MGSFV?! Chapter 457. This Sudden Spike in Knife Content—Now This Feels Like the miHoYo We Know
No doubt about it.
Those knight-class Honkai Beasts had just reached Mistelin—
They didn't even get the chance to drive their massive lances "firmly" into her body as they had surely intended...
Before they were subjugated by Mistelin's invisible aura and collapsed one by one—lifeless.
If they retained any consciousness after death, they probably had a lot they'd want to say.
In their next lives, they'd want to become Judgment-class Honkai Beasts...
Wait, no—they wouldn't want to be Honkai Beasts at all. They'd rather be Valkyries...
Hmm, but even that didn't seem very safe...
Is there even a single safe profession in this world? (Tragic.)
Sorry—turns out there isn't.
In the world of Honkai, all professions are either high-risk or higher-risk.
Mistelin's display, without question, drew the full attention of the players.
[What terrifying spiritual pressure (confirmed)]
[No wonder we don't have an attack key here—Hare doesn't need to attack.]
[Hare when?]
[She kills mobs just by walking—one loop and it's a full clear.]
[Has Honkai Impact 3rd finally given up its action-game soul? (bold claim)]
Of course, jokes aside—
The fact that Mistelin could simply walk and cause Honkai Beasts to spontaneously collapse gave players a much clearer sense of just how intense her Honkai disruption really was.
Even Honkai Beasts couldn't survive it—let alone normal humans.
Calling her a mobile natural disaster would almost be an understatement.
...
As players had those thoughts—
In-game, Mistelin continued her unconscious march forward.
And as she walked, more and more Honkai Beasts dropped dead, one after another, just like those earlier knights.
Honestly—
If you stripped the confusion off Mistelin's face, added some serious BGM...
This could totally be a final boss cutscene.
Hmm...
As Hokuto watched Elysia progress through the story, a few thoughts flickered in his mind.
Would some player turn this small, extra bit of mission design into something completely novel—something he never saw in his previous life?
Truth be told—
He hoped they would.
He was very much looking forward to being surprised again.
And to feel the same emotion as before—
That same twitch at the corners of his mouth, moved by the players' joy.
Back to the main thread.
So, Mistelin kept walking a long way.
Just as she finally started to suppress the confusion in her heart—
She ran into something unexpected.
Ahead of her, a squad of mechanized Titans was being swarmed by a large number of Honkai Beasts.
[So Titans actually do fight Honkai Beasts? Every time they show up, they're usually ganging up on me with the Beasts.]
[That's because they are Beasts—just shaped like Titans.]
[Flash Titan: Titan King Fist, incoming!]
[Blink, zero-frame, one-punch Titan!]
[Valkyrie Fragments (meme face)]
[...Damn. The old trauma rises again. PTSD triggered.]
"Thank goodness Abyss has been reworked... otherwise..."
Even Elysia shook her head.
Back in the old Abyss days—
If a Titan had the Blink buff, it could teleport right in front of you and deliver a haymaker.
Basically—if you saw the blink effect, it meant you were about to eat a punch.
And that punch hurt. A lot.
To put it simply: it was an R-flash.
Not only did it hit like a truck—it was smart.
Afraid yet?
Anyway, the Titans in this story segment weren't that scary.
They were just... regular.
So—
With the Honkai Beasts increasing in number, the Titans gradually began to falter.
At this rate, no one from the squad would survive.
"..."
Mistelin saw this, fell silent, and wore a worried expression.
She stepped forward slightly—as if she were about to leap down and help.
...However—
Her actions stayed firmly at the level of "as if."
She clearly hesitated.
It was obvious—
She knew her presence would do more harm than good. Helping might just hasten their deaths.
And just as she pondered—
Tap tap~~
A series of crisp footsteps rang out.
Grey Serpent appeared before Mistelin once again—or rather, this was the first time he had ever appeared before her, chronologically speaking.
Still clad in black robes.
And most importantly—
Still holding that black umbrella!
"Does Grey Serpent always carry an umbrella year-round? Is there some deeper meaning to it?"
"Deeper meaning? Nah... more like—
'Don't you think carrying an umbrella looks cooler?' That's probably what Grey Serpent would say."
"..."
Honestly, yeah.
That does sound like something the taciturn, dramatic Grey Serpent would say.
...
As mentioned earlier—
Grey Serpent had come to Siberia seeking suitable candidates (a.k.a. "picking up children")—
But stumbled upon the greatest side discovery of all: Mistelin.
In truth—
He'd been searching for Mistelin for a long time.
But today was the first time he'd gotten the chance to meet her face-to-face.
And also the first time he invited her to join World Serpent.
Mistelin responded bluntly:
"If you intend to use me as a weapon—
Then you've got the wrong person."
"And even if I set aside my own will—
Anyone who tries to weaponize me... will only hurt themselves first."
"You misunderstand," Grey Serpent shook his head.
Then stated a simple fact:
"You would not be a weapon greater than the Sovereign."
That...
What a unique way to prove he wasn't trying to weaponize her.
Is this like saying—
Because you already have a nuke, there's no need to develop missiles?
Well—
It could be that simple.
As long as you're the only one who owns that nuke... and it's cheap to use.
World Serpent had Kevin.
If a top-tier fight ever broke out, just let Kevin swing once—and it'd be handled.
Kevin-senpai gave World Serpent confidence.jpg
And if Kevin couldn't solve it with one swing?
Then World Serpent would just pull out something else.
So—
In Grey Serpent's eyes...
Mistelin's uncontrollable Honkai disruption wasn't the point.
What mattered—
Was that she could do something even Kevin couldn't.
[Something even Kevin can't do... could it be awakening Stigmas inside humans?]
That's a power previously mentioned—
Mistelin could awaken dormant Stigmas within people at will.
[Wait... but didn't Jackal forcibly awaken an entire city's Stigmas back in Skydome?]
[Yeah, and Mobius's prototype Stigma Project could do that too.]
[If that's true, then... why is Grey Serpent so obsessed with recruiting Mistelin?]
Players were puzzled—
And Mistelin, in-story, also asked:
"What exactly is it you're after?"
"Perhaps... things you consider completely worthless."
Instead of answering directly—
Grey Serpent turned to look toward the distant battlefield.
Where those Titans had been fighting the Honkai Beasts.
"'Otto'-san, you're keeping secrets in the plot again," Elysia couldn't help but mutter.
"Well... Grey Serpent's true goal regarding Mistelin has already been hinted at in earlier scenes."
Hokuto paused—
Then seriously offered Elysia a reply.
He wasn't lying—
There had been foreshadowing before.
Just, as Grey Serpent said—
Most players probably dismissed it as trivial backstory.
"Is that so..."
Elysia wasn't suspicious.
"But... which part was the relevant hint... I don't think I can guess..."
She mused aloud, tapping the screen gently.
Hokuto didn't speak again—he had no plans to give her further hints.
...
Back in the plot.
Why did Grey Serpent suddenly turn toward the battlefield?
Because—
While he and Mistelin talked, the Titan squad had been annihilated.
The shrieks of the Honkai Beasts faded into the distance.
And on the pale ground, only the wreckage of the mechs remained—
Soon to be buried by snow.
"...Seems they didn't make it."
"So—at this very moment—
Do you still regret not acting to save them?
Or... does their death, not by your hand, ease your guilt?"
[Wasn't the Second Eruption not caused by Mistelin?]
[But it's true that those Beasts emerged because of her—that's why Hare is so conflicted.]
[In short—Sirin was the quake. Mistelin is the aftershock. And this aftershock might be even more destructive.]
So then...
Did Mistelin try anything to prevent being an aftershock?
Of course.
In addition to her suicide attempts—
She once tried sealing herself away—cutting ties with the world of humanity.
Sounds decent, right?
But sadly—
That failed too.
Because as long as she existed, she would continuously generate Honkai Beasts.
And she couldn't control them.
They'd attack humans and cause wave after wave of disaster.
Naturally—
This raised another question among players:
Did Mistelin really need to blame herself so harshly?
After all—
When craftsmen make guns, no one blames them for every person shot, right?
In fact, if someone did say that...
People would wonder if they were a bit... off.
"In my opinion, no one should ever be punished for the talents they're born with."
In-game, Grey Serpent voiced the same thoughts as many players—
Without sugarcoating it.
"But still...
I'm a Schariac.
Do you understand that?"
Mistelin—
The crystallization of salvation as a concept—
Could never forgive herself on those grounds.
Players: "..."
Of course.
Someone born to save humanity—
Yet cursed to destroy all she touches.
The instinct to protect, written into her genes—
Now clashing against her helpless reality.
To her, this was the cruelest curse imaginable.
No wonder she kept seeking death.
[So she's the embodiment of humanity's desire for salvation—yet constantly, irreversibly harms humanity?]
[She really is a literal living Black Abyss White Flower...]
[This sudden spike in knives... now this is the miHoYo we know and love.]
...
Of course—
Mistelin's pain, confusion, and despair—
Had nothing to do with Grey Serpent.
He wasn't here to console her or preach about positivity.
Surely no one thought Grey Serpent was actually a kind-hearted educator, right?
At least—
Most versions of Grey Serpent weren't.
"I see...
The one thing I truly care about—you never mentioned.
To you, it's just some meaningless temporary measure."
"Still—even with precedent, I couldn't be certain you'd be capable.
So now... this life's true value must be revealed."
"There's one thing you do—
You think it's merely a way to preserve people's stories.
That it doesn't truly redeem those who died because of you."
"But to me...
It represents a miraculous future."
Grey Serpent spoke calmly—
Unbothered by the fact his body was about to die.
He revealed the real reason he had sought Mistelin's cooperation.
Mistelin had a special power—
She could transcribe a person into pure data and preserve them as a Conceptual Form.
In other words—
She was a mobile hard drive with infinite capacity.
When people died, their life stories would be recorded,
Become part of a Conceptual Form,
And live on as pure Stigma data—without soul or awareness.
Isn't that exactly what the current Stigma Project was doing?
Not exactly the same—
But very, very similar.
"So it was this part?"
Elysia understood at last.
From the beginning of Mistelin's story—
She'd demonstrated her ability to read and store data from objects.
"So...
Is the current Stigma Project something Hare came up with?"
"Doesn't that mean Dr. Mobius's fifteen drafts were wasted?"
"She spent so long revising those plans...
If she knew none were used in the end—would she be mad?"
Hokuto: "..."
"Probably not.
And without those fifteen drafts—Hare couldn't have developed the sixteenth.
The current Stigma Project...
It's more like a continuation of what came before."
"At least... it wasn't scrapped back to version one.
Thank goodness."
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