Eldritch Horror Theatre

Fu Qian’s tone when he asked the question was so peaceful—as if he were discussing an outsider—that neither A Long nor Sunny seemed to feel any awkwardness from it.

They felt only tension instead.

At least judging by Sunny’s face, she clearly had no desire to answer.

”I don’t know exactly what you talked about, but there is no doubt that your presence makes Kelsen deeply wary.”

But after a moment of thought, they recognized reality quickly enough. Sunny slowly spoke.

”Your performance outside was indeed astonishing, but in theory, dealing with you is still easier than dealing with a demigod... What I wanted to do was simple. Take the Umbilical Cord from you.”

’An Umbilical Cord? Those three bugs?’

The term made Fu Qian’s imagination run wild for a moment.

How to put it? While the mental image clashed rather heavily with a title like Dragon King’s Blessing, they really did look a tiny bit like umbilical cords.

This explanation also matched Sunny’s previous actions. She really had been reaching for the Umbilical Cord in front of his head.”Given your formidable strength, I had to borrow the blessing and project a fraction of His image to restrict you as much as possible.”

”A reasonable decision. Turning a disadvantage into an advantage.”

Listening closely to her strategy against him, Fu Qian offered a very fair assessment.

”Unfortunately, I didn’t expect that I had still chosen the wrong target. You are actually a demigod too... and you seem even harder to deal with than Kelsen!”

With a complicated tone, Sunny offered incredibly high praise for Fu Qian’s performance.

”To be honest, I almost regret not attacking Kelsen directly. After all, you don’t seem to care much whether I live or die.”

’Then you are mistaken. While I am indeed more interested in the target of your covenant, duty dictates that your staying alive is still important.’

Fu Qian thought to himself.

”And if you took those three Umbilical Cords, I would become the next Sunny?”

”...That’s right.”

Sunny hesitated slightly before confirming it.

”They are the symbol of your very essence. Your existence’s completeness would be shattered by this, and the moment they merged in my hands, you would thoroughly become my puppet.”

”I know this very well, because years ago... I did the exact same thing to Sunny.”

”In fact, even if they were stronger than me, I could attempt it with His help, though I loathe doing so.”

’The essence of the self? So this Umbilical Cord is also a special concept defined within the bounds of the covenant’s influence?’

’Just like the so-called dark side of humanity in the Angel Dungeon, which only a Covenanter can see directly?’

’It all lines up. And she was just as brave in choosing me as her target.’

’Having a backer watching from above really does make people lose their minds.’

Expressing his understanding, Fu Qian helped her continue.

”And once you succeeded, you would use me as cover. You could try hiding out here until the blessing faded, and even if Kelsen unluckily found you, I would at least be a decent source of Combat Power, right?”

”Exactly. That was the ideal progression.”

Sunny sounded like she was laying all her cards on the table with nothing left to lose.

”If you plan to take any retaliatory action, I completely understand.”

”In fact, I still have the ability to continue right now, because I don’t need to use Reflection to see the Umbilical Cord.”

”Very honest. This is how choices determine fate!”

Facing Sunny, who was already in a guarded stance, Fu Qian sighed in admiration, remaining seated as steady as Mount Tai.

”...You aren’t going to kill me?”

Sunny was clearly a bit surprised.

”Why would I kill you? Given my stature, how could this seat stoop to your level!”

”...Then you are letting us go?”

”Why would you leave? Regardless of the middle steps, isn’t this exactly the ideal state you planned for?”

”How you choose to proceed is up to you. You don’t need my permission.”

...

Under Fu Qian’s incredibly domineering declaration, Sunny and A Long were speechless once again.

Thinking about it carefully, he was actually right. Aside from failing to turn Fu Qian into a puppet, she had not only successfully used this place to hide, but even the blessing that could easily expose her had been suppressed with his help.

”Then we will impose on you.”

Sunny finally picked a spot and sat down, making her attitude clear.

”An effortless favor.”

Fu Qian waved his hand dismissively.

”Next, I suggest you think carefully about the reason why Sunny, who never enters the blessing, has appeared here, so you are prepared for questioning.”

Questioning? By whom?

Sunny clearly froze. She subconsciously glanced out the broken window before realizing something.

...

No matter how much Kelsen wanted to avoid a direct conflict with him, how could he not arrange for someone to watch the activity here?

Therefore, he would very quickly receive the news that Sunny had appeared here.

The speed of Kelsen’s arrival would be entirely inversely proportional to his harvest in the hunt.

And since it was impossible for him to catch anything, he would definitely arrive very quickly.

Ignoring the silent Sunny, and even the flash of lightning rapidly closing in outside, Fu Qian’s focus was on the investigation results A Long had just mentioned.

A Divine Entity whose honorific name had been taboo even in the Mythological Era.

Honestly, this contradicted common sense a bit.

From what he had learned before, most ancient Divine Entities had merely lost their honorific names after the Long Night. In the era of widespread faith before that, if they didn’t have a specific title, the believers wouldn’t even be able to pray, right?

Did they purely rely on visualizing the Deity’s face in their minds? Was that why such a massive seat was built?

To occasionally manifest and prevent believers from making errors while visualizing?

The logic was sound, but it was also incredibly abstract.

Fu Qian didn’t think A Long was lying, although his earlier words had indeed held something back.

For example, Fu Qian absolutely did not believe that he was entirely clueless as to how he became a Dragon King Apostle.

But such concealment also added a touch of authenticity to his claim that he did not want more people to follow in his footsteps. Otherwise, he should have eagerly shared the method to increase the probability of turning others into his own kind.

As an alternative option, since the attempt to make a puppet had failed.

Overall, just for this piece of ancient secrecy, his choice to respect the fates of others this time instead of completing the task in the most efficient way was well worth it.

”Mister Lu.”

In the midst of his satisfaction, the demigod Kelsen had already returned, standing before him once again.

And as he spoke, he was undoubtedly staring at Sunny sitting to the side.

”Off to a bad start? Let the bug slip away?”

Fu Qian gave a slight nod as a greeting, seamlessly following it up with a mocking jab.

”You couldn’t possibly be waiting to act together with me, could you? Your spirit of fair competition is truly admirable.”

”Why is Ms. Sunny here?”

Having already experienced the power of Fu Qian’s mockery, Kelsen kept a face of iron, not allowing his attention to be distracted in the slightest.

”Good question.”

Fu Qian very naturally followed his gaze.

”I would like to know that myself.”