Eldritch Horror Theatre

I wonder if this can slightly help those old folks combat their fear of aging.

Under the might of the Tyrant, the dreamscape collapsed without the slightest room for reversal.

Back in the office, Fu Qian, having long since returned to his normal size, let out a casual sigh.

Although he wasn’t quite sure why his target required such strict habitat conditions, the dreamscape just now had undoubtedly been filled with emotions unique to the elderly.

Devoid of life’s vitality, the somber tones flowing from those nearing their twilight years intertwined to form a Sanctuary of Apoptosis.

Perhaps that was why the mysterious creature had chosen the place? Or maybe it had been birthed from within it?

Actually, come to think of it, it was more appropriate to just call it a mysterious creature now.

Fu Qian looked behind the desk.

The owner of this office was, of course, still there.

Yet upon Fu Qian’s return, the Old Man didn’t show the slightest shock at his reappearance.His eyes, which usually required thick lenses to function, had been decisively discarded.

Replacing them, right from the texture of his skin, a pair of pupil-less eyeballs squeezed open.

Of course, this didn’t mean they were purely black or red.

Threaded and tangled together, they were spherical lumps seemingly sketched out layer by layer from countless fleshy human growths.

At a glance, it easily recalled Madam Thirteen’s description of the mutation on Rick’s body; it looked like the most direct physical manifestation of a plague.

Under their gaze, Fu Qian felt the trauma he had recently suffered—the missing fundamental self that had been slowly healing—instantly halt its recovery.

And those weren’t the only things directed his way.

Protruding from both sides of the Old Man’s ribs, two massive, sharp claws made of the exact same material and with a seemingly familiar shape were also poised to strike.

Compared to the ones that had burst out of the old lady earlier, these were undoubtedly far more materialized, like a shadowy creation finally descending into reality.

What a formidable mysterious creature. Its Rank was no lower than his own current state.

Fu Qian silently offered a fair assessment.

It just seemed a bit shy.

...

”Hello there, how should I address you?”

Facing the aggressive opponent, Fu Qian waved amicably.

”You must die...”

Unfortunately, this fellow who had just experienced a violent demolition didn’t seem to be in a very good mood.

Lacking any intention to introduce itself, it simply issued a death sentence.

The only gratifying part was that it hadn’t opened a new mouth on its chest to speak. It still used the Old Man’s original vocal organs; otherwise, Fu Qian would have had to consider charging it a copyright fee.

”Fair enough.”

Faced with this claim, Fu Qian readily confessed to his crimes, completely accepting the verdict, and even made an inviting gesture.

”Be my guest.”

...

”What’s wrong?”

It was a pity that the other party seemed to prove its shyness once again.

Despite Fu Qian’s enthusiastic invitation, it merely maintained the ferocious posture it had struck at the very beginning, completely lacking the decisiveness the old lady had shown during her attack.

”Do you think that just because you destroyed that place, I would wither and die along with it?”

Even in response to Fu Qian’s curious inquiry, it paused for a moment before finally speaking, its voice growing deeper.

”Fool. For me, that was precisely throwing off my shackles... I have had enough of that utterly depraved blasphemy, so in a way, I should thank you for your help.”

”Now I have truly transformed and descended, and my way of thanking you is what I just said—”

”I heard you, and I also said I have no objections.”

Marveling at the creature’s abundant emotions, Fu Qian made sure to interrupt, reminding it that they had already covered this topic.

”You personally brought disaster into this world...”

Unfortunately, even as he made the inviting gesture once more, that pair of giant claws still didn’t move.

”I know that too. It’s fine, I’ve worked many jobs; helping deliver a baby is nothing.”

Fu Qian remained as easygoing as ever.

”Because this body has the most stable connection with the inside, I relied on it to incarnate. Once we start fighting, this guy is dead for sure.”

It was a Tier 2 being, after all. How could it act like its mind hadn’t even matured yet?

Seeing the creature refuse to attack and resort to hostage tactics instead, Fu Qian silently sighed.

”Okay.”

...

”You will kill an innocent person.”

”I know.”

”If you hadn’t chosen him, he wouldn’t have died. No matter what kind of champion of justice you are, this life will be tallied against your name.”

”My hands are stained with blood, and my seat in hell is already booked. I stopped keeping count of human lives a long time ago.”

”Then why haven’t you attacked yet?”

”Then why haven’t you attacked yet?”

”Heh... You really are just pretending. You still don’t want him to die, right?”

”What does this have to do with pretending? I never wanted to kill this old gentleman in the first place.”

Watching his target, who seemed to think it had won this hostage game, Fu Qian’s tone was gentle as he helped analyze the situation.

”What I just emphasized was merely that one more life is insignificant to me.”

”I didn’t strike first because I figured there was a possibility you might crawl out of him and fully deploy, just so your combat power wouldn’t be affected.”

”Under these circumstances, I wouldn’t trade the Old Man’s life for a better opening to kill you. Because to me, even if you bust out some ultimate perfect form, it won’t change the outcome one bit.”

”That’s why I don’t mind engaging in this little standoff with you here. But if you try to run instead of fighting, you’ll cross the line, and I’ll step in and kill you both.”

...

Showcasing the basic qualities of a charlatan, the master’s explanation was undeniably concise and profoundly enlightening. The cowering giant dragon fell into a brief silence.

After all, his calculations were excessively straightforward, taking the concept of an open scheme to its absolute limit.

And in the end, it seemed it didn’t disappoint his expectations.

A few breaths later, those utterly repulsive eyes slowly closed and eventually vanished beneath the flesh.

Simultaneously, the pair of massive claws actually grabbed onto each other and tore in opposite directions, as if trying to rip some behemoth out of the shell.

It was indeed huge.

In the blink of an eye, Fu Qian saw eyeballs of the exact same design but ten times larger, the very head that had once tried to take a bite out of him, and even wings that blotted out the sky.

And all of this was composed of overlapping, chaotic layers of human tissue.

Throughout this entire process, the cowering dragon’s conduct was actually quite commendable.

Not only did it avoid shredding its host’s clothes during the transformation, it even carefully restored every single part of the host’s body.

Watching this scene without any surprise, Fu Qian truly showed no intention of seizing the opportunity to attack.

Of course, this guy wasn’t doing this to earn impression points, but rather to utilize the Old Man’s value for the penultimate time.

Keeping the hostage perfectly intact would minimize the chances of a sneak attack while it was deploying itself.

As for why it was the penultimate time?

Facing the massive body that pierced straight through the ceiling, Fu Qian rang the Eternally Lucid Mind he had prepared long ago.

The giant claw, which had been raised and was just about to swing down at the Old Man, froze in midair the very next second.