Eldritch Horror Theatre

The attrition rate is a bit alarming, Fu Qian thought.

Silently, the last person in the line had vanished.

Faced with this classic horror movie scenario, Fu Qian sighed inwardly, though he was in no rush to speak up.

A professional team ought to allow anyone who had already made their due contribution a reasonable amount of space to slack off.

”Wait a minute.”

As it turned out, Ais truly lived up to her role as the team’s atmosphere enthusiast. They hadn’t moved much further before she became the first to notice the anomaly.

”We’re missing someone.”

Everyone stopped at her words. Her voice remained relatively calm as she pointed toward the back of the line.

How is that possible?

Charlotte, who had been second to last, turned around. He swept his Lighting Equipment in a circle, and his face instantly darkened.”So you didn’t feel a thing?”

Though his own expression was equally ugly, Scrooge refused to pass up the chance to provoke him.

...

Those words carried quite a sting. Charlotte gritted his teeth but didn’t utter a sound.

”It isn’t just Charlotte. The rest of us are the same.”

Ais immediately shut down Scrooge’s malicious amusement.

”We weren’t far apart, yet no one noticed a thing. Left Hand, did you catch anything?”

”The only thing I noticed is that they’re gone.”

Fu Qian shook his head, telling the truth.

”So the current situation is that in this corridor with almost no side paths, one of us was taken down without a struggle and didn’t even leave a corpse behind?”

Seemingly very satisfied with Charlotte’s reaction, Scrooge gave a highly punchable smile and continued analyzing based on Ais’s observation.

”If that’s really the case, it seems we can’t move forward until we figure out why.”

That wasn’t hard to understand. If one person could disappear without a trace, there was no ruling out a second.

”...Sage, what do you think?”

Ais clearly understood the implication. After a brief hesitation, she chose to consult Old Man Sage for his opinion.

”The cause cannot be determined yet, but it might not be a sneak attack from the people of The Society.”

Readily accepting good advice, the old man genuinely narrowed his eyes to look across everyone’s faces one by one, though the answer he gave was rather vague.

”Not those living corpses from The Society?”

Scrooge and the others were stunned by his words.

”Didn’t you say there wouldn’t be anything else moving in here?”

”Rest assured, I am still certain of that. However, even in a half-slumbering state, there are many things the Holy Grail can do aside from infusing those living corpses with abilities. And as time passes, it will be able to do more and more.”

Faced with their doubts, Sage explained quite patiently.

”Never forget, we are facing an existence that, in theory, can see through all mysteries.”

”Then what do we do now?”

The smile on Scrooge’s face had completely vanished as he frowned and looked in both directions.

”We seem to be in a dilemma. It’s dangerous to keep going, but for every minute we delay, the target will only become harder to deal with.”

”Relax.”

Old Man Sage chuckled softly. Showing no signs of anxiety, he pointed back the way they had come.

”Its difficulty is exactly why we need it. The knowledge we possess is enough to bring this treasure of The Society back under control before it fully awakens.”

”We still have time. Let’s head back and see exactly what happened.”

Rather than a team leader, Old Man Sage felt more like the head of a cult.

His words lacked concrete evidence, but the absolute confidence in his stance was quite infectious.

The slightly wavering morale of the group instantly settled.

Perhaps provoked by Scrooge’s words, Charlotte didn’t ask Brother Round Shield to take the lead this time. Instead, he took the vanguard himself, looking rather murderous.

...

The Society? I seem to have heard an interesting term, Fu Qian thought.

He found himself benefiting greatly from Old Man Sage’s morale-boosting speech as well.

First of all, his previous question of ”what is this place” seemed to have an answer.

According to Sage, this place clearly belonged to The Society he spoke of. Those living corpses wearing somewhat uniform clothing were all members of The Society.

From the looks of it, something had happened in the past that trapped all these people here. They hadn’t died in the normal sense; even their bodies had mutated.

Furthermore, the initial puzzle illusion and the ability copying displayed by the living corpses later on were indeed the effects of the Holy Grail.

As for ”seeing through all mysteries,” that claim was rather overbearing. It almost sounded like the authority of a Deity.

As a treasure of The Society, the Holy Grail slumbered in these Ruins, but it was currently slowly awakening.

If it was the target of his current trip, then its full name should be the Blind Eye Holy Grail, right?

By that logic, could The Society be the Blind Eye Society?

The living corpses they had encountered earlier didn’t look blind, but the omnipresent eye motifs fit the name perfectly.

And lastly, Old Man Sage had used the phrase ”bring it back under control.”

In other words, these people were also members of the Blind Eye Society. Were they here to dig up their ancestors’ graves?

Judging by their style of repeatedly emphasizing that knowledge is power, it didn’t seem like an excuse just to escape legal punishment.

”Wait.”

Just as Fu Qian was tallying up his findings, Charlotte, who was leading the way, suddenly spoke out and signaled for everyone to halt.

Following his warning, a figure flashed through the impenetrable darkness a short distance away.

Despite it being only a fleeting glimpse, the alluring posture and movements clearly belonged to another member of The Society.

Of course, there was a slight difference.

”...Are my eyes playing tricks on me?”

A moment later, Ais let out a sigh filled with existential doubt.

”That thing seems to be wearing our equipment on its leg.”

...

Obviously, a simple straggler launching a sneak attack and killing someone wasn’t enough to scare this team.

But Fu Qian could confirm that Ais was right. The right leg of that living corpse was gleaming with golden light.

Not only did it perfectly match the style and position of the gear worn by the person who had just disappeared, but it also fit incredibly well.

Had the victim already been eaten clean, leaving behind only the indigestible Golden Saint Robe, which the living corpse took a liking to and put on itself?

Or simply put, had the victim answered the call of The Society and chosen to evolve into a living corpse?

Faced with this somewhat terrifying development, Fu Qian freely speculated about the underlying reasons.

”Can the Holy Grail not only mimic abilities, but even copy equipment?”

At this moment, Brother Round Shield, who had been silent all along, couldn’t hold back anymore and offered a theory.

It didn’t seem entirely impossible.

Although Brother Round Shield’s words made Charlotte and the others frown in unison, Fu Qian didn’t immediately dismiss the idea.

”We’ll know once we take a look.”

In the end, Charlotte didn’t say anything more and directly charged forward.