Eldritch Horror Theatre

”So you call this being fine?”

Ariel’s astonishment sounded a bit bizarre at first, given that this puddle of flesh was barely maintaining a human shape.

If some repair work hadn’t been done in time, even communicating would probably have been an issue.

Yet Fu Qian could understand why he’d said such a thing. In his line of sight, he could clearly see that Ariel was also riddled with holes.

The Flower of Blood Blades from earlier evidently carried friendly-fire damage.

Considering that ”Ariel” had originally been in much better shape than he was, the chunk taken out of his Health Bar by that strike was significantly larger than his own.

If it weren’t for the fact that this was essentially the Solitary King descending in person to rapidly repair the damage, it was questionable whether he could have even remained seated.

As for Ariel’s question—”Why is it like this?”

Hmph, did he not understand the principle that the ignorant are not to blame?

True, having a brain with zero Transcendent Perception made many things inconvenient.But there were pros and cons. He couldn’t forget that it also brought certain immunities, such as resistance to mental influence.

The Origin Council was very likely using Yayu to lay an ambush. From the moment he saw that Proxy Bearer, Fu Qian had leaned toward this conclusion.

Thanks to his usual spirit of scientific inquiry, Fu Qian actually had some understanding of Yayu’s state.

From beginning to end, he had never seen his true body. He wasn’t even a ghost, but a conceptual creature that seemed to exist only in human cognition.

Just like back in Dunis, he had been able to appear there and cure his Divine Blood Curse only because Wehle ’believed’ he had appeared.

Eerie and profound, he acted without a single soul noticing.

But the core principle remained the same. There was a rather crucial point to all this: if that was the case, whether healing or harming, was it possible that his effects also relied on ’cognition’—that is, the mental plane?

Fu Qian had always been curious about this, and today, he finally received some verification.

The reason Ariel was hurt worse than him was simple. The core of that terrifying strike had been guided by Yayu.

And this time, Yayu was clearly ’believed’ into existence by Ariel. In contrast, Fu Qian was completely insulated from him.

This difference allowed him to turn a blind eye to Yayu’s killing move, sparing him from the brunt of the damage.

Of course, based on Yayu’s Rank alone, executing such an attack would be too much of a stretch even with time to charge up. He clearly had the Solitary King’s help.

The one playing Wehle’s role this time wasn’t just Ariel, but also the Solitary King, who was currently fused with him in a special state.

In other words, theoretically, this entire location was backing Yayu.

That was probably why he hadn’t been completely immune to the damage.

As for why it absolutely had to be Yayu making the move—since it was already equivalent to the Solitary King being here in person, why not just unleash an ultimate attack himself?

It was actually very simple. Just like feigning persuasion earlier, it was merely to make Fu Qian drop his guard.

He had to remember that due to the special nature of this place, everyone was essentially directly connected to the Solitary King.

And at this moment, he remained second only to Ariel as the person closest to the Solitary King.

Considering his consistently bizarre performance, an operation like this—which could provoke frenzied retaliation if it failed—had to be kept absolutely covert by the Origin Council.

If it were launched through the Solitary King’s identity, he might just notice it.

Under these circumstances, as long as his earlier guesses were correct and Yayu was truly present, the choice was actually quite easy.

The facts proved he was not disappointed.

The final result was ideal. It instantly confirmed multiple of his earlier speculations, and his current body was even barely holding together, saving him from exposing more of his close connection to the King of the Abandoned Prison.

”Has Yayu left?”

Without taking any retaliatory action, Fu Qian sat there quietly and asked an abrupt question.

...

”You knew he was here? Who exactly are you?”

Ariel’s immediate reaction was undoubtedly one of extreme vigilance, but he clearly realized very quickly that the brutal retaliation he expected had not arrived.

However, before he could even catch his breath, he was struck by Fu Qian’s question.

So much so that after a moment’s hesitation, ’Ariel’ seemed to realize there was no need for secrecy, finally admitting to Yayu’s presence.

And from the looks of it, Yayu’s level of mystery was probably quite high even within the Origin Council, making it hard for Ariel to believe someone had guessed his presence so instantly.

In contrast, Fu Qian wasn’t worried in the slightest that they might connect this to the incident in Dunis.

After all, theoretically speaking, Yayu helping to treat the Divine Blood Curse had never actually happened in true history; ’Old Man Lu’ had never even seen him.

”It seems Yayu has left.”

Of course, no matter who it was, answering a question with a question wasn’t very polite.

Fu Qian had no intention of revealing his identity. He simply nodded, answering his own question.

That line was purely speculation. If it happened to be true, it meant His Excellency Yayu was just as cowardly as he imagined.

Although the strike just now had failed to end things in one blow, it had still dealt damage.

If the other party were resolute enough, they absolutely could have unleashed another Blood Blade Storm.

Yet all was calm and quiet right up to this moment. Even the Solitary King ’Ariel’ hadn’t made a move, which explained the situation perfectly.

His own posture had successfully achieved intimidation.

And having lost the advantage of hiding, given the style of those people from the Origin Council, there was a high probability Yayu wouldn’t stick around.

In fact, if he was cautious enough, he would have run away immediately after unleashing that attack, without even checking the results.

Given the special nature of his existence, that shouldn’t be a difficult task for him.

He had to admit, the Origin Council’s choice of personnel for this operation was spot on.

The two people who had exposed themselves so far both possessed incredibly fitting abilities.

”You really are... quite extraordinary...”

While he silently speculated on his end, the person across from him clearly wasn’t feeling great.

Still not stating whether Fu Qian’s guess was right or wrong, Ariel lowered his head, scrutinizing the golden flames that had yet to extinguish.

Though it was praise, there was no emotion in his voice, and he didn’t even raise his head back up—

The dead silence forged of white ash, the destruction floating overhead, and even a certain Burlap Doll in the distance... all of it quietly receded at that moment.

Replacing it was another expanse of vibrant red.

It wasn’t that the red snow had started falling again. The towering building before him had a dome that was perfectly intact.

The reason his vision was filled with festive colors was that the walls and dome of this obviously religious building were now covered in blooming flowers, looking like an excessively decorated wedding hall.

He could even see the newlyweds—

At the center of the temple, a seemingly familiar female figure, standing like a Statue, was being held in the embrace of another body. However, it was the latter whose belly was swollen high.