You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

She mechanically wiped the blood off the Queen's face with her sleeve, her movements so gentle as if afraid of waking her.

"His Majesty……"

Mashu, standing to the side, sobbed softly.

Ritsuka didn't speak, but continued wiping until Morgan's pale face was clean again. Only then did she slowly lean down and leave a light kiss on the Queen's forehead.

Goodnight, Morgan, my wife.

Golden Tree Sea

Debit stared intently at Ritsuka: "Even knowing all the crimes humanity has committed? Even understanding that they will ultimately destroy themselves? You still want to perpetuate this ugly species?"

Ritsuka met his gaze, her eyes unwavering: "Yes."

At this moment, her heart remained unwavering. Even in the face of adversity, even with a powerful enemy, and even with a bleak future, she firmly believed that she and her companions could overcome the high wall, no matter who the opponent was!

They will definitely be able to get the world back on track!

...[Date]

The sound of Ritsuka's shoes hitting the metal floor echoed eerily in the empty corridor. Emergency lights cast a pale, stark shadow behind her, making her appear like a lonely, wandering ghost.

Inside the central control room, the Chaldea system, which once operated day and night, is now just a black shell. All the indicator lights and displays on the instrument panel are off, and it can no longer transmit any information.

Stepping into the outer area, through the frosted observation windows, she could see the Nautilus quietly moored in the dock, the ice crystals on the portholes shimmering faintly under the lights.

The girl's fingertips traced the cool surface of the control panel, leaving a clear mark on the dust.

"Why……"

The voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, "Humanity was restored according to plan... We defeated all the enemies, even... Why did it turn out like this?"

In the infirmary, the doctor's white coat still hung on the hook behind the door, the name tag on his chest swaying slightly. It was the only thing Roman left behind after the "burning of humanity."

Although it was just a spare set of clothes, none of the Chaldea staff took the initiative to put it away, as if as long as it was left hanging there, one day its owner would come and take it while yawning and rubbing his eyes.

In Leonardo da Vinci's workshop, an unfinished device sat on the workbench, its scattered parts covered in a thick layer of dust. A half-cold cup of coffee sat on the corner of the table, the coffee stains at the bottom long since dried.

All sorts of bizarre objects are piled up everywhere, fully demonstrating the genius's many ingenious ideas, but now, like many of Leonardo da Vinci's works in history, they will never be completed.

After looking around Chaldea, numerous meetings came to mind, and the girl felt an indescribable loneliness and grievance.

Ritsuka lay flat on the narrow single bed, her hands folded over her abdomen. From the spiderweb-like cracks in the ceiling, tiny fragments occasionally drifted down. She stared at the winding patterns, her consciousness gradually fading.

The Command Seals on his right hand hadn't been replenished in a long time, leaving only faint red bruises.

Breathing became slower and slower, body temperature was fading along with life, there was no pain, no fear, only a strange calm.

She didn't know why things ended up like this. By the time she came to her senses, everything was beyond repair. Familiar people disappeared one by one, as if they had never existed. There was no trace of them anywhere.

There was no enemy attack, nor were there any troubles caused by the heroic spirits; it was as if a vacuum had been silently and invisibly removed from Chaldea...

What's most unacceptable is that the memories associated with those who have disappeared will gradually fade and eventually be forgotten.

All the girl can recall now are fragments; she only knows that he was "a very important person."

But in the end, she knew she would probably suffer the same fate, and now she could only quietly wait for that day to come...

"fair enough."

The last syllable dissipated into the cold air.

……

In the blinding white light, Ritsuka suddenly opened her eyes. A familiar dizziness washed over her, and she instinctively reached out to support herself on the ground.

Before her stood a purple-haired girl wearing glasses and a Chaldea employee uniform, who was extending her hand to her with a concerned expression.

"Senior, are you alright? I am Mash Kyrielight, and I was in the same cohort as you."

"..."

Ritsuka stared blankly at that small hand that was so vividly remembered, fragmented memories flooding back like a tide. Tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She gripped Mashu's hand tremblingly, so tightly that the girl let out a soft "Ah," clearly startled by the reaction.

"This, this senior?!"

"this time……"

Ritsuka hastily wiped away her tears with her sleeve, a determined smile curving her lips. "I will definitely do better."

She looked behind Matthew and saw Professor Rafe walking towards them with a fake smile on his face.

"I will not let anyone else die!"

……

Warm blood flowed continuously from the wound on her forehead, congealing into blood beads on her eyelashes. Ritsuka leaned against a half-broken stone pillar, each breath carrying the smell of rust.

In the distance, each punch from the white colossus caused earthquake-like tremors, tearing a massive rift in the sky to reveal the pitch-black void behind it. All the laws of the earth were utterly powerless before it, easily destroyed, and replaced by new, utterly distorted laws that were the complete opposite of human civilization.

“It shouldn’t be like this…”

She tried to use the broken Gan Jiang and Mo Xie swords to support herself as she stood up, but the sharp pain in her right leg made her kneel down again. "Clearly... every step... was... according to the optimal solution... Damn it!"

The colossus's gaze swept across the ruins, its golden pupils reflecting countless burning cities. When its eyes passed over this tiny human, it didn't even bother to linger. Ritsuka's hand finally fell limply, her bloodied fingertips drawing a final line in the sand.

……

...How many times has she challenged this before? Ritsuka has almost lost count; it's probably more than ten times.

Unlike the previous times, this time absolute darkness swallowed everything.

Ritsuka floated in this void, the communicator on her wrist long since stopped working. She tried all the known magic formulas she had learned in the long cycle of reincarnation, and even risked using the residual power in a Solomon's Ring, but all her attempts were like stones thrown into a bottomless abyss, not even causing a ripple.

The last compressed biscuit in the supply pack was eaten three days ago—if time still matters. The magic circuits were burning from overuse, and the Command Seals on the back of his hands were reduced to mere scratches, seemingly useless.

When the imaginary space suddenly began to distort abnormally, Ritsuka even felt a sense of relief. Within the distorted ripples, some indescribable entity reached out to her, and her body shattered almost instantly.

……

...The white light dissipated, and Ritsuka stared expressionlessly at the familiar scene before her. Mashu still had her hand outstretched, her face filled with worry. But this time, Ritsuka didn't try to stop her. Instead, she calmly stood up, took a step back, and distanced herself from Mashu.

"Um... Senior? You look terrible, do you need to go to the infirmary?"

"No thanks."

The politeness masked a distant feeling, which Mashu found odd, but magicians were a rather eccentric group, so she didn't take it to heart, turned around, and continued working as she walked away.

Ritsuka watched her departing figure, her eyes filled with reluctance and determination.

This time, instead of stopping Rafe, a figure calmly and composedly walked into the ruins after the explosion, watching Mash faint in a near-death state, and then confronting and forcing Galahad back.

"Initiate the full-scale freeze procedure."

Ritsuka's voice was as cold as polar ice.

"Level A alert"

She walked straight to the main control panel, declaring, "I will carry out the restoration of humanity on my own!"

This time, she was no longer hesitant and indecisive; she became a cold-hearted tough girl!

Thus, after the surviving Master of Chaldea single-handedly rebuilt Chaldea and successfully restored human order, when the Clock Tower decided to intervene—

The twelve monarchs stared in astonishment at the girl who suddenly appeared in the center of the round table, and the skeleton masks that had somehow entered the room, their expressions filled with indescribable shock.

"From today onwards,"

Ritsuka's voice was eerily calm, and the contract in her hand slid across the table with a jarring sound. "Chaldea is under my control, and the Clock Tower... you have no right to refuse!"

Ten minutes later, at the end of the document, the crests of twelve renowned magic families glowed faintly.

...This time, after lasting for two more years, Chaldea perished once again.

Meanwhile, in the corridor of another world, Fujimaru Ritsuka opens her eyes and sees her gentle and kind junior.

……

A biting wind howled past as Ritsuka knelt in the snow, a pistol pressed against her temple. In the distance, the enormous Imaginary Tree was slowly descending, its shimmering canopy illuminating the entire gray sky.

How many times has this happened? Twenty-seven times? Or twenty-four times? She couldn't remember anymore.

"It failed again this time..."

Her fingers were frozen purple, but she pulled the trigger with unusual determination. The cold, metallic feel of the gun reminded her of the cold instruments in the infirmary.

"At least this time, we don't have to watch everyone die..."

boom!

The gunshots rang out sharply across the vast, icy plain. Blood splattered on the pristine snow, like a blooming red plum blossom.

……

...Opening her eyes, she gave an embarrassed smile and took Mashu's hand to help her up.

"Thank you for all these years."

"Hmm? Senior?"

"Sorry, I had a dream. I hope I didn't talk in my sleep and scare you."

Ritsuka laughed heartily, "What a nightmare!"

……

When Ritsuka first saw "another Chaldea" through the Imaginary Number Observation Device, her long-dry eyes suddenly welled up with tears:

In that world, he and Mashu were walking towards the cafeteria, chatting and laughing, while Da Vinci and the doctor shook their heads helplessly behind them.

"So...there's such a possibility..."

Yes! I can't save my own world, but theirs isn't necessarily hopeless... even if... even if I save just one more person!

Oh my god... I wish I could save one more!

From that day on, a light rekindled in her eyes.

The secret base was established beneath the Arctic ice, where resources from countless parallel worlds were concentrated. She recruited elites from various timelines and even persuaded Heroic Spirits from several worlds to join. Chaldea grew from a small observation post into a vast organization spanning multiple worlds.

It is no exaggeration to say that she gave everything without any selfish motives, simply wanting to save worlds on the road to destruction and not wanting any more tragedies like her own to occur.

She is the most diligent Master, and also the loneliest hero, embarking on a march more desperate than Sisyphus's, a march that will never end...

however!

however!

What was the point of all that she did?

Because in the end, no world truly escaped the signs of destruction... She watched helplessly as the worlds she had helped were sunk into the Sea of ​​Imaginary Numbers like trash!

She once wanted to protect her Chaldea companions, but Mash, the doctor, Fou, Da Vinci, everyone is gone;

She wanted to liberate the frozen Earth, but the dead could never return, and it would forever remain that desolate snowfield.

She wants to achieve a perfect ending in the cycle of reincarnation, saving all those who sacrificed themselves before her eyes.

However, cruel fate only told her one thing:

She can't protect anything!

Ok……

Ok!

Since I cannot protect you... then I will gently destroy the world!

……

"So you chose this path?"

Iori's voice pulled Ritsuka back from her memories.

He stood in a sea of ​​flowers, with countless floating light screens behind him, each displaying a scene from a different timeline.

"To become the [Beast of the End] and create an eternal cycle?"

Ritsuka shook her head with a wry smile, her long hair swaying gently in the still air.

"You don't understand,"

Her fingers passed through a screen of light, showing a younger version of herself celebrating with Mash. "No matter how many times we start over, it's just drinking poison to quench our thirst. Only when 'the extinction of humanity' hangs like the sword of Damocles, can their 'story' continue..."

I guess only I can do this!

—That's what Fujimaru Ritsuka said.