Eldritch Horror Theatre

The Goddess of Sins was going all out to protect her number one pawn!

Even with his body fortified to its absolute limit and incredibly tough, Fu Qian felt the extreme sharpness of the thorns the moment his shoulder slammed into the armor. It felt as if he were about to be skewered straight through.

At the same time, the chaotic power clinging to the thorns surged into him, leaving his body stiff and numb.

It didn’t matter. He had achieved his goal.

Expressionless, Fu Qian pulled his arm back from the armor.

In the violent tackle just now, William had been driven right into the thicket of thorns, and his slight advantage in affinity could no longer hold up.

Fine, dense cracks—much deeper than before—now marred the surface of the armor.

Naturally, those cracks were still stubbornly healing.

Boom!

Fu Qian barely stood upright before throwing himself into another brutal shoulder check.As if he would give him the chance to slowly recover!

Blade mail or not, nothing was going to save his miserable hide today.

Eliminating the Goddess of Sins had never been part of his mission; his target had always been William, the pawn.

With flesh and blood flying, Fu Qian stopped thinking about what he looked like right now.

Under the relentless impacts, the cracks on the silver armor—now coated in his flesh and blood—reached a breaking point.

Finally, as Fu Qian drove a fist forward, an indescribable wail echoed from the armor before it shattered completely.

William’s Mythical Form could no longer be maintained.

His towering metallic frame instantly shrank, reverting to a blood-drenched body.

At this moment, the razor-sharp, dark red thorns had not disappeared, but were buried deep into his entire body.

”You...”

William opened his mouth to speak, only to vomit a mouthful of blood.

”Not long ago, I met a guy who reached for the divine in a way that left me entirely speechless,” Fu Qian said as he stepped forward, casually swatting away the thorns trying to stop him.

”But compared to him, your method is even more painful to watch.”

Splat!

Before William could utter another word, Fu Qian brought his foot down hard.

Amidst a spray of red and white, the First Sinner’s body died and his Dao dissipated.

[Current mission complete, Containment of entity 2-177 successful]

Almost simultaneously, a pleasant chime rang out.

Not bad, very efficient!

Fu Qian mused, watching the blood-red thorns before him rapidly wither and rot.

After forcibly beating the blade-armored William to death, his own body was essentially riddled with holes. Going out to chase down the remaining people in this state would have been a massive headache.

It seemed that in those brief few moments, William’s avatar as the Sin Seeker had wiped the remaining sinners clean.

He had worried earlier that the man might not be so diligent, or that someone might have been cleansed and not acquired Sin Fire again, which would have likely let them slip through the cracks.

Now it seemed that, faced with the desire to survive, everyone truly had fought tooth and nail.

And those capable of becoming sinners early on naturally had exceptionally high efficiency.

In a matter of seconds, the thicket of thorns on the platform had completely dissipated.

Near a downward-sloping corner, Fu Qian spotted two mangled figures.

One of them, Father Slayer Elena, was staring in his direction with unvarnished horror. Her eyes eventually locked onto William’s corpse.

Pretty clever of her to escape this far, even with a teammate in tow.

Fu Qian didn’t say anything. He merely cast a backward glance at the Goddess of Sins Statue before his vision violently warped.

[Mission Rating: Sin Destroyer]

[A prisoner of the body, and a prisoner of the mind.

Through a special ritual, one can forge a covenant with a Deity.

Wicked souls trapped in a desperate corner are forced to use every means necessary to struggle for survival.

Never before have their sins been displayed so vividly, inflicting upon them such visceral pain.

Yet, upon seeking help from the Goddess, they find that all their suffering melts away.

Almost every prisoner chose to keep this miraculous redemption a secret, hoping to secure a sliver of advantage for their own survival.

However, what they do not know is that this special ritual is the most fundamental corruption of a transcendent.

Those who choose to become the pawns of a God will forever lose the hope of becoming a Deity.

Along the winding path to divinity, many more traps like this lie in wait.]

[Kill: William]

[Reward: SAN Value +25; inspiration +5]

[Special Reward: Thorn Twig]

[Current SAN Value 176, Current inspiration 66]

[Play event replay?]

In the Warehouse, Fu Qian leaned back in his chair, casually listening to the mission summary. However, the more he listened, the deeper his frown grew.

Although his injuries had already healed, the recent experience left him rather sensitive to the word ’thorn.’

[Name: Thorn Twig]

Without a second thought, he flipped to the reward section.

[Type: Special Item]

[Effect: A blood-red branch plucked from the Thorns of Sin, symbolizing the purest corruption. Upon use, it can corrupt any weapon, item, or even concept, allowing the Fire of Sin to flow within it.]

[Note: Your sin? No, it is your sin.]

This...

Fu Qian stared at the object in his hand.

It was a red sprig inside a small transparent bottle. It did look quite similar to the Thorns of Sin he had just seen, albeit much smaller.

Compared to the ones he had been hammering with his bare hands just moments ago, the tiny spikes on this twig were so miniature they almost looked cute.

It could corrupt any weapon and item?

Recalling the sensation of being punctured full of holes by these things, Fu Qian surveyed the items across his table.

The description was straightforward enough. It seemed that simply placing it together with other things would complete the corruption automatically.

Speaking of which, while he possessed quite a few items, he seemingly only had one weapon.

After a brief moment of thought, Fu Qian took off the Tyrant’s Fist.

Rubbing the warm surface of the red ring, Fu Qian popped the cork off the small bottle and dropped it inside.

The instant the two touched, the Thorn Twig seemingly came alive, rapidly writhing into a dark red nematode.

After circling the Tyrant’s Fist several times, the nematode finally coiled its twisting body tightly around it and quickly melted.

Crack!

About half a minute later, countless fine cracks appeared on the surface of the small bottle before it turned to dust.

The Tyrant’s Fist dropped onto the table, its color looking slightly darker.

The Fire of Sin flowing within it?

Recalling the description from just now, Fu Qian picked up the ring, put it on, and flicked his hand.

Whoosh!

A scarlet shadow flashed through the air.

A bit brutal!

Fu Qian instantly noticed the changes to the Tyrant’s Fist.

The long whip, originally formed from twisted blood vessels and sinews, was now covered in fine spikes. He could even faintly see surging dark blood light.

This design was truly becoming more and more inappropriate for children!

Fu Qian let out a deep sigh, preparing to find an opportunity to test it out in actual combat.

Completing a mission and obtaining an upgraded weapon meant this trip hadn’t been in vain.

Of course, his biggest harvest this time wasn’t this, but rather the final mission summary.