MGSFV?! Chapter 484: A Truly Whole Family!
This thing called trust... Sometimes it's like sand in your hand—the tighter you squeeze, the less you hold.
The players grumbled inwardly, while elsewhere someone was already musing aloud...
"Speaking of which, having two such wonderful daughters... isn't Siegfried kind of enviable...?"
[That's... actually kind of true?]
[You sure it's only "kind of"? Think again.]
"Don't forget, Siegfried also had a great wife."
As soon as someone mentioned that, the internal grumbling stopped. A "critical hit" was swiftly added from another side.
"...?"
Suddenly Siegfried felt like a winner in life... Not.
"Such a good family... yet it fell apart so early... Even now, reunited, it can never return to its perfect state..."
"..." Some who have departed can never return...
Really?
Actually, Hokuto had added a special "little easter egg" behind the scenes for the players. Those who left—Cecilia—truly can't come back...
But... some foreshadowing left earlier in the plot had finally come to the moment it would be used.
Back to the story.
Still weakened, Siegfried was helped up by Kiana. He looked at Durandal, then at Kiana.
"Didn't you once say—"
Before he could finish, Kiana spoke first: "That the people of the Kaslana family, no matter the cost, must protect the ones they love the most?"
"That's why we came here."
[That line!]
[It was from when Kiana first lost control, and Siegfried sacrificed an arm to pull her back—his blessing as a father.]
"Haha..."
Seeing Kiana now able to repeat those words so calmly, Siegfried smiled warmly. What Theresa had told him—it was all true.
"Looks like Theresa wasn't wrong. You've grown into a fine young lady."
"Heh, of course!" Kiana grinned in her classic style. "I've learned tons of idioms now—you should treat me with new eyes!"
[Was that taught by Fu Hua?]
[Could've been Li Sushang, she always uses idioms.]
[Impossible, Sushang left right after waking up in Kolosten. Didn't really spend much time with Kiana.]
"But what I was able to do, I couldn't have done without everyone's help—Academy Head Theresa, my friends from St. Freya, and..."
Kiana looked toward the silent one beside her, softly calling: "Durandal."
Her tone was visibly... subtle. She had the Kaslana Stigma. She just used the Shaniat Stigma. And then...
Could there really be such coincidences in the world? So... the truth is...
That, right?
"...Ah."
Right now, Durandal had lost the imposing aura she had during battle. Instead, she seemed a little... well, Kaslana-style dumb?
She scratched her head and muttered: "Yes, due to some complicated reasons... I awakened more than one Stigma."
"Because... of Otto?"
Truly the scapegoat of this world—anytime an incident happens, he's the first to come to mind.
[Otto's unique lingering ghost.]
[Some people have died, but their traces are everywhere.]
[Why is Otto still around? Why is his presence still so strong?! (angry)]
Well, it's Otto after all! The one who gave Welt Yang a psychological shadow—just seeing a face that looked like him triggered PTSD.
...
Anyway, in this world, it's hard to avoid Otto. Just like how discussing Honkai Impact 3rd's story inevitably brings up "whether the writer has psychological trauma."
They were gradually getting used to it.
Hokuto: Don't get used to weird things, okay?
But the players soon had no time to complain about Otto—he may be long dead, but his presence in the story hadn't weakened a bit.
Because...
"Sort of."
"Let's not talk about that—I've already set a beacon here. Let's return to somewhere safer first."
Durandal tried to change the subject: "Let's leave here."
"Alright..."
Siegfried nodded and took a step forward. But! At that very moment! Some hazy memory in his mind was suddenly stirred.
"Durandal... did I... meet you somewhere before?"
[Huh?!?!!]
[Is it finally happening?!]
Bringing that up now—they were definitely about to have Durandal and Siegfried acknowledge each other, right? They were ready to bet the writer's next ten years of life!
Hokuto: ? Hokuto: Cool~~
[He means when Siegfried's consciousness became a doll in the Stigma Space, right?]
[So you did remember after all, Siegfried! I thought you'd already gone senile.]
Who's being so rude?
[If you Photoshop Durandal's hair white, she really looks just like Cecilia.]
[Exactly! Goose looks so much like Mom—Siegfried, how are you this slow?]
...
Faced with Siegfried's question, Durandal fell into a long silence.
"..." "......"
The atmosphere instantly froze. Even the in-game BGM faded out quietly at that moment. A faint thread of tension, from who knows where, wrapped around their hearts. Even players who'd been excitedly clicking began to hesitate.
They were still excited, still looking forward to it—but now, they didn't quite dare to click forward. They could empathize with Durandal.
"..."
Still, they were right at the threshold—so of course... they clicked gently. Letting Durandal's thoughts flow.
Once, she had felt a great conviction. And so she made a solemn promise:
One day, I will go with Kiana to rescue our father from that hell-like place.
Now, she had fulfilled that promise—next, all she needed was to let the hero before her know that his biological daughter still lived in this world—and was doing well.
But...
[But what?! Don't say "but"!]
[Is Dudu not planning to say it?!]
[No! No! No!]
Although players could absolutely empathize with Durandal now, and understood why she hesitated—when it was time to get anxious, they couldn't help but feel it.
But... as always, the scriptwriter would only tell them: "No need to rush."
...
Durandal's thoughts continued.
She realized—taking that final step wasn't as easy as she had imagined. She found herself slipping back into the mindset she had when she was twelve.
Durandal had two phases: the one where she was young Bianca in the World Bubble, and the one as the strongest Valkyrie. The former shaped her values—her "established character foundation."
Back to the point. Once, Schrödinger had encouraged a still-lost little Dudu...
Everyone can start from zero and create meaning and value in their lives.
She could be Bianca. She could be Durandal. She could be... as long as it was her decision, it was enough. Everything else had nothing to do with even a single fundamental particle of her.
When Durandal recalled what Dr. Schrödinger told her aboard the Caledonia—she suddenly realized—all the hesitation caused by her "amnesia" was merely creating a new kind of "amnesia."
And then—she made a decision.
"...Siegfried."
"If you can remember where you've seen me, then the story I'm about to tell will make much more sense to you."
[She made the decision!!!]
[Please don't stop here!]
Of course! At this point, Durandal wouldn't hesitate again. She seriously recounted her past exile, and how she encountered Siegfried's fractured persona.
As she spoke, she took out a photo she had carefully kept with her—one showing young real Kiana, Siegfried, and Homu. It was... the photo she obtained in the Stigma Space.
Here comes the main part!
"Siegfried..."
"The personality fragment I met back then—he was the faded version of this Homu in the photo."
"He—"
Durandal continued speaking, but just as she was about to reveal the truth formally—something unexpected happened. Under everyone's gaze—including the players—that restored photo suddenly began to dissolve into motes of light.
What happened??? What's going on???
The sudden development made everyone focus even more. Of course, this performance wasn't meaningless.
That photo had always been a form of Imaginary construct. And as it disappeared—a small miracle quietly unfolded.
Displaced stars returned to their proper time. Ripples of wind stirred echoes once thought gone. The lives of heroes intersected, overlapped—yet stayed true to themselves.
Not only Siegfried—who at this moment remembered the faded Homu and regained his "real" dream. Not only Durandal—who fulfilled a wish from ten years ago, giving closure to her past self.
But also... to make the family truly whole this time—
As the photo disappeared—a figure who shouldn't have been here appeared. A phantom likely invisible to in-game Durandal and Kiana—but fully visible to players.
Cecilia.
She stood beside Siegfried, smiling gently as she looked at Kiana and Durandal.
[Wah!!!]
[It's Mom! It's Cecilia!]
[The whole family! Truly whole! Wait... cough cough—no, the writer really didn't trick us?!]
[Sweet sweet sweet sweet! Nothing sweeter than Honkai Impact 3rd!]
As soon as Cecilia appeared, the livestream chat instantly erupted like it was New Year's Eve. joy bubbled over wildly.
But... were they satisfied?
Hokuto thought—even if the players were already filled with sugar, he was still going to add more.
When the photo vanished. When all truths were revealed. When Durandal finished speaking—yet stood frozen, unsure what to do next—our! Totally, unbelievably, outrageously adorable Kiana! Gave the all-important push.
Just a small push from Kiana. But one that skyrocketed the story's sweetness level. With that push, Durandal tilted forward. And together with Kiana, stepped up to Siegfried.
Cecilia (phantom), who had been silently watching, also walked forward. With a gentle smile, she reached out, making a gesture as if to embrace all three at once.
Ka~~ The screen froze.
"Life is a bridge. Its greatness does not lie in its destination, but in how it connects noon, dusk, and dawn—letting spontaneous meaning expand throughout the journey."
[Oooooooohhhhh!!!]
[I need a word sweeter than "sweet" to express my emotions!]
[Hey, 'Miss Fairy'?]
[Now's not the time for gags, alright?]
[Who's joking... whatever, SWEET SWEET SWEET! I'm going to replay "Nothing Sweeter than Honkai 3rd" a hundred times today!]
[Let's just end Honkai Impact 3rd right here—I declare it officially over today~!]
...
"An important family... truly whole!" Elysia couldn't help but cry out with joy. Her voice even trembled a bit from the emotion. Sweetness had brought her to tears.
"This is so good—truly so good."
"Sweet, isn't it?" Hokuto said, somewhat smug. "Told you, you didn't need to be afraid."
"Whew~~" Elysia took a deep breath to settle her emotions, then lifted her tone with a smile: "Well done! 'Otto' mister—have a gold star!"
"..."
But before Hokuto could respond—the chat blew up again.
[Miss Fairy, don't celebrate too soon!]
[Yeah! The writer handing out this much sugar—normal? No! This isn't Honkai 3rd at all!]
[Be wary of sugar laced into last meals.]
End of Chapter
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