An accounting before the Throne: a Shura Field of three women shifting the blame

Within the Negative Zone, deathly silence is the only dominant tone.

The "nothingness" here is not emptiness, but a kind of oppression with substantial weight. The air is like solidified lead, and with each breath, you have to forcefully squeeze it into your lungs and then exhale it heavily.

The Bone Throne stood tall as a mountain, and Lynn sat upon it, his chin resting on one hand, his posture languid, as if watching a tedious silent play. He didn't speak, nor did he even lift his eyelids; he simply tapped lightly with his long fingers on the armrest of the Throne, which was made of countless bones.

clatter.

clatter.

clatter.

Each soft sound was like a heavy hammer blow to the heart, precise, dull, and filled with an undeniable sense of oppression.

Beneath the Throne were three figures who had once made the universe tremble.

Scarlet Witch Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey the Dark Phoenix.

At this moment, they stood side by side, heads bowed, like three female students who had made mistakes and were waiting for reprimand in the principal's office. The terrifying energy within them, enough to tear reality apart and Oblivion stars, was completely restrained, even suppressed to the point of near suffocation, leaving only the most instinctive awe and fear of those in power.

Lynn's indifference and disregard terrified them more than any harsh punishment.

The feeling was as if they had been excluded from the entire world. Their meticulously prepared, bloody and cruel "gift," their frantic infighting over the Right to Be Alone with him, ultimately ended in an ugly and out-of-control "safety incident."

They messed up.

This realization, like the sharpest icicle, pierced their proud souls.

Time ticked by in the deathly silence, each second feeling like an eternity. The tapping from the Throne continued, unhurried yet making the atmosphere below increasingly heavy, suffocating everyone.

Finally, someone couldn't hold on any longer.

It's Hela.

As the former queen of Asgard and Conqueror of the Nine Realms, she was used to control and giving orders. What she could not bear most was the torment of passively awaiting judgment. She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear in her heart, and raised her head first. However, she dared not look directly at Lynn, but instead focused her gaze on the void beside him.

"Master," her voice trembled slightly, but she tried to remain calm, attempting to break the deadlock with a "reporting" tone, "The failure of this operation stemmed from a loss of control at the logical level. The system tampered with by the Scarlet Witch completely collapsed under the interference of multiple energies, which led to the Helicarrier's crash."

Before she could finish speaking, Wanda beside her suddenly raised her head, her Scarlet eyes instantly igniting with unbelievable anger and resentment.

Shifting the blame!

That Hela actually pinned all the blame on her!

"The system I tampered with was working perfectly!" Wanda's voice sharpened, tinged with a hint of hysteria from being wrongly accused. "It was you! Hela! If you hadn't so recklessly used your Death Force to Impact the Helicarrier, trying to steal the credit, how could the system have been interfered with!"

She then glared fiercely at Jean Grey on the other side, angrily accusing her, "And you! Jean! Your Phoenix Force was never part of the plan! It was your damn destructive urge to burn everything that caused the energy collision to completely spiral out of control! If it weren't for the two of you, I could have perfectly made Pierce watch his steel toy blow himself to pieces!"

Wanda's chest heaved violently; she felt like she was going crazy. She was the one who secured the victory first, the one who caught Pierce and earned Lynn's praise. But now, she was the one being blamed as the "culprit."

When Wanda called her by name, a cold and sickly smile slowly crept onto Jean Grey's pale face.

Unlike Wanda, she didn't refute fiercely. Instead, she spoke in a soft, deliberate tone, as if stating a fact. Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"Violence? Destructive desire?" Qin chuckled softly, her laughter filled with undisguised contempt. "I am merely offering my master the most magnificent symphony of terror. The mortal spirit, scorched by the Phoenix Force, can unleash the most beautiful wails—that is the highest form of art."

Her gaze shifted to Wanda, a hint of pity in her eyes. "And you, Wanda, you're just playing with those cold machine codes, like a child fiddling with building blocks—cheap and boring."

Then she looked at Hela, her sneer deepening, "As for you, Hela, your methods, like your aesthetic sense, are filled with the stench of the dead. What else can you do besides destroying and resurrecting those filthy corpses? Your so-called 'physical hunting ground' is nothing but a chaotic, aesthetically pleasing farce."

"Everything I've done is to bring this sacrifice to its climax." Jean Grey slightly raised her chin, her eyes gleaming with fanatical obsession. "It is your shortsightedness and jealousy that have tainted this performance. You simply do not understand what the master needs!"

"Enough!" Hela roared in fury, a flash of dark Death Energy appearing around her before she forcefully suppressed it. She glared at Qin, gritting her teeth as she said, "You madman! You attacked recklessly first, trying to devour all the spoils, which triggered the final collision!"

The three parties have completely broken off all pretense of civility.

The fragile alliance, formed briefly to curry favor, crumbled under Lynn's silence and pressure. They blamed and shifted responsibility, desperately trying to deflect blame for "messing up" onto others while portraying themselves as the most loyal and understanding "only one."

On the Throne, Lynn's fingertips finally stopped tapping.

He slowly opened his eyes, his deep gaze calm and still, reflecting the ugly state of the three women below.

He remained a detached observer throughout.

This "accountability meeting" was something he deliberately orchestrated.

He wanted to use this extreme pressure to tear away their pretense and see their true reactions under Extremis.

Hela, with her clear division of responsibilities, habitually looks for problems in processes and rules, immediately disclaiming her own responsibility and attributing it to those who implement them. This is typical superior thinking, but lacks accountability.

Wanda is emotional and easily angered. Once she loses power, she falls into irrational attacks and self-justification. Her loyalty is the most fervent, but also the most unstable, and she is easily influenced by external factors.

The piano, however, is the most terrifying. She can package her most obsessive and insane destructive desires as a sublime art "for her master." She never thinks she is wrong; the mistake is that the whole world doesn't understand her, doesn't understand Lynn. Her logic is completely self-consistent, and therefore the most dangerous.

very good.

A barely perceptible smile finally appeared on Lynn's lips.

Through this small internal accountability incident, he had thoroughly figured out their limits of tolerance, their psychological weaknesses, and how to control the reins of "jealousy."

What he needs are three sharp knives, not three mad dogs that might tear the house down at any moment while fighting over a bone.

The argument below was about to spiral out of control again, having already escalated from shifting blame into personal attacks.

Lynn finally spoke.

His voice was not loud, even very soft, but it was like an invisible command, instantly plunging the entire Negative Zone into absolute silence once again.

"So..."

He slowly stood up, looking down at the three faces that had instantly turned deathly pale, filled with terror.

"... Your performance reports are telling me that the three of you working together couldn't even handle a trivial task I assigned you?"

His words were devoid of emotion, yet they caused the three goddesses to tremble in unison, as if their souls had been frozen.

Lynn didn't look at them again, but slowly walked down the steps of the Throne, saying almost to herself, "It seems I had too high expectations of you. A simple Sweep task has turned into a farce that I had to personally clean up."

He stopped in front of the three women, his gaze sweeping over their faces one by one, finally settling on the small escape pod he had imprisoned in mid-air.

"Fine."

Lynn's tone carried a hint of listlessness and weariness.

"Since you are unable to perform the task, this project is hereby terminated."

Project terminated?

These four words struck the three women like four bolts of lightning.

This is even more devastating for them than direct punishment! It means they've lost their chance to shine, and their right to regain his attention!

"No!" Wanda was the first to break down, blurting out in a tearful voice, "Master! Give us another chance!"

Hela and Qin panicked, their faces drained of color, their eyes filled with pleading.

Lynn looked at their panicked expressions and seemed to find it somewhat amusing. He reached out and gently stroked the cold outer shell of the escape pod, as if admiring a trophy.

Then, in a casual, almost impromptu tone, he slowly said:

"An opportunity...?"

His voice paused, successfully raising the hearts of the three people who were already in their throats even higher.

"It's not that there aren't any."

Lynn turned his head, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

"The chance to redeem yourself is right here. It all depends on... who among you can seize it."