Eldritch Horror Theatre

It wasn’t just a simple matter of taking a wrong turn; she had stumbled into the wrong line of work entirely.

Though small in stature, her presence was formidable.

Fu Qian naturally had a deep impression of this Fallen Star tycoon. After all, during their last encounter, this entity had been the only one to think of setting a trap for him.

So much so that a single glance was all it took to fully understand Madam Xia’s predicament.

They couldn’t have entered more than a few seconds apart. Yet, upon crossing paths again, she had already clocked in for a new job, looking completely assimilated into her current environment.

As for the reason, Fu Qian didn’t think it was necessarily a gap in Rank, but rather their method of arrival.

Xia had encountered a mishap during her Descent, but that didn’t mean the Descent itself had been interrupted.

Was it possible that she had completed the final step of Descent onto the person originally carrying that stone stele?

As for why she was obediently bearing such a heavy burden instead of just throwing in the towel?

The answer was simple. The figure walking ahead of her wasn’t just massive; even on the Transcendent Tier, his domineering aura was impossible to conceal.Under the scan of his Vision Radar, the entity’s strength was clearly at the High Tier.

Furthermore, a heavy iron chain linked the two of them together.

Unable to determine whether the entity was friend or foe, Madam Xia couldn’t just quit. She had no choice but to solemnly tag along, not daring to fall behind.

Fortunately, she was a transcendent after all. Though her previous performance hadn’t showcased exceptional physical strength, she could still handle this amount of weight.

Additionally, Xia’s cautious response was clearly the right call. Her new ”coworker” up ahead was decidedly unfriendly—

Heh...

At a certain moment, the duo—their shared chain clanking loudly—came to a halt. The burly figure leading the way slowly turned around.

That was right. Having accurately pinpointed Xia’s location and tracked her all the way here, the Witch hadn’t even bothered to conceal her presence this time.

...

Refreshing. This is the true imposing manner of my Dark Moon Cult.

Such an unapologetic approach perfectly embodied a tyrannical, domineering arrogance.

And Fu Qian still had absolutely no objections to how the Witch handled things.

She had only suppressed her power to her current Rank for the sake of mobility; she was far from being a hobbyist who enjoyed traveling incognito.

Her earlier concealment outside the tavern hadn’t been out of a fear of causing trouble, but simply to avoid affecting everyone’s state of mind.

Now, however, there was obviously no need to worry about that. The giant who had just turned around didn’t seem to possess a state of mind to speak of.

He didn’t have the deformed appearance one might typically expect. On the contrary, the giant possessed a rather dignified and imposing face.

Paired with his massive, inhuman physique, he truly took the concept of a domineering aura to its absolute limit.

So much so that at a glance, the nature of his labor faintly shifted from that of an imprisoned slave to a king bearing the hardships of all living beings.

His original path had been quite clear: he was heading through a somewhat rough-hewn wall into the corner of another space behind it, where a circular passage continued upward.

His job seemed to be moving his stone stele to higher ground.

And right now, this king clearly despised having his work interrupted.

Roar—

Even though his eyeballs didn’t seem to move, he had obviously locked onto the two people who had suddenly appeared.

Consequently, in the next second, the sound rumbling in his throat shifted from a phlegmy gurgle into a sorrowful howl.

The sheer volume was so immense that dust began drifting down in a rustling shower.

Boom!

It clearly wasn’t just to scare them. While his roar was still echoing, the massive body leaped into the air. Swinging his hands out from behind his back, he hoisted the Giant Stone Tablet high and smashed it down mercilessly.

Sure enough, no matter where you go, a good old brick is always a divine weapon.

With Mount Tai crushing down from above amid violent winds, even Fu Qian deeply admired the seamless fluidity of this sudden shift into attack mode.

Unfortunately, not everyone was in the mood to appreciate it. The attacker still had an iron chain wrapped around him, after all.

Noticing the situation at almost the exact same time as the giant, Madam Xia undoubtedly failed to recognize this face. Having only ever seen Fu Qian in his Herbert form, she had never seen his original Skin.

Before she could even decide whether to be relieved or worried, she was forcefully yanked forward along with him.

Given that Fu Qian and the Witch were standing quite close to each other, the giant didn’t even need to pick a primary target. The massive tombstone of a stele simply engulfed them both in its shadow.

”Insolent rats!”

Unfortunately, that shadow only eclipsed them for a moment. Clad in his Armor beside the Witch, Fu Qian truly embodied a Templar Knight in that instant. He simply took a step forward and casually thrust out a palm.

Boom!

Accompanied by his booming, resonant shout, the stone stele shattered into a sky full of fragments, raining down in a torrential shower.

Moreover, he didn’t just casually obliterate the weapon. Guided by his terrifying control, the flying gravel completely bypassed the Witch behind him. Not a single pebble touched her, even though her hat took up quite a large surface area.

...

”You are...”

By comparison, Madam Xia was left looking more than a little bedraggled.

Although the area was spacious, the massive stone stele had been pulverized into pieces no larger than a fist. The blast radius was simply too wide, and she was further restricted by the iron chain.

For a brief moment, despite her desperate efforts to dodge, her entire body still stung from the pelting rocks.

Of course, all of that physical pain was overshadowed by the shock in her heart.

She couldn’t help it; the presence of these two sudden arrivals was simply too overwhelming.

Despite wearing Armor so exquisitely crafted that it seemed impractical, paired with a similarly refined and youthful face, he erupted with a Slay Any God in the Way aura, looking as though he would slaughter every encroaching enemy for the person he protected behind him.

As for the one standing behind him... It was said that humans possessed an instinctive urge to destroy things that were excessively beautiful.

Xia didn’t know if that saying was true, but the very instant she laid eyes on her, she clearly felt her instincts screaming at her to look away.

Unfortunately, it was completely ineffective. On the contrary, as she stared straight ahead, the urge to fall to her knees and worship grew stronger by the second.

Even now, despite knowing she shouldn’t act recklessly, she still felt an uncontrollable trace of disgust toward the Knight who had stepped forward and obscured a small portion of that face.

How could two people like this appear in a place like this—

Before she could marvel any further, Xia suddenly felt the weight on her body lighten.

The stone stele she had originally been carrying on her back was suddenly snatched away.

The giant didn’t fall. To be precise, he hadn’t actually taken any damage just now; he had merely frozen in a daze because his weapon had been instantly destroyed.

Clearly lacking any aesthetic appreciation, the giant’s immediate choice upon snapping back to reality was to grab a new weapon.

Boom—

But this time, he didn’t even get the chance to tug his coworker along.

The moment the new stone stele was gripped in his hands, before he could even swing it, it shattered into sand as though ravaged by endless eons.

The same went for the giant himself.

His skin, his bones, and even his dignified face lost all function in a flash, peeling and sloughing off in clumps.

Within his disintegrating eye sockets, wisps of golden light could be seen rising.

It looked like fire, yet it was as sharp as a blade of light.

”Hello there, Xia.”

As she stood paralyzed by the sight, the Knight finally spoke.