MGSFV?! Chapter 332. I Don't Want Kosma to Be Alone; Everything Falls Apart
"Griseo is one of the Flame-Chasers too?"
Mobius quietly pondered the thought.
At last—
She returned her attention to the game screen.
She was hesitating a bit—but who could blame her?
Although Mobius didn't openly show it, it was clear she didn't want to face the next part of the story.
Even so, the time had come. She had no choice.
…
…
Mobius, controlling the Herrscher of Corruption, slowly walked toward Griseo, who stood still, unmoving.
The viewers in the livestream held their breath, fingers pausing on the keyboard, no longer sending furious bullet comments across the screen.
They watched Mobius move the Herrscher of Corruption in circles around Griseo.
It took a long while before she finally pressed the attack key.
But no one felt impatient.
Because…
They were just as conflicted inside.
And when they saw the Herrscher's attack strike Griseo without hesitation—
Their hearts clenched hard.
It felt as though they were being corrupted too.
To make it worse, the game echoed again with…
"Take these flowers with gratitude."
"Please accept my feelings~ ♬"
"Let's do something fun~~"
Lines straight from Elysia's memory—
Spoken by the Herrscher of Corruption, while doing what Elysia would never do.
Just as players' emotions had started to ease… their blood pressure spiked again.
[Herrscher of Corruption, I want to kill you a thousand times!!]
[If this thing enters Memory Arena, I'm beating her up five times a day!!]
[Where's my Limitless Devourer?! I'm cutting this thing in half!]
[Wait… maybe the writers planned this from the start? They knew Elysia's lines would be lethal in her voice?]
[What a diabolical twist. Truly evil.]
[The writers must be traumatized.]
As fury surged through the player base—
Each attack from the Herrscher landed on Griseo.
The in-game camera panned high, circling around the dreamlike cage of "The Painter's Fantasy."
Showing everyone the despairing collapse brought on by corruption.
The pressure was unbearable.
But then—
The camera zoomed in again.
From the void, someone burst out and struck the Herrscher.
Kosma.
Stepping in as the princess's knight—shielding her, fighting with everything he had.
The Herrscher, unmoved by emotion, merely frowned in irritation.
"Kosma… stop getting in my way."
"I've spent too long here. I won't leave empty-handed."
She unleashed her full power.
As the strongest, nearly unstoppable existence in the Elysian Realm—
All Kosma and Griseo could do was buy a little more time.
Kosma was quickly overpowered. Griseo's corruption gauge reached 99/100.
"…That feeling… what is it?"
Just as the Herrscher was about to deliver the final blow, she frowned.
She lowered her weapon and stepped forward.
Only now did she realize—
When Griseo had said, "I can't leave," maybe it had been far simpler than she thought.
Griseo had no special traits like Kosma. A light touch should've corrupted her entirely.
And yet…
Where was that overwhelming "sense of gain" that always came with it?
Why couldn't she feel anything?
Players: ???
Wait what? Again?
Seriously—just leave Griseo alone already!
"Griseo… you…"
Griseo: "…"
"…Did you paint yourself into the picture?"
As the Herrscher voiced her stunned question—
The brutal truth was unveiled.
A blow straight to the chest.
What? WHAT??
Griseo painted her own data into the artwork?
…
Everyone was shaken.
But Griseo answered calmly:
"In the end… 'another person made the choice.' That's what Kosma said… right?"
"Then on this canvas, there should be 'another person' too…"
In the previous era—
Griseo had volunteered for the Ark Project, giving Kosma the chance to go to the moon—to become a hero.
Now, she too had made her choice.
"A person's destiny… is their nature."
That line from the start of the Elysian Realm…
Now echoed all the more profoundly.
"Since everyone says I'm a blank sheet… then I'll make myself the canvas. Kosma wouldn't mind, right?"
???
Is that what the "blank sheet" reference was leading to, writers?
They couldn't hold it together anymore.
The carefully suppressed emotions exploded all at once.
No one had imagined that this would be the "untouched paper" setup's payoff.
MiHoYo writers… you're shamelessly brilliant…
Now they felt like they were going to cry from sheer frustration.
Only the Herrscher's stunned reaction gave them the slightest comfort.
"…"
She inhaled, deeply and slowly.
All the time she'd spent here had been wasted corrupting… a painting.
She hadn't gained a single memory, a single ounce of power from any Flame-Chaser. Even the little she'd absorbed was exhausted in the previous fight.
She was furious.
[She's breaking. Finally. T^T So are we.]
[Watching the Herrscher suffer is satisfying; watching the Flame-Chasers sacrifice themselves is devastating.]
[Only silver lining: she's breaking too.]
They never expected the only joy today would be breaking down in sync with the Herrscher.
This was... absurdly cruel.
…
Back in the story—
The Herrscher's tone hardened.
"Then… what about Griseo?"
"Same as Kosma…" Griseo replied softly.
"You painted him… and this was your choice?"
The Herrscher's expression twisted with rage.
"You're saying… you'd waste your life just to stop me from pursuing him?"
To someone obsessed with eternal life—
Such "waste" was incomprehensible.
This moment sharply contrasted the Herrscher's selfish outlook with the Flame-Chasers' sacrificial spirit.
Players could see it clearly now.
What do you mean "just" and "waste"?
Herrscher of Corruption—
You're the one who doesn't get it.
With your endless greed, how could you understand human love?
And you call yourself Elysia…
Heh. That's laughable.
Unfortunately, pure-hearted Griseo wasn't the type to seize the opportunity and mock her.
Had it been another Flame-Chaser?
They'd have roasted her until she popped a blood vessel.
What a shame.
Griseo only tilted her head, confused.
"Pursue…?"
"Kosma… he never says it, but he's always been scared of being alone."
Then came her last line.
"I just… don't want him to be alone in the painting."
She likely didn't even know who the enemy truly was.
Nor how terrifying they might be.
She only knew—
This was her decision.
She just didn't want—
The boy who always stood in front of her, saying, "Griseo! Get behind me!"
—to be alone.
[...]
[...]
[...]
The moment Griseo said that, everyone broke.
Words failed to express the pain they felt.
[Griseo's goal wasn't even to stop the Herrscher. She just wanted to stay with Kosma to the end.]
[She doesn't understand "duty" or "sacrifice." She just doesn't want him to be lonely.]
[This… this is emotional devastation.]
[Please, Bishop-sama, take us back to the Tree one more time!]
…
The players were overwhelmed.
Who wouldn't be?
No one expected Griseo's arc to be the one that stabbed them deepest…
Perhaps the only solace now—
Was that the Herrscher broke down too.
Even if what she did next brought no joy…
At that moment—
The wrath she had suppressed finally burst forth, threatening to shatter the Elysia-shaped shell she wore.
With brutal force, she erased Griseo's fading figure along with the last traces of the painted world.
The "Painter's Fantasy"—
Engulfed in fire.
The image of Kosma on the white canvas slowly, irreversibly turned to ash.
???
MiHoYo! Why are you so detailed in these moments?!
When you animated this, did your heart not ache?
How could you do this? HOW?!
Enough. Really. That's enough.
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