Eldritch Horror Theatre

The church was dead silent at night.

Serana was naturally the quiet, reserved type. Being put on the spot and quizzed in front of everyone without so much as a warning left her struggling to seize this chance to shine.

She wasn’t the only one caught off guard, of course. Beside her, Yuan Shan was staring blankly, looking torn over whether she should drop into a combat stance right then and there.

Dragging someone into the mud with the very first sentence—that really was this guy’s style.

Fortunately, Serana hadn’t gone so far as to turn the interior of the church into a study in bleak minimalism.

In the light, which was slightly brighter than outside, the look in her eyes quickly turned resolute.

”I’m sorry for causing everyone trouble. There has been some progress so far, though I’ve also run into a few difficulties.”

Skipping any pointless pleasantries, Serana openly admitted that she knew why they had come—meaning she knew they were aware of what she was doing.

She didn’t bother with false modesty either, mentioning straight away that her plan had already yielded some results.

”Very good. Chief Yuan, His Excellency Henry, and I came to check on your progress, so feel free to go into detail.”The ever-strict Professor Fu gave a nod, a faint trace of satisfaction finally showing on his face.

As they continued walking inside, he casually introduced his companions.

”Pardon the intrusion.”

His Excellency Henry displayed astonishing politeness today, actually offering Serana a slight nod of greeting.

To Fu Qian, of course, that made complete sense.

Yuan Shan might have described her mentor as someone completely oblivious to the trouble he caused others, but the old man clearly knew where the line was.

Serana was in the middle of preparing for her advancement to Tier 2. If showing up at such a critical juncture didn’t count as an intrusion, what did?

...

”You are too polite, Your Excellency. I’m the one who has caused trouble for everyone.”

Faced with Henry’s courtesy, Serana grew somewhat stiff and reserved instead.

She gave a slight curtsy, insisting that the fault lay with her.

With His Excellency Ambor having passed away not long ago, stirring up something like this so soon was practically guaranteed to rattle nerves.

Even so, she didn’t try to shift any of the blame onto Professor Fu, keeping the title of project lead firmly on her own shoulders.

”So how is it, living in a place like this?” Professor Fu looked quite pleased with her attitude. With his hands clasped behind his back, he glanced around the hall and even took a moment to ask about her living conditions.

”Not bad... It gives me a sense of relaxation.”

Though the change of subject was a bit sudden, the question seemed to strike a chord with Serana. She looked around the room along with him and let out a soft sigh.

A sense of relaxation... Was that why she had been willing to brave the criticism of her own kind and pay a steep price to buy this place?

”It really is an era where people pay for the experience.”

Fu Qian didn’t take Serana’s answer as a brush-off at all. On the contrary, he nodded with a sigh, as if suddenly feeling his age.

She hadn’t bought this place for some ulterior motive, and she certainly wasn’t planning to change her faith after years of silence from the Progenitor. She just wanted to sleep a little more soundly.

The reason sounded absurd on the surface, yet from Serana’s perspective, it was easy to empathize with the subtle feelings behind it—

Not only had the Progenitor failed to properly answer their calls for years, there were even notes verifying that the Progenitor had already fallen.

Under those circumstances, Serana’s feelings toward the moon in the sky were undoubtedly complicated.

Yet for the Blood Clan, forsaking their faith in the Progenitor seemed utterly impossible. Even a passing thought was enough to tell how agonizing that had to be.

And a church forced onto the market could be seen as representing abandoned faith. Standing inside it, could she perhaps empathize with that sense of relief?

A small consolation for an impulse deep inside that she could never act upon?

”We’re the only ones in here right now.”

Though Fu Qian’s phrasing was odd, he seemed to have hit close to home. Serana didn’t reply, instead leading the three of them onward in silence.

Only after they reached the side transept and she invited her guests to sit did she quietly confirm that they didn’t need to worry about any innocent bystanders getting caught up in things here.

...

”Relax. As long as you don’t cross any red lines, I don’t have the free time to go looking for trouble with you.”

Seeing how cooperative Serana was being, Yuan Shan seemed to decide there was no need to keep playing the bad cop to scare her. When she spoke again, even her voice had softened.

Hmm...

Yet Serana didn’t look much more relaxed after hearing that. Instead, she hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but held back.

”Are there things that require crossing a red line?”

Fu Qian easily read what was behind her reaction and casually asked for confirmation.

”I just haven’t found an alternative method yet.”

Saying something like that right in front of the Night Watchers was obviously a little inappropriate.

Still, Professor Fu had a certain magic about him—the moment he spoke, it put a person’s mind right at ease, so much so that Serana’s phrasing grew noticeably bolder.

”I mentioned before that I might need to digest some of Ambor’s legacy. I’ve already made some preparations for the materials and the ritual, but there’s a crucial prerequisite I still haven’t found a good way to resolve.”

The next moment, she even brought up a certain sensitive name outright, not the least bit worried about touching a nerve with the Night Watchers.

Of course, there was another reason for her candor: the moment the words ”red line” came up, Chief Yuan’s smile had already started to falter, as if realizing she had been overly optimistic.

...

”A prerequisite... Night of Nights?”

Having lived through the Ambor incident firsthand, Fu Qian naturally remembered the details clearly.

He wasn’t in a hurry to question Serana’s claim. Rubbing his chin, he tossed out a name first.

One of His Excellency Ambor’s greatest crimes back then had been peddling that unapproved potion in Shangjing in order to gather the ”Shadow” of people’s hearts.

As for the purpose of gathering that Shadow, it was simple enough: mainly to draw the Progenitor’s gaze.

By the sound of it, Serana was actually stuck on this exact same step, unable to come up with a more reliable method than that outrageous approach.

”Yes. I have some confidence that I can make the whole process milder, but I still can’t guarantee absolute safety.”

Serana really was an honest kid. On the one hand, she mentioned that she had made some improvements.

On the other hand, looking straight at Chief Yuan’s increasingly darkening face, she didn’t even leave herself the wiggle room of claiming the plan was fine and any issue would just be an accident.

She openly admitted that the plan was still flawed and carried a high risk of crossing the red line.

”Got it. Actually, you might not know this, but Chief Yuan came here specifically to lend a hand too.”

Fu Qian, who had been listening attentively the entire time, very responsibly offered a reassuring word first, then pointed a finger at Yuan Shan.

The subtext practically seemed to be that Serana didn’t need to worry too much about the red line—Chief Yuan could just draw a new one for her.

’I...’

Yuan Shan nearly choked on her own saliva right then and there, shooting Fu Qian a fierce glare.

”Nothing else can afford to go wrong, though. You mentioned earlier that the ritual is already prepared?” Naturally, Fu Qian ignored the glare completely, focusing instead on carefully verifying the rest of her plan.