"Hypnotized by the Key of Sentience?"
After becoming S-Rank Valkyries, Durandal and Rita had been granted permission to view data on Herrschers.
Thus, upon hearing Otto's words, the two confirmed one thing to a certain extent.
The possibility of Siegfried being brainwashed by Anti-Entropy... wasn't non-existent... wait, something's wrong?
"Wait, Lord Overseer. We know that the Herrscher of Sentience can invade consciousness, yes. But is the 8th Divine Key truly in Anti-Entropy's hands right now?"
"Oh, I can assure you, the original Key of Sentience, [Fenghuang Down], is certainly not in their hands."
???
Hearing Otto say this so decisively, Durandal was even more confused.
Didn't you just say my dad was hypnotized by Anti-Entropy?
And now you say they don't have the Key of Sentience? What is going on???
"All right, hear me out."
In that instant, several gilded feathers suddenly appeared before their eyes.
At this moment, both of them felt their consciousness seemingly drifting away from their bodies.
"...!"
Realizing what was happening, Durandal took a nervous step back.
"This is a small portion of the 8th Divine Key, Fenghuang Down's power. Bianka, you should be well aware. During your special training, I used my 1st Divine Key, [Void Archives], more than once to simulate this power."
"Yes... You did indeed use this power on me during training."
Retracting the power of the mimicked Fenghuang Down, Otto allowed Rita to regain her consciousness as well.
"Anti-Entropy's Sovereign, Welt, was the First Herrscher, the [Herrscher of Reason]. With his power, 'creating' a Divine Key is difficult, but not impossible."
"During the Second Honkai Eruption, according to the combat reports Siegfried submitted at the time, Welt used his created 'Star of Eden' to achieve effects identical to the original Divine Key."
"After Siegfried rebelled, I deduced that Anti-Entropy possessed other replica Divine Keys left by Welt. After inferring that they might have replicated the Key of Sentience, I used the Void Archives to mimic the Key of Sentience's power to train you after you became an S-Rank Valkyrie."
"After all, if my guess is correct, they have already used this power to bewitch Siegfried. Then in the future, no one can guarantee they won't use this power to bewitch you."
"And that is the reason I used Fenghuang Down during your training."
After saying this, Otto sighed once more.
"That is the truth of the matter. Although I have little credibility internally or externally, and everyone thinks I am a man who prioritizes profit—well, that impression isn't actually far off."
"I, Otto Apocalypse, am just that kind of person. So think about it carefully: what benefit would I gain from killing Cecilia and forcing Siegfried to rebel?"
"If Cecilia were still alive and Siegfried still at Schicksal, having two more S-Ranks under my command would make things much easier. Unless I was sick in the head, I would have no reason to lay a murderous hand on two of my important subordinates."
Otto's words weren't pleasant, but as people who understood Otto's character, Durandal and Rita actually found his words somewhat credible.
Overseer Otto was indeed not a good person, but killing Cecilia and forcing Siegfried to rebel... neither of these things offered any benefit to him or Schicksal.
Especially Rita; after thinking it over carefully, she found that if she set aside her prejudices, she could only approach this from the perspective of 'who benefits'.
After this incident occurred, Schicksal lost two S-Ranks... and these S-Ranks were different from a reluctantly promoted S-Rank like Rita.
After viewing the combat data of those two predecessors, Rita only had to compare the stats to realize that compared to those two S-Rank seniors, she was indeed a fraud.
In that incident, Schicksal lost an S-Rank Knight who remained incredibly powerful even when injured, and the most destructive Key of Destruction, [Judgment of Shamash].
Although later data showed that Siegfried didn't go to Anti-Entropy immediately after defecting, Schicksal lost such a major powerhouse, and Overseer Otto even sent a squad of Valkyries to find Siegfried...
No, I shouldn't overthink it. Let's continue deducing based on this event.
The strength of the Valkyrie squad pursuing Siegfried wouldn't be low, which equates to a significant drop in Schicksal's high-end combat power.
Furthermore, Overseer Otto also lost the Judgment of Shamash and an S-Rank subordinate.
In this matter, both Schicksal and Overseer Otto were losers.
Then, the beneficiary, no matter how you look at it, is Anti-Entropy, which caused internal strife in the opposing organization.
Hmm, looking at it this way, there are no issues with Overseer Otto's explanation?
Although she had deduced the conclusion that 'Otto probably didn't lie this time' based on existing intelligence, Rita still didn't completely believe Otto's story.
On the surface, Overseer Otto indeed had no need to do these things.
But ultimately, this was just his side of the story.
However, he only said this much for Lady Durandal's sake.
If I had asked about this, I imagine I would have been smilingly deflected the moment I opened my mouth.
It seems that for Lord Overseer, Lady Durandal still holds great value.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have earnestly explained these past events to Lady Durandal.
On the other side, although Durandal also felt something was slightly off, the words Otto spoke... honestly, she couldn't find any fault in them.
According to Otto's statement, her father Siegfried was suspected of having his thoughts altered by Anti-Entropy using a Key of Sentience potentially replicated by the Herrscher of Reason.
It was also for this reason that Otto had been training her, even using the Void Archives to mimic the power of the Key of Sentience during training.
So it was because of that incident back then that the Lord Overseer, worried I would follow in the same footsteps, trained my resistance to this kind of mental attack in advance...
The logic flowed smoothly; she really couldn't see any flaws.
As for her intuition telling her 'Lord Overseer isn't telling the truth'... when did the Lord Overseer ever tell the truth?
Every time she interacted with Otto, she could sense he was hiding something.
Honestly, Durandal was already used to it.
Otto hadn't told her the full truth, but she couldn't pick apart this version of the past.
To insist on suspecting Otto, who was like a mentor to her, of harboring ill intentions when she couldn't find any faults... Durandal couldn't bring herself to do that.
Seeing the expression on Durandal's face, Otto knew she had believed his words.
Hah, Bianka is still the same, too easily hoodwinked.
But precisely because of this, she will become the most easily controlled trump card in my hand, succeeding Cecilia.
Most of these words were indeed lies, but the problem was—Bianka had no way to prove they were lies.
Fenghuang Down truly has such power, and the Herrscher of Reason truly has the ability to replicate other Divine Keys.
I fired two Honkai Fission Bombs because I feared Siegfried's power—who would believe that if I said it out loud?
The only people who knew Siegfried single-handedly killed Sirin were me, Amber, Cecilia, and Siegfried. No one else.
Amber is on my side, Cecilia died in Siberia, and the remaining 'brainwashed' Siegfried... Heh, how can he prove he wasn't brainwashed?
Under these circumstances, Anti-Entropy, with its 'Enemy Organization Infighting' and 'Enemy Organization's Top Enforcer Defecting', is indeed the apparent beneficiary.
To prove Siegfried wasn't brainwashed by Fenghuang Down, unless the future Herrscher of Sentience appears and personally inspects Siegfried... Hah, they wouldn't use that method.
Leaving aside why the Herrscher of Sentience would help Siegfried check if he was hypnotized, who would dare let a Herrscher who manipulates consciousness enter their mindscape?
The last method would be to have my old friend intervene.
But regrettably, my old friend is also on my side, so that path is locked as well.
Even if those people at Anti-Entropy knew I poured a basin of dirty water on them, they wouldn't be able to wash it off.
"By the way, this one also has a matter to report."
At this moment, Rita, having thought of something, spoke to Otto.
"After Singapore allowed Schicksal's intelligence division to enter, we discovered a corpse heavily eroded by Honkai energy in the lowest level of the Empress Hotel."
"Although the corpse's head was shattered for unknown reasons, based on the results after other seniors compared the DNA, this corpse... should be Dr. Magi's."
"...Is that so."
Thinking of the old man who hated him, Otto spoke with great emotion.
"Dr. Magi was undoubtedly a genius. It is just a pity that he hated me because of his granddaughter's death."
"I originally only gave that little girl a 'qualification' because I saw she had aptitude and wanted stronger power to protect the world. I didn't expect this to become a thorn in his heart."
"He could have been like you, Rita, continuing to contribute to the fight against the Honkai. Losing a talent so important to Schicksal is truly a pity."
Losing a talent so important to Schicksal... was it?
Hearing this, the two women simultaneously had different thoughts.
In Durandal's eyes, Otto was genuinely lamenting Dr. Magi's death.
But in Rita's eyes, Otto's behavior right now...
—Was undoubtedly a warning to Rita Rossweisse, a subordinate who was currently still loyal.
'He could have been like you, Rita, continuing to contribute to the fight against the Honkai.' The subtext here was—You are as important to me as Dr. Magi.
Is Rita Rossweisse important to Otto Apocalypse?
The answer is clearly yes.
When Otto said those words, Rita could feel that he was sincere.
But important as she was, Rita understood well that whether it was Dr. Magi or Rita Rossweisse, they were merely 'important tools' to Otto.
Once a handy tool became a hindrance, the only path left would likely be disposal.
Otto's words were warning Rita not to do anything unnecessary.
If he discovered Rita doing anything superfluous, Otto would treat her just as he did Dr. Magi, letting her die miserably in some mission after squeezing out her remaining value.
Lady Bianka probably couldn't grasp the meaning of this sentence.
Undoubtedly, the Lord Overseer is warning me to be cautious in my speech and actions...
Heh, in that case, I can deduce something in reverse.
There must be some issues with Lord Overseer's earlier statement. Afraid that I might sense something amiss, he used such a crude warning—for me, at least—to stop me from touching truths I shouldn't touch.
Fine, let's shelve this matter for now.
Lady Durandal's mind is currently in turmoil. If I were to throw out new information at a time like this, her spirit might gradually break.
If I did something unnecessary at this juncture and got disposed of by the Lord Overseer... then Lady Durandal would truly become the Lord Overseer's puppet.
The Lord Overseer entrusted me with the job of 'prioritizing the protection of Durandal's growth under all circumstances'.
But at the same time, he warns me not to do anything unnecessary.
Lord Overseer, have you perhaps made a contradictory choice without realizing it?
At this moment, Rita suddenly felt a trace of fear towards the man before her.
She could feel Otto's care for Durandal, his affection for Theresa, his high regard for his subordinates...
But it was precisely such a man, who appeared to have a normal worldview, who constantly did things that felt unacceptable.
For me, that is the most terrifying thing.
He has normal human emotions, yet in certain situations, he can abandon everything he possesses for that singular goal.
If destroying the world could accomplish his goal...
Presumably, Otto Apocalypse would make the choice without hesitation, burying everything he owns in exchange for a chance to realize his wish.
Lord Overseer, that wish you crave so much...
What exactly is it?
........................