Eldritch Horror Theatre

”No rush.”

As if anticipating the Tower Keeper’s reaction, Fu Qian casually handed over the Key and even offered a word of comfort.

See, his previous experience was validated once again: it paid to be kind to others.

Regardless of whether his outlook on life was flawed, one thing about the Tower Keeper seemed clear: he needed this job to anchor his sense of self.

This even seemed to have earned a degree of recognition from ”Storm Moore,” granting the Key in his hand a certain symbolic power.

Which could, in turn, cause some minor trouble for him.

But that wasn’t the point. As long as the man wasn’t completely checked out, the evil god’s profound principle—empathize with their desires, investigate their fears—suddenly had room to operate.

This job was clearly serious business to the Tower Keeper. Point out an oversight, and his reaction was bound to be intense.

That proved to be the case; he flew into a frenzy in a matter of seconds.

As for how Fu Qian knew there had been an oversight?He was making it up, of course.

One had to respect the facts. He wasn’t all that familiar with this place, and right now he had only found his way here by grasping onto a tiny sliver of a symbolic concept.

Even if this place truly condensed the concept of a miraculous creature’s eye, and the Domain of the Dead had indeed caught fire recently, it wasn’t enough to deduce that this was the origin of the blaze. Let alone to conclude that the arsonist was still upstairs—but that was the outcome he hoped for.

Besides, if the lie hadn’t been on that scale, it probably wouldn’t have been enough to provoke the Tower Keeper.

Therefore, his warning would and could only be exactly that.

If it had no effect, then the few minutes invested would simply be wasted, and he might have to resort to slightly more violent measures.

To his gratification, the result was undoubtedly a massive success.

It seemed the Tower Keeper not only held the Key but also had surveillance on this place, allowing him to instantly confirm that what Fu Qian said was true.

And this denial of his competence left him so deeply agitated that he didn’t even bother interrogating Fu Qian; he just moved immediately to capture the culprit.

All in all, Fu Qian figured he was about to get a pretty good guide.

No matter how cunning that ”colleague” was, and no matter whether the space behind the door shifted endlessly, the sheer domineering act of catching a suspect via surveillance was worth looking forward to.

”...Follow me. Don’t go anywhere.”

The vanguard even specifically invited him to tag along.

After taking the ring of keys back from Fu Qian, the Tower Keeper clearly hesitated for a moment at his cooperative attitude.

But he quickly made up his mind, strictly demanding that Fu Qian not leave his sight, lest he sneak into other areas while the Keeper was away from his post.

”No problem.”

How could Fu Qian possibly object? He gladly agreed on the spot.

...

What incredible stamina.

The moment Fu Qian agreed, the Tower Keeper dashed out.

His subsequent route choices were completely free of hesitation; he opened almost every door he saw, heading straight up.

With astonishing focus, he not only seemed entirely tireless, but he didn’t even spare the time to hurry the lawbreaker trailing behind him.

Fortunately, Fu Qian was highly self-aware. Though his pace was leisurely, he kept up firmly. Before long, the two were already approaching the Lighthouse on the roof.

He had to admit that, at first glance, the Tower Keeper had been telling the truth earlier; they really hadn’t seen a single person along the way.

As for whether they had turned into accident reports or wandering ghosts, that remained unknown.

But even if they were wandering ghosts, they clearly knew better than to cross the Tower Keeper.

”Cunning rat.”

At one point, just as he was taking out his keys to open the next door, the Tower Keeper abruptly halted, muttering to himself in a resentful tone.

”We need to go back down.”

Turning around and seeing Fu Qian behind him, he paused for a moment. His tone actually softened a bit as he gestured back the way they came, even taking the time to explain.

Oh? The situation was undoubtedly a bit fishy.

Turning back when the target was right in front of them—if someone were a bit more paranoid, their first concern would probably be whether the Tower Keeper had already fallen under some kind of bewitchment.

Even if he wasn’t bewitched, running around in circles hardly seemed like a good idea.

Invincible endurance aside, the Tower Keeper’s physical attributes were clearly still within normal human limits.

Even rushing non-stop, by Fu Qian’s estimation, there were only about ten minutes left before the storm stopped.

When that time came, even if they achieved their goal after all these twists and turns, it was hard to say how much room for operation would be left.

”Understood.”

Yet Fu Qian once again upheld the principle to never doubt those you employ, directly accepting this route revision.

...

This was taking ”revision” to the extreme.

Fu Qian readily accepting good advice once again shocked the Tower Keeper. After silently watching him for a moment, he quickly returned the favor, delivering a shock of his own.

His subsequent route choices could no longer be described as simply backtracking or trying another door. The level of complexity and bizarre twists almost reminded Fu Qian of his experience in Laerdin.

Back then, to initiate the mission, he had to dart back and forth across various intersections to match passwords.

Perhaps the only comforting thing was that the process went just as smoothly, still entirely lacking any cliché plot twist where a small fry jumped out halfway through.

Amidst this smooth progress, five minutes flew by in the blink of an eye.

Then something even more absurd happened. Keys in hand, the Tower Keeper stood once more before that very same door.

In other words, after all that running around in circles, they had wound up right back where they started. Fu Qian even clearly remembered that the key clutched in the Keeper’s hand was the exact same one.

However, the Tower Keeper’s movements were much firmer this time. As if afraid the rat behind the door would escape, he thrust the key into the lock with lightning speed.

Fu Qian observed the whole process, still offering no opinions and making no moves.

Click—

Along with the sound of the turning key, a beam resembling the light of a Lighthouse actually shone out.

”It really is you.”

The words were accompanied by a sigh.

”It really is you.”

Facing that familiar voice, Fu Qian copied the exact same exclamation right back.

Excellency Nepheli.

...

”Thanks for your hard work.”

The door had already been pushed open a crack, and more firelight spilled out from behind it, as if a torch were blazing fiercely inside.

Fu Qian didn’t forget to call out a greeting to the Tower Keeper before pushing the door wide and stepping inside.

Clack—

After entering, he conveniently shut it right behind him.

In that split second, however, the Tower Keeper, illuminated by the firelight, stood dumbstruck, finally looking like a true dead man.

The shock of what lay inside was still a bit too much for him.

Behind the door lay the final section of the building—a Spire with no practical use. Right now, it had even lost the conditions for human habitation.

Just as described earlier, the whole thing had transformed into a blazing torch in the dark, unfazed by the raging storm outside.

As for the source of the flames?

With a light leap, Fu Qian landed on the topmost platform.

”Welcome.”

A figure sat nearby with their back to him, gazing out into the endless darkness, raging flames spreading from their body.