Eldritch Horror Theatre

Not bad. The demigods in Unseen Hill were as rampant as ever.

Watching the scene suddenly turn fierce, Fu Qian offered silent praise while remaining firmly in his seat.

Though as invisible and formless as the previous blade, the strike plunging from the sky was undeniably much stronger than the clown’s GG Card Slash.

Whether this newcomer was some superhero remained to be seen, but he was undoubtedly a demigod.

The response from his Vision Radar confirmed it. Compared to the demigods outside, there was no noticeable difference.

Yet, his sheer authenticity only deepened an existing mystery: why were there so many High-Tier Transcendents in Unseen Hill? The answer remained as elusive as ever.

Were they all the real deal, just unable to leave?

Now that made things increasingly interesting.

Not to mention, the vibe of many people here seemed out of sync with the outside world. For example—

He felt a twinge of guilt. Even as the newcomer displayed his awe-inspiring might, Fu Qian’s thoughts naturally drifted elsewhere—to the Mirror Knight, Ballard, someone he had once happily chatted with.Grimm Ballard.

What a pity. That ally of justice had truly faded into destiny.

Roar—

A bizarre, thunderous roar abruptly shattered Fu Qian’s fond reminiscence.

Its earlier struggles had been entirely silent, making him wonder if the Carriage Devourer lacked vocal organs.

Now, it seemed the previous attacks simply hadn’t hit hard enough.

From Fu Qian’s angle, he could clearly see that even though the entity had melted into a unified lump, the heavy strike from above still punched straight through both the sunroof and the chassis, making the carriage far breezier than a convertible.

The torn edges splattered and stretched like molten metal, yet writhed as though raw nerves were twitching inside, giving its thrashing the grisly feel of a fresh slaughter.

”Go on and enjoy the unknown!”

Clearly, someone was not a fan of such fresh vitality. The Long-Haired Demigod showed no intention of letting it off.

Accompanying his thoroughly chuuni declaration, he raised one hand high into the air.

...

Honestly, given the setting and the pose, paired with a line like that... it was inexplicably badass.

The Long-Haired Demigod’s hand was still empty, but Fu Qian didn’t think he was making an empty show of strength.

In fact, the man’s posture looked somewhat familiar.

Back when he smashed the Marr Brothers with the Serpent-Pattern Great Hammer, he had struck the exact same arrogant pose.

Fu Qian could also deeply empathize with the meaning behind that declaration.

Enjoy the unknown... The wills in Unseen Hill would not die. No matter how brutally they were beaten, they would simply return through samsara time and time again.

But just as his old friends had mentioned, the process and timing of that return were completely unpredictable.

Even undying ashes would surely feel some fear toward such an unknown.

The Carriage Devourer, for example, was still struggling rather than sitting still and awaiting its doom.

A puddle of black mud was rapidly expanding beneath the Long-Haired Demigod’s feet, making him look uncannily like Peppa Pig.

Tendrils of sludge were already rapidly creeping up his legs, just as they had engulfed the carriage wheels earlier.

Unfortunately, this exact sight—which had previously created an overwhelming atmosphere of terror—now just reeked of a victim’s sheer helplessness.

The hand propping up the void seemed to be toying with a highly volatile Spirit Bomb.

Boom—

The Long-Haired Demigod avoided the common pitfall of endlessly charging up his attack. Without uttering a second word, he simply brought his hammer crashing down.

And this time, Fu Qian genuinely saw a hammer.

It was formless and invisible, but it left a trace.

As the Long-Haired Demigod swung down, Fu Qian watched the lump of black sludge get hit as though by a Dual-Vector Foil, brutally crushed by a massive force as it rapidly collapsed.

...

Eradicate evil completely.

Both his words and his actions reflected that resolve with absolute conviction.

The Long-Haired Demigod’s professionalism was truly moving—if only he had bothered to distinguish between the hostage and the Thug.

Indeed. In that moment, Fu Qian felt the value of his ally of justice, Ballard, rising even higher. This newly debuted superhero had clearly failed to factor in the victim inside the carriage while charging his attack.

That strike, carrying an intent of endless annihilation, was dropping right onto Fu Qian’s head.

Of course, the upside to such ruthlessness was leaving the target no chance of survival—no opportunity to parasitize a host and stage a grand comeback later. But the downside...

At that exact moment, the indescribably mangled black sludge devourer silently halted its process of two-dimensionalization.

The reason for this was both simple and utterly absurd: an extended index finger was pressing right up against the bottom of the formless execution hammer.

For the first time since the ordeal began, the victim inside the Phantom Carriage had stood up and raised his right hand.

And with that single, simple gesture, it was as if he were holding up the falling stars.

Crack—

That wasn’t even the end of it. The middle finger on that same hand curled slightly before snapping outward in a casual flick.

What followed was a thunderous roar, like a glacier shattering into pieces.

...

”I knew there was something wrong with you...”

Considering how undeniably cool the pose was, Fu Qian decided to hold it for an extra moment rather than lowering his arm in a hurry.

This extended pause undoubtedly made his intentional interference even more glaring.

So much so that the Long-Haired Demigod—who had been fully prepared to crush him into paste a second ago—immediately delivered his righteous judgment.

”It’s not just because of your weird mask... Even the most deranged lunatic wouldn’t just sit there completely motionless at a time like this.”

His words actually made his previous actions seem perfectly reasonable.

It hadn’t been friendly fire at all. Had he been aiming for a double-kill on evil from the very beginning?

”Really?”

Fu Qian, however, seemed to disagree.

Shaking his head as he shot back the question, the figure of another old acquaintance surfaced in his mind.

Sporting multicolored hair and a white-painted face drawn into an eternal smile, it was none other than the clown he had been anticipating earlier.

”I happen to know someone who might just sit back and try to experience the sensation in a situation like this.”

Having shared a profound bond with that man, Fu Qian put himself in the clown’s shoes and felt extremely confident in his assessment.

”You seem quite familiar with this place...”

His words clearly struck a chord. Rather than arguing, the Long-Haired Demigod simply looked Fu Qian up and down, his mind visibly racing to guess his identity.

”To be completely honest, I came here specifically to get even more familiar with it.”

Fu Qian sighed softly, expressing his steadfast determination to seek knowledge.

”Thanks to the flattery of my friends in the jianghu, this seat was gifted the hollow title of Dayun Mingwang. May I ask how I should address you?”

He wasn’t just paying lip service, either. A moment later, he set out to prove it by probing the other party’s background.

Dayun Mingwang...

It was obvious that even in a place like this, a title like Dayun Mingwang was still a bit too outrageous.

The Long-Haired Demigod didn’t utter a word, but Fu Qian could clearly read the sheer bewilderment in his silence.

Crack—

At the same time, Fu Qian casually flicked his fingers, shattering another Formless Blade right in front of his chest.

”Think carefully. Don’t get distracted.”