What a Masterful Blame-Shift

"Collapse!"

After a moment, the Knight Princess, recovering from her numbness, defiantly raised her head and forced out the difficult words through gritted teeth, her gaze as cold and sharp as a sword.

"It's me..."

The white-haired girl with heterochromatic blue and gold eyes sat on the bench with her legs crossed. She responded casually, her tone indifferent yet arrogant, but her gaze never left her knees. Her right hand elegantly turned the pages of a book.

But... why a comic book like "Hut Mug Adventure"...?

Even though Durandal usually oblivious, the bizarre scene before her stirred up an urge to complain. The blonde knight princess managed to rein in her wandering thoughts and asked a question.

"How are the Fifth Squad and the Immortal Blade?"

"The South China Sea Crisis has been successfully resolved. They are all safe. You are currently aboard the battleship Hyperion, anchored along the coast of Canghai City. Do you have any further questions, human?"

The white-haired girl with heterochromia followed the comic book intently, her aloof tone gradually revealing a hint of impatience.

"On the Hyperion? Have you all sided with the Honkai...?"

Knight Princess recalled the sight of Herrscher flying everywhere before the South China Sea Crisis, and combined this with her current situation to coldly draw a conclusion.

However, the Final Herrscher opposite her was slightly taken aback, then scratched her head in distress. She immediately pressed down on Durandal's shoulder with one hand, and with a surge of Honkai energy, she pushed her down onto the bed.

"No, no, that line isn't in the script. You go to sleep for a bit, we'll start over..."

Durandal looked bewildered and completely confused.

"Cut! We agreed on one take, you're out of luck, Kiana..."

At this moment, as the door slowly opened, the handsome bespectacled man, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, shooed the somewhat dejected white-haired girl into the corridor, and then pulled up a chair to sit down.

Yes, a historic meeting, that's the topic!

Kevin reviewed the video transmitted from the Hyperion terminal, made simple screenshots on the interface, and gave the video a meaningful title.

When the man saw the scene of Kiana pushing Durandal, with the help of the AI Ai-chan, he made some strange edits and his thoughts wandered. Did this count as a sex scene?

No matter what, get out of here first!

Durandal secretly mobilized her internal energy, subtly probing to estimate the Honkai energy warning level of the shackles releasing electric current. At the same time, she used her body to hook her right arm back into a chokehold, attempting to take Kevin hostage.

But the moment they made contact, lightning exploded behind the man, and the surging current instantly sent Durandal flying away.

Kevin looked at the Knight Princess, whose entire body was paralyzed except for her eyes, and shook his head helplessly. However, he noticed that the blonde Valkyrie's pupils still harbored a hidden hostility.

He sent the video files to his email address and then smiled calmly.

"Okay, let me correct your conclusion. It's not that we've sided with the Honkai, it's that the Honkai..."

"... They have submitted to us!"

The man's domineering declaration stirred Durandal's heart. Combined with the Final Herrscher's performance just now, her thoughts were like a tangled mess, unable to find a direction.

"Of course, I'm a pure pacifist. The cause of this incident was that Herrscher deliberately vandalized a public statue at the St. Freya Academy..."

"Yes, it's confirmed that the Honkai first!"

Kevin had a strong urge to tease Durandal, a person with such a serious personality, and made a joke while pretending to be serious.

Immediately, the man's expression turned serious. He took off his glasses and wiped them, revealing his true face in the distorted light and shadow.

"Kevin Kaslana, the unfortunate Valkyrie in your Valkyrie Honkai Chronicle textbook who perished in Siberia alongside [a god]..."

"From now on, those Herrscher will be under my command..."

Durandal stared at the living "statue" before her, her pupils contracting slightly before her hostility vanished, replaced by overwhelming surprise.

Although her idol is Saint Laurent, who upholds the code of chivalry, and she doesn't have a good impression of a certain guy whose scandals are all over the place, in all fairness, he is indeed the most likely person to subdue the Honkai.

Kevin noticed that Durandal's attitude had softened. With a casual wave of his hand, spatial arcs of light floated, and the shackles and neck ring shattered in the twisting motion, falling to the ground with a crisp sound.

"The restriction on your movements is simply due to the Fourth Generation Godslayer Armor external unit, causing minor damage to your spinal nerves. You need to rest..."

"Now you're free. If you're bored, you can wander around the Hyperion as you please..."

"By the way, the Hyperion is now my flagship..."

The man waved casually, stood up and walked towards the door, leaving Durandal completely unguarded.

Suppressing her surprise, the Knight Princess stretched her limbs slightly, and just as Kevin was about to step into the corridor, she couldn't help but stand up and ask the question she was concerned about.

"Where is Rita? I need to see my adjutant!"

Kevin stopped and turned to reply with a strange smile.

"The Hyperion Deck..."

A moment later, Durandal, still somewhat skeptical of everything around her, followed Kevin out of the confinement room and onto the bridge deck. There she saw Rita, dressed in a maid outfit, carrying a mop and bucket, Cleaners.

Upon reuniting with her teammates, Durandal clenched her fists, suppressing her excitement, and nodded slightly to Rita.

"Has the deck been swept clean?"

Kevin smiled and stepped in. Rita lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand, smiled and nodded in a formulaic manner, feeling somewhat pleased with her achievement.

Thankfully, Lady Durandal arrived, and I was finally able to temporarily escape from this tedious task.

"Then let's scan it again..."

However, Kevin's gentle reply was devilish, freezing Rita's fake smile on her face, and causing the veins on her forehead to bulge.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, Headmistress Theresa has transferred Rita from the Immortal Blade Squad to the Fifth Squad. Now she's the Hyperion's full-time Cleaners, responsible for sweeping the deck every day..."

"Right, Rita?"

The man turned to Durandal expression was unfriendly, and explained with a smile, but his gaze inadvertently fell on Rita's head.

"That's right, Captain..."

The maid of Schicksal took a deep breath, forced a smile, and remembering the relic of Bishop Otto in the other party's hand, she immediately obediently gave in and swept the floor.

The one above has already been exposed, so what can a mere maid do?

Since we're all just pawns anyway, it doesn't matter who we're pawns for... Rita felt a sudden, profound realization while wallowing in self-pity.

"Look, she really enjoys this job..."

Kevin's final, radiant smile, coupled with his chillingly cruel finishing blow, left the maid nodding mechanically, though tears welled in her eyes.

P. S.: The famous opening scene comes from the main story 15, "Lost Sands," after the Sky Dome City incident in Post-Honkai Odyssey, where Kiana is caught and questioned by Durandal. The roles are conveniently reversed, the scene is filmed and saved, and then Rita is made to sweep the deck—isn't that a bit too much?

Chapter 668, Section 699: A Master at Shifting Blame

"Old Yang, I feel much better now..."

In the hallway, Kiana crept up to Kevin, nudged Kevin in the lower back, and whispered something smugly.

"Yes, me too..."

Kevin turned around, shook hands with Kiana in a tacit understanding, and responded in a low voice with a sinister smile.

Meanwhile, someone touched their rotten conscience, clicked their tongue, and sighed inwardly.

Sure enough, his happiness was built on the Affliction of others. He felt desolate after being rebuffed by Ada last night, but today, with the Immortal Blade as his punching bag, he felt much better.

Durandal! S-class Valkyrie on par with my mom! I just messed with her like that, how cool am I!

Kiana was still enjoying teasing Durandal; the false sense of power emanating from the Final Herrscher skin was rapidly inflating her confidence.

The white-haired girl grinned at the reflective material in the corridor, her wings fluttering behind her. She crossed her arms and practiced the way [God] spoke and his personality from her memory, and surprisingly, she imitated them very well.

"Hypocritical humans, I will tear you to pieces!"

However, joy turned to sorrow. Before the white-haired Paramecium could even finish its few words, Theresa suddenly appeared from behind and dragged it to a corner by the ear.

"Qi, Yana! You sneaked into the office again and stole my things!"

At this moment, Theresa, the headmistress whose height had been surpassed by her niece, stood on tiptoe and pulled out the latest edition of the serialized comic book that she kept in her collection from Kiana's arms, her silver teeth grinding together.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Old Yang! Old Yang!"

Kiana, caught in a compromising situation, circled around Theresa, frantically reaching down with her right hand in a plea for help. Kevin, mindful of the situation, stepped between the two clowns.

After escaping its predicament, the white-haired Paramecium decisively fled, displaying a cunning and swift manner of running away after committing a misdeed.

When Theresa faced Kevin, she instinctively and hurriedly stuffed the "Hut Mug Adventure" into her arms.

Then the dignified headmistress straightened her face and seriously discussed work matters, but Kevin noticed her blushing face.

"Will there be any problems with treating Rita this way?"

"The Immortal Blade can be a sword, but the one who wields its hilt shouldn't be those old fogies of the council; it can only be you. Rita has overstepped her bounds..."

Kevin ignored Theresa's current predicament and decided not to tease her any further. He subtly reminded the girl that she needed to use some political maneuvering and that she must not allow the money-makers of the St. Freya Academy to overstep their bounds and interfere with the Valkyrie Corps.

Of course, with Cecilia and her husband in charge of the military, those Old Man on the council might have some crooked ideas, but they didn't have the guts to rebel.

They were thrown out by Kevin simply to take the blame for His Lord Bishop.

Since being framed by a troublesome citizen, Otto has become extremely paranoid, and his ability to keep secrets is exceptional.

Therefore, apart from Rita, who had a one-way communication with him, almost no one knew that the Lord Bishop, whose grave was overgrown with weeds, was still secretly active. Even Theresa and Amber were kept in the dark.

Rita, the only person in the know, was originally destined to become a victim of the South China Sea Crisis, thus completely eliminating Otto's last weakness.

But man proposes, God disposes. His weakness was exposed, and with the Lord Bishop's unexpected actions, he disappeared silently from Canghai City.

Kevin didn't want Theresa to know that her grandfather had died at his hands, lest it ruin the honeymoon period of cooperation between the two organizations and leave an irreparable rift in their otherwise relatively good relationship.

He cooperated with Fu Hua's Feathered Dust to learn during the interrogation of Rita that she was Otto's informant. He then threatened to settle scores with her and, together with the maid, pinned the blame on the corrupt council.

After all, Otto is dead. Burning a memorial for him at the deliberation meeting is a small way to express our condolences.

Currently, the SCP Foundation is secretly supporting St. Freya Academy in purging some of the troublesome forces within the academy, and the process is proceeding surprisingly smoothly.

To prevent Rita, the only person in the know, from spreading rumors after she leaves, and also to punish the maid, Kevin persuades Theresa to relieve Rita of her duties and reassign her to serve as Cleaners on the Hyperion.

Meanwhile, in order to cope with the increasingly complex world situation, Theresa does indeed need her own personal guard. Therefore, the three starter families of Schicksal adjusted the structure of the Valkyrie forces through a video conference.

First, it was decided to retain Durandal's position and to transfer A-class Valkyrie Lewis, Amber, and others from various departments of the St. Freya Academy to reorganize [The Immortal Blade].

With Theresa included, there are roughly two S-class Valkyrie, which shouldn't be a problem for a simple internal support unit.

Secondly, the [Snow Wolf Squad] relinquished administrative affairs and transitioned to full militarization, taking charge of force preparation and troop deployment. Cecilia and her husband, both S-rank, have begun large-scale training of lower-ranking Valkyrie.

Finally, the original Fifth Squad of the Far East Branch, having distinguished themselves in the South China Sea Crisis and with the awakening of a group of Herrscher, decided to make the Hyperion their flagship.

Kevin is the captain, and Colonel Murata Himeko is the leader. The Fifth Squad has also been renamed [Fire Moth] and is responsible for responding to emergencies.

[The Fire Moth], a name full of memories, was naturally mentioned by Kevin himself, which can be regarded as a perfect ending to the tragedy of the previous generation.

"By the way, you're really not going back to work at the SCP Foundation?"

Theresa bypassed the political maneuvering that troubled her, and was deeply puzzled by the guy in front of her who had given up being the speaker of the council to become the captain.

"I'd rather die than go! I tried to handle all the official business for a day, and my head is about to explode!"

Upon hearing this, Kevin shook his head, his face turning green with lingering fear.

Going to work is out of the question. I'll never be able to work a regular job in my life. The administration is too lazy to manage things. I'll just slack off on Hyperion from now on, and that'll be enough to make a living.

Additionally, it's worth mentioning that besides him, the Hyperion also includes Bronya, Seele, Mei, two Kiana, Wendy, Yae Sakura, Himeko, and Sirin— a total of nine Pseudo-Herrscher...

Demon Dragon Bella, a Judgment-class Honkai Beast; Rita, an S-rank Cleaners maid; Fu Hua, the honorary vice-captain of the [Fire Moth]...

And the Vodka Sisters, an idol duo comparable to Emperor-class Honkai Beast, and the B-rank Valkyrie brat Anzu...

The Hyperion full of talented people who are also very eloquent. If it were to sail out into the world, its impressive lineup would be so impressive that it would make any adversary kneel down and sing "Conquer," greatly satisfying Kevin's vanity.

Of course, Kevin chose to step down as chairman of the SCP Foundation because he wasn't particularly interested in power, and also because he wanted to have more time to himself to do what he wanted.

From beginning to end, this man's purpose was very clear: he built a vast power and reshaped the world order, but he only wanted to preserve a sanctuary for those around him. There was no need for him to do everything himself.

Therefore, power should be his slave.

Besides, even if he officially withdraws from the SCP Foundation, who can shake his position?

Just as Kevin and Theresa were chatting, Durandal, looking somewhat gloomy, walked over from the deck, clearly not having enjoyed her reunion with Rita.

Kevin sensed a hint of hostility in the air, tapped on the glass helplessly, and shook his head slightly.

Although he intended to leave Rita on the Hyperion to wash the deck, based on their previous conversation, he knew that even if he let the maid go, Rita had no intention of returning to [The Immortal Blade].

During the South China Sea Crisis, not only was she used as a pawn, but Durandal was also implicated and manipulated, and the two almost died at the same time.