MGSFV?! Chapter 468 The Greatest Troublemaker in the Taixu Sect; The Red Herrscher of Reason
[Brothers, I have a plan—if we can get Duckie to join the Grand Taixu Sect, we can make up for our shortcomings and restore the glory of our sect!]
[Exactly. Duckie is the talent our Grand Taixu Sect needs! (Brilliant!)]
[It's Taixu Sect, Taixu Sect, Taixu Sect! Important things must be said three times! And what shortcomings?! The Taixu Sect has never had any!]
Judging from the current flow of comments in the livestream,
one of those comments clearly came from a certain Senti.
Besides her, who else would be serious about correcting lore in the middle of a comedic roast?
Still, it's understandable she'd act this way.
According to what Hokuto knows, the Taixu Sect has recently gone through her "reorganization,"
and has successfully re-educated the second greatest troublemaker, one of the key figures damaging the Taixu Sect's public image.
Saying "Please enlighten me" before taking action,
constantly keeping in mind to "help those in need, respond to every request, do a good deed daily, reflect thrice daily on oneself"...
All of that is part of the re-education outcome.
Huh? You ask who that second greatest is?
Besides Li... who else could it be?
Hmm, that's true... If she's the second greatest, who's the first?
Hokuto: ...
Hokuto: I'm an intern who paid tuition... no, a sponsor.
So in the end, the Taixu Sect's reorganization failed to deal with the most crucial individual.
No wonder its reputation keeps getting stranger.
"?"
...
Back on track.
After Bronya confidently declared that Kiana and Mei didn't need to intervene, saying she would face Hare one-on-one—
"..."
Kiana and Mei couldn't possibly be completely at ease just because Bronya said so.
Mei immediately advised, "Bronya? Even if Kevin isn't going to appear, now is not the time to act on impulse."
"Don't worry. Just now, Bronya has already come up with a strategy for [certain victory]."
As she spoke, Bronya solemnly turned to Hare: "However, the prerequisite... is that Bronya fights alone."
[Duckie: Let me monopolize the experience.]
[Duckie: The advantage is mine.]
[Fire!]
"...Oh?"
Hare, who had been pretending to be disconnected, raised an eyebrow in faint curiosity upon hearing this.
Bronya seemed to be grasping the truth faster than she expected.
In fact, Bronya had indeed realized something.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have said what followed:
"In short, based on the current situation... Bronya would prefer what's about to happen to occur solely between me and her—"
"—Two Herrschers of Reason with completely different substance and form."
Furthermore—
This confrontation between Bronya and Hare, if examined more deeply, also symbolizes the clash between the Herrscher of Reason and the Stigma Project.
The storyline had repeatedly mentioned similarities between the Herrscher of Reason and the Stigma Project, while deliberately highlighting key differences.
To use our most familiar terminology, the fundamental divergence lies in the distinction between "materialism" and "idealism."
Now that you think about it...
Hadn't the Herrscher of Reason previously been called the [Red Herrscher] in the chat?
And materialist dialectics itself has another name... "Marxist dialectics."
The Herrscher of Reason's power is to understand the world—and change it.
That is, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.
At this point, the players' thoughts paused slightly.
"..."
The more they thought about it, the more they felt—this Herrscher of Reason is indeed "red" to the core.
If not for Kiana, one of the OG Three, already claiming the red-and-white color scheme,
Bronya's armor palette might've ended up even "bolder" than it is now.
Of course—
If miHoYo actually did that, what they think would be more likely to happen is...
Honkai Impact 3rd: Not Approved for Release.
...
Ahem, back to topic.
Hare questioned Bronya after hearing her reasoning: "...Even though I'm just a plunderer?"
"Yes. Even though you're just a plunderer." Bronya nodded.
Hare continued, "So you're planning to use your strength alone to stand against three hundred thousand people—perhaps the entire Stigma Project? And you even believe you'll [definitely win]?"
She was practically one step away from saying, "Have you gotten cocky?"
Bronya sensed Hare's implication, but she didn't retreat.
On the contrary, she nodded earnestly and replied, "Exactly."
[Duckie: You three hundred thousand are already surrounded—by me alone.]
[『Will you be a coward for life, or a hero for five seconds—even if just five seconds』]
[That above, are you implying Duckie only lasts five seconds?!]
[Facing more than just three hundred thousand this time, lasting five seconds would be impressive.]
[General Duck speaks the truth.]
"With her past attempts, Bronya finally came to understand one thing—"
"For the Herrscher of Reason, there's no difference between 'one' and 'three hundred thousand.'"
Huh?
No difference? What does that mean?
Players following the story couldn't help but be taken aback.
Then, they leaned in to listen more intently.
After all, they were curious—what would Bronya do next?
"In the past, Mr. Welt and I couldn't control the thoughts of three hundred thousand... only because we [revered] them from the beginning."
Like how ancient people, bound by geocentrism, couldn't discover heliocentrism.
Having explained her view,
Bronya paused, then added:
"I'm not saying we shouldn't revere those three hundred thousand thoughts—on the contrary, precisely because we respect them,
respect the legacy of the Herrscher of Reason..."
"In actual combat, we must treat them as an ordinary force—something that can be overcome."
So that's it...
They felt like they were starting to get it.
[The greatest respect one can give a scholar is to overthrow their theorems? Something like that, maybe.]
[Or this: the gift of three hundred thousand was also a form of overprotection.]
[So now, without the will of those 300k people, the limiter is gone?]
While players speculated,
Bronya's voice continued in-game:
"Welt Joyce, Joachim Yang, Bronya Zaychik... any one of us is not only one of the three hundred thousand—but also all of them."
"The name 'Herrscher of Reason' endured because its power and will have long since fused."
"Hare, what you stole was merely a hollow shell of a form."
...
"Hmm..."
After watching to this point, Elysia suddenly hummed.
"What is it?" Hokuto asked curiously.
Elysia thought for a moment, then slowly spoke:
"Bronya must be saying...
The Herrscher of Reason is called that because of their shared belief... As long as that belief lives on, if three hundred thousand fall, another three hundred thousand will rise."
She paused, then added:
"The 'will of three hundred thousand' can be taken, just like life can be taken—but no one can extinguish the blazing belief born from it..."
"The spark has been lit. As long as someone still believes in the ideals of the Herrscher of Reason, this won't be the end."
"Hah." Hokuto smirked, then quoted a famous line:
"You look at us and see few in number, powerless? Let me tell you—our power is vast and mighty!"
"Everyone here today is one of us, part of our power! And there are countless others beyond! We believe this: the people's strength will triumph. Truth always exists."
"Truth?" Elysia blinked.
For some reason, she suddenly felt that word hit her in a strange way.
Truth... Truth... Reason...
"What's wrong?" Hokuto interjected.
"..."
"Nothing."
Interrupted, Elysia shook her head. She hadn't quite grasped that fleeting spark of insight.
Compared to Elysia's understanding, the livestream chat had a more grounded take.
[Herrscher Core: Duckie, don't treat yourself like an outsider. Go on, use me as you like.]
[Duckie used to revere the Herrscher of Reason too much—put herself below it.]
[You can see it from how she never dared call herself 'Welt'—she didn't even acknowledge being a true Herrscher of Reason.]
As the discussion continued,
someone in the chat had a sudden realization.
[So Bronya always thought she was a fake Herrscher of Reason?]
[...] *n
[Brilliantly summarized.]
Back to the story—
Bronya used her newfound understanding of the Herrscher of Reason to argue that Hare's theft of the "will of 300k" was futile.
Hare's tone turned subtle upon hearing this.
"You mean all my efforts... were meaningless? How very amusing."
"Whether true or not," Bronya didn't back down, "we'll find out in battle."
"Very well."
Hare replied nonchalantly: "But I must remind you... you've only seen how I once harmed others under duress."
"Though that curse is gone now... this brand-new body, this power that links Stigmata to reality—when facing a Herrscher one-on-one, it won't be outmatched."
Was she deliberately revealing her power source?
"..."
Bronya responded—not to the "one-on-one" part.
"The one challenging you right now is not the 'Herrscher of Reason,' but..."
Not the True Herrscher of Reason...
Ahem.
Of course, Bronya wouldn't say that. She simply spoke her name, seriously:
"Bronya Zaychik."
She emphasized this because—
Didn't she say earlier that her confrontation with Hare was a clash between two Herrschers of Reason of different substance and form?
So, if Hare was one form of the "Herrscher of Reason,"
then Bronya, standing against her, must represent another.
In truth, this marks Bronya stepping into her own path—as a new kind of "Herrscher of Reason."
"I see now. I understand."
Hare, who brought all this about, caught on quickly.
Still smiling, she said:
"Then, in that case—our designs for this confrontation are rather... [kindred in spirit]."
["Kindred in spirit"? The devs even added brackets?]
[Means different people or events, same brilliance or effect.]
[So you're saying Hare and Duckie have the same goal? I don't see it.]
[Maybe this 'kindred in spirit' isn't what we think it is?]
...
As players debated the phrase "kindred in spirit,"
Elysia thought for a moment and tapped the screen again.
Suddenly, the screen went black.
"?"
Just as Elysia was confused—
Three familiar yet foreign options popped up.
[Easy]
[Normal]
[Hard]
"..."
"Huh."
Elysia blinked again. "Is this another difficulty selection battle?"
She didn't rush to pick. Instead, she turned to Hokuto:
"'Otto'... which difficulty do you think I should choose?"
"This battle isn't too hard. Feel free to pick Hard...
Though if you want to get to the cutscene quickly, you can pick Easy..."
Hokuto probably knew he couldn't trick Elysia this time,
so he didn't try using his usual sly tone.
"Cutscene?"
Elysia quickly caught the slip.
"There's a cutscene next?"
"...Yes."
"Ah... then I'll pick Hard."
"Hm?" Hokuto had expected her to pick Easy after that.
"A key battle like this can't be treated lightly. Picking Hard adds immersion."
Elysia explained as she selected [Hard].
Once selected,
the game entered the combat interface.
And she heard a line of special dialogue—available only on Hard difficulty.
In-game,
Bronya took a deep breath, then murmured to herself:
"...Stay sharp."
Elysia's line about Hard difficulty being immersive seemed accurate after all.
[Wait, there's exclusive lines on Hard? I picked Easy and missed out!]
[Classic miHoYo—adding weird details in weird places.]
[Glad I haven't picked yet—Hard it is!]
[Same here.]
Hokuto: ...
He didn't expect a throwaway comment would inspire so many people to try the hardest difficulty.
This is truly...
Wonderful.
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium