Eldritch Horror Theatre

”That is wonderful!”

Elena’s swift agreement caught Lynn off guard.

He narrowed his eyes for a few seconds, sizing up Cross and Fu Qian before finally breaking into a satisfied smile.

”As expected, our strategies align.”

”Then why are you still spouting nonsense? Do you think having this thing on me is comfortable?”

Elena glared at him coldly, her tone heavy with impatience.

”My apologies. We are indeed pressed for time. Please, follow me.”

Lynn said nothing more, stepping aside to gesture them forward.

”Trust me, I am intimately familiar with the agony of Sin Fire.”

...Their earlier guess proved correct.

The destination Lynn led them to was indeed the building on the sloping wall.

Almost the moment they stepped through the door, a sea of eyes snapped toward them.

Scrutiny, vigilance, and murderous intent—there was not even a fraction of goodwill among them.

And when those gazes fell upon the Sin Fire burning on Elena, they grew fervent.

About ten people remained in this survival group. They did not seem weak; several were at the Mid Tier alone.

And Lynn, standing beside them, was undoubtedly the standout among them, hovering around Tier 4.

”You actually brought them here? We just lost four men to them.”

After a brief silence, a man in black spoke coldly.

”I have already confirmed it. These three share our exact line of thinking.”

Facing the host of unwelcoming stares, Lynn introduced them without batting an eye.

”The circumstances were unusual. They were merely acting in self-defense.”

”Right now, Miss Elena is anxious to purify the Sin Fire on her body, so I invited them over. I will take her to the Statue now.”

”There is no rush. Besides, it’s already been proven that your idea doesn’t work all that well.”

The man in black scoffed, clearly unimpressed.

”Up until now, the Butcher has been doing just fine, while we’ve gained next to nothing. We’ve even lost several people.”

”And the opportunity has passed. Even if we wanted to start accumulating Sin Fire from scratch now, it’s too late...”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Elena’s face, his murderous intent faintly visible.

He wanted to kill her and take the fire for himself!

Fu Qian mused from the sidelines.

The man in black’s meaning was simple: this walking Fire of Sin had delivered herself to their door and was already trapped.

But whether to actually hand her over to the Goddess of Sins for purification was up for debate. After all, recent events had proven that the Sin Seeker wasn’t quite so cooperative. Continuing to invest in that plan could just be throwing good money after bad, resulting in a total loss.

Under these circumstances, killing her outright to seize the Sin Fire would at least grant them a bit more capital to resist the Butcher.

Since only one person could survive in the end, harboring such thoughts was hardly surprising.

”This is the team you mentioned?”

Elena shot the man in black a disgusted look and turned to Lynn.

”Don’t tell me you planned this all along just to lure us here!”

Before Lynn could answer, Cross roared from beside her, his face murderous.

”Please rest assured, I have no such intentions.”

Turning back to the man in black, Lynn’s expression turned icy, a flare of anger seeping into his words.

”Idiot! If hunting for Sin Fire actually worked, you wouldn’t even be here!”

”The only reason this team exists is because of our consensus on the current situation.”

”Trying to compete with someone like the Butcher in gathering Sin Fire is just self-deception. It is completely pointless. If you have a shred of brain left, get out of the way!”

”It isn’t up to you to decide whether it’s pointless.”

The man in black stared at Lynn, and even the few people behind him subtly closed in.

”No matter what you say, everything waits until Natalia returns.”

”Natalia... you should know perfectly well that she might not come back.”

Hearing the name, Lynn frowned slightly.

”No, she will definitely come back.”

The man in black remained unmoved, blocking their path.

Internal strife already?

Fu Qian looked at this disorganized rabble.

While he could understand everyone’s feelings, bickering right now was entirely meaningless.

If they really had nothing better to do, they might as well wander around and hunt some stragglers.

The sunk costs were too high, making them reluctant to abandon their original plan, yet they didn’t want to serve as stepping stones for someone else, right?

As for the Natalia the man in black mentioned, Fu Qian could roughly guess what she had gone to do—earlier, Lynn had said they expended great effort to lure the Butcher away. She was most likely the bait.

”It seems you cannot reach a unified decision right now.”

Seeing the group split into two factions on the verge of a brawl, Elena scoffed.

Clearly unwilling to waste any more time here, she shot Cross a look, signaling for them to leave first.

Since they already knew where the Statue was, they could always come back later.

Besides, with the situation changing, they needed to reconsider whether they should even continue with their previous plan.

Cross, naturally eager to comply, immediately turned for the door. Unexpectedly, several others stepped up to block their exit.

”Please wait a moment, you three.”

From the side, Lynn’s gaze darkened.

”The matter is urgent. If we get separated now, it will be very difficult to find you again...”

...

Looking at the people blocking them from both front and back, Elena’s expression turned entirely frigid.

”So you don’t plan on letting us leave?”

”Relax. Unlike them, my strategy has never changed.”

Lynn shook his head.

”This is just a minor hiccup. I will sort it out immediately.”

The next moment, he signaled to the man in black.

”Ten minutes.”

”If Natalia has not appeared by then, you must do exactly as I say.”

”At that time, everyone in this room must surrender all the Sin Fire on their bodies.”

He swept his gaze across the room, radiating a chilling murderous aura.

”And after that, regardless of the outcome, this group disbands. Everyone acts according to their own plans. Understood?”

...

”Fine! We’ll do it your way.”

The man in black hesitated for a few seconds before finally agreeing.

It was clear he still held some apprehension toward an angered Lynn.

After that, the room fell into a delicate silence, everyone waiting together for the return of Miss Natalia.

Among them, Elena was undoubtedly the center of attention.

No matter their individual motives or which faction they belonged to, they all glared at her like tigers eyeing their prey, terrified she would slip away if they let their guard down.

And it was obvious that whether Natalia returned or not would dictate Elena’s fate.

As for Fu Qian, he found this entire spectacle rather amusing.

The next moment, he took two steps to the side and found a spot to sit down.

”I just thought of a question.”

Ignoring the multitude of wary stares, he looked at the ashen-faced Elena.

”Other than the Butcher, has anyone else attained redemption? How are they doing now?”