MGSFV?! Chapter 438. Big Pillow Li; Master, I Have Achieved Enlightenment
As for...
Whether there was any shady business going on—
That was up to the wise and discerning to interpret.
Perhaps it was merely a case of: "Judge a scholar with new eyes after three days."
Even if she was once called "Big Pillow Li" by her teachers—
thanks to constantly dozing off in class because her mother made her practice martial arts since she was young...
People grow.
As the saying goes: Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles.
At this point, Li Sushang had already traveled from Earth to the Moon.
How many miles had she walked?
By equivalence—
She might as well have read a few million books.
Totally reasonable, right?
Hmm...
Is it, though?
Ahem. Best not to dwell on these minor details.
...
After showing off her mastery of idioms,
Li Sushang followed up with:
"I just don't believe—this little elevator can really trap the five of us?"
She had just laid down a huge flag.
Thankfully, Durandal reacted in time:
"Sushang, don't be careless—"
Flag: disarmed.
Otherwise...
The players could all feel it: after saying something like that, something was definitely about to go wrong.
[Don't jinx it.]
[I feel like Sushang's the new Grasshopper.]
[Times have changed, old man.]
While the players were busy roasting Sushang—
the scene cut to Kevin and Fu Hua.
Kevin stood calmly, in his Stigmata Form, wrapped in black and white bandages, holding the fully unleashed Muspellheim.
"Hua. That's enough. I have already witnessed your will."
"...Perhaps not."
Unlike Kevin's current calm,
Fu Hua was panting heavily—
yet her voice was still firm.
Even now, she could barely hold onto her sword.
A few subtitles flashed on screen, describing Fu Hua's condition.
As usual, Elysia read them aloud:
"Collapse... Collapsing?
The searing pain gnawed along her nerves, infiltrating a body already pushed to its limits."
"Three minutes—perhaps that is the longest 'Garuda' can endure before 'Stigmata.'"
[Squad Leader entered Human-Induced Eruption mode?]
[Still went three minutes with Kevin?!]
Actually...
This "eruption" of Fu Hua's—was most likely interrupted by Kevin.
Because...
She once suffered side effects from the pre-civilization's Divine Sound experiment.
If she entered eruption mode, she would completely lose control—unable to recognize friend from foe.
Normally, that's what would happen.
So Kevin, who still saw her as a battle comrade,
naturally wouldn't let her fall into such a state.
However...
The players didn't know that.
[HoYoverse won't even show us Squad Leader's Human-Induced Eruption?!]
[Strong protest!]
Hokuto: ...
It's not that we don't want to show it.
It's just that Fu Hua erupting is too cool—we're afraid you can't handle it.
Not to mention...
Even if you couldn't handle it, her Human-Induced Eruption battle suit won't be released soon.
You'll just have to drool and wait.
Which means, that old saying will come up again:
"Honkai Impact is so teasing—it makes you itch restlessly until the very moment they finally deliver the goods."
...
Back to the story.
No matter how exhausted her body felt—
Fu Hua still gripped Xuanyuan Sword.
"The fight... isn't over yet."
"I don't wish to duel to the death."
Kevin shook his head slightly.
"So perhaps... you should take a look around."
Around?
What did he mean?
As her attention shifted slightly, she understood.
Because—
Scattered all around the previously empty slope
were now numerous Divine Keys.
Among them—even Judah.
[Judah: What am I doing here?]
[Daily question: Where's Academy Head Theresa? Checking period tracker.]
[These Keys must be manifestations from the Key of Domination, right?]
[Wait—what if that's Theresa's Judah? Meaning... Kevin already...]
[???] *n
[No way. Absolutely not.]
"Mr. 'Otto,'" Elysia turned to Hokuto,
"Can you at least give us a hint when we'll see Theresa again?"
She had clearly learned her lesson—
Rather than asking if Theresa had died, she asked when she'd reappear.
If she was going to appear again—then she must still be alive.
"..."
Hokuto saw through her little trick immediately.
But he didn't try to dodge the question like before.
Besides, Kevin would soon mention Theresa in the story.
And HoYoverse's writers had never just removed a character without at least explaining it.
Anyway, even if he lied, no one would believe him now.
So, Hokuto answered:
"The Academy Head will appear—where she's meant to be."
"Huh?"
Elysia raised an eyebrow, then asked:
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's literal."
Theresa will return to where her heart belongs—St. Freya.
"...Fine."
Elysia didn't push it further.
She'd heard what mattered: Theresa's alive. That's enough.
Back to the screen.
...
Guided by Kevin, Fu Hua noticed the Divine Keys scattered around.
"Don't be confused.
They've always been here."
"—Our epitaphs, frozen in time."
"Hua. In the past, Su and I hid part of the truth about [Finality] from you."
"...?"
[Same reaction as Squad Leader.]
[Fu Hua: You've all been keeping things from me?]
[Bullying honest people, huh?]
Next—
Kevin unveiled the truth buried by him and Su—
The truth about Finality:
No matter "50,000 years ago" or "50,000 years before that,"
humanity's starting point had always been the same.
That was the power of Finality—
A world reset. Civilization wiped clean.
"Finality... is time."
"So put your sword down.
I don't want to continue this fight.
It benefits neither you, nor me, nor anyone else."
[!!!] *n
[So Finality wipes civilizations by rewinding time?!]
[Not just destruction—it's a system reset.]
[Sounds like Finality isn't even trying to destroy, but... wants another shot at getting it right?]
Actually, the comparison was pretty on point:
Finality resembled a player who, unhappy with their ending,
reloads the save to try again—
hoping this time they get it right.
So...
Was Finality truly the end, or was it—
an idealistic reset?
Still—
"Kevin... You know I won't give in so easily."
Even after learning the truth, Fu Hua refused to yield.
Kevin looked at her.
"You're very much like Theresa."
[Oh? Theresa?]
Hearing her name snapped the plot back into something most players could follow.
"Theresa?"
Fu Hua hadn't expected him to bring her up.
"Just recently..."
Kevin continued:
"We fought a duel."
[So where's our aunt now?]
["Recently" = two months ago.]
[She held off Finality for months—new record after falling for two weeks straight.]
[Still the strongest Valkyrie. Academy Head supremacy.]
"Don't worry.
She now sleeps within a dream—
When the Stigmata Project completes,
she too will live freely in the reborn world."
This was the first solid confirmation players got about Theresa's condition.
And it seemed—she wasn't in any danger.
[I suddenly feel like Kevin isn't as deranged as I thought.
It's not like he's killing anyone who opposes the project.]
It's true.
Because—
When Fu Hua picked her weapon back up to fight again...
Kevin still only knocked her unconscious.
He didn't...
"I won't let this battle be your end."
He sighed.
"...Fu Hua."
No one answered.
The girl who had crossed 50,000 years now leaned quietly against a shattered wall, still gripping her sword.
"...I promise you—
you will see a world without [Honkai].
And those you believed in will find their best endings."
"Then... you can personally carve a fitting headstone
for the era we've left behind."
Kevin did not promise lightly.
So when he did—he always meant it.
Does that mean...
He truly believed everyone would have their "best" ending?
Including Fu Hua, Kiana, Mei...
That seemed impossible.
But—
Maybe Kevin was the kind to believe,
not because he was certain—
but because he chose to believe.
And that contradicted earlier player theories that Kevin launched the Stigmata Project out of mistrust.
Maybe it wasn't mistrust.
Just like MEI had said before—
Kevin had understood the real Flame-Chaser Plan.
And if MEI said it—
it had to be true.
[Is Kevin going for the Otto ending?]
[Keeping a failsafe, while still believing in a brighter path? Not impossible.]
...
The players discussed Kevin's inner thoughts.
Then—
Suddenly, the sound of soft footsteps broke Kevin's silence.
Someone was approaching.
Someone not meant to appear in the Stigmata Plan.
[Could it be Ego?]
[Coming to save Mom! (lol)]
But the reality—
Was completely different.
"I thought you weren't interested in getting involved."
Kevin turned.
And then, a voice answered—
"Who knows?
After all... who doesn't like a brave young girl?"
Yutu.
The five-thousand-year-old girl. (Strikethrough.)
...
Meanwhile—
Even Li Sushang, who had left home young and traveled alone, couldn't help but marvel at the current situation.
"They say 'seeing is believing'...
But this Imaginary Space is full of strange phenomena."
"Black fire bursting up, elevators refusing to land,
the space itself suddenly changing...
I didn't think the Kevin you all feared was capable of so much."
But Mei shook her head:
"I don't believe it's all Kevin's doing."
"Mei-san, that's where you're mistaken."
"Cultured Sushang" began quoting sources.
"I recently read a detective novel—
and it said:
'When you eliminate the impossible,
whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.'"
[Wow, sounds like Sushang's really caught up with pop culture.]
[That's a Holmes quote, right?
But in Honkai canon... that was Fu Hua.]
[Fu Hua: Oh, my little disciple—you read that book too?
It was based on me and a friend named Conan Doyle.]
Many of the cases were based on Fu Hua's real experiences.
Which made the in-universe Holmes stories...
very different.
For example—
Much more humorous.
Yes, humorous...
Like the scene where Holmes planned to infiltrate a mansion—
and came up with the perfect idea:
Have Fu Hua pretend to be a vagrant and punch him in the face.
Oh dear God.
A "perfect" plan?
He wanted Fu Hua—whose fists could break steel, split streets, and crush fate—to hit him in the face?
One had to applaud Holmes' courage.
Clap clap clap...
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