Within the Chaos Hall, Furina's emotions grew increasingly turbulent, and she even began to wonder whether she was having a nightmare.
After all, if this were not a dream, how could she possibly see Hinata Hyuga, the Hyuga Clan's princess who had existed only in the Naruto anime in her previous life, and even Roman, her former self?
Wait...
Could it be that the pressure of impersonating Fontaine's Hydro Archon had become too much, causing her to have nightmares?!
After that thought flashed through Furina's mind, she viciously pinched her fair, hairless, perfectly smooth little thigh, nearly bringing tears to her eyes from the pain:
It hurts!
This definitely was not a dream.
After confirming that in her mind, Furina tried hard to keep the little pearls in her eyes from falling. Then, displaying the acting skills of Fontaine's greatest star and finest stage actress, she put on an aloof demeanor and declared:
"I am the queen of all waters, all lands, all people, and all laws—the Hydro Goddess of Fontaine, Focalors. You brought me here for no reason and without my permission. Be careful, or I'll... use the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale to sentence you to death!"
Both Hinata Hyuga and Roman possessed the Byakugan. They could both see that after Furina pinched her fair thigh, ripples had begun to shimmer in her eyes, with little pearls faintly appearing within them...
That completely confirmed the identity of the person before them:
She was not the genuine Hydro Goddess of Fontaine, Focalors.
She was Furina, the existence Focalors had split off from herself and created to represent the goddess's human side.
Roman then shrugged and spoke:
"Stop pretending, Furina. You are not Focalors—the you in Mirror Me, the you within the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale.
"You are merely a human."
!!
Upon hearing those words, Furina outwardly remained as steady as an old dog, but inwardly, her emotions were already churning wildly.
She cried out in her heart:
I'm so done for!
They saw through the fact that I'm not Fontaine's Hydro Archon. If that happens, Mirror Me won't be able to reverse Fontaine's destruction and the fate of every Fontainian dissolving in the water.
No... absolutely not!
I have to hold it together!!
Tap, tap.
Furina stepped forward, raised a hand to her chest, lifted her chin, and continued her performance with utter seriousness. "I don't understand what you're talking about. I am Fontaine's God of Justice, the god who judges all things. I am not a human."
At the side, Hinata Hyuga gave a thumbs-up and praised her in a childish voice, "As expected of you. Even after your identity was exposed, you're still stubbornly keeping up the act."
"I don't understand what you're talking about. I am Focalors, a true god."
Although Furina's thoughts were already a complete mess, her scalp was tingling, the muscles in her calves were trembling, and the little pearls in her eyes were nearly spilling from her lower lids, she continued to emphasize her identity.
"Alright, alright. Save that for when you return to Teyvat and Fontaine. You can emphasize your divine identity to your people then," Roman said with a wave of his hand.
"This isn't Teyvat?"
A dazed look appeared on Furina's delicate face.
"No."
Roman and Hinata shook their heads together.
"Then where exactly is this? And who exactly are you two?"
At that moment, Furina finally could not help asking them.
"I'm Roman."
"I'm Hinata Hyuga."
The two introduced themselves, and that instantly made Furina lose her composure internally:
Roman!
Hinata Hyuga!
As expected, there's something wrong with these two—something seriously wrong!
One stole the face of Roman from my previous life, and even stole his name!
The other is using Naruto...
Furina thought up to that point and prepared to ask again seriously.
But just then, Roman continued, "As for what this place is, come sit in the chair beside us and you'll understand.
"And don't worry, Furina. We won't harm you. On the contrary, the three of us share the closest possible relationship—we could even stay together for a lifetime."
The three of them, for a lifetime?
What a heavy, perverted thing to say!
Furina became even more wary upon hearing that. Her gaze toward Roman became increasingly suspicious, and she believed he was some being disguised as her former self, trying to use this method to get closer to her, Fontaine's god, before eventually doing something indescribable to her...
That was what Furina thought, but in the end, she still followed Roman's words and sat in the chair of destiny within the Chaos Hall.
Then understanding came to Furina naturally, and she grasped everything. She learned that this place truly was not Fontaine, much less Teyvat.
It was the Chaos Hall, and the table before her was the Table of Destiny, an existence specifically meant to welcome the reincarnation of Roman's soul fragments!
And the two people beside her were also reincarnated existences formed after Roman's soul had been shattered into pieces when he was struck by a Dayun Heavy Truck, then split apart and reincarnated in the Naruto World...
Furina opened her eyes and looked at Roman and Hinata. This time, however, her eyes no longer held their initial wariness or that suspicious gaze that viewed them as perverts.
After pondering for a moment, Furina spoke:
"So, we are all Roman, and we're following the 99 Simultaneous Transmigration Genre from the novels we read in our previous life?"
Roman nodded. "More or less."
Hinata agreed. "Probably."
Furina nodded upon hearing that, then seemed to think of something and eagerly proposed her idea. "According to the 99 Simultaneous Transmigration novels Roman read in his previous life, we can share power and knowledge by bumping fists. Should we do that?"
"No need. Eye contact is enough."
"Furina, raise your head and relax."
The three looked into one another's eyes.
Thus, their memories and information began to resonate... and their exchange began.
From this, Roman and Hinata learned that Furina had entered the Chaos Hall in the tenth year after Focalors created her. She had only been the Hydro Archon for ten years, and there were still four hundred and ninety years until the date of Fontaine's destruction prophesied by the Heavenly Principles.
Originally, she had planned to spend another four hundred and ninety years alone, impersonating the Hydro Archon, allowing the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale to gather enough energy. Then, she would let the true Hydro Archon use that energy to blast apart the Hydro Archon's Divine Throne, returning the Authority of the Dragon Sovereigns to Neuvillette, the Hydro Dragon Sovereign.
That way, once Neuvillette, the Hydro Dragon Sovereign, wielded his authority, the people of Fontaine could transform from humans created from Oceanid mimics into true humans. Even if the Primordial Seawater flooded Fontaine, it would no longer be able to dissolve a single person.
After reading those thoughts, Roman could not help raising his head and saying to Furina, "Isn't that what the original Furina would have done?
"You have already reincarnated, and you still have 490 years to deal with the crisis. You should be able to find another way to save Fontaine, which is fated to perish in the prophecy, and the people of Fontaine, who are fated to dissolve in the Primordial Sea!"
"I want to do that too, but as you know, the current Furina is just an ordinary human. I have no great power—not even a Vision." Furina spread her hands helplessly.
"More importantly, Mirror Me... Focalors seems not to have any memories from before reincarnation. That directly caused her to believe that only by returning the Authority of the Dragon Sovereigns to Neuvillette could Fontaine's prophecy of inevitable destruction be reversed!
"So I can only keep acting, and prepare to play the role of a god alone for five hundred years, just like the original Furina!"
Before you continue