MGSFV?! Chapter 554: With These People Around, the Atmosphere Can Never Stay Heavy; Is This Why You Drop the Knife?
Of course.
The situation wasn't nearly as bad as everyone thought.
A flashback revealed that Fu Hua had previously entered the Man-Made Collapse state, lost control due to Divine Sound, and ended up fighting Kevin. But now that Divine Sound had completely shattered, Fu Hua was able to fully control her Man-Made Collapse form.
Upon learning this, the players' complicated feelings improved significantly.
In other words, entering Man-Made Collapse no longer posed great harm to Fu Hua.
So...
[Time to deploy Collapse Fu Hua to the bridge.]
[Bring her out already!!]
[Someone please punch me unconscious until the day Fu Hua gets a new battlesuit.]
Yes.
If Fu Hua could now theoretically control her Man-Made Collapse, then adding this form as a new battlesuit made perfect sense.
Perfect sense!
Elysia turned her gaze toward Hokuto, silently expressing her feelings.
Collapse Fu Hua had stirred her heart in a way she hadn't felt in a long time.
Hokuto: Hmm? Wanna think about that again?
Elysia: It really was a heartfelt moment, okay??
Hokuto: No, I mean—it's not "a long time." You've had way too many of those moments.
That girl, this girl, she loves them all. "Everyone's so adorable~~"
Elysia: ...…
Elysia: Let's focus instead—when are you planning to bring Collapse Fu Hua into the game?
Hokuto: Working on it, working on it. The folder's already made—just needs to be filled...
...
In-game.
After the Fu Hua flashback ended—
Back to the present.
As her comrade, Kevin looked at Fu Hua in her Man-Made Collapse form…
"Fu Hua, you don't always have to… sacrifice everything."
The form Fu Hua now revealed was so familiar.
When she first manifested it, the power had caused her to act against her will, destroying everything in sight.
Kevin was the only one who had witnessed it firsthand.
Players who just watched the flashback knew this well.
And to ensure all players could follow the story, Hokuto designed two branches here.
One path: control Moon Wheel and deplete Kevin's HP to trigger a cutscene. The other: get your HP depleted by Kevin "accidentally."
This way, all players could proceed smoothly.
So, even though it wasn't written earlier, the stream was full of:
[Moon Wheel, reignite the soul of motion!]
[Got killed by Kevin.]
[Wait, you can get killed by Kevin? And the story still continues?]
[Huh? Of course it does. What, you didn't—?]
[This isn't a cutscene kill? Bro, don't tell me you can't play Moon Wheel.]
[...Who says that? Getting beaten by Kevin is the most canonical route!!]
[Yeah yeah sure.]
Such was the barrage.
Back to the main story.
Kevin scrutinized Fu Hua in her Man-Made Collapse form.
Her appearance meant one thing.
Since the moment the Herrscher of Sentience appeared to challenge him, their infiltration plan had been put into motion. And now—at this moment—it had reached its goal.
With a weapon no one expected Fu Hua to wield, and in her blazing Man-Made Collapse form, she decisively cut something from behind Kevin.
That object transformed into a burning torch in her hand—vibrant and alive.
It brought to mind a particular word—
Fireseed.
"This isn't a sacrifice."
"Kevin, you once bet everything to buy half a day for the future."
Fu Hua's voice remained steady, but filled with an indescribable resolve.
"This time, it's simply my turn—to fulfill the same duty."
"Fu Hua. The Herrscher of Sentience, the Primordial One… they were all a distraction, weren't they?" Kevin asked.
"The Herrscher of Sentience aside—perhaps she truly believed she could fight you on even ground without falling behind… But yes, defeating you wasn't our goal."
[Sure, everyone guessed Senti really believed she could go toe-to-toe with Kevin, but saying it out loud feels a little… rude.]
[Senti: Fainted from sheer Old Timer rage.]
"We don't have the strength to do that."
Even though—just now—right in front of Kevin, in front of all the players…
With only a single strike in her Man-Made Collapse form, Fu Hua had shaken the very space around her into chaotic light and shadow.
"Even if I gave it my all, all I could manage was to slightly disrupt the Finality you carry."
[Still—Collapse Immortal just now was insanely cool.]
[What do you mean "was"? Still is. (doghead emoji)]
[Quoting out of context, huh? (irritated)]
[Quoting from: "Stop Quoting Out of Context"]
...
The internet truly had endless side convos.
Back in the story—
After hearing Fu Hua, Kevin turned his gaze toward the fireseed in her hand.
It was something he had once taken from the Cocoon.
"So all those attempts, using mere mortal methods to challenge Finality—you only wanted my 'shadow'?"
"No wonder the Primordial One didn't go all out."
"Durandal… did she lend you her weapon?"
Kevin's high regard for Durandal was undeniable.
It wasn't the first time he'd mentioned her—he clearly thought very highly of her.
[Come to think of it, why does Kevin respect Durandal so much?]
[Primordial One, right? Dudu might not be as strong as Kevin now, but her potential is immense.]
[Huh?]
[In the lore, the Ideal Type is the peak of human-Stigmata fusion, while Herrschers are a different kind of extreme. Their forms may resemble each other—they're both possible expressions of Imaginary Law.]
[The Primordial One… perfectly merges Stigmata and Honkai energy and can wield both. Maybe it's a third path.]
[Only problem—low universality.]
[After listening to you guys, I suddenly feel out of the loop. Three paths now?]
[Listen more, think more, question more—you'll get there (manual clown emoji). It's all just theory anyway.]
Kevin's words—
Also acknowledged the power of the holy sword called [Durandal].
Dudu not using it did massively affect her combat ability.
Even now, Collapse Fu Hua had to borrow the sword to cut down Kevin's shadow.
As for why Kevin knew [Durandal] was powerful… it was a MOTH creation.
A weapon—or rather, a machine—that could theoretically grow on its own.
Its personality, though, well… let's just say it was kind of… lazy?
In modern internet speak—"slacker."
The kind of weapon that would go, "Hey, I'm smart and cute, so can't I slack off once in a while?"
So those 50,000 years weren't exactly all used on self-improvement.
Still—
Even after 50,000 years, it had long since surpassed what it was at creation.
And that… did have a little to do with Durandal.
...
So what now?
Would Collapse Fu Hua fight Kevin next?
At this point, no one was judging whether a relay fight was "noble" or not.
The Previous Era once ganged up on the Herrscher of Binding, after all.
But as Fu Hua said earlier—she didn't come to fight Kevin. She came to take his shadow and the Finality it held.
Now that she had it, she could retreat.
But the question was—
Would Kevin let them leave?
"You went to great lengths, to such an extent… It seems you've found an option other than a fight to the death."
Kevin's expression unreadable.
The atmosphere grew tense—
[Fight to the death? Like that's still a question?]
[By "fight to the death" he means you're all female. (doghead emoji)]
[Even without the fight, it's still one guy vs. all girls.]
At least outside the game, with this audience watching, things couldn't stay serious for long.
In-game, though, Fu Hua remained solemn.
She didn't have the bullet-comment brain circuits of the stream chat.
"Mm… it's enough for us to reverse-locate the Cocoon of Finality."
"From that angle, the possibilities this gives us far surpass any of our previous expectations."
Kevin: "..."
He paused, then replied: "If you can do that, then it's truly impressive."
He said "if."
Danger?
Many players caught the nuance in Kevin's wording and focused in.
Preparing for battle at any moment.
But the situation didn't erupt just yet.
"Fu Hua."
Kevin continued in an elusive tone, asking:
"In your eyes—what is it that gives you such faith in those children?"
"For example—can you temporarily endure that power like I can? I suspect you weren't certain until you actually grasped it."
He was pointing out that what Fu Hua was doing might be risky, even pointless.
"But Kevin…"
Fu Hua replied, "They aren't merely children—they are an era. In that respect, they're no different from you."
"When we stepped onto the battlefield to fight Herrschers, we weren't much older than them."
As people of this era—even if they knew the path was dangerous and difficult—they had no choice but to walk it.
[...]*N
Many suddenly recalled what Elysia had said earlier—
To challenge an invincible opponent while still believing in victory… must be excruciating.
But Kevin had done it. And he did it many times, for a very long time.
Could his words and deeds still inspire others to reach for the seemingly unreachable?
He must be hoping so.
With that, some players felt a quiet realization.
Kevin probably wouldn't stop Fu Hua.
But!
"You must also understand—even a victory this meager once required countless geniuses giving their all."
Kevin didn't exactly sound like someone planning to let them go.
"A single misstep… and everything would have to be rebuilt from scratch. We will not get a third chance."
[I've always wondered—why is there no third chance? No more loops?]
[Isn't the answer obvious? There's no second Elysia.]
[But wasn't the result of Elysia's sacrifice the Herrscher of Humanity?]
[PROMETHEUS could hack into Finality because Elysia left a return path to the Cocoon (plus the cat opened the door). Kevin stole the Finality power using that.]
Yes.
Kevin had always known this.
Even the line "there will never be another Elysia"—he said it first.
The players were just repeating what Kevin once said.
So—
"Unless they can surpass me in a truly solid form… I will remain the Finality to you all."
...
"Kevin."
Fu Hua pondered.
It wasn't really an answer—just a statement of fact.
"You, me, everyone from the Previous Era—we all had impulsive moments. Sometimes we acted on emotion."
True enough.
Players nodded. Who from the Previous Era didn't have a reckless past?
Even Dr. MEI…
Never mind.
The thought trailed off. No urge to joke anymore.
Because most of those impulsive acts came at the very end.
Hokuto: Rational all your life—being reckless before death is perfectly normal, right?
Players: Normal. So normal. Is this why you drop the emotional knife, writer? Should we applaud?
So if you only looked at their lives—not their final acts—
You could say: "They never acted on emotion."
"In other words, you weren't looking for a chance… but rather…"
Kevin's voice softened. He didn't finish the sentence.
If you have the resolve—if you're confident—then…
"If you truly believe you can do it, then bring that result to me."
With those final words, Kevin turned and left.
He also told himself: Even if the future cannot be changed, I'll decide the path that leads there.
She once said that.
That's why he didn't care what they were trying to do.
No matter how it began, how it unfolded, or how it ended—he would judge it all personally.
He would evaluate just how far the fledgling of rebirth could fly.
Elysia: ...
Hearing the line she'd once repeated many times—spoken now by Kevin himself.
At this moment.
Her emotions grew too complex to describe.
Kevin had to guarantee the success of the result—not because he wanted to, but because he had no choice.
He was never afraid of the failure of the Stigma Plan.
What scared him—though maybe "fear" isn't the right word—what would truly disappoint Kevin…
Was if the Stigma Plan didn't fail.
Kevin, oh Kevin…
For once, she didn't know what to say to this version of Kevin.
She froze. Got stuck.
Compared to someone dropping dead in front of you...
This wasn't a sharp, dramatic pain. It was quiet—but long and drawn out.
Like being slowly flayed by a dull knife—
There was a strange kind of "beauty" in it.
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