Eldritch Horror Theatre

Streaming light whirled by.

As he touched the vortex, Fu Qian clearly sensed himself wandering through the gaps in space, entering a special dimension.

Although transcendent power ran rampant in this world, abilities capable of achieving spatial leaps were still rarely seen.

According to Professor Shi En, the bronze monster’s mouth was the only passage in and out.

This meant that this forbidden zone shouldn’t be found anywhere in the Real World.

It was undoubtedly special and worth exploring carefully.

His five senses recovered as he pondered. Fu Qian found himself standing inside a cave, its walls made of the exact same material as the giant beast’s body.

Professor Lisa, who had entered a step ahead of him, stood not far away.

Fu Qian took a couple of steps forward and looked out. In the distance beyond the cave, shrouded in the Mist, specks of deep green light—similar to the vortex from earlier—swirled and flickered.

”Thank you.”Lisa shot him a glance, speaking with a hint of annoyance.

”Thanking me for what?”

”For Professor Fu’s gentlemanly demeanor just now. It made me feel truly respected from the bottom of my heart.”

By the end of her sentence, Lisa was clearly gnashing her teeth.

”You flatter me. It’s just basic decency.”

Fu Qian offered a casual, polite reply.

At that moment, a flash of deep green light vanished behind them. Cass had arrived as well.

Seeing Fu Qian look over, Cass gave a slight nod.

”Looks normal enough. Linghui Courtyard doesn’t seem to have left many traces.”

Lisa greeted Cass and shared her observations.

”Not surprising. After all, they emphasize so-called spiritual communication. Shi En wanting to tag along was nothing more than an excuse to lecture us on the so-called taboos they’ve figured out.”

Cass sneered.

”In their eyes, the entities in here are elegant and noble souls, far more precious than boring humans!”

”That bunch is practically suffering from qi deviation!”

Lisa sighed.

”But I imagine your method of opening the door just now made Apocalypse’s stance perfectly clear to them. Shi En probably never dreamed the door could be opened like that.”

”No matter their form of existence, as long as the concept of existence remains, there are many ways to communicate.”

Cass spoke with extraordinary coldness, pointing at Fu Qian beside him.

”If you don’t believe me, ask Professor Fu. I’m certain that even if I hadn’t stepped in, he could have done the exact same thing.”

”Really?”

Having been deflated earlier, Lisa had been somewhat reluctant to talk to Fu Qian. But hearing Cass say this, she couldn’t help looking over in curious cooperation.

”True enough. Since all it needed to do was open its mouth, just ripping it open would have done the trick.”

Did divinity affect one’s personality? Why was every single one of them so brutal?

Hearing this seemingly casual but actually far more violent proposal, Lisa was left quite dumbfounded.

”Are you sure that would work? Then why didn’t you make a move just now?”

”Why wouldn’t it? Body language is often much more efficient for communication. Without needing a single word, that guy would quickly realize it had to choose between opening its mouth and Death.”

”As for why I didn’t step in? I have always known to respect the aged and honor the wise. The Dean had already taken action, so how could I be so impolite as to interfere?”

...

Faced with the moral paragon Demigod Fu, Lisa fell silent for a few seconds before finally taking a deep breath.

”Excuse me, but may I ask how you usually cultivate yourself to respect people so much?”

”By insulting people!”

Fu Qian looked as if this was only natural.

”Otherwise, how could I know the ins and outs of respecting people so well?”

...

”So what is the plan?”

Deciding not to waste any more precious time, Lisa asked Cass directly.

”Seize opportunities, strengthen our learning, and maintain progress.”

He wore a solemn expression.

These two clowns were the Academy’s current Combat Power pillars? How had Apocalypse fallen to such depths!

The aura inside Lisa’s body surged violently; she felt a sudden urge to wash her hands of this and quit.

Fortunately, the two big shots still had a bit of a conscience. After speaking, Cass took the lead and set off, while Demigod Fu followed closely behind, no longer forcing her to clear the way.

”Professor Fu, what do you think?”

As the three of them emerged from the cave, the view before them abruptly opened up.

Within the vastly expansive domain, beneath the lingering Mist, they could see intersecting ravines and even the remnants of architecture covering the ground.

The most shocking thing, however, was the presence of an enormous crater right in the center.

The crater’s area was absurdly large. Across its entire cross-section, densely packed ravines and structures were visible, making it seem as if the entire underground was a complex, three-dimensional construct.

Among the ravines and the Mist, specks of deep green light drifted about, spiraling all the way up to form a colossal sphere.

Looking closely, one could make out the true form of those ghostly lights.

They were various constructs pieced together from pure white bones of all shapes, arranged according to some mysterious underlying law.

The reason it looked ”pieced together” rather than cleanly spliced was that, visibly to the naked eye, most of these bones were not even physically connected to one another.

The flickering deep green lights among them seemed to be their true main bodies, while the bones were merely armor.

As for these peculiar creations, some had wings on their backs, some were just long strips, and others were simply amorphous lumps.

But regardless of their shape, their common trait was that they all drifted freely like jellyfish, resembling ghosts far more than physical entities.

Their visual appeal was indeed impressive. No wonder they had managed to win over that crowd from Linghui Courtyard.

What did he think?

Faced with Cass’s question, Fu Qian pondered briefly before pointing at one of the long strips.

”Looks like a maggot.”

...

Lisa had mentally prepared herself for this guy to give an unserious answer, but she never expected it to be downright disgusting on top of it.

”Just because it’s a long strip makes it a maggot? Why couldn’t it be a snake?”

Lisa couldn’t help but shoot back instantly, even pointing at another construct flying out of the Mist.

”If that one was a maggot, does this one look like a fly?”

”It really does.”

Fu Qian agreed with her assessment after just one glance.

”Then it seems we didn’t need to come all the way here for this scientific expedition. Finding a public restroom would have done the trick, right? Old man?”

Facing Cass, she had even dropped the use of honorifics.

”Well said. I share the same view.”

To her surprise, he wore a rare look of complete seriousness.

While Lisa stared in shock, Cass narrowed his eyes and observed the space ahead.

”They are maggots on a corpse. I’ve believed this for many years, but unfortunately, no one believed me. Those folks from Linghui acted as if they’d been deeply insulted.”

Were they serious...

Being an intellectual regardless, once her urge to rant faded and she realized the two men might not actually be joking, Lisa also instantly turned serious.

”Doesn’t that mean this entire zone might be one giant corpse? And the monster at the entrance was a gravekeeper? Isn’t that a bit absurd? What kind of existence’s corpse could produce an effect like this?”

”That’s hard to say.”

Still gazing intently at the scene before him, Fu Qian shook his head and cast an inquiring look at Cass.

”For example, a God?”