Dr. Roman's Future of Survival

Whether Romani Archiman was truly overthinking things or not, it couldn't change the fact that Ritsuka Fujimaru had already stepped into Paris —or rather, into R'lyeh.

Piercing through the vast fog, as if crossing the barrier of time and worlds, during the process, Ritsuka subconsciously grasped Mash's hand. The girl, who was holding her shield tightly and ready for battle, was stunned for a moment, turned her gaze to the side, and just happened to meet Ritsuka's face looking over.

"This way it won't easily fall apart." The red-haired girl had a relaxed smile on her face, which slightly eased the inexplicable heaviness in Mash's rather tense mind.

She nodded: "I will definitely protect my senior—"

"I believe in you, and I will fight alongside you!"

"Fou!"

The words flowed freely, but the vast fog soon came to an end. With a hum, they crossed the barrier and were immediately greeted by a thick mist.

What comes into view is a clean yet 'distorted' street, a seemingly orderly but intensely distorted city that is upside down and reversible, like a dream.

Monsters were floating in the air.

Huge tentacles stretched out.

Above that... was a dazzling stream of light, a violent collision.

The long, narrow blade slashed at the writhing tentacles. The enormous creature standing on the spiral fortress-like throne emitted indescribable murmurs. Ritsuka and Mash both felt a strong threat at the same time. They covered their ears and took two steps back, but it seemed to be too late.

The chaotic monster, with octopus-like wriggling tentacles on its head and fleshy wings on its back, opened its abyss-like maw.

The sonic waves surged like the resounding beat of a powerful drum, and the shockwaves made Ritsuka and Mash feel as if they had fallen into an endless cycle of reincarnation.

Confusion, fainting, disorientation, delirium...

Boom!

A sudden, violent roar interrupted the delirious murmurs. The oncoming gale was like a giant fist, smashing a huge crater into the ground. Amidst the billowing dust, Ritsuka and Mash came to their senses and each saw fear in the other's eyes.

What is that?!

They dared not look up again, dared not merely gaze upon the gods...

"The characteristics of the Old Gods are such a nuisance!" Amidst the billowing dust, a clear and distinct voice rang out. "Even I dare not look at that monster..."

Ritsuka looked in the direction of the sound and saw Mash holding a huge shield that blocked her Master's path.

They looked at the figure standing where the dust had settled...

A dignified young woman with long, flowing purple hair, a pure white hair ornament, a fair and full chest that is open, a smooth outline of her flat stomach, a slender waist with the hem of her dress hanging down on both sides, and plump, fleshy thighs that are partially visible.

The girl's pretty face was full of seriousness, and she held a long spear that looked like a cross, the tip of which gleamed with a sharp light.

She slowly clenched her fist—it seemed that the shockwave that had just stopped the delirious, mind-numbing, and depraved ramblings had originated from her fist.

Fortunately.

The other party showed no hostility, possessed a holy and dignified demeanor, and did not seem like a villain. On the contrary, she was almost identical to Jeanne Darc, who displayed the demeanor of a saint!

"You should be thankful that if His Majesty hadn't stood in that way... the moment you entered, you would have been plunged into an eternal nightmare— the Sleeper Cthulhu symbolizes the endless nightmare of the dark side of the universe!"

The girl clenched her fist, her beautiful purple eyes staring directly at the pseudo-Servant and Chaldea Master Pseudo-Servant: "Well... but it's alright for now."

"Just don't look directly at that guy."

"Then let me introduce myself here first, to avoid any misunderstanding."

The girl's lips curled into a smile, "My name is Martha, and I once served my lord, His Holy Son, Your Excellency!"

Martha?

"The Dragon Taming Saintess?" Mash was taken aback.

Ritsuka had obviously heard of this name before... a saint who was active at the beginning of the Common Era, a being closer to the Holy Son than Joan of Arc... one of the first people to receive the revelation of the 'One God'.

She once tamed the Tarasque with the power bestowed upon her by the Holy Son.

She earned the title of 'Dragon Tamer Saintess'.

She is also one of the most faithful believers in the Lord.

This also means...

"Not an enemy, right?" Ritsuka stepped forward, bypassing Mash's defenses, and gave Mash, who was slightly worried, a reassuring look.

"Of course not an enemy." Martha grinned, a hint of boldness hidden beneath her holy demeanor. "I'm here to help Your Majesty—just like you."

But at this point, Martha suddenly seemed troubled.

After sensing Rovi's presence and after meeting and leaving Atalanta, she followed the 'revelation' in her heart and chased after Rovi's trajectory.

Compared to Atalanta, Martha was confident she could find Rovi before her.

Although Atalanta knew Rovi earlier than she did, Rovi, who descended as the 'Holy Son,' had a closer relationship with her, the Dragon Taming Saintess, and her senses of location were more accurate.

Indeed, that is true.

She did find Rovi earlier than Atalanta.

But it's here—

Rovi was found inside.

A thunderous roar echoed through the sky as the battle between humanity and the evil god raged on. The figure wielding the Heart Holy Sword soared through the air, the heavy sword flashing like a star piercing through the dark universe.

Cthulhu, seated on his 'throne,' unfurls his writhing tentacles, beneath which are endlessly opening and closing eyes, each containing a 'world,' a pure, utterly terrifying nightmare.

The Sleeper rules over countless nightmares, the eternal king ' Cthulhu ' who sits enthroned at the center of R'lyeh, displays His majesty here.

What He wants is not simply to kill the 'humans' before Him— the Sleeper dislikes destruction and annihilation. He is not an evil god who wields destruction. What He prefers is to drag the strong into the realm of nightmares under His control, erode their will, control their bodies, and make them become His 'avatars'.

He was perpetually haunted by nightmares.

Of course, only the strong, and only the strong recognized by Cthulhu, could be worthy of Cthulhu's acknowledgment. Rovi undoubtedly meets this requirement.

But what He wanted was not what Rovi wanted.

He was always on guard against being usurped by the Old Ones, becoming one of them, and falling into the eternal abyss of the Dark Side of the Universe.

At this moment, how could we possibly let Cthulhu succeed?

Therefore, every time he swung his sword, he was cutting through a layer of nightmare.

Each strike tears open the domain of Cthulhu's manifested power.

The sky was filled with thick, rich water vapor, and the Lord of R'lyeh was always surrounded by water, was undoubtedly enveloped in 'water,' which represents the cycle of life.

The cycle of chaos, the endless recurring nightmare—all shattered at this moment under the sword in Rovi's hand.

He moved forward.

While suspended in mid-air, he simultaneously pressed down with both feet, causing the tentacles in front of him to crumble under the imposing holy sword in his hand. He then shot straight toward Cthulhu like an arrow released from a bow.

A deafening roar echoed through the ancient city of bronze and colossal stones. The central, spiraling fortress, resembling a massive boulder, collapsed instantly. Gale-force winds and moisture surged and spread, dust billowing up like a giant tree supporting its lush canopy. The colossal fortress, which Cthulhu had used as a throne, swayed, collapsing layer by layer. Rovi stepped on the rapidly spreading cracks on the ground, looking up, only to find that Cthulhu had already spread his fleshy wings and leaped into the sky. At that moment, he waved and stretched out his 'hand'—a long, narrow claw like that of his Star Familiars. No, to be more precise, it should be said that his Star-Kin resembled him.

Cthulhu is the source of all his followers, and his slashing claws are like the Dark Side of the Universe eroding the filth of the present world.

His form was so enormous that it could cover half the sky, and his fleshy wings, which were originally very small when constricted, stretched for thousands of miles when unfolded, like wings hanging from the sky.

Compared to Cthulhu, Rovi's figure appeared extremely small, but when faced with the oncoming claws, he simply bent his knees, lowered his body, tensed all his muscles and bones, and then rolled his longsword back up to catch the claws with the blade. His hands gripped tightly, as if he were holding a towering mountain falling from the sky.

The colossal stone castle beneath his feet collapsed completely in an instant. At this moment, what Rovi faced was not only the immense power of Cthulhu's enormous size, enough to shake the continent and turn the stars, but also the permeation of a nightmare will that was shrouded in confusion and bewilderment.

But the nightmare of being trapped could not withstand the infinite brilliance of the Origin Universe. In the instant before the fortress beneath his feet collapsed, Rovi stomped his foot and, at the last critical moment, defied the descending claws and leaped into the air. With a deafening roar and a shockwave, the entire R'lyeh shook violently, and the Star-Kin belonging to Cthulhu were pushed away by the enormous force.

Cthulhu roared, a murmur indescribable to ordinary ears, yet revealing the subconscious rage within the sleeping creature.

His outstretched hand and pressing claws were lifted and pushed away by Rovi Rovi, with the momentum of his final leap, swung his sword.

A tiny, dust-like figure faces a magnificent, towering giant, like an ant spreading its wings challenging an eagle soaring high in the sky.

This strength is the ultimate strength.

This scene is a forbidden nightmare!

Ritsuka, Mash, and Martha on the ground all took a deep breath. Cthulhu could not be defeated so easily... The three of them did not know that Rovi's purpose was only to further provoke Cthulhu, to make him even more enraged and angry, until he was so furious that he wanted to kill them completely.

But they knew that now that they were here, they couldn't just stand by and watch.

"We can't interfere in a battle of this magnitude," Martha said to Ritsuka with a serious expression. "But I can sense that the monster is able to unleash its full power by relying on this domain and this city!"

The inspiration derived from '' is expressed in this way.

The Old Ones are terrifying beings from the Dark Side of the Universe. They are one with the universe, a dark nebula curled up at the highest source of spacetime... They reside in the abyss, and only the eternally dark environment of the abyss can contain their existence.

R'lyeh is a manifestation of the Dark Abyss.

That's why Cthulhu was able to reside there.

Only then can one sleep soundly here.

Only then can he engage in combat with Rovi here.

But if this realm, R'lyeh, collapses...

Cthulhu will be unable to unleash his full power.

"What should I do?" Despite it being their first meeting, Ritsuka immediately chose to believe the saintess who called herself ' Martha '.

Martha paused, looking at Ritsuka before her. She saw determination in the eyes of this 'future' lady, not recklessness, but a belief chosen after careful consideration.

The Dragon Taming Saintess sighed, "This matter... is very simple, yet also very difficult; it's easy."

"You can do it if you enter Cthulhu's nightmare—and break free from Cthulhu's nightmare."

R'lyeh collapsed long ago.

Its regrets are drowned in the deep sea, yet it is also lost in the dream world created by Cthulhu.

If one can actively enter Cthulhu's nightmare and break free from it, R'lyeh will naturally collapse.

But only Ritsuka could do it at the scene.

Because here, she is the only pure human— Rovi descended in the guise of a 'saint' and was recognized as Heroic Spirit, Martha is also Heroic Spirit, and even Mash is a possessed Pseudo-Servant, not human.

Only Ritsuka Fujimaru... is a pure human, a living spirit.

Only when a living spirit dispels a nightmare can it be considered truly broken.

It's easier said than done, though.

To step into the nightmare woven by the Old Ones and then emerge from it... Even those legendary investigators are not confident, or rather, no one is completely confident, not even a one in a billion chance of success.

"Think it over carefully."

Martha's eyes were serious, Dragon Taming Saintess gripped the cross-shaped spear in her hand tightly. "Whatever choice you make, it is your freedom."

"The Lord once said in heaven: All people have the right to be the Lord in their own hearts."

You should do the same!

Mash looked at Ritsuka: "Senpai..."

Fou called softly, "Fou!"

Ritsuka closed her eyes, but quickly opened them again; she knew the difficulties of this situation.

She was also well aware of the abyss that lay ahead with this step.

She was also somewhat hesitant.

but...

"Have you made up your mind?" Martha could tell what the girl she was meeting for the first time was thinking just by looking at her eyes.

Ritsuka smiled and said, "Yes."

She finally decided to take this step.

Help Rovi?

Although I've known him for several days, it hasn't really reached the point where I'd go to such lengths to help him... Romani Archaman and Da Vinci had previously marveled at Ritsuka's unwavering will, but that was only because Ritsuka knew the truth.

Do you know why the world you exist in is defined as a 'dead' world?

"Rovi-senpai... why?"

"Why——"

"The future of the world you exist in is a future where everyone lives, a future where Romani Archman doesn't have to sacrifice himself to save the world."

It is perfect, so perfect that it forms a closed loop.

Therefore, we have lost sight of the prospects for development and the future.

Therefore, it was cut off.

So 'you die'.

"You came here to save our world?"

"That's right, to ensure the continuation of perfection is my purpose in coming to this world."

"Then, I'm willing to help you, Rovi-senpai— "

At that moment, Ritsuka Fujimaru thought of the dead director, and of the scene where that naive, proud, but not inherently bad girl died tragically before her eyes.

She didn't want to see any more people she knew die.

Even any one of them...

Even if it is necessary.

"But if a sacrifice is to be made, then—sacrifice me!"

Ritsuka opened her eyes.

She raised her head...

Looking directly at that enormous and terrifying figure is also looking directly at the nightmare in your own heart!