MGSFV?! Chapter 429. Dual Blade Style; Kiana and Mei's First Indirect…
Himeko's case—
Otto was technically responsible...
Hmm...
Well, even if we retreat 10,000 steps and don't count Otto's responsibility for that event,
isn't he still at least 1% responsible for bringing these stories into this world?
So really, the players bringing up "That Otto" again right now—
totally justified.
Confirmed.jpg
All in all—
It was completely normal for players to suddenly shift blame to Otto again.
When facing unresolved historical trauma, players would flame him:
"Damn you, Otto!"
When Otto showed up as an ally, they'd say:
"Why is this comforting in a weird way...?"
And when directly confronted with irreversible tragedy, they'd whisper:
"Lord Overseer, please lead us back through the Imaginary Tree one more time..."
Contradictory, emotional, chaotic—that was exactly how they should feel about Otto.
Because Otto himself was a chaotic yet deeply human character.
...
But the story didn't give players much time to dwell on their feelings.
Soon enough—it moved straight into a really hard-hitting moment.
Kiana spoke again:
"Mei, do you know?"
"Right before she left, Himeko-sensei told me all the things she wanted to do...
But would never get the chance."
"It was then I realized—
the things we thought were trivial in life...
might actually be the most important parts."
Players: ???
Players: "..."
With Kiana's words, everyone immediately remembered.
This was...
"Himeko gazes at you gently, no longer speaking."
Hiss——
Everyone who once lingered in front of that chocolate door,
reluctantly clicking through every last line of Himeko's dialogue,
only to freeze at her final line, breaking down completely—
They now felt that the phrase "bittersweet sugar laced with glass" had been an understatement.
It wasn't just bittersweet.
It was:
They gave us a candy... and then beat us up.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
[Is this the pain of growing up...?]
[I understand now...
What's most precious... is the seemingly mundane, everyday moments.]
[Can't believe I had to learn this from a game...
Thanks a lot, Honkai Impact 3rd (gritted teeth)]
You see?
They're still saying "thank you"...
Even Elysia had once said something similar to Mei.
So Mei could deeply relate to this moment.
"Perhaps...
That's what makes those moments the most valuable parts of life, no?"
If Mei looked back on the Elysian Realm now—
Her favorite moments might not be the final battles...
But rather, when she first arrived,
being led around by Elysia on lighthearted, daily adventures.
Sure, there were some ups and downs—
But everyone had been so happy.
Someone had even said before—
That the highlight of their day was returning to the Elysian Realm to see Elysia and the Flame-Chasers.
It felt warm.
Like coming home.
But now... now it was just...
sigh
...
"Yeah..."
"Himeko-sensei said she wanted to go back to the real St. Freya.
To write on the blackboard again.
To return to her room and have a drink."
"She wanted to wear a new red dress.
She wanted to eat food cooked by Mei, and egg noodles made by the class president..."
Kiana paused for a long time,
before forcing the next words from her lips:
"She... also wanted to see us graduate.
To see us grow up..."
[...]*n
Mei looked at her, worried:
"Kiana..."
"It's bittersweet...
But somehow, it fills you with strength, right?"
Kiana took a deep breath, winked at Mei, and showed that familiar bright smile again.
"Compared to tears, a smile fits these memories better."
"After all... 'If you cry for having missed the sun, you will miss the stars as well.'"
"That's...?" Mei asked: "Tagore's poem?"
Yes—one of the over 40 unique lines in Himeko's final farewell.
Kiana nodded:
"If you like it, Mei, I'll lend you the book when we get back."
Clearly, Kiana had actually read it—and even treasured it.
To be honest, the old Kiana wouldn't have enjoyed poetry at all...
But because Himeko had once read her poems by Tagore—
and had even told her:
"If you like it, look for this book after you leave."
Kiana remembered.
She remembered everything Himeko ever said.
And that's why she kept a copy of Tagore's poetry with her.
This might not be a big, elaborate "setup-payoff" moment—
But for anyone who remembered that scene...
It stabbed straight through the heart.
[Kiana really followed Himeko's advice and read Tagore. I'm crying.]
[This... THIS is a real hidden callback? I'm done.]
They truly didn't see it coming.
Words engraved in memory—
even after so long—
could suddenly return and stab them all over again.
...
The scene changed.
Kiana took the lead again, Mei close behind her—
The two walked down that long hallway...
"???"
Still going?
Why are we walking this hallway again?
Are you kidding, Honkai Impact 3rd?
The players' urge to complain surged—
But it stayed just beneath the surface.
Why?
Because of what Mei said next—
She brought up the Elysian Realm.
As mentioned before—
Mei didn't have time to tell Kiana about everything that happened in the Realm.
But now?
They were in the mental space.
No matter how long they spent here,
only an instant would pass in the outside world.
Now, Mei had time.
She could talk to Kiana about the Elysian Realm.
"You know...
Someone once told me something similar.
That when saying goodbye to the past—
you should do so with a smile."
"The Elysian Realm—
was a place of trials for World Serpent's agents.
A world built from memories and constructs."
"Thirteen heroes from the Previous Era rested there—
including the class president, Kevin...
and even the very first Herrscher who fought for humanity.
They called themselves the Flame-Chasers."
Players: "..."
No way... Mei, not you too...
Are you about to tell your whole story now?
Dual Blade Style???
Neverending Flamescion, and now Immaculate Self?
Can anyone blame the players for being overwhelmed?
HoYoverse's writers just didn't plan to let anyone go.
[Don't tell me the writer actually saw that "Dual Blade Style" meme video.]
[Could be. That writer's clearly a terminally online netizen. Might've actually seen it...]
[What if the writer got inspired by a fan video and added this scene because of it?]
[...]*n
...
The chat's speculations were not far off.
In fact, Hokuto had definitely seen that video.
Multiple times.
And yes—it inspired many ideas.
Ahem...
Back to the plot.
Mei continued:
"In those past months,
I sought the secrets of the Honkai,
and the meaning of being a Herrscher."
Her calm tone carried emotions very close to what Kiana had shown earlier when speaking of Himeko.
"At the end of that journey,
I found the answers I was looking for—
but also had to face partings I wasn't prepared for."
"To defeat the Herrscher of Corruption,
the memory constructs of the Flame-Chasers sacrificed themselves..."
"They left humanity to us in the past—
and now, they gave me renewed confidence for the future."
"But more than sorrow—
what lingers in my mind is gratitude."
[That's right! The farewell scene in the Realm was so grand and beautiful.
The emotions... hit different.]
[Honestly, calling this part "just a knife" is too shallow.]
[Yeah. Every Captain knows—this story isn't just pain.]
[How do you even describe it... I don't know.
I just know that the goodbye between Elysia and Mei felt almost identical to the one between Himeko and Kiana.
Same half-body CG, even.
And both times—
they said, "Smile for me, okay?"]
[That couldn't be a coincidence, right?]
[...Honkai Impact 3rd, how many more of these heart-wrenching details are hiding in plain sight?]
This—
This was the very definition of "terrifying upon deeper thought."
But—
They didn't hate that they remembered it all so clearly.
Even if it stirred up painful emotions...
Even if it made their hearts ache...
Because—
"As long as you remember us—
This story will never disappear."
"That's what Elysia—the most beloved of the Flame-Chasers—told me."
"Even though this story is full of regrets...
It's precisely those regrets that make it unforgettable—
that make it real."
"To not be dragged by fate.
To not be swept away by time.
To not fear goodbyes.
To not run from death.
And to always walk forward—toward the future we believe in."
[That's the romanticism of history.]
[Because people of the past left something behind,
we—their result—stand here today.]
[That's what Elysia once wished for:
that our footsteps would become someone else's guiding light.]
[...]*n
[So beautiful.]
So—
Kiana murmured:
"The Flame-Chasers?
They sound like... they had a lot of stories."
"Mm."
Mei's voice grew even softer:
"If you want to hear them—
I can tell you everything.
For as long as you'd like."
Really?
Would she even tell Kiana about...
That one time Elysia touched her horns?
Kinda feels impossible...
Well—maybe not.
They'd already done... that, after all.
A little horn-touching was nothing in comparison.
Maybe?
...
Back to the game.
The two girls continued walking through St. Freya.
Chatting as they strolled.
At one point, they reminisced about how Kiana used to be the first to bolt out of class every day—
Just to grab Mei's homemade food a few minutes earlier.
You could almost picture that excitable little dork version of Kiana.
Mm... only back then.
Then Mei teased Kiana—
Reminding her of how she used to shout about becoming the strongest Valkyrie.
And well... she did become one.
So technically—not wrong?
Then they recalled sneaking over the wall to grab ice cream and sweets.
Mei even mentioned how she still missed that white peach pudding they had.
Why the white peach pudding?
It tied back to a short animated event after the Flamescion arc—When Stars Ignite.
In that story, Kiana had taken a bite of that pudding first.
And then Mei ate it.
Their first indirect... you know.
Ahem.
People who knew, knew.
Of course—none of that would've happened without a certain Academy Head...
"She was afraid you'd hurt yourself climbing,
so she never made the wall any higher."
Every line—
every exchange—
Sparked another memory in the players' hearts.
Little by little...
That's what Honkai Impact 3rd was.
Bit by bit.
A tapestry woven from so many moments.
The in-game atmosphere warmed back up again amidst their sweet conversation.
The players, thinking back on all those little details, began to recover emotionally.
Sweet, sweet, sweet.
Given that the writers finally delivered some solid sweetness—
They'd let it go... for now.
But still—
After all their reminiscing, the two girls finally approached a certain memory.
That's right.
Kiana knew very well—
That what came next...
Would most likely circle back to that day.
And just as she thought of that moment—
Her mental space fell into a sort of unconscious silence,
as if someone had hit a computer's reboot button.
—At the same time, everything around her began rapidly reconfiguring.
The screen faded to black.
And as the scene shifted—
More and more players were guessing what was coming next.
That day.
For Kiana and Mei...
It was something they could never avoid.
"Compared to this world—
you matter more to me!"
After visiting the famed Chocolate Door,
Kiana and Mei now approached their second landmark—
The Wormhole.
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