A complete mess.
The circle of fire had extinguished and the threat had vanished, but the atmosphere grew all the more awkward.
The surrounding citizens and soldiers were staring with bizarre expressions at the majestic ghoul, shivering together in groups, completely at a loss.
Because the ghoul was roaring at them.
“What are you looking at me for? Is staring at me going to fix anything? Line up quickly to get your medicine and eliminate the last remaining danger! Otherwise, if you break out in disease, I’ll kill you all—especially you rotten kids! Keep staring and I’ll eat you!”
“Waaaah—”
Crying erupted among the children in the crowd. Dr. Sven's past victims had finally recalled the fear of getting beaten by her.
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. The people around were scared out of their wits and immediately began restoring order as instructed.
Such were ordinary people who coexisted with the mysterious in the Dark Age.
Although heteromorphs were terrifying, she was still, in fact, that fierce, violent doctor they all knew. She was still worrying about them, and besides, those claws and teeth might hurt worse than a human slap—so maybe it was better to listen to her and wait until she turned back to normal?
In reality, ghouls were not unfamiliar to the residents of this city. It was just that the timing of Dr. Sven's reveal was a bit problematic, making it hard for everyone to accept all at once. Now, barked at by her, everyone obediently started queuing, and order was swiftly restored.
But by this time, Dr. Sven no longer had time to pay them any mind. The tall, muscular ghoul strode toward Lynch and, under his terrified gaze, pulled him into a tight hug.
Holy crap, those claws! My head's gonna pop off! Can we please turn back into a normal human first?
Naturally, Lynch could only think this in his head, because he was squeezed so tightly he couldn't speak a word. It wasn't until his eyes began rolling back and his tongue stuck out that she reluctantly let go of him.
“I heard everything. Thank you for choosing me. Perhaps to you, this is merely a piece of memory, but regardless, what we feel right now is real. Look at the eyes of those foolish humans—their joy at surviving the disaster is entirely real. To everyone here, you are the heroes who protected our city and protected us. And to me... perhaps I have failed countless times, but at least this time, I succeeded. I truly made up for the harm my father's madness brought to everyone. Even if we ultimately vanish, I can end all of this with a smile. I really don't know how to express my gratitude anymore.”
“The ones who should be thanking you are actually us.” Natalie, back in her Watcher uniform, took off her top hat and bowed deeply in solemn earnestness. “You gave me a second life. I may never have the chance to repay your kindness, but I will remember it forever in my heart.”
“But what about you?” Dr. Sven finally shifted back into her familiar human form, speaking with a human voice full of concern. “Father wasn't exaggerating at the end. I indeed couldn't kill him, only banish him to the void. He can survive in the void for a long time before crumbling. If this really doesn't count as fulfilling your condition to escape, then you are in grave danger. It's very likely just as he said—you'll only, only...”
“It really doesn't count,” Miss Diana shook her head. “If it counted as fulfilling the condition, we would have already left. The fact that we're still here explains everything.”
Dr. Sven’s expression turned somber as she whispered, “Then what will happen?”
“Well, we're not sure, but during our private discussions over the past few days, we had a guess.” Lynch explained, “This goes back to the nature of mystery relics and the Dreamlands. People in your era should know this as well: the essence of a mystery relic is a fragment of memory. Memories are borne within the Dreamlands, and mystery relics, as the manifestation of those memories, extend into the mortal world like tentacles, presenting themselves before humanity.”
Dr. Sven nodded. This aligned closely with the knowledge she possessed.
“So a mystery relic isn't the memory itself, but merely a representation of it. Normally, while it affects the mortal world, it remains tolerable. But when a relic goes out of control, the memory residing in the Dreamlands floats up to the mortal world through the relic. Once the main body surfaces, it brings immense impact upon the mortal world, which can only end if someone enters to suppress it. If nobody goes in, it will loop endlessly for unknown reasons—though some speculate it's because memories cannot bear the presence of beings from the mortal world, so once people from the mortal world enter, it begins slipping back toward the Dreamlands.”
Lynch glanced at Judy, who was dazed. The girl had fallen back behind him, just as she had in the catacombs, obediently trailing after him like a well-behaved child. Yet more than half of this forbidden knowledge came from this very 'child':
“When the suppression condition is met, suppression succeeds. The memory ends and is cast back down into the Dreamlands, while the suppressors remain in the mortal world at the moment the memory ends. If the suppression condition isn't met in advance, but the memory naturally reaches its historical conclusion, the suppression is also considered successful. The moment of conclusion is the critical point right before the memory falls back to the Dreamlands, allowing the suppressors to escape the memory at the final second and return safely to the mortal world. However, if the memory fails to end normally and fails to meet suppression conditions beforehand—which is our current situation—the suppression is actually still considered successful in a way.”
“Huh?” Dr. Sven was taken aback. This diverged from what she knew.
“Right. From the perspective of suppression, it succeeded: the memory was dragged back down into the Dreamlands by the suppressors within it. It's just that the suppressors failed to break out of the memory before the drop, so they can only plummet into the depths of the Dreamlands alongside it. What happens to the memory's original inhabitants is hard to say—you'll likely return to sleep until the next time it goes out of control. But the suppressors won't be so lucky. After falling into the Dreamlands, they'll be kicked out of the memory and die in the Dreamlands. Of course, there's no proof for any of this and it's hard to verify—it's purely our speculation.”
“This...” Even in this era, people's fear of the Dreamlands ran to their very souls. She knew very well what this implied, and she hung her head with a bitter expression. “I'm sorry... we dragged you down.”
“Why make a face like that, as if we're already dead?”
“Huh?” Dr. Sven was stunned. “There's still a solution?”
“There wasn't before—until I heard something from my next-door neighbor.” Lynch spread his hands. “Apart from relics of the highest manifestation grade, the memory of any mystery relic cannot withstand the power of a deity. Let alone a direct descent—even the attention of their divine will alone is enough to shatter the memory. That's why that mad old man had a seed planted in him by the Lord of a Billion Radiance thousands of years ago in real history, waiting for us to enter before sprouting, rather than Yog-Sothoth's divine will directly entering to instruct him. So as long as we direct the attention of a supreme entity's divine will here, the memory will shatter early, and we can return to the mortal world. Of course, this is only a theoretical result. Whether it succeeds can only be known through actual execution.”
“Deity Invocation?” Dr. Sven blinked in surprise. “The preparations for those rituals can't be completed in a short time, right? Even the simplest one for the Blind Idiot God takes days to prepare. There won't be enough time.”
“Normally, yes. It just so happens that we have an apostle of the Lady of Fire, who can guide Lady Cthugha's attention here.”
Saying that, Lynch made a gesture to Judy.
Judy nodded blankly: “Start now?”
Lynch was unsure when the memory would sink into the Dreamlands, so they had to leave as soon as possible. “Yeah. The night is long, and nightmares might multiply.”
“Wait.” Dr. Sven called out to the four, clapping her hands to raise her voice. “Listen up, everyone! The people who helped us are about to leave!”
The news quickly spread across the front of the fortress. After a few seconds of silence, over a hundred people slowly gathered around the four, bowing deeply in unison.
“Don't forget us! If you ever have the chance in the future, help us put an end to all this!” Dr. Sven gave a slight smile and waved at the four. “I hope your theory is correct. I hope you can go home safely. Good luck!”
Lynch rubbed his nose, took off his top hat, and bowed elegantly. Then, he grabbed a hand on his left and a hand on his right. At the same time, Judy, held by the person beside her, had already connected to the divine will of the Lady of Fire.
Well then, off we go.
May neighbor protect us, so that we can safely return home.
Rate on N.U.
