Eldritch Horror Theatre

Not only was his opponent kiting him from a distance, but his own movements were also restricted?

Watching A Fei being forced step by step toward the researcher, Fu Qian deeply empathized with his plight—and continued to watch from the sidelines.

As noted earlier, Gravity Breath seemed like an abstract ability, but in this exact moment, it was incredibly lethal.

He was already at a severe disadvantage and struggling to catch his target. Now, he was completely tied down by its pet. No matter how you looked at it, his only remaining option was a one-sided beating. He was doomed; he might as well just wait for death.

One of his few saving graces was that the silver dot-lines inside the laboratory seemed different from those outside; they couldn’t generate those arcs of death.

The other was that the ranged sneak attacks apparently needed a moment to charge, preventing a continuous barrage.

Of course, this could also just be the attacker’s sick sense of humor, deliberately fraying the hunter’s nerves.

Hehehe...

After all, judging by the laughter still drifting in from outside, the Burlap Doll sounded perfectly relaxed and cheerful.

In contrast, A Fei barely maintained his balance. He stared unblinkingly in the direction of the laughter, gripping his knife so tightly he was practically leaving dents in the hilt.Logically, he should have dealt with his restraints first, but he knew full well that if he tried, another sneak attack would likely arrive at the exact same moment—and it already had.

Clang—

His vigilance paid off. Another Stardust Spear pierced the shadows, only to be parried by A Fei’s blade.

But that exact movement instantly shattered the balance he had fought so hard to maintain, dragging him directly in front of the humanoid puppet.

Clang!

The next moment was even more despairing. A Fei’s follow-up slash tore through the suspended debris, only to slam into what felt like invisible steel.

Gravity Breath didn’t just pull; it seemed to form a strange turbulence in front of it, firmly protecting its source within.

It wasn’t necessarily indestructible. After all, the Calamity Blessing on his blade hadn’t depleted yet.

In fact, that slash had sent violent ripples through the invisible pulling force, though it stubbornly held together in the end.

But if he truly gave it his all to break through, guarding his own back at the same time would be practically impossible—

For a moment, A Fei’s body curled inward. He even hugged his knife to his chest, as if trying to keep himself from collapsing under the weight of despair.

Yet it was only for an instant. The Serrated Blade snapped back out in an incredibly decisive arc, aimed dead at the invisible shield.

Not only did he ignore his back, but in that moment, his gaze was locked entirely on his blade, as if its sharpness was the only thing in the world he cared about.

Crash—

It was indeed sharp, but it lacked a little in toughness.

Shards burst outward. A chunk of the Serrated Blade had shattered completely.

At the same time, however, the shield finally proved it wasn’t indestructible. It was torn apart by the broken blade—and so was the flesh and blood hiding behind it.

Squelch!

And even a body of burlap.

Behind the researcher who had just been cleaved in two, a small burlap head had also been partially sliced off, sent flying away along with an arm.

...

Clearly, the giggling doll couldn’t giggle anymore.

A Fei’s slash hadn’t been incredibly precise, but coupled with the Calamity Blessing attached to it, it was enough to thoroughly snuff out the thing’s life force.

Looking no different from a real rag doll in that moment, it flopped to the ground.

The same went for the researcher’s corpse, its life completely extinguished by that single strike.

Along with them, the Gravity Breath instantly ceased, and all the suspended debris crashed to the floor.

A Fei’s desperate, all-or-nothing slash genuinely seemed to have pulled him back from the brink, utterly destroying every obstacle in his path.

Urgh—

But he wasn’t faring too well himself. The aforementioned threat to his back hadn’t spared him.

At almost the exact same time, the spear had struck his back, unleashing terrifying destructive power.

Not only did it pierce his flesh, but it also left behind specks of eerie light that spread outward like a curse. His condition did not look optimistic at all.

But none of that mattered. The Burlap Doll hadn’t been outside; it had just been hiding behind the puppet?

Then what was that laughter outside just now... and those consecutive attacks?

The result of A Fei’s slash had undoubtedly exposed some shocking truths, but what followed was utter chaos—or actually, no chaos at all.

Do not forget the detail A Fei had pointed out before they even came upstairs: the children’s laughter came from ”many” sources.

So, if one thought a bit more flexibly, why did there have to be only one doll?

Truly engineering a situation of utter despair usually required an absurd amount of resources—like the crushing disparity in Combat Power between a Demigod and a Mid Tier.

The situation earlier might have looked similar. The discovered doll could run and jump, seemingly flawless, leaving the hunter, A Fei, with nothing to do but wait for death.

But in reality, as long as two dolls coordinated from the inside and outside, it wasn’t hard at all to manufacture such a scene.

It might not fool Fu Qian’s eyes, but it was more than enough for a fighter of A Fei’s caliber.

Unfortunately for his enemies, while A Fei genuinely couldn’t tell the difference, he hadn’t forgotten his earlier observation about the numbers. Lacking any concrete evidence to make a judgment, he stubbornly forced himself to bank on his only possible path to victory: there had to be two of them.

Supported by this conviction, he didn’t just unleash a do-or-die slash; his acting leading up to it had been flawless, maximizing his opponent’s complacency.

One could only say he seemed to possess some sort of bloodthirsty talent. He was truly an excellent fighter—Clang!

Furthermore, even after taking a heavy hit, his momentum hadn’t stopped. Rather than following up to confirm the kill, A Fei had already spun around in that very moment, moving as one with his blade to charge straight out the door.

Unfortunately, a trick like that only worked once. The one outside was clearly prepared.

With a loud bang, something was hurled right at his face, halting his killing spree in its tracks.

...

It looked a bit like an oversized flask.

Fu Qian could see it clearly. The object that had stopped A Fei in his tracks—incidentally smashing down a wall in the process—was a metal sphere with multiple openings.

It obviously belonged to the research institute, plucked from a nearby pile of debris.

And standing beside that wreckage right now was another figure dressed as a researcher. His build was far bulkier than the dead one’s, and he was the one who had just picked up the object and thrown it.

As for the source of the laughter—

Hehehe!

Almost immediately, the laughter appropriately rang out again. True enough, an identical Burlap Doll popped its head out from behind the burly researcher and climbed all the way to the top of his head.

...

Honestly, if it was going to sit like that, he really should have popularized his own style of hat.

Just as Fu Qian was wondering how the doll managed to sit steadily, its arms stretched forcefully to the sides, and it actually stood right up.

It looked exactly as if it were holding numerous reins, each one tied to the mount beneath its feet.