Eldritch Horror Theatre

The probability of Jill’s group finding La Nina was infinitely close to zero.

Confirming that he faced no restrictions while in the Blood Crusade State, Fu Qian traversed this peculiar plane within the peculiar prison, heading straight downward.

If his guess was correct, the descended Pestilence Knight had inherited certain abilities and memories from An and White. Judging by its reaction to his question, it was highly likely that even Warden White had no idea who La Nina was.

That meant even if Virgo really was someone locked away here, she was probably using a different identity.

Not to mention that with those three on their last legs, it was hard to say how much ground they could actually cover.

Under these circumstances, he could casually toss out any trade condition without a single worry.

Of course, if they actually pulled it off, that didn’t mean he would renege on the deal.

Treating a temporary ailment was a minor trick. If they failed to deal with the entity behind this anomaly and the desperate situation remained unresolved, they would meet the exact same fate sooner or later.

As he moved, Fu Qian did not forget to check the scenery beyond the ice wall.

Consistent with his earlier observations, the building currently looked like a speck of dust suspended in the Icebound Sea. Aside from utter desolation, there was nothing else outside.Although the Pestilence Knight’s motives were hardly pure, what it had said earlier made sense.

It wasn’t just the Crimson Frenzy; the prison was locked in a special confinement, undergoing a transformation as a whole.

Naturally, viewed from this angle, Jill’s trio still constituted a hidden hazard.

If they believed they were at the end of their rope and tried to force a breakthrough he didn’t catch, stepping onto the wrong path, it might genuinely accelerate the arrival of the Knights of the Apocalypse.

So while it might not be particularly meaningful, the simplest way to handle them was still to finish them off directly.

However, Jill—their spiritual leader to a certain extent—had decent comprehension and had quickly put forward a genuinely valuable suggestion.

Being unable to find the hidden La Nina didn’t mean the three of them searching desperately was completely meaningless.

At the very least, there was a chance they could spread the tense atmosphere that someone was looking for her, right?

The significance was likewise not particularly huge, but it at least offset the risks they brought.

Of course, the main force behind striking the grass to startle the snake still rested on him.

Plunging rapidly to a lower layer, Fu Qian exited the Blood Crusade State. At the same time, his body abruptly expanded as he activated the Resplendent Tyrant.

An abstract totality, special confinement, and even a ritual, right?

I’ll let you experience the overbearing truth that I am the will of heaven.

Though it always ruined his clothes, the Resplendent Tyrant had always possessed quite an effective edge against abstract and unreal things.

Given that an intangible totality full of mysterious flair shrouded the area—and the glory left behind by the Pestilence Knight had proven this once more—it was simply far too suitable for causing trouble.

Not to mention that because the prisoner uniform he wore this time was overly baggy, he didn’t need to worry too much about ruining it after expanding.

Taking a step forward, Fu Qian walked barefoot across the lowest tier of this prison, wearing a gray prison uniform that had now stretched into a slim-fit style.

Choosing to transform down here was naturally not out of any fear of being seen.

For one, the team’s earlier search had progressed from top to bottom, and they hadn’t visited this final layer yet.

For another, given the mobility and state of those three, they most likely couldn’t reach this place anyway.

Following the principle of maximizing returns, even if he was just taking a stroll, it was definitely best to do it here.

As expected, the deepest depths often harbored extraordinary sights.

Quieter and gloomier. Walking through this distinct lowest layer, the sensation that nothing else existed in the depths of the world grew increasingly palpable.

Though built from the same-colored stone, exposed sections were almost entirely out of sight.

Deep and pale crystals covered everything, to the point that even the lighting system seemed to have ceased functioning beneath them.

Yet it was still far from absolute darkness. For instance, that strand of ominous fluorescence lingered, once again proving the concept of the ”totality.”

There was also the feedback caused by the Resplendent Tyrant.

His hulking physique, resembling the source of all discord, walked through the gloom at a leisurely pace.

So much so that the chill, soaked in fluorescence, remained largely undisturbed by his passing.

Yet that was merely on the surface.

The Resplendent Tyrant, its underlying code now upgraded, had truly improved by more than a little.

Within mere breaths, Fu Qian sensed the fragility of this location.

It wasn’t the outward manifestations like the cold or the fluorescence, but this place’s very ”existence” within the wider world.

It felt as if with just a tiny bit more force, the page recording it in history would be crumpled and twisted beyond recognition.

That Ms. La Nina truly felt extraordinary.

And the Pestilence Knight’s claims regarding a ritual made that feeling all the more resonant.

What was happening right before his eyes went far beyond an ordinary conflict between two factions, and it certainly couldn’t be summed up as a prison being poisoned.

Likely triggered by the very person he was searching for, something was currently underway—and it involved a remarkably high plane.

Naturally, that progress was currently encountering a minor disturbance.

The appearance of a certain rule-disrupting core seemed to have finally garnered some feedback.

At the very least, as Fu Qian walked, the feeling the entire place gave him had shifted from ”indifference” to a rather heavy sense of repulsion.

Of course, it was still far from enough.

”Let there be light!”

Showing not a shred of embarrassment as he walked, Fu Qian even snapped his fingers in a solemn declaration.

Another burst of brilliant radiance blossomed from his body.

Commandment Residue.

Ever since his recent diligent reading of the Record of True Transcription and his comprehension of the Dao of Misanthropy, the three halos had become independent of one another, allowing them to be activated simultaneously.

And since he was already the Resplendent Tyrant, adding some special effects so people wouldn’t dare meet his gaze was entirely reasonable, right?

Though it felt as if the negative emotions of certain lurking malcontents had grown even heavier—

Fu Qian halted, gazing not far ahead.

Because no prison cells had been built here, this floor was vastly more open than the others.

Yet it wasn’t entirely empty.

Right where he was looking, two symmetrical, downward-protruding domes—like the ones he had seen before—were visible.

Meanwhile, the ubiquitous translucent crystals cascaded down from above in a somewhat asymmetrical fashion all the way to the ground, looking like the curtains of an ice palace.

At a single glance, it felt as though the curtains would be gently brushed aside at any second, and someone of poised and noble grace would step out from within—and they really were moving.

The next moment, under the illumination of the Commandment Residue’s radiance, those curtains began to rapidly proliferate.

It happened with such efficiency that it genuinely looked like a gentle breeze was stirring them.

And the instant the two sides intertwined to form a circular gateway, the trace of ominous fluorescence clinging to it underwent a subtle shift, layering white over the green.

Almost at the exact same time, a swath of white that seemed to rob distance of its meaning pierced straight through the spot where Fu Qian stood.

If he had counted correctly, it should have been five times.