into his ears like thunder as he almost slumped down on the chair as if all the energy in his body suddenly left him.

"If I am already an Overseer then Kallen must be…," he thought. He shouldn't let his hope up. "Rita… give him some money to take care of himself. And if he is interested, invite him to Schicksal HQ," Otto ordered.

"Er… Lord Overseer, I have more to report," Rita said, gaining Otto's attention.

"What is it?" Otto sips the wine to calm himself.

"We have found a DNA that matches with him," Rita gave her report.

"Hmm… it must be his descendant then," Otto nods in understanding. He doesn't know if DNA compositions are the same between two different Imaginary Tree branches, but he can learn about it later.

"I'm afraid that is incorrect, Lord Overseer. The results we got were not for the descendants but for his mother," Rita replied.

"What do you mean? I don't have any DNA from 500 years ago stored inside the database beside—" As if a sudden realization hit him, Otto suddenly stopped speaking.

"The DNA result we got indicates that Mister Lloyd Mervyn is Saint Kallen Kaslana's child, in turn proving his words to be correct. That includes him saying that Saint Kallen Kaslana is still an active part of Schicksal," Rita spoke slowly.

"That's good," Otto muttered. "That's good," his heart is beating wildly, and his voice is trembling. "She's still alive," he added.

Although that person is not his Kallen, he is glad to know that she fell in love and started a family. Even if the person she fell in love with is not him, all is well as long as she is happy. This news makes him even more determined to carry on with his plan… to revive his Kallen.

Otto doesn't need to ask others that the boy is not his child because neither Otto nor Kallen has purple eyes. So, Kallen must have found a man with purple eyes and fell in love with him. Thinking that, Otto felt bitter in his heart.

"Durandal-sama managed to photograph the family photo of Mister Lloyd. Would you like to see it?" Rita asked her superior.

"That…," Otto does not want to see it. He doesn't want to see the face of that man who stole Kallen's heart. The Overseer of Schicksal doesn't want to see it, yet he still wants to see Kallen's smile. He wants to see how happy Kallen was when he was actually competent back then.

Gritting his teeth, Otto replied, "Put that on the screen, Rita."

"As you wish, Lord Overseer," Rita searched for the photo and pulled it onto the screen, which Otto used to watch K-423's movements.

Otto chugs the wine in his glass, waiting to see the stranger's face. But… "Eh?" It wasn't a stranger's face he saw. It was his. It was him smiling together with Kallen and the boy.

"Rita… This… is this the correct picture?" Otto asked. He steeled himself to look at another man's face, not himself.

"It should be, Lord Overseer," Rita replied. "It was the photo he showed us," she added.

"Tell me everything he told you," Otto's eyes sharpened. He had to change his plan according to what the boy knew.

While Otto returned to his usual planning, our MC was having a nightmare about his previous life.

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Lloyd's POV,

It was the day LLOYD realized that he had become the Herrscher. Sitting before ELYSIA, who looked unsurprisingly bubbly, LLOYD was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You are a Herrscher," he started. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it without speaking.

"Yup!" ELYSIA replied. But her brilliance dimmed immediately. "Are you disappointed in me for lying to you? To everyone?"

"Of course not!" He replied without missing a beat. "ELLIE is the purest person I've ever met. There's no way I am disappointed in you because of a single lie," he added. "I was just thinking… if we were wrong to fight against the Herrschers," LLOYD smiled wryly.

"Why?" ELYSIA asked in confusion and with a hint of sadness for LLOYD. She knew he would do anything to defeat Honkai, including sacrificing himself and his subordinates. The death of SAKURA and RIN must have broken him a lot to make him say this.

"It's just… even a pure person can become a Herrscher. I thought if… if we could reach an agreement with the Herrschers before they went berserk," the whitehead huffed.

"You know it is impossible, my dear LLOYD," the pink head shook her head.

"I know," LLOYD heaved out a tired sigh. "I learned about it the hard way," he added.

ELYSIA knew what he was talking about without even asking him. There was a moment of silence between them.

"And ELLIE," LLOYD leaned forward. "I want to be part of whatever you are planning," he requested firmly.

"You didn't even know what I was planning," ELYSIA pouted, and LLOYD looked over her warmly.

"Because I knew ELLIE would never harm humanity," the smile didn't go away from LLOYD's face. "I trust you to make the best and the most romantic choice," he added.

A beautiful smile bloomed on ELYSIA's face. It made her remember what her dear friend EDEN told her about the meeting that was held without her. "Humanity had lost its brilliance the moment they started doubting ELLIE," was LLOYD's reply to the invitation, and he refused to attend said meeting.

That had warmed her heart, but she couldn't let him die along with her. Not when he had shown her that there could be a Herrscher with a human heart.

"I will take no for an answer, ELLIE," Noticing ELYSIA's dilemma, LLOYD shut off her other options. "I knew you'll be sacrificing yourself for us, the Flame Chasers, to unite and stay together," he added.

"Why would you spoil the fun, my dear LLOYD," ELYSIA pouted again. "This cute ELYSIA doesn't want you to die," she added.

"I know, ELLIE. I know," Lloyd sighed. "It's just… I have no reason to live, you know? With SAKURA and RIN dead, I only have two choices ahead of me. Kill myself or die together with you," he scratched the back of his head. His eyes are filled with the desire to die.

"LLOYD?"

"Yes, ELLIE?"

"What is that in your pocket?"

"This?" LLOYD pulled out a box from his pocket. Opening it, a beautiful diamond ring appeared. "I was going to ask SAKURA for her hand in marriage," he pushed the box toward ELYSIA. "Ha! I guess I am cursed with bad luck. Every woman I fell in love with died one way or another," he mocked himself.

"LLOYD?" ELYSIA was staring at the ring inside the box with a strange glint in her eyes.

"Whatever you are thinking, we are not doing that, ELLIE," LLOYD knew the look on her face. That is the face of the social terrorist trying to do something insane.

"My dear LLOYD, I haven't said anything yet," ELYSIA looked like LLOYD had wronged her.

"I know that look on your face, ELLIE," LLOYD sighed. "You are thinking something… out of norm," he chose a polite word because he didn't want to be rude to the pink-haired girl.

"Please?"

"No, don't give me that—"

The next day, the rest of the thirteen Flame Chasers and MEI got an [redirected] invitation from ELYSIA and LLOYD.

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Author's Notes;

So, Otto is now aware that he has a son with Kallen in another branch, and said person is currently working as a butler in his branch. Man, this totally changed the direction I was going with the story. This fic won't be like the one from my Evil Lord's fic.

I must applaud Otto for his bravery. Just to see Kallen's smile, he forced himself to look at the face of a man who knocked up his childhood crush. Well, the joke's on you, buddy. You get to see your face in the photo.

Elysia is so hard to write. No matter how much I try, I can't seem to write her correctly. Her personality is… how to say? Unique?

As you've seen from the interaction between Lloyd and Elysia, Lloyd is not a person who will say 'No' to Elysia. He's that much of a simp. I mean, who doesn't simp for Elysia?

Another issue I want to bring up is about using capitalized letters for the names from the Lloyd part of this chapter. Well, I'll be using capitalized letters for the names whenever I write about the Previous Era. But I won't use it on the Flame Chasers inside the Elysian Realm.

Now, I will stop the chapter here. I still don't know when I'll release the next chapter yet. Maybe in a week or two… I hope?