Truthfully, upon hearing Welt's words, Durandal didn't start questioning him as he might have expected.
Durandal had known Otto was no good from the day she met him.
As for Anti-Entropy actually joining the fight against the Honkai during the Second Eruption, that was also quite normal.
Even though Durandal had only just remembered today that her real name was Kiana Kaslana and her biological father was Siegfried, it wasn't as if she hadn't investigated Siegfried before.
The information Otto kept within Schicksal clearly stated that Siegfried's character was one that despised evil.
Of course, it was wrong for her father to have touched a Schicksal Valkyrie's butt, but...
Never mind, that's not the point right now.
The point is, for a man like Siegfried who despised evil to choose Anti-Entropy as his sanctuary after defecting from Schicksal, it meant that the people on Anti-Entropy's side, at least most of them, were likely genuinely fighting against the Honkai.
For Durandal, who was partially aware of Otto's plans, combining those plans with the new information she now possessed created a strong sense of unease in her heart.
Then, the young woman looked bitterly at her mother and Welt and asked them.
"I've always known that Bishop Otto isn't a good person and is full of lies, but..."
"If I'm not mistaken, what he did during the Second Eruption involved more than just 'lying,' didn't it?"
Hearing Durandal's question, Welt and Cecilia exchanged a glance, and both saw a hint of helplessness in their comrade's eyes.
Cecilia had already learned about her daughter's past from Leo Ash, and Welt, having infiltrated St. Freya High School, had long known that Otto and Durandal had a close relationship.
Revealing the truth at this moment would be a bit too impactful.
As for Leo Ash, seeing Durandal's reaction now, he could only lament that even Durandal, often called a 'Goose,' was actually well aware of who Otto really was.
When Welt said Otto was full of lies, Durandal didn't refute the words of the 'former enemy leader' for a simple reason—she knew that for Otto, a man who hinted he was like 'Medea the witch,' lying was as easy as breathing.
As for the fan theory that Leo Ash had seen everywhere before he transmigrated—the one that claimed 'Otto never lies, he just strategically omits information to guide your understanding,' which was being treated as canon—it was utterly ridiculous.
In fact, anyone who had paid attention to the story knew that Otto had lied directly countless times, and he wasn't above using Fenghuang Down to force his point when his lies were exposed.
Yet this strange fan theory began to spread widely and was even treated as official canon...
He firmly believed that not that many people had nothing better to do than to praise Otto so excessively.
This awkward situation arose purely because a small group of people were over-hyping him, and the majority of others were fooled by their ambiguous words. This latter group then spread what they thought was canon as fan-created lore.
It was a very normal phenomenon. After all, for others who hadn't transmigrated to this world, "Honkai Impact 3rd" was just an ordinary piece of entertainment.
Apart from so-called loremasters, who would scrutinize the plot word by word?
When most people discuss things based on vague memories, it's common for them to be misled by the Mandela Effect.
It wasn't just 'Otto never lies'; Leo Ash had seen plenty of other fan theories before he transmigrated that would crumble under the slightest scrutiny.
And the fundamental reason Durandal wasn't completely fooled, and immediately accepted and acknowledged the truth Welt spoke after he pointed out Otto's issues, was also simple.
She wasn't constantly surrounded by these rumors; at most, she would be fooled by Otto himself.
And while Otto could fool her for a time, with him gone, there was no one left to mislead her. In that case, she could naturally make judgments based on what she saw and understood, free from unnecessary interference.
Over the next few minutes, Durandal learned from her mother and Welt some facts she had never known before.
At the beginning of the Second Eruption, Welt had actually already defeated Sirin.
But Otto had shown up in a mask and interrupted Welt's activation of the Star of Eden's zeroth power, giving Sirin a chance to escape the battlefield.
And at the end of the great battle, Durandal's father, Siegfried, had defeated Sirin and even gouged out the Gem of Serenity from her body, completely shattering Sirin's ability to wage a war of attrition.
But in the end, a desperate Sirin's core went critical, and the resulting Honkai Energy, if it spread, could have covered half of Asia.
At that moment, Siegfried connected to the Judgment of Shamash using Welt's Herrscher Core and unleashed his strongest slash with the power of two cores.
And Cecilia, of course, had never requested that headquarters drop a Honkai Fission Missile on them. Instead, she used almost all the Holy Blood in her body to neutralize a portion of the spreading Honkai Energy, creating an opportunity for Siegfried to seal the core.
As for why Otto would use an expensive and difficult-to-make ultimate weapon like a fission missile to assassinate the near-death Siegfried and Cecilia...
—That was no longer important.
Even though she was psychologically prepared, Durandal was still left in a daze after hearing what her mother and Welt had to say.
She knew Otto was not a good person and had surely done many evil things behind the scenes.
But for the sake of fighting the Honkai, Durandal, who had always believed Otto was a 'necessary evil,' had never delved deeper into the matter.
She even knew that a person like Otto was surely a monster.
But...
—She had never imagined that Otto was far more monstrous than she could have conceived.
Backstabbing a newly formed ally, letting a Herrscher escape, which led to the deaths of tens of millions from a meteor strike, and then, after his loyal subordinates cleaned up his mess, inexplicably trying to assassinate his own capable generals with a superweapon that the organization spent vast sums to create, and then taking all the credit for fighting the Honkai afterward.
Just Otto's actions during the Second Eruption alone could be considered a litany of crimes.
And the information in the database was filled with lies written by Otto.
Schicksal single-handedly fighting the Second Herrscher, Cecilia requesting Schicksal to launch a Honkai Fission Missile...
—Lies, it was all lies.
And this was perhaps just the tip of the iceberg of what Otto had done.
Upon realizing that she had been aiding a tyrant and helping Otto all this time, even vaguely respecting him as a 'teacher,' Durandal felt so disgusted she nearly threw up on the spot.
Looking at the clearly nauseated girl, Leo Ash could only think that there had been too little time.
The reason Durandal was having a more 'unseemly' reaction to learning a part of the truth now compared to the original story was not only because this truth came from her mother's own lips, but also because—compared to the 'Dusk of the Fool' arc in the original story, Durandal was learning the truth more than three years earlier.
Given another three years, even if he didn't intend it, the sentimental Durandal would have spent three more years with Otto, and her fondness for her 'mentor' would have grown. By the time they confronted each other, even if she knew the truth, her level of disgust for Otto would have lessened considerably.
But now, learning that the Otto she saw as a mentor was one of the masterminds who forced her mother to her death, gravely injured her father, destroyed her family, killed tens of millions, and almost wiped out half of Asia, the fact that Durandal didn't grab Abyss Flower and go looking for Otto to settle the score...
—was because she didn't know where Otto was.
Otherwise, the enraged Miss Durandal would now be radiating a terrifying killing intent, seeking out Otto to have a good talk about his past deeds.
Killing intent, such terrifying killing intent.
Noticing Leo Ash's calm gaze, Durandal, burning with an unplaceable rage, suddenly looked at the outwardly calm Leo Ash.
"Leo, you heard these answers and you're not surprised at all..."
"—Could it be that you knew all along that the Bishop had done these vicious things?"
[Ooh, a choice branch is here! If you handle this badly—]
Will it be a Nice Boat situation?
[Not that bad. The source of her anger is Otto. Even if you get caught in the crossfire, she'll at most grumble at you a bit.]
She really is a righteous person, which is reassuring.
But right now, if she really lets her anger go to her head, the moment Bianka finds out Otto's location, she'll definitely charge over to settle accounts with him.
I have no choice. I need to find a way to cool her down.
[Yes, cool her down. For a young woman, the best way to dissipate the anger in her heart is, of course, for the person she adores to—]
Alright, shut up. You're getting more and more out of line.
Her mom is right here, and you're actually trying to get me to do *that* with her at a time like this?
[Oh, please. You never listen to my lewd suggestions anyway. It's not like you would do *that* with her even if Cecilia wasn't here.]
Facing Durandal's almost accusatory tone, Leo Ash, who had long since activated his (Poker Face) title, nodded without the slightest hesitation.
As expected, upon seeing Leo Ash make the move she had predicted, a furious Durandal grabbed him by the collar.
"Then—why didn't you tell me sooner!"
Facing Durandal's eyes, which were now burning with rage, Leo Ash calmly raised his right hand, stopping the others who were about to intervene, and allowed Durandal to continue gripping his collar.
"If you consider this a deception, then I can apologize—I am truly sorry for not telling you this sooner."
"But Bianka, think about it for a moment. If I had told you this directly, what would your first action have been?"
Hearing Leo Ash's calm words, Durandal felt that although the anger in her heart had not dissipated, she couldn't vent it on the calm-faced friend before her.
If Leo Ash had told me this, my course of action would, of course, be...
"To go and ask the Bishop for a clear answer, right?"
"And then, what after that? What kind of future do you think we would face?"
"The Bishop lied because, to put it bluntly, he doesn't want others to know about the monstrous things he's done in the past. If we knew about these things, the chances of us being targeted later would be extremely high."
"But if I didn't say anything, what you do on a daily basis is still fighting Honkai Beasts, and what I do is also continue to take action against the Honkai."
"Telling the truth would lead to disaster, while concealing the truth would allow us to continue using Schicksal's power to fight the Honkai."
"My personal judgment was that you absolutely wouldn't want to engage in an internal struggle with Otto at such a critical moment, which would prevent you from eliminating the Honkai. That's why I made the decision to 'choose an appropriate time to let you know these truths.'"
"Now, your mother has been resurrected, and Otto is missing. At a time like this, you have plenty of time to talk with your mother and enough time to calm down and think about your future course of action."
"I personally judge that this is the most suitable time for you to know the truth."
"You don't need to be too remorseful. After all, since you joined Schicksal, it's more accurate to say you've been fighting the Honkai in your own way rather than helping Otto."
"In these past few years, you've worked very hard as a Valkyrie."
"You have no reason to be ashamed for being deceived by a dog like Otto. In fact, you, who have saved so many people and haven't caused any major disasters, should be proud."
"I've said my piece. If you're still angry, you can punch me in the head a couple of times. After all, I did hide a lot of truths from you that you should have known."
"...Forget it."
After listening to Leo Ash's explanation, Durandal's anger—of course, had not subsided.
But after Leo Ash calmly laid out the intricacies and stakes she had never considered, Durandal, forcing herself to calm down, could naturally see that Leo Ash had genuinely been acting in her best interest by not revealing this information.
Sigh, if I had known these things while the Bishop wasn't missing, assuming I wouldn't doubt Leo Ash, I would have most likely stormed into the Bishop's office to demand answers.
At that point, if the Bishop didn't want these matters to get out, the probability of him targeting me and Leo Ash, the source of the information, would be extremely high.
Having realized that Leo Ash was comforting her, Durandal would naturally not continue to unreasonably vent her anger on the innocent Leo Ash.
In fact, upon realizing that Leo Ash had been thinking about her all along, Durandal, who had let go of his collar, now felt a bit...
—embarrassed.
At the same time, Durandal, who was too embarrassed to look at Leo Ash, looked at the worried face of Cecilia and was suddenly reminded of something.
Leo Ash, as an agent, besides the companions he spent his days with at St. Freya, his only other acquaintances were Durandal herself, his agent mentor Wraith, and Rita.
Rita was Leo Ash's cherished adoptive sister, and according to what Rita herself had mentioned in casual conversation, her parents lived in a city called Kolosten within Schicksal's sphere of influence.
Having thoroughly understood what kind of person Otto was from her mother's words, Durandal instantly understood why Leo Ash hadn't dared to let Otto know that he was aware of certain inside information he shouldn't have known.
If Otto knew that Leo Ash had mastered this inside information, then Otto would either move against Leo Ash directly or use others to threaten him.
Rita could at least defend herself, so if Otto were to choose hostages, he would indeed most likely choose Rita's parents.
So, from the very beginning, Otto's goal was never to 'protect' Rita's parents.
That man...
—Just how far will he go to harm our families!
I've seen it, the tags are all true.jpg
....