Eldritch Horror Theatre

”I encountered him in an ordinary family’s home. Mr. Herbert had been invited there as a wandering physician.”

Suddenly singled out, Jacques instantly became the center of attention. He paused for a moment, glanced at Fu Qian, then nodded and spoke.

”I sensed something was off and wanted to bring him back to investigate, but not only did he break free from his restraints—even the Law suffered corruption.”

”Impossible!”

That claim undoubtedly sparked a fierce uproar.

The members of the Blood Clan, who had previously been nursing their own private thoughts, immediately denounced the notion as absurd.

To them, the corruption of the Law was clearly on a completely different level from Safar’s death moments ago.

”No matter how powerful the pollution might be, it cannot possibly affect the purity of the Law!” A vampire who looked only slightly younger than Safar was the first to voice his denial.

Of course, even with that objection, his acknowledgment of Fu Qian’s strength was obvious.

There was a reason Madam No. 2’s call to action had drawn so little support.”I thought the same as you at the time,” Madam No. 2 said with a cold sneer, gesturing for Jacques to continue. ”I assumed it was just an excuse he had fabricated after suffering a loss at the hands of a madman.”

”He even shattered the Blood Clan Boon I shared,” Jacques said. Remaining expressionless, he didn’t bother arguing against her remark, dropping another explosive piece of information instead.

”You actually shared the boon with someone else?!” someone immediately roared, as if he had committed treason.

”Yes, it’s a long story. But don’t worry—the boon has already been shattered.” Jacques seemed to have done plenty of mental preparation over the past few days; faced with their questioning, he didn’t even blink. He even replied with a touch of sarcasm, reminding them to focus on the main point.

”I encountered him in an ordinary family’s home,” Jacques said. ”Mr. Herbert had been invited there to treat a patient as a wandering physician.”

Having suddenly been put on the spot, Jacques instantly became the center of attention. He paused for a moment, glanced at Fu Qian, and nodded.

”I sensed something was off and wanted to bring him back to confirm the problem. But not only did he break free from his restraints, even the Law suffered corruption.”

”Impossible!”

This claim undoubtedly provoked a fierce reaction.

The members of the Blood Clan, who had previously been harboring their own private thoughts, immediately called the notion absurd.

To them, the corruption of the Law was clearly on a completely different level than Safar’s death moments ago.

”No matter how powerful the pollution, it couldn’t possibly affect the purity of the Law!” A vampire who looked only slightly younger than Safar was the first to voice his denial.

Of course, despite the denial, his words carried a clear acknowledgment of Fu Qian’s strength.

There was a reason Madam No. 2’s call to action had drawn so little support.

”I thought the same as you at the time,” Madam No. 2 said with a cold sneer, gesturing for Jacques to continue. ”I thought it was just an excuse he fabricated after suffering a loss to a madman.”

”He even shattered the Blood Clan Boon I shared.” Remaining expressionless, Jacques didn’t bother arguing against her remark, instead dropping another explosive piece of information.

”You actually shared the boon with someone else?!” someone immediately roared, as if Jacques had committed some heinous crime.

”Yes. It’s a long story, but don’t worry—the boon has already been shattered.” Jacques seemed to have done plenty of mental preparation over the last few days. Faced with their interrogation, he didn’t even blink, replying with a touch of sarcasm to remind them to focus on the main point.

”If you still don’t believe me, The Order should have a specific incident report on it.”

At those words, his interrogator fell silent.

While his previous claim could be dismissed as an exaggeration, fabricating a story about sharing a boon made absolutely no logical sense.

To risk such severe condemnation by confessing to something that theoretically would never have been discovered otherwise—his motives could no longer be explained away so simply.

”Oh? How was it shattered?” It seemed even Barrie was hearing this for the first time, and she made no attempt to hide her surprise.

However, she didn’t seem to care much about Jacques’s act of sharing it.

Jacques clearly treated her inquiry with much more caution. ”You might have to ask Mr. Herbert himself. The only thing I can confirm is that he remained in the exact state he was in just before entering here the entire time.”

”In fact, as we just saw, that state carries a kind of special distorting effect.”

”Of course. Otherwise, why would Safar have opened the door and invited him in?” Barrie smiled, taking a bit of gloating pleasure in his misfortune. ”He always refused to share a room with inferior breeds. Those two sentences of welcome just now probably used up a whole year’s worth of his grace. So, Mr. Herbert...”

She turned toward Fu Qian. ”Did you really use that to clear away the Blood Clan’s boon?”

”It seems I haven’t missed too much.” Having listened quietly the entire time, Fu Qian was fairly certain this group had also only recently arrived. They hadn’t even discussed the most critical issues yet.

Meeting their myriad gazes—some fierce, some apprehensive—he nodded.

”I did.”

”Hahaha...” Madam No. 2’s boisterous laughter instantly rang out.

...

”Do you even know what you’re saying?” Even Barrie’s expression turned ice-cold in an instant.

Madam No. 2 had her reasons for dragging Jacques out to testify. The nature of certain things was an absolute taboo for the Blood Clan.

”Incarnating as a core of distortion, especially targeting unstable entities.” As the party in question, Fu Qian didn’t even blink before throwing more fuel on the fire.

Unstable entities...

This phrasing undoubtedly succeeded in provoking every vampire present.

With the Child of Destiny serving as the core spiritual totem of the Blood Clan, the emphasis was naturally on ”Destiny”—that is, the unquestionable correctness of the Stars.

Yet it was now being defined as an unstable entity...

If this wasn’t blasphemy, what was?!

The air seemed to freeze. Numerous blood-red patterns began to spread and stretch across almost every limb in the room.

With a single glance, Fu Qian spotted no fewer than three manifestations of the Spear of Fatal Death.

Is this the legendary 360-degree, three-dimensional rage?

For a moment, even he silently praised the sight, tossing aside the heart in his hand.

Barrie’s judgment had been accurate. Under the Visceral Attack, elder Safar had been completely annihilated. What Fu Qian was holding was nothing more than a lump of meat.

However, even with all this hostility focused on him, he showed no signs of launching a preemptive strike. He merely shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, radiating a ”please, be my guest” attitude.

Yet even those Spears of Fatal Death hesitated to strike.

After about ten seconds, the multitude of murderous gazes finally wavered. Eyes darted sideways, exchanging uncertain looks, and successfully found mutual resonance in their hesitation.

”Attack him! What are you waiting for?!” Madam No. 2’s furious voice rang out.

”They’re probably waiting for you to take the lead.” Sensing the agonizingly awkward silence filling the room, Fu Qian took the initiative to speak up, explaining on everyone else’s behalf.

”After all, according to Barrie’s assessment, there’s a very high probability that I’ll selectively wipe out a few of you.”

”A bunch of cowards!”

It was obvious that Fu Qian’s explanation had hit the nail on the head. Not only did no one refute him, but even Madam No. 2 could only gnash her teeth in anger.

”So, are you going to take the lead or not? Don’t waste everyone’s time, we still have the next item on the agenda.” Fu Qian gave a slight nod, acknowledging her critique of their cowardice, before urging her along like an extra eager to wrap up filming.

This act of pouring TNT on the fire naturally provoked a severe reaction.

Madam No. 2 was also one of those wielding a Spear of Fatal Death. The sinister weapon intertwined in her grasp grew increasingly ferocious, looking as if it might slip from her hands and strike at any second.

Yet, in the end, it never did.

...

Personal growth truly is a painful process. Watching this play out without the slightest surprise, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

The reason this group was acting this way was quite simple—the one-hit kill he had just demonstrated was far too terrifying a deterrent.

The strongest among them had made full preparations, yet hadn’t been given even the slightest chance of resurrection.

Combined, these factors undeniably proved Barrie’s assessment correct.

Therefore, if they tried to gang up on him, the most likely outcome was that he would randomly select a few of them and permanently delete them—with absolutely no chance of recovery.

Under such circumstances, their faith was undoubtedly being put to the ultimate test.

But as everyone knew, faith in the Child of Destiny generally couldn’t withstand much testing.

”Then let’s move on to the next item on the agenda.”

Having successfully helped a proud race realize they weren’t actually all that proud, Fu Qian shook his head and turned his gaze to Jacques.

”That special medical case from before—have you found the cause yet?”