Eldritch Horror Theatre

The force pierced right through the back of his hand.

To make the assessment more direct, Fu Qian had even slightly lowered the density of his own flesh.

The result was that the Rapier, like an awl, stabbed straight out through the back of his hand.

It had to be said, this was quite gratifying.

Although A Fei’s perception had seemingly been twisted earlier, causing him to treat Fu Qian as an enemy, his sword heart remained untarnished in the end.

After this bit of tempering, he had completely grasped the essence of this second weapon. Achieving the unity of man and sword was just around the corner.

Ding—

Only after concluding his mental appraisal did Fu Qian’s finger finally flick a second time, accurately striking the tip of the blade.

The sharp blade was knocked away on impact. The force caused A Fei to stagger back a few steps and nearly lose his footing.

This wasn’t because his stance was unstable from neglecting his leg training. For one, having picked up the Rapier, A Fei looked absolutely unwilling to let it go again.For another, the force behind Fu Qian’s second flick was simply a bit heavier.

During the previous clash, A Fei had been able to exploit the Rapier’s traits, turning the rebound force to his advantage to deliver a strike beyond his limits.

This time, however, he could barely even maintain his grip, leaving him momentarily unable to follow up with another attack.

”Who exactly are you?”

That elegant flick had the grace of someone plucking a flower, and afterward, there wasn’t the slightest intent to pursue. It was a display of boundless, relaxed ease.

Faced with such a display, A Fei’s sword heart might not have collapsed, but the Sun Apostle seemingly couldn’t stand it anymore. With a single sentence, they completely drained away whatever imposing aura they had managed to build up.

”Like I said, a researcher.”

Being a mastermind behind the scenes didn’t mean one had to stay silent; acting like that would only seem forced.

Adopting a rather approachable posture, Fu Qian repeated his self-introduction.

”...What exactly are you here to do?”

The Sun Apostle couldn’t resist asking.

”Kill people.”

Fu Qian answered with complete candor.

”...Anyone?”

”Anyone.”

”Then why haven’t you killed anyone yet?”

”Because my blade is resting.”

It seemed some traits were highly contagious. Amidst this overly dramatic dialogue, Fu Qian pointed a finger toward A Fei.

...

It was said that when the art of killing reaches its pinnacle, flying flowers and plucked leaves can all serve as weapons.

But those were still external objects at the end of the day. How could anything keep one’s hands cleaner than directly using a living person as a tool?

Professor Fu’s answer was certainly a bit abstract, but paired with his transcendent posture, it wasn’t hard to grasp.

Following the direction of his finger to ”look” over, the Sun Apostle clearly understood.

Even A Fei, who had maintained a dazed, half-asleep expression this whole time, seemed to understand.

Having finally absorbed the force of that flick, he stood there with one hand gripping the hilt and the other pressing against the tip of the blade, his thoughts unknown.

Admitting someone was a tool right to their face—wasn’t that treating them a bit too much like a tool?

In theory, A Fei’s reaction to this couldn’t possibly be good.

In many stories, the seeds of rebellion would have been sown right then and there.

”...Then how long are you going to wait?”

The Sun Apostle evidently understood this perfectly, which was exactly why they couldn’t understand why Fu Qian was doing this.

Or why he had let his opponent attempt to instigate a rebellion earlier.

”Until his heart is clear.”

To this, Fu Qian merely offered a soft sigh.

...

For a moment there, one could sense that the Sun Apostle strongly wanted to unleash a Heavenly Light Manifestation.

Fortunately, they hadn’t completely forgotten the current situation.

Regardless of how much truth lay in the other party’s words, A Fei had clearly become a focal point in this struggle.

Moreover, if the man was actually true to his word and would only kill using his tool rather than striking directly, there might just be a sliver of a chance for survival to be found here.

Therefore, no matter what, the Sun Apostle could absolutely not afford to lose face right now.

”It’s a pity, but your lies have already been exposed.”

After a brief silence, they went straight for a psychological blow.

”He is indeed quite exceptional. Just now, he helped me realize what true greatness is... So, in gratitude, I repaid him with an opportunity to distinguish truth from falsehood.”

”You think I bewitched his mind earlier? Wrong!”

They even asked and answered their own questions.

”The clearer his mind becomes, the more he will realize who has been deceiving him all along, guiding him into doing things he shouldn’t. And you will only increasingly lose your grip on this tool.”

Admittedly, they carried themselves with some dignity, and their strategy was sound.

They didn’t get dragged into speaking in riddles, refusing to give Fu Qian a chance at fishing in troubled waters.

Instead, regardless of whether A Fei could understand it, they broke down the current situation step by step.

The more thoroughly information was exchanged, the less room there was for scoundrels to play their treacherous schemes.

”That really is the sort of thought you would have. But do you know where you went wrong?”

”As a seeker of knowledge, you abandoned the ambition to gain Insight into everything, turning instead to kneel before something more powerful—”

Unfortunately, it sounded like Professor Fu didn’t consider his actions to be schemes at all. He actually wore a smile, perfectly happy to dissect the situation together.

”Shut up!”

However, openly blaspheming their object of worship crossed a line. The Sun Apostle’s voice and expression instantly turned fierce.

”That is because Its existence answers everything! It is the answer to the world!”

This was the second time they had said this. It sounded like the Sun Apostle truly believed it with all their heart.

”But you are a researcher. Compared to the answer itself, ’seeking the answer’ is what you should be doing. They might look similar, but they are worlds apart.”

”Only one person here has betrayed themselves, and that’s you.”

The Sun Apostle was impassioned, but Fu Qian merely nodded and softly delivered that single sentence, looking over at A Fei.

”As for him, what should be done is to deal with the anomalies here.”

...

When it came to spouting demagoguery and confusing the masses, Professor Fu had never feared anyone.

Even an open scheme like this was something he could execute effortlessly.

Admittedly, the excellency might have appeared quite human, but hadn’t they heard that people cannot be judged by their appearance?

Only those walking the same ”Dao” could achieve the deepest level of resonance.

The moment he appeared, Brother A Fei had immediately apologized, saying he was late.

With that level of responsibility, what did it matter whether the receptionist was officially on the payroll?

All he needed was someone to help him figure out who the anomaly was.

Ugh...

It seemed he had already figured it out. A Fei, who had been half-crouching on the ground, slowly stood up and faced the Sun Apostle.

”Idiots... You’re all the same.”

The situation had taken an unreasonably sharp turn for the worse, but the Sun Apostle still didn’t seem panicked, nor did they rush to argue their case.

Delivering that flat assessment, they slightly raised a hand. That barrier of color rapidly converged, adhering closely to the surface of their body.

They might have fallen slightly to a disadvantage, but one fact remained unchanged: this tool of a man was far too weak.

...

Oh? Now this looked even more like it.

It was clear the Sun Apostle wanted to make A Fei taste despair before continuing their conversation.

But at that moment, Fu Qian didn’t even have the interest to comment. His attention was solely fixed on the sight before him.

The barrier had completely retracted to the Sun Apostle’s skin. Every inch of it perfectly illustrated the concept of flowing radiance. In fact, just looking at it for a moment longer was enough to scramble one’s perception of color.

This truly was the work of Excellency Blazing Rainbow.