The audience too stared blankly into this final brilliance.
...
: ...They're insane, they're all fucking insane!
-----------------------------------------
: Glamoth is all damn ruthless!
: Damn, is their fighting spirit this crazy?!
: Indiscriminate fire! They don't even care about their own lives!
: I finally understand that sentence on the introduction, Glamoth Military Rule No. 22, "Charge into danger without hesitation, even in the face of death!"
: What kind of loyalty is this!
: And what about Firefly, did she just die like that?
...
From beginning to end not a single SAM showed any sign of cowardice.
Whether it was Firefly or anyone else.
All of them threw themselves into the battlefield without regard for their lives, burning everything for it.
This kind of shock kept the audience's hearts unsettled for a long time.
They stared tensely at the screen and as the consuming flames gradually dissipated.
The camera froze on a face with closed eyes.
Unlike the highly saturated colors of the first half.
The world in the shot turned gloomy.
Firefly slowly opened her eyes and weakly climbed up from where she had fallen.
But the camera did not rise with her, staying at the same level.
Just after she stood up, the screen filled with the image of a young, delicate, beautiful face.
But such a beautiful face now stared at the camera with hollow, unclosing dead eyes.
That gaze sent chills down the viewers' spines.
It should have been a youthful appearance.
But it intertwined with the cruelest death.
Heartache. Sadness.
Emotions stemming from biological instinct surged from the audience's hearts.
The young appearance, now showing the marks of tragedy and suffering.
This was also the first time in Honkai: Star Rail that death was shown directly, with no embellishment or romanticization.
Behind the girl was the body of a medic, eyes closed in fear.
As the camera pulled back, a corner of the battlefield was revealed.
What came into view for the audience were corpses.
All corpses!
Packed together, mixed with insect remains, strewn across the ground as far as the eye could see.
MiHoYo's special effects had always been top-tier.
And because of that, this battlefield scene was rendered with brutal realism.
Bodies lying on the ground, SAM's who had died mid-charge.
Women half-buried in the dirt, limbs twisted unnaturally and more naked corpses of Glamoth "knights" lying on the ground.
Even if their faces couldn't be seen.
The viewers could tell from their exposed bodies, they were all young.
On one side was a battle filled with "loyalty" and "tragic heroism."
On the other side were these warriors, naked and stripped of dignity in death.
The silence in the scene mirrored the fans' own feelings.
It was too shocking.
So much so that many people's minds went blank.
In the silence, only far away, Firefly's figure loomed faintly in the smoke.
"Am I... dead?"
Firefly stared hollow-eyed at the tragedy before her.
Her lips trembled.
She stiffly turned her head, looking to the other side, her gaze still vacant.
"Who… died...?"
Following her gaze the camera shifted showing what Firefly saw.
A companion with a twisted neck, half of their body gone, only the upper torso remaining.
Another companion with a torn chest, face twisted in pain, lying on the ground.
And even more, stacked one upon another.
Blood, organs, and insect fragments.
Just looking at it you could almost smell the stench.
Those symbolic red costumes used to represent flesh in earlier short animations were now fully replaced by realistic gore through special effects.
...
: All dead… all in pieces.
: My heart hurts so much.
: They really all died, damn, only Firefly is left?
: This scene is too real… it doesn't even feel like Honkai's usual style.
: Damn space comedy! Shit, I can't watch this, it's too brutal!
: I don't know why, I never cared much about Firefly before, but now my heart is aching!
: Honkai is truly living up to its name now.
: Does Glamoth really fight like this? The sacrifice is too tragic! And these knights willingly went to their deaths?!
: Firefly has been living like this all along??? Damn! MiHoYo, stop torturing our precious Firefly!
: It's over, this is truly devastating.
: So… this is the real Honkai universe…
...
The brutal battlefield was completely different from all previous PVs.
Many fans with weaker emotional tolerance already felt their hearts ache.
Mainly because all the soldiers shown on screen, including Firefly, were overwhelmed by despair.
They died too tragically, too undignified.
Anyone normal would feel a visceral, genetic-level discomfort.
Firefly was just a girl.
Someone who should have been at school, happily experiencing life at her age.
But she had to face such cruel deaths.
Society's expectation for these children was always for them to grow up safely not to face death.
From personal instinct to social consensus, it all made fans feel a painful sadness while watching.
Many people's impression of Firefly also deepened.
At that moment, from the smoke, a blurry silhouette walked forward, trembling.
It was a short-haired girl they had never seen before.
She gasped for breath, stumbling to Firefly's side.
Although the smoke obscured most of the gory scene, the audience could still vaguely see her injured body.
When the camera zoomed in on the short-haired girl's face, everyone was shocked to realize that from the neck down, she was drenched in blood.
Yet, despite such severe injuries, the girl looked at Firefly and struggled to utter her final words:
"Born to fight… such is the honor of the Glamoth's Iron Cavalry."
After saying this, she knelt to the ground, head drooping, no breath left in her body.
Her last remaining words were still that oath full of "loyalty."
"For Her Majesty…"
The air froze.
Only the sound of wind could be heard.
Firefly quietly watched.
The thick smoke covered her figure, leaving not even a silhouette visible, and only an oppressive sense of pressure and peril lingered.
The next second, tears fell from her eyes.
Firefly sobbed.
"Why... do we die...?"
Who was she asking? Or was it a rhetorical question?
And with that question, the audience's minds immediately echoed with the phrase often on the lips of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry.
For Her Majesty.
But before anyone could think further, gray-white memories flooded the screen.
There were rows of cultivation pods, with faces and hair so similar they were indistinguishable at a glance, sleeping in deep slumber.
They had no names.
Only cold numbers written on the pod doors represented their existence.
"Why… do we live…?"
From the screen, Firefly's sobbing voice returned again.
And in the gray memories, the pods flashed by; the youths cultivated within were already dressed in combat suits, standing in orderly formations.
"For Glamoth! For the Empress!"
In the crowd, Firefly stepped forward.
Her eyes were resolute as she raised her right hand high with the others and shouted loudly.
No words were needed. These few short clips had already answered many of the audience's questions.
But at the same time, they successfully ignited the flames of anger among the fans.
...
: The truth is out now!
: Damn Glamoth! So it was brainwashing all along!
: Holy crap! Damn it! Are they even human anymore?
: No wonder, no wonder these knights charged forward fearlessly, they'd already been brainwashed!
: Exactly, their lack of basic common knowledge matches perfectly! It's because they were never exposed to normal society!
: I didn't cry during the battlefield scene, but now I'm suddenly crying! MiHoYo is really cunning, using just two scenes to tie in all the previous PV's hints. My mind immediately filled in all their tragic pasts.
: Damn empire deserves to die! When the Aeon of Destruction destroyed their homeworld, why didn't it wipe them all out too! A bunch of inhuman freaks!
: No wonder Firefly has the most obvious "desire" in all of Penacony!
: It's not desire, it's longing! Because she… wants to truly live!
: Stop it, I'm about to break down crying!
...
The brilliant cinematic storytelling succeeded again.
The intense reaction of the comments proved how effective this narrative was.
In the previous PV, almost no information was given, only Firefly's interaction with her companions.
Those little hints weren't directly explained, only left lingering in viewers' hearts.
The tragic war further deepened those seeds of doubt.
Finally, with just two brief memories, the entire explanation was delivered.
This "truth" discovered by the audience themselves made them empathize with Firefly even more.
On screen, Firefly tilted her head looking up to the sky.
Why die?
For Glamoth, for the Empress.
That was the old question Firefly asked, and the answer she received.
But now, Firefly had a new question.
"But… Glamoth…"
"no longer exists…"
The comments section instantly fell silent.
The audience, who were just furiously attacking everything from the Empress to the imperial dogs, fell silent, mouths agape.
This war… was not for the empire?
If Glamoth no longer existed, then why fight this war?
The audience was dumbfounded! Shocked!
But Firefly had closed her eyes once again speaking out.
"I dreamed of a scorched earth..."
Tears fell onto the ground at Firefly's feet.
"A new shoot sprouted out from the earth..."
A new sprout broke through the soil at an incredible speed.
"It bloomed in the morning sun..."
And quickly grew.
"And whispered to me..."
And the music played the symphony completely different from the one at the start.
A soothing, melodious tune.
Accompanied by an exhilarating snare drum.
The sprout grew bigger and bigger, even bursting out with brilliant golden light.
This dreamlike scene.
Made the audience almost dazed.
Almost believing that the cruel and bloody scene from the first half never existed.
At this moment, the sprout had grown into a towering tree.
Shining under the morning sun, climbing and dancing with vitality!
Firefly was wrapped by the tree full of life, eyes closed, softly whispering.
"Like fyreflies to a flame..."
SAM, with a blue flame, at this moment, merged with her, and together they recited the final line.
"...life begets death!"
And beneath it, that companion who had exhausted their last strength to speak for Glamoth still knelt silently on the ground.
Between the two, the scene carried even deeper meaning.
Death and Life.
Under the sunlight of dawn, a pair of wings appeared behind Firefly. She leaped up forcefully, charging into the endless swarm that still darkened the sky.
Only this time, she was alone!
The audience was stunned by the second half of the performance.
They watched blankly as Firefly was engulfed by the swarm.
But in the next second a terrifying impact tore through the entire land!
The camera shifted showing the true face of the battlefield.
A planet riddled with scars. But its suffering ended here.
A violent shockwave and terrifying power exploded the planet, turning it into ruins!
The music stopped, only a gentle piano remained.
Amid the remnants of the planet, Firefly floated among the debris.
Not far away.
Kafka held a glass of red wine, watching the glowing Firefly among the ruins.
"Ah, fyreflies dancing among the stars"
With those words spoken the Honkai logo appeared.
The Embers of Glamoth scattered away.
...
: Sigh... I don't know how to describe my feelings.
: This PV was too devastating...
: Although we all know Firefly survives later and joins the Stellaron Hunters, it still hurts so much!
: I don't want to be stabbed by this story! Damn it, I ordered food to watch this PV while eating, and now I haven't even finished my meal!
: My heart was clenched the whole time, I really hate my brain, if only I hadn't watched it today!
: Glamoth nurtured people like Firefly from childhood, brainwashing them, then sending them to war. Truly, this empire is pure evil, how has it survived this long?
: Yeah, and Firefly and the others didn't even resist.
: It shows how much she really loved life, even wearing glasses specifically to distinguish herself from others, using broken lenses to see a different world, that's already so precious.
: Sob, shut up! Stop stabbing me again!
: Will we ever meet again? Probably not. I didn't feel much when I first watched the PV, but now the aftertaste hits hard.
: Why do they cut the audience so deep, and even use such massive background lore to do it!
: What's with the final scene, was it abstract, or did Firefly actually experience something like that at the time?
: It felt both real and surreal, impossible to distinguish, all I know is that Firefly deserves it!
: Everyone in Glamoth except for the Iron Cavalry deserves to be tried for war crimes!
: Although I don't know why Glamoth was destroyed and the Iron Cavalry is still active, the more it is like this, the more pitiful Firefly and the others feel, as if this was their only meaning of existence.
: Damn, you really know how to stab yourself, but there might be other possibilities too.
...
Two PVs, together they told a complete story.
And they also fully displayed Firefly's life before joining the Stellaron Hunter's.
For fans, this might be the most unique and most heartbreaking PV to date...