Eldritch Horror Theatre

The hand and fingers he had just severed were fully restored, though the pain had not completely dissipated.

He had a feeling that if he had solved the puzzle in the illusion incorrectly, the consequences would have been far worse than simply failing to escape.

The Amazon warrior’s question also indirectly confirmed that everyone had faced a different puzzle.

Fu Qian scanned the room and confirmed that, surprisingly, only two other people were awake.

The Amazon warrior was one; the other was a broad-faced, thick-bearded Old Man with azure eyes.

Despite his somewhat rugged appearance, his features combined to project a saint-like serenity that even the standard-issue combat uniform completely failed to conceal.

It was a strange feeling—he did not seem like a transcendent, yet he possessed an inhuman quality on a mental level.

As Fu Qian made his silent assessments, the two awake individuals seemed slightly surprised by his previous answer.

”I am glad you feel that way. It seems you have firmly grasped the knowledge of the witness.”

Looking Fu Qian up and down with an amused expression, her gaze finally settling on his Left Hand, the Amazon warrior offered this cryptic remark.Knowledge?

He had indeed used knowledge to solve the puzzle, but he had a feeling it was not the kind this woman meant.

If this group had undergone special training for this operation, he was currently scoring a zero.

”To be honest, I feel like I have forgotten some things.”

Fu Qian finally nodded, frankly describing his actual condition.

...

”His condition is excellent. There are not even any lingering mental effects.”

Just as the Amazon warrior’s smile faded slightly and she squinted in scrutiny, the Old Man Saint gave her a slight nod and delivered his assessment from the side.

Even as he spoke, the four intersecting golden wings atop the Golden Scepter in his hand were slowly rotating in a bizarre manner.

It was obvious his earlier silence had been spent silently evaluating him in some manner.

What was less certain was whether that manner was a transcendent method.

He clearly looked more like an ordinary person, yet he possessed suspected transcendent methods... facing opponents with suspected transcendent methods while his own were restricted.

This mission really was quite special!

”Ais.”

As his thoughts raced, considering the woman before him was obviously talkative, Fu Qian was just preparing to fish for a bit more information when a new voice called out from a corner of the room.

”I knew it would be you!”

The man who had just woken up was significantly younger than the Old Man Saint, looking roughly the same age as the woman leaning against the wall.

He had a slightly dark complexion, a slight hook to his nose, and deep nasolabial folds; he looked accustomed to giving orders.

However, his first sentence was a compliment that hardly suited his appearance.

”Not only did you wake up this quickly, but it looks like you did not even retain any negative emotions.”

He rubbed his nose as he spoke.

”Even knowing it was an illusion, I still feel like I have gained a very unpleasant memory.”

The Amazon warrior was called Ais?

Fu Qian frowned deeply as he listened.

This had better be your real name, or else you do not usually play cards. Otherwise, it would really be hard to know what to say.

”Of course, as expected of me!”

As Fu Qian silently mocked the name, Ais’s attention was instantly drawn away.

She clearly knew the other party was deliberately flattering her, but she still appeared to enjoy it immensely as she pointed at Fu Qian.

”You are not bad yourself. This is our first time truly facing this kind of thing, after all. Aside from Left Hand’s exceptional performance over here, you were the fastest one.”

This woman had her instigation talent maxed out!

Being pointed at like that by Ais, Fu Qian frowned inwardly.

He did not think Ais had much genuine desire to praise him. Speaking like this was more akin to an instinct, a reflex to ensure her influence over the whole room.

Sure enough, Ah You, who had just stood up, looked over in his direction, a dark look flashing across his face.

”Good job.”

However, this man also seemed to know the importance of controlling his emotions. The next moment, he gave Fu Qian a slight nod and even offered a word of praise.

Out of the four people currently awake, his Golden Saint Robe was undoubtedly the one with the largest coverage area.

Starting from a sharp-looking pauldron that even faintly resembled a skull, it covered his entire right arm.

...

It was glaringly obvious that it was not from the same set as his own Glove.

Or rather, the parts on everyone’s bodies did not match much in style. It could almost be determined that they were a bunch of loose pieces.

Facing the praise, Fu Qian offered a modest reply while making his assessments.

”Just got lucky. The puzzle I encountered was relatively simple, and even so, there are still a lot of things I cannot remember.”

Although they had not made any comparisons, it was obvious that Ah You thought exactly the same.

Without any further response, he walked straight over to the stone table in front of Ais and sat down to rest.

”Knowledge, when forgotten along with some unpleasant memories, is not a bad thing.”

Ais, having just finished instigating, seemed to remember something. She smiled and comforted Fu Qian, gesturing toward his Golden Left Hand with her chin.

”As long as you haven’t forgotten how to use the Glove, it is fine.”

That was exactly the problem; he really did not know how to use the Glove.

Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

And this was obviously a very big problem.

Just then, a vague possibility had already occurred to him.

If the Old Man Saint had indeed used a transcendent method just now, then the source of power might very well be the Golden Scepter in his hand.

Or perhaps this piece of the Golden Saint Robe on each person served as the source of some transcendent power, as well as the trump card for this exploration.

To be honest, this was a rather interesting situation.

Generally speaking, usage restrictions on transcendent items were indeed not that numerous; many High Tier items could be activated even by transcendents of a low Rank, though it came down to whether they could withstand the negative costs.

But to wield them entirely with a Mortal Body, and with the types being so uniform? It really made one curious as to how it was achieved.

Indeed, Learning Has No Bounds!

Of course, the most important thing right now was still figuring out his own mission objective, what the Blind Eye Holy Grail was, and whether his goal aligned with this group’s.

”Things are going smoother than expected. It is still early. Be patient.”

The Old Man Saint, who did not talk much, spoke again, even setting his scepter aside.

Readily accepting good advice, Fu Qian also sat down where he was and fiddled with his Glove while observing the remaining five people.

Each of them had their eyes shut tight, seemingly deeply entrenched in some mental predicament.

He wondered what would happen once the time the Old Man mentioned was no longer early.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a man in the corner wearing a Golden Belt let out a long, unconscious gasp, and his body went soft and collapsed.

And with this change, his facial features began to shift and invert haphazardly, like a toppled pile of building blocks.