Eldritch Horror Theatre

’Are these two ever going to stop!’

Under the chuuni declaration Fu Qian had tailored for himself, the first person to buckle was unexpectedly Old Man Ji Xun.

The earlier meatball had been one thing, but the subsequent physical expansion—despite being far less visually striking—exerted an absurdly greater pressure.

His bloodline abilities, tempered over countless years until controlling them felt as natural as eating and drinking, were actually showing signs of slipping from his grasp.

This was completely unprecedented.

As the source, Fu Qian naturally felt this shift as well.

Although it was Demigod Grade, it wasn’t true reality in the end.

The chaotic core effect of the Tyrant had evidently multiplied the pressure on Ash Descent.

Of course, Fu Qian didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about this. He had done it on purpose.

Although this trip involved the conflict between Rebirth and the Origin Council and was no longer a simple mission, how could he pass up such a perfect opportunity?If something truly was parasitizing this Ash Descent, applying a little pressure would naturally force it out.

...

”What exactly are you?”

If Ash Descent was struggling, A Gui, currently locked in close combat with the Tyrant, was under significantly more pressure.

At this very moment, even the slender claws slicing into his opponent’s flesh had lost their former sharpness to some incomprehensible distortion, utterly failing to inflict further damage.

Meanwhile, his opponent’s transformation hadn’t even finished.

After Fu Qian forcibly yanked his arm back with terrifying strength, hundreds of scaleless serpents erupted from it, rapidly expanding and lengthening.

The same phenomenon occurred around the wounds torn open by the claws.

Many of the serpents even slithered back along the claws, climbing right onto the massive meatball.

Coiling tight, the serpents’ eyeless, triangular heads split open to reveal maws lined with razor-sharp teeth, biting down viciously.

”You ask what I am?”

A voice brimming with absolute authority rang out.

”Resplendent Tyrant, Original Sin Sage, flesh is weak, flesh ascends. You know who I am better than anyone, and you know my power better than anyone else. So—say my name.”

Completely ignoring the sharp claws embedded in his body, Fu Qian stood tall and raised one hand high, forcing the eyes scattered across the meatball to gaze up at him.

Above their heads, hundreds of scaleless serpents writhed and intertwined, converging into a ferocious Great Hammer.

...

This kind of biological weapon truly challenged human imagination. It looked especially psychedelic when specks of starlight began to gleam from within it.

”Lu—”

For a moment, A Gui let out an involuntary sigh.

His voice came to an abrupt halt.

As an entity at the Demigod Stage, he quickly realized his lapse in control. Shaking off the Tyrant’s deterrence, his tone turned mocking.

”You think you can defeat me with something like this? The power is scattered. It has no practical use other than looking intimidating.”

”Is that so? Then how about this?”

Fu Qian didn’t care that his opponent had only answered half of his demand. The next moment, amidst a cacophony of hisses, the countless serpent heads unhinged their jaws a full one hundred and eighty degrees. Interlocking fangs jutted outward, instantly transforming the surface of the Great Hammer into a dense thicket of thorns.

The instant the transformation finished, the spiked Great Hammer crashed down.

Juices splattered everywhere.

It was the most fitting description.

As the Great Hammer fell, A Gui—who had braced to tank the blow head-on—didn’t even utter a single sound. He was instantly smashed into a shattered, bursting meatball, cratering deep into the ground.

Blood, flesh, bone, and a messy array of other unidentifiable gore splattered outward from the ruptured meatball, sweeping the surrounding area.

’Hmph, did you really think I had to concentrate all my power into a single punch just to break through your defense?’

With the strike landing successfully, Fu Qian’s Biological Heavy Hammer crumbled apart, the long serpents slowly retracting into his arm.

He shot a cold glance at the crowd watching the battle from afar.

For a moment, not a single member of the Ji Family Task Force—all of whom were stained in shades of black, white, and gray—dared to meet his gaze.

”He seemed to mention a name just now. It’s a pity he didn’t finish.”

Although things had completely deviated from the original plan, Ji Xun wasn’t in such denial that he couldn’t face reality. Gritting his teeth, he tactfully acknowledged what they had all just heard.

Of course, the main reason he was gritting his teeth was that under the weight of the Tyrant’s Descent and the excessively violent clash, Ash Descent was already crumbling.

”You... are quite something!”

An unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out. It seemed to echo from every direction, much like the splattered flesh and blood from moments prior.

”You have accomplished a feat that even a Divine Emissary would find difficult.”

As the second sentence echoed, the scattered pieces of flesh and gore began to draw together, converging into large and small spheres. The voice emanated from every single one of them.

”It’s a pity that you are still far, far away from actually destroying me.”

With that sentence, the scattered meatballs all began burrowing into the ground, clearly attempting to escape.

”Oh? How far away am I?”

Faced with this bizarre scene, Fu Qian casually replied, shooting Ji Xun a passing glance.

The latter’s expression grew visibly awkward. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately made no move to intervene.

”Insolent junior, how dare you!”

Fortunately, Fu Qian didn’t let him suffer the embarrassment for too long. The very next moment, a thunderous roar rang out.

Old Man Lu, having just obliterated the scoundrel, unexpectedly expanded in size once again and casually yanked at his clothes.

With a violent ripping sound, his already tattered clothes were torn to absolute shreds.

Boom!

Without a word of nonsense, Old Man Lu—having shredded his clothes and unleashed his full power—punched straight through the ground.

’Domineering, but the opponent has so many bodies...’

Just as doubt rippled through the spectators’ minds, terrifying detonations echoed out one after another.

A scaleless, barrel-thick giant serpent burst up from the exact spot where one of the meatballs had burrowed beneath the earth, soaring straight into the sky.

Then came a second, a third...

Blood and gore splattered with every eruption.

”Fuck!”

This time, Old Man Ji Xun really did curse out loud.

Watching as the violent strikes tore multiple rifts through the black, white, and gray landscape, it was obvious that he had reached his absolute limit.

”Steady.”

But the next moment, accompanied by an elderly voice, the Ash Descent—which had been on the verge of shattering—instantly stabilized. The rifts mended themselves seamlessly.

Old Man Ji Tong, who had been holding the line from the sidelines this entire time, finally made his move.

It appeared that Ash Descent could actually be channeled collectively.

No wonder the Ji Clan had secured their current standing. The resulting power was far beyond a simple one plus one equaling two.

Amidst his admiration, blooms of blood exploded continuously across the monochrome realm. It was only a pity that the colorless filter robbed the massacre of its vibrant beauty.

”Interesting...”

Yet, even beneath such a brutal onslaught, that voice rang out once more.

In front of Fu Qian, the Skin lying at the bottom of the deep pit began to writhe before leaping upward like a bolt of lightning.

With a tearing sound, the Skin split in half, stretching out into two massive wings that hovered in midair.

And hovering beneath those wings was a burly, naked man with an eerie face.

However, he only possessed the upper half of a torso; his lower body was a writhing mass of long, worm-like whips.

’This voice, this face?’

’He looks exactly like Marco. Didn’t that guy die?’

Fu Qian’s memories were instantly jogged.

’Unless this is some kind of Edo Tensei resurrection, there’s a very simple explanation—this guy is Marco’s relative. Maybe his name is Malfoy?’

’All in all, the probability that the Origin Council is pulling the strings here is growing higher by the second.’

”You’ve got some skills. No wonder you dared to impersonate this seat.”

As he pondered, Fu Qian’s laughter grew increasingly boisterous.

”But did you really think taking to the sky would keep you safe? The human body’s potential is limitless.”

Amidst the familiar dialogue, a tearing sound echoed as the skin on Fu Qian’s back split open, forcibly ripping outward to form two narrow, fleshy, membrane-like wings.

At the same time, he violently wrenched his buried arm out of the ground. The earth quaked as massive serpents thrashed about, sending dirt and broken stone flying in every direction.

”Fuck!”

In that moment, it seemed even Old Man Ji Tong couldn’t help but curse out loud.