Eldritch Horror Theatre

Even the Dark Moon’s actions during the Long Night seemed rather proactive.

It had joined forces to besiege the Tyrant, turning the Abandoned Prison into a sea of fire.

Meanwhile, aside from the Mournful God, whose fate remained uncertain, the other two participants clearly hadn’t met a good end.

Fu Qian naturally remembered his recent experiences clearly.

His initial judgment remained completely unchanged—the Dark Moon had definitely not been a mere bystander in that operation.

On one hand, the claim that Annalise hadn’t lived to see the Long Night confirmed the Dark Moon and the Blood Clan Progenitor were not the same entity.

On the other hand, the Witch had actually been able to sense the Dark Moon when it manifested. That was clear evidence their powers shared the same origin.

Could it simply have been the Witch’s ”Mother”?

Based on the timeline he had pieced together, there were no contradictions so far.

A minor piece of supporting evidence was that a certain Core of Law had once been taken from this place to the Witch’s world.While forming a special Starry Sky Barrier, it also clearly shared a deep connection with the Dark Moon’s power...

Given those timeline details, could he boldly assume that the fall of Blood Clan Progenitor Annalise was related to the Dark Moon?

Annalise hadn’t lived to see the Long Night, but had the Dark Moon—which inherited part of her symbolism while possessing a slightly different type of power—taken up her legacy?

Granted, what the Dark Moon did during the Long Night might not have been Annalise’s original intention.

And after stirring up all that trouble, unlike most of the other tragic Deities, it had actually managed to escape that Long Night unharmed.

Had it even differed from the Blazing Rainbow by fleeing straight to another world?

If this conspiracy theory held true, it was a massive one.

...

As expected of a symbol of traditional power, it felt incredibly complex, weaving its way through all of history.

Though if that were true, a certain claim the Witch had once made was open to question—

She had mentioned that the Painting World was painted using her ”Mother’s” blood right when the apocalypse descended and the world was destroyed.

Except in her story, her Mother hadn’t participated voluntarily; she had been hunted down and used as a sacrifice.

Assuming that Mother truly was the Dark Moon and the barrier resisting the apocalypse had been built single-handedly by it, who could possibly have hunted her down to use as material, even if the attempt failed?

Even if the apocalyptic destroyers could have pulled it off, it was hard to explain why they would be so kind.

The possibility of the ”Dark Moon” casually shedding some of its own blood to create a shelter for fragile humans was actually much more likely.

The only silver lining was that the Witch had clearly been born much later, making her information more akin to legend. Its credibility was already up for debate.

Therefore, his previous theories regarding the Dark Moon still had a high chance of being true.

Even a previously puzzling question seemed to find its answer in this logic—why had someone with the Pope’s immense power been automatically sucked into the Other Shore of the Stars to serve as the barrier’s power source without the slightest ability to resist?

Because that was a self-targeting Law personally laid down by the Dark Moon.

It also answered the doubts he had harbored at the time—it had seemed highly illogical to use the Witch as a power source while simultaneously placing such an inescapable binding force upon her.

However, this also made the Dark Moon’s image feel a bit more ambiguous.

Its actions in the Bookstore World had been morally ambiguous at best, but after fleeing to that other world, it had played the perfect role of a savior.

Furthermore, what was its true origin? How could it possess such vast and incredible power...

But regardless, following this line of thought, the Dark Moon had left this world after finishing its business during the Long Night.

Then, for uncertain reasons, a certain higher entity who might have originally had nothing to do with the moon took its place, becoming the new moon—the Red Moon.

Having inherited the very concept of the moon, even though Fu Qian’s actions in the Full Moon Garden had been directed at the White Moon, he had still established a certain connection with it. This connection was strong enough that it eventually shared the Thug with him.

It had even sensed him the first time he synchronized to the Bookstore World, actively seeking out its ”child.”

...

Could this be considered the legendary Chronicles of the Moon, a counterpart to traditional chronological annals?

Using the evolution of the moon as a coordinate system was certainly an interesting perspective for understanding the world.

”So, regarding this special celestial phenomenon, do Mister Fang and Chief Yuan have any theories... and would it be convenient to share?”

While Fu Qian mentally organized the information he had gathered over the past few days, Serana finally couldn’t hold back any longer and stated her purpose directly.

It was obvious she didn’t buy the idea that they were completely in the dark.

In fact, Fu Qian perfectly understood the logic behind why she had come straight to him.

For one, this wasn’t the first time this had happened. It was impossible for either the Night Watchers or someone like himself—who had a close personal relationship with Yuan Shan—to have ignored it.

Secondly, the previous two occurrences had happened very close to Ambor’s fall. Given how cleanly and efficiently that sudden incident had been handled, and the fact that he had even discussed the Blood Clan Progenitor with her in the aftermath...

She likely suspected that the Night Watchers, and Fu Qian himself, were the ones orchestrating things behind the scenes.

”We do. Do you remember that Emblem you showed us before?”

Excellency Serana had always been cooperative, so Fu Qian wasn’t going to be stingy with his information. He nodded immediately and traced a shape in the air with his finger.

”Dominator of Death...”

Facts proved that it had left a very deep impression on her. She muttered the title softly.

...

”So it’s even related to Taylor’s encounter?”

She clearly hadn’t considered pinning all these different events on a single mastermind. After a brief moment of shock, Serana voiced her confusion.

”I can only say it’s a possibility.”

Fu Qian’s reply was conservative.

”But I can’t see the connection. Was it not just that cult eating Carrion? Does the Dominator of Death have some scheme against the Blood Clan too?”

Serana’s brow furrowed even tighter.

”Why be so rigid? Theoretically, it’s entirely possible that this entity has simply been entrenched in Shangjing for a long time, and Taylor just got unlucky and bumped into it.”

Fu Qian gestured for her to look on the bright side and not be so pessimistic.

”But the moon is indeed the Progenitor’s symbol—”

”But we also just established that the Dark Moon has never paid any attention to you all.”

”That does make some sense...”

Professor Fu’s guidance always yielded immediate results. After a brief silence, Serana quickly expressed her enlightenment.

”But if I may be so bold as to ask, how does Mister Fang recognize this Emblem? And what about the origin of this honorific name?”

However, she wasn’t a naive pure-blood like Brother Taylor. After a brief pause, Serana stared at Fu Qian’s face and pushed her curiosity a step further.

”Simple. We can be considered old acquaintances. This Emblem—”

Fu Qian once again traced the symbol of his power.

”Left an incredibly deep impression on me.”