Eldritch Horror Theatre

”You go up too.”

After coldly ordering Sybil, Kelsen turned toward Fu Qian.

This guy was certainly staying true to his original aspiration!

Fu Qian, who had been thoroughly enjoying the show, realized he couldn’t stay out of it after all.

He was already quite curious about this particular destination anyway, so he raised no objections.

The crossbeam sat a fair height above them, but that was absolutely no problem for Demigods.

With a light leap, Fu Qian landed on top of it.

At a glance, the beam was covered in a thick, aged patina.

Feeling the slippery surface underfoot, Fu Qian followed Sybil.

Despite bearing the responsibility of leading the exploration, Sybil looked incredibly calm, advancing at a steady, unhurried pace.Amid the howling wind, Kelsen also landed on the crossbeam, walking behind the two of them.

The beam wasn’t exactly short, but the three Demigods were highly efficient and soon reached the other side.

Now they could see it clearly; earlier, it had been hidden among the various carved decorations.

Standing here, they could see a door set off to one side at the end of the corridor, completely different from the others.

Sybil didn’t say anything. Taking the lead, she quickly arrived at the foot of the massive door.

Fu Qian followed her over and discovered that the door seemed to be made of some special metal; it was freezing to the touch.

However, considering it was much smaller than the stone doors they had seen earlier, opening it shouldn’t be too difficult.

”Should I open it?”

Sybil turned to look at Kelsen, asking for his opinion.

Her meaning was clear: she didn’t want Kelsen to misunderstand any of her actions.

”Alright.”

Kelsen nodded decisively and took two steps to the side.

The position he chose allowed him to immediately see the scene Inside the Door, yet ensured he wouldn’t bear the brunt of any potential attacks from within.

Having received his approval, Sybil didn’t waste any time and pushed firmly against it.

With a heavy creak, the black door slowly swung inward.

Nothing rushed out.

Sybil waited for a few seconds before turning to look at Kelsen with an inquiring gaze.

Just as the latter nodded and Sybil prepared to go in and investigate, Kelsen pointed at Fu Qian.

”You go in first.”

”Sure!”

Unsurprised, Fu Qian stepped forward without declining.

The space behind the door wasn’t large. Its layout lacked the obvious ceremonial nature of the earlier halls; instead, it looked somewhat like a living room.

Deep inside the room, directly facing the entrance, a hunched figure knelt on a piece of furniture that resembled a bed or couch, draped in a long cloth of indiscernible color.

Aside from that, there was nothing else of note.

This was...

Confirming no anomalies had occurred, Sybil and Kelsen also walked in, immediately locking their eyes on the figure.

”Go lift the cloth!”

After a few seconds of silence, Kelsen commanded Fu Qian directly.

As a Demigod, he could naturally tell that the kneeling person had long been dead.

But throughout their journey, these Underground Ruins had been distinctly bizarre. It would be a waste not to use readily available cannon fodder.

Fu Qian, burdened with their high hopes, didn’t refuse. He took two steps forward while pulling out his gun.

He extended the barrel of his gun toward the long cloth.

Who knew how many years had passed; the fabric was thoroughly decayed. It shattered into pieces instantly, revealing what lay beneath.

”Hiss!”

Kelsen’s startled gasp rang out almost simultaneously.

For some reason, the corpse hadn’t decomposed into a pile of white bones, but had instead shriveled into a dry mummy.

As a dignified Demigod, there was no way Kelsen would be startled by a mere corpse.

What caught his attention were the numerous shackles visible beneath the body, locking its legs firmly in place and forcing it to remain in a kneeling posture.

Looking further up, its two hands were similarly shackled, with long chains extending from them.

Additionally, judging by the tied-up long hair, this corpse was likely a woman.

Regardless of the reason, whoever did this to her seemingly intended to force her into a posture of repentance.

”She has... four hands?”

At this moment, Kelsen stepped closer, pointing at the dry corpse’s back.

Aside from the arms shackled together in front, there were indeed two more withered bones on her back.

”Could she have been chained here because of a physical deformity?”

Following Kelsen’s discovery, Sybil obligingly offered her analysis.

”Yes, and no.”

Fu Qian, however, shook his head from the side.

”What do you mean?”

Kelsen stared at him coldly, undisguised killing intent in his eyes.

He was already full of wariness toward this guy of unknown origin.

Now, seeing his performance along the way, he was clearly no ordinary character. His true motive for coming here was truly intriguing.

”Being locked here because of a physical deformity is indeed one possibility.”

”But you need to look closer. Those things on her back aren’t hands; they look more like wings.”

Fu Qian ignored Kelsen and explained on his own.

”Wings?”

Kelsen’s tone was heavy with astonishment as he and Sybil looked down together.

Reminded by Fu Qian, they also noticed the abnormality.

Although they were nearly curled into a ball, the long bone ends, with their unusually proportioned forks and outer membranes, did indeed resemble the shape of wings.

How could this be!

Wings, an Angel, a Dungeon... Was this actually a cell used to imprison an Angel?

While the two were lost in shock, Fu Qian was thinking about his own mission.

”If what you say is true...”

At this time, Sybil held out her hand, revealing two Feathers of different lengths and colors.

”We saw many Feathers along the way... and she has wings... It’s easy to connect the two.”

”But why can’t we see a single Feather on her wings?”

”Her hair is perfectly preserved, so it’s impossible that only her Feathers decayed.”

”You need to keep an open mind.”

Facing her doubt, Fu Qian tapped his head.

”Actually, the answer from just now might explain your question.”

”She was locked here because of a deformity... Growing wings is certainly one type, but could having wings without any Feathers also be a type?”

This...

Fu Qian’s answer silenced the two Demigods once again.

”What you said is indeed a possibility.”

After a long while, Sybil finally spoke slowly.

”Judging from the Mirror at the intersection and the surrounding Feathers, the people who built these Ruins might indeed have had beliefs related to wings. It wouldn’t be strange if certain anomalous individuals were considered blasphemous.”

”Very good!”

Fu Qian nodded appreciatively, simultaneously raising his gun and pulling the trigger.

”As the saying goes, if you hear the Dao in the morning, you can die content in the evening!”