Eldritch Horror Theatre

Snapping out of his daze at Fu Qian’s warning, Delin immediately ordered his team to retreat.

He didn’t actually need to give the order; most of the squad was already falling back.

One man tried to help a teammate beside him, but the moment he grabbed the other man’s arm, he found it completely weightless.

The fallen teammate was torn apart in the blink of an eye, dismembered like a ragdoll in the hands of a violent child.

The brutal scene left him momentarily stunned. Had another teammate not yanked him back, he would have been grabbed by the dolls himself.

Even so, a large chunk of flesh was torn from his forearm.

No one else dared to tend to the wounded. As if jolted by electricity, they all scrambled into the backline.

The human body was simply too fragile. The screams of the three fallen men did not last long.

Brutal as always!

Fu Qian watched from the sidelines, silently marveling at the sight.He had to admit, the dolls’ movements were incredibly stealthy.

They must have approached from underground. Although he had deliberately suppressed his own perception, their managing to slip this close before being discovered was still quite impressive.

Caught in this sudden ambush without time to prepare the battlefield, Delin’s team struggled to hold their ground despite their seamless teamwork.

Moreover, the dolls acted entirely out of character. They showed no interest whatsoever in the monster struggling behind them, locking on exclusively to the team members.

They were much more organized today!

Fu Qian had spotted the anomaly.

In terms of numbers, the group of dolls was about the same size as yesterday, perhaps even slightly smaller.

But while they had previously fought like a mob of wild, bratty children, they now operated with the coordination of a scout troop.

Their movements even vaguely supported one another.

Amid the screams, another person quickly took a hit.

”Fuck!”

Fu Qian heard Delin curse beside him.

A moment later, Delin’s arms suddenly expanded, rapidly elongating into two massive, purplish-black limbs.

A sheen of bloody light rippled across their surface. His hands—now almost the size of three human heads combined—slammed directly down onto a doll.

Unable to dodge in time, the doll was swatted straight into the ground and forcefully embedded into the solid rock.

Even so, it appeared relatively unharmed. It struggled briefly, preparing to pull itself free.

The next second, an arrow radiating extreme cold struck its body.

Though the impact caused no real damage, it exploded into a cloud of icy mist.

Frost rapidly condensed, freezing the doll solid in an instant.

Fu Qian noticed the shot had actually come from Brother Mediterranean. It was honestly hard to tell that the man possessed such excellent archery skills.

The Balding Archer wore a grave expression, firing one arrow after another in rapid succession. As the arrows struck the rocks, they blossomed into massive chunks of solid ice, completely sealing the dolls inside.

The rest of the team finally recovered their wits. Unleashing their respective abilities, they broke out of the one-sided massacre.

Just as the situation began to stabilize, another unforeseen change occurred.

Delin, who had been acting as their absolute vanguard by wildly smashing his fists around, suddenly let out a suppressed, agonizing roar.

Veins bulged violently across his face and neck as the flesh beneath his skin began to writhe.

In less than five seconds, Delin transformed into a deformed, purplish-black giant.

His power surged explosively following the complete transformation. With a single slap, he shattered a doll that had climbed onto his thigh, sending its fragments flying.

This savage display didn’t just deter the enemy; it clearly terrified his own team.

As if receiving some silent signal, the dolls suddenly turned and fled in perfect unison.

The team scrambled to encircle and intercept them, but given the massive gap in speed, their efforts yielded little result.

One of the dolls happened to choose an escape route right toward Fu Qian. With a swift kick to its head, Fu Qian sent it flying backward—straight into Delin’s waiting fist.

Delin didn’t hold back. He swatted the doll out of the air, slamming it into the ground, and immediately followed up with a vicious stomp.

Double kill!

In the blink of an eye, the rest of the dolls vanished without a trace. Delin, however, showed absolutely no sign of stopping. His bulging, monstrous eyes swept menacingly across his surroundings.

Mute as a Winter Cicada, his terrified team members subconsciously continued to back away.

Catching sight of the giant monster nearby, Delin let out a feral howl and pounced on it.

Crack!

The beast that their entire group had been powerless against just moments ago had its thick carapace punched straight through.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Through the netting, Delin—now completely consumed by bloodlust—grabbed the monster’s massive pincers with both hands and forcefully wrenched them a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

After a violent spasm of struggle, the beast finally went completely still.

”Calm down.”

Mister Luo’s voice rang out. His tone carried a strange, hypnotic rhythm that left the listeners feeling incredibly drowsy.

At the same time, a dense shroud of dark light enveloped Delin’s body.

Delin’s movements finally slowed. His massive frame shrank rapidly like a punctured balloon, until he weakly slumped to the ground.

Realizing the threat had passed, his team members stepped forward and helped him to the side.

With that, the ambush finally came to an end, leaving the battlefield completely devastated.

With three men taken down in the initial ambush, alongside one injured member and Delin himself, the team’s Combat Power had been halved in an instant.

Nobody could have expected the situation to escalate to such a brutal degree so quickly.

It was somewhat ironic. They had originally come out to capture bait to lure the dolls into a trap, never expecting the creatures to seize the initiative and ambush them first.

In a twisted way, they had successfully managed to lure the enemy out.

Amidst the plummeting morale, a sudden burst of giggling echoed through the air.

Thinking the horde had returned, the team collectively shuddered in terror.

A second later, shattered ice flew everywhere as the doll they had frozen earlier finally broke free from its icy prison.

Witnessing this, the team exchanged glances, their killing intent surging instantly.

Just as they prepared to swarm it, the doll let out a sharp squeak. In the blink of an eye, it had already landed in Mister Luo’s grasp.

Watching clearly from a distance, Fu Qian noted that this doll’s anatomy was quite different from the rest—it actually had four arms!

While all the dolls varied in appearance, he had absolutely never seen one like this before.

However, after studying it for a long while, Mister Luo shook his head in disappointment. He tossed it back to the team, gesturing for them to dispose of it as they saw fit.

And so, amid a chorus of shrill screeches, the team mercilessly hammered the doll into pieces.

”Did you notice them coming earlier?”

Unexpectedly, the Balding Archer who had just put on such an impressive display now walked over to Fu Qian.

His ears were pretty sharp!

Fu Qian cast him a sideways glance. If he remembered correctly, this man had also been standing guard on the perimeter just like him.

He must have overheard his conversation with Delin.

”Yes.”

Fu Qian nodded.

There was no reason to hide it.

”How did you spot them?”

The Archer’s eyes lit up at his confirmation.

”These guys are coming and going like a ghost, making them impossible to guard against completely.”

”I specialize in reconnaissance. My perception is strong.”

...

The Archer was left temporarily speechless.

”What were you doing just now?”

The conjoined twin girl had also noticed their conversation. She glared at Fu Qian, her attitude extremely hostile.

Given that Fu Qian was completely spotless after such a brutal life-and-death struggle, it was impossible for the others not to harbor some resentment.

’Looking at the state Delin is in, if I had actually made a move, the odds of you lot still being alive wouldn’t even be ten percent.’

Fu Qian knew exactly what she was thinking, but he didn’t even bother looking at her.

”I specialize in reconnaissance.”

...

”Besides, even though I didn’t lift a finger, I did lift a foot.”