Eldritch Horror Theatre

”An interesting encounter, an interesting form.”

Facing Fu Qian’s arrogant declaration, the blasphemy wearing his exact face revealed an inhuman smile.

”I won’t deny the parasite analogy, but the form of your existence is far more evil than mine.”

”How exactly am I evil?”

Realizing there was something new to learn, Fu Qian immediately asked, entirely unashamed.

”Heh heh heh...”

Unfortunately, the entity couldn’t shake its villainous habits. After a string of cold laughter, it vanished like a bursting bubble.

Almost simultaneously, the giant face overhead rapidly retreated, as if terrified of being splattered by dog shit.

Or perhaps it had already been splattered and needed to hurry back to wash up.

”I am the real—”Just as the giant claw was reduced to its final segment, a lightning-fast swipe cut the Marr Brothers’ argument short. It dragged out a mass of formless chaos and rapidly disappeared.

Sure enough, straightforward. Exactly what I wanted.

Seeing the entity retreat without even leaving a parting threat, Fu Qian felt extremely satisfied.

Mainly, his Pseudo-God Incarnation was also nearing its limit. If the entity hadn’t left, he would have had to resort to some violent maneuvers.

As for right now...

He double-checked that Ji Liushuang was unharmed and that the strange spatial anomaly around them had entirely dissipated. In the next moment, endless scaleless serpents erupted from the Tyrant’s body, drowning the recently recovered Marr Brothers.

Facing this full-power strike, the Marr Brothers shattered instantly like a child’s piggy bank.

What splattered from them wasn’t even flesh and blood. From every conceivable space—even from between their teeth—creations from within the Cocoon struggled out, instantly erupting into golden flames.

”Trying to run!”

A moment later, two faces connected by a single spine attempted to slip into the void, only to be violently yanked back out by a thread of blood, forced to face the storm.

Bang!

This final portion was also utterly pulverized.

The hard skulls exploded open, the brains stretching into bizarre shapes before being burned to ash by the golden flames.

[Task completed. 3-1041 Containment successful.]

I knew you wouldn’t be bored enough to help purge the pollution for nothing!

The serpents retracted back into his body as Fu Qian let out a cold snort.

Unfortunately, my Rebirth Club keeps its word. If we say we’re going to grind the Marr Brothers into dust, then we grind them into dust.

Earlier, when the giant Cocoon had burned to ash, the task hadn’t registered as complete. He knew then that the parasite wasn’t entirely dead.

Combining his intuition at the time with a simple process of elimination, he had effectively locked onto the Marr Brothers.

The dark fire Divine Entity’s parting claw swipe was meant to purge the blasphemous influence and protect the seed hidden within them, but it had only exposed their survival.

He had undoubtedly ruined that entity’s plans for a second time. A massive grudge had definitely been forged today.

The scene before his eyes began to shift. Fu Qian casually dispelled the Lucid Dream.

...

As if waking from a hazy but terrifying dream, Ji Liushuang regained consciousness to find herself sitting by the water. Everything in front of her was completely calm.

Except for the stone platform that had jutted into The Lake. The structure, previously flush with the water’s surface, was gone without a trace.

She tried to recall the details of the dream, but aside from the lurking danger in the dark and the profound sense of security from being protected, she couldn’t remember anything else.

Is it over?

Pressing a hand to her shoulder against the lingering weakness, Ji Liushuang slowly stood up.

Even though her memories were hazy, she still tried to engrave every lingering trace into her mind.

”Liushuang, are you alright?”

Ji Xun’s voice came from behind.

Without even turning around, she knew Ji Tong was right there beside him.

”I’m fine.”

It was hard to say what kind of answer the two men behind her were hoping for. As Ji Liushuang turned around and nodded, she had already tucked away all her private thoughts.

”Professor Andiel asked me to bid you both farewell on his behalf. Please forgive the slight property damage.”

”Professor Andiel is too polite.”

Quietly observing Ji Liushuang’s expression, Ji Xun and Ji Tong exchanged a glance. Both could see the shock in each other’s eyes.

It ended entirely too fast!

The instant the anomaly vanished, the two of them had rushed over immediately, yet not a single trace remained at the scene.

Never mind a confrontation at that Rank—even if one of them had casually thrown an attack, a mere shattered stone platform would barely count as a disturbance.

Most importantly, despite being caught in a battle of that magnitude, Ji Liushuang appeared completely unharmed.

Not only did Demigod Lu summon a projection nearing the level of a Divine Entity to dispatch his opponent, but he actually had the spare energy to protect her?

Just what kind of organization was this true Rebirth Club!

And even with such terrifying strength, they remained surprisingly low-key.

Ji Liushuang’s words just now seemed like empty pleasantries, but her true meaning was that The Club would keep this incident a secret.

Their choice to refer to him as Professor Andiel in reply meant exactly the same thing.

Now, their only concern was how to deal with the Night Watchers, who had likely been drawn by the commotion.

”I’ll reach out to the Gospel Team to confirm the details as soon as possible, and I will give you an answer by tomorrow at the latest.”

After his thoughts raced, Ji Xun finally gave a straightforward reply.

”Also, I’ve already arranged for Ji Ping’s corpse to be strictly sealed away.”

Oh?

Ji Liushuang glanced at him, noncommittal.

”After you left, the corpse underwent some very strange changes. It does look like something was left behind on it.”

Unsure whether the girl was truly ignorant or just playing dumb, Ji Xun chose to describe the situation truthfully, formally defining the nature of the incident.

”We are fortunate you acted so decisively today.”

”Additionally, your mother sent someone to check on the situation. The anomaly just now worried her. Do you want to go see her?”

”Alright. I’ll go back and change first.”

Hearing her mother was worried about her, Ji Liushuang didn’t delay and simply took her leave.

Watching her walk away, Ji Xun and Ji Tong exchanged another glance. This time, they could both see a trace of relief in each other’s eyes.

Regardless of everything, she still considered the Ji Clan her home.

...

”Liushuang, you’re here?”

Inside the room overlooking The Lake, as a freshly changed Ji Liushuang walked through the door, a serene and beautiful woman turned around. She shared a striking resemblance to Ji Liushuang, and the worry on her face immediately melted away.

”You could tell it was me just from that?”

Ji Liushuang carefully closed the door and walked up to her mother, Ji Xue, feeling a little surprised.

”Of course!”

Ji Xue pointed at her own ear with a touch of pride.

”I can recognize your footsteps anywhere. Are you alright? What happened out there just now? It looked quite frightening.”

”It was scary, but everything is fine now.”

Ji Liushuang copied her mother and looked out the window. Thinking of Professor Andiel—who had kept his promise and hadn’t come to disturb them at all—she suddenly let out a soft giggle.

”Don’t be afraid. You’re so beautiful, maybe a Knight has been secretly protecting you all along!”

”Is that so?”

Ji Xue covered her mouth and chuckled lightly. Seeing her daughter in such a good mood completely put her heart at ease.

”It’s hard to believe, but you never know.”

I didn’t believe it at first either.

Ji Liushuang shook her head and sighed inwardly.