MGSFV?! Chapter 335. Like Kevin's Instant Noodles; Playing a Lute to a Wooden Post
After spending so long playing as the Herrscher of Corruption, the players finally got to control Hua again—it felt oddly nostalgic.
What's more, in this battle, Hua had her SP locked at max.
Players got to enjoy unlimited SP with her Shadow Knight: Moonblade battlesuit.
That sensation... that bone-crunching impact with every punch...
Say what you will—
It lit their action-game spirit ablaze!
Hua's Shadow Knight: Moonblade was just straight-up satisfying and fun to play.
The battle went on for quite a while.
Hua pushed forward.
And finally—
She caught up.
Face-to-face once again with the Herrscher of Corruption.
Hua stated bluntly, "...This ends now."
"Hua??"
The Herrscher of Corruption looked at her with slight surprise. "Must we really do this? Hua, I thought... you'd understand my intentions."
The moment those words left her mouth—
The players' expressions collectively shifted.
There we go again.
Based on prior experience—
The Herrscher of Corruption was absolutely about to spike everyone's blood pressure again.
She was probably about to say something like:
[Hua, I summoned those monsters to protect you, to keep you from getting hurt.]
Laughable! Utterly laughable!!
Their barely recovered good mood vanished in an instant—like Kevin's instant noodles. Slurp, gone.
Fast and sudden.
And sure enough, they guessed correctly.
Well, they were battle-hardened at this point—it was only natural to see it coming.
In the story:
Hua countered, "You mean sending those creatures to stall me?"
"They shouldn't be called 'creatures'!"
Before answering Hua's question, the Herrscher of Corruption nitpicked her wording.
"Tch. I'll forgive it this once, Hua. But if I called your companions 'creatures,' you wouldn't be happy either, would you?"
"Didn't everyone go through something similar? You should be more understanding."
Hua retorted directly, "We don't have a habit of abandoning comrades to die."
"Really? But didn't they do exactly that to you?"
The Herrscher of Corruption snapped back: "To achieve something more important, they left you alone to face an unbeatable enemy…"
"Behavior-wise, what's the difference?"
[???]
[There's a massive difference. One's active sacrifice, one's passive burden.]
[Here we go again—another emotional landmine!]
"Sigh... whatever. We're off-topic now, Hua."
"Griseo and Kosma made me angry, yes—but I understand I shouldn't take it out on you."
"I left... for your sake, too."
Hua: "..."
She didn't say a word, but her expression said it all.
It was that "keep talking, I'm listening in silence—believe one word and I'll become a Herrscher myself" kind of face.
"Still can't believe me?"
The Herrscher of Corruption read the expression. "Or... Hua, is it that you really don't know what you want?"
"Hua, even someone like Kalpas had something he wished for... some future he hoped to see."
"But you... don't have a wish like that, do you?"
And there she went again with her signature mind games.
Seriously, when will the Herrscher of Corruption learn?
Has she ever once successfully talked anyone down since her debut?
And this was Hua we're talking about!
That straight-laced, single-track-minded wooden block! Who are you trying to shake?
As expected—
Hua didn't respond with sorrow, anger, or any dramatic counterargument.
She simply…
Slowly typed a question mark.
Hua: Yeah, sure, keep talking. If I take in even one word of this, I lose.
She wasn't affected in the slightest. She didn't even engage.
She calmly replied, "...I have my own mission."
"A forced mission? How heartless…"
The Herrscher of Corruption wouldn't give up. "To protect humanity? To fight against the Honkai?"
"But Hua... you don't even know why you do these things. You can't be sure if they're meaningful, right?"
"It's like a rock rolling down a hill. You're here only because…"
"'I'm doing something. I can still do something.' That's all you want—otherwise, you wouldn't know how to live."
Indeed, for Hua, mission execution had always been her reason to act.
Not something she wanted, but something she obeyed.
Following Dr. MEI, following Kevin… That had always been the path of her life. So it wasn't surprising for the Herrscher of Corruption to raise the question.
But—
Hua still remained unmoved. She even calmly delivered a sharp line.
"That argument means nothing coming from you, Herrscher of Corruption."
"To wander without knowing the meaning, or to corrupt without knowing the meaning—there's no difference in my eyes."
She made it clear:
You talk your talk, I'll do my thing. Sparring words with you? Not happening.
[Herrscher of Corruption: I get it now!]
[Get what?! You've been 'getting it' all chapter!]
[Let's be real—if this worked, Kiana wouldn't have had to go all-out with Feather Dust.]
[Trying to psych out Hua with words? Hilarious.]
Seeing Hua stay completely wooden after everything she said, the Herrscher of Corruption's expression shifted.
Still feeling somewhat unwilling, she made one last attempt.
"I admit, I'm the same. But... have you forgotten something?"
"I wasn't born with a 'predetermined end.'"
"The unavoidable human truth of death… I don't have that concept. So I have all the time in the world to search for the meaning of my existence."
Bragging about her infinite lifespan as an edge in the meaning-of-life debate?
Trying to unsettle Hua again?
Hua: "..."
Players imagined Hua might be thinking something like:
"Did you forget my fusion factor, Garuda, is literally built to enhance my vitality?"
Or—
"Actually, I've lived 50,000 years already. You, the Herrscher, haven't even been around a week."
A very Kosma-esque reaction, honestly.
Kosma: ?
"Not going to respond?"
The ever-confident Herrscher of Corruption clearly misunderstood Hua's silence.
But Hua wasn't the type to "play along." She responded with simple facts.
"I just need you to stay here. Whatever else you say, I won't care."
"..."
The Herrscher of Corruption froze.
She finally realized that all her talk had been for nothing.
She'd been playing a lute to a wooden post.
It pissed her off a little.
"That's why I said… you don't understand me at all."
Hua could probably write a textbook on how to emotionally dismantle a Herrscher.
A certain former Herrscher of Reason could probably relate.
Facing someone like Hua, who couldn't be mentally shaken, the Herrscher of Corruption decided Hua deserved a different approach than the others.
She wouldn't make Hua part of her "whole."
If Hua didn't mind inevitable failure—if all she wanted was to know what else she could do—
Then the Herrscher was willing to let her keep that pursuit.
From now on… she would let Hua resist, just like this.
If this was Hua's chosen way of living, she didn't mind letting it continue.
"I won't use the power that could defeat you. This way… you can keep going like this, forever."
"Now come—don't you dare give up."
[What kind of yandere nonsense is this?]
[Honestly, at this point, the Herrscher feels… even more twisted. Like, post-breakdown delusion levels.]
[Yeah, it's like she finally realized she can't beat Hua mentally, and now she's retreating into self-denial and "emotional nobility."]
…
Though Hua clearly had the upper hand psychologically, the difference in power was still real.
The Herrscher didn't even need to attack directly—she simply summoned a greater swarm of Faded creatures and surrounded Hua.
And that alone threw Hua into a difficult battle.
The Herrscher of Corruption used the moment to escape.
"Sorry, Hua… gathering everyone else will take time."
"So before I bring it all to an end, go ahead and... enjoy your 'life' here."
With that, she fled in haste.
Clearly, no matter what nice words she said—
She was afraid.
Afraid Hua might, like Griseo or Kosma, find a way to delay her for too long.
That's why she kept avoiding a head-on confrontation.
Of course, Hua understood this.
And she knew she had to catch up quickly.
There was only one way to do that now.
A crimson feather floated from her hand, and then vanished with her will.
The Eighth Divine Key, Feather Dust... Second Rated Output!
Fifty thousand years ago, in her first confrontation with the Herrscher of Corruption, it was this very power that allowed her to save many members of Fire Moth.
Even though the outcome of that battle hadn't changed.
This time, connecting with earlier context:
"I want to know what I can do."
Perhaps Hua's regret was simple—she just wanted to do something that might truly change the ending.
To fulfill her part.
And that was enough.
Very much a "Hua" way of thinking.
But not surprising.
She had always been the one most grounded in reality.
Even after 50,000 years, she hadn't changed one bit—steel-willed straight woman… ahem, an embodiment of consistency.
In the end, the Herrscher claimed Hua's life had no direction, when in truth, Hua had long been moving unwaveringly toward her goal.
As expected—
The Herrscher of Corruption never understood the Flame-Chasers.
She never understood Hua.
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