Eldritch Horror Theatre

Rebirth?

How could anyone forget a name currently at the height of its fame—not to mention that Serana was theoretically an Ancient Angel registered with the Club?

Faced with Fu Qian’s rhetorical question, Serana lost all control of her expression.

Curiously enough, losing her composure actually made all her faces look like a single unified whole.

Rather than wearing identical, copy-pasted expressions, they were now a chaotic jumble of joy, anger, sorrow, and mirth.

”This is a relic of the Progenitor—and you’re here trying to resurrect Him?”

None of that mattered right now, though. The moment Serana snapped out of her daze, she blurted out the question to make sure.

Clearly, the claim had caught her completely off guard—so much so that despite how unbelievable it sounded, she didn’t even push back against it all that hard.

Others might not know, but to her, everything the Rebirth Club had done over the past several days had left far too deep an impression.

It went way beyond simply stitching flesh and bodies together on the surface. Right now, the organization gave the distinct impression that there was truly nothing it couldn’t pull off.”Don’t get too excited. It might not be as wonderful as you’re imagining.”

From Serana’s reaction, Fu Qian once again confirmed his earlier read on her filial devotion. That was why careful observation and analysis always paid off.

Even a pawn thoroughly prepared to die had a weak spot.

Threats might not faze her, but targeting the faint filial piety she had shown earlier was clearly working wonders.

Naturally, none of that showed on his face. Keeping his enigmatic smile in place, Fu Qian casually poured cold water over her hopes.

True enough... this organization didn’t exactly have a good reputation.

A shiver practically ran through Serana, and she cooled down at once.

One of the defining traits of a shadowy mastermind was being underhanded. They had always been a group operating in the gray areas; while their recent deeds weren’t heinous enough to go provoking the wrath of gods and men, they were certainly no beacons of virtue either.

Coupled with the Items prepared well in advance... if they really were plotting something against the Progenitor, she had every reason to worry.

”In that case—”

Caught in the violent swings of emotion, Serana seemed to make up her mind.

”You can’t stop me. We already proved that earlier,” Fu Qian cut her off immediately, reminding her of the cold, hard reality.

”Besides, even if you die, it won’t change the final outcome—Your Excellency, Ancient Angel.”

Without even giving her a chance to argue back, he delivered the finishing blow.

...

”It really...”

”It really is you...”

She seemed so stunned that an echo rippled across the many Seranas.

The title ”Ancient Angel” clearly hit her hard, bringing her experience in Moore rushing vividly back to mind.

Her close involvement with the Rebirth Club had started right around then, too.

And this was undeniable proof—there was no longer any reason to doubt his identity as part of the Rebirth Club.

Whether or not he was the exact person she had met in Moore back then, he knew everything that had happened there in intimate detail, right down to that deeply private title.

Only the organization that had orchestrated the whole situation back then could possibly know that much.

”So I take it you’re agreeing to work together and try another way?” Fu Qian remained noncommittal, keeping his air of mystery dialed to the maximum.

”Then I’d better hurry. The longer this drags out, the worse position you’re in.”

Even his magnanimity was on another level.

Paying no mind to the shifting balance between them, he reached out with his gloved hand the very next instant and lightly touched the rose vine.

...

”Find anything?”

They say that after suffering one overwhelming shock after another, a person’s emotions can sometimes settle right back into calm.

Having watched Fu Qian’s every move, Serana spoke up a moment later in a tone that genuinely sounded a bit like an accomplice’s.

She didn’t have much of a choice—his analysis had been dead-on.

Under the current circumstances, throwing her life away out of filial devotion was completely pointless. She was much better off keeping herself alive and useful, just in case she could step in and help at a critical moment.

”Nothing. Are you picking up any unusual reactions from your perspective?” The mysterious man’s initial inspection seemed to turn up empty, and he even turned to ask how it felt to her.

”Nothing on my end either.”

Finding it hard to believe he was genuinely asking her, Serana clearly took it as some kind of test and shook her head with a cold expression.

Was this his plan? If it wasn’t working, it was hard to say whether that was good or bad...

”Then I won’t light a fire. It’d easily scare someone.”

Hearing her answer, Fu Qian actually pulled his hand back without making any move to scorch it with the Flame of Frenzy.

For one, he judged it probably wouldn’t do any good. For another, he was worried the one it would scare wasn’t Serana in front of him, but the tottering Red Moon.

The Flame of Frenzy was a bit too vicious. Burning a dreamscape was fine, but earlier events had already proven the Red Moon was here too.

Unless he could lock onto his target with pinpoint precision, doing something like that was simply too risky.

And the final, most important reason was that Fu Qian actually had another idea in mind—Snap!

”Over here,” he called out casually, giving a quiet snap of his gloved right fingers.

What?

Under the astonished gazes of the Seranas, a figure with two heads, four legs, two arms, and two beast heads stepped silently into place right in front of them.

Indeed, it was none other than the final ripple of the Rebirth Club’s older generation—the Two-Headed Blood Fiend of Light born in the Archipelago.

...

”What is that thing?”

Serana was visibly startled. For one, its appearance was genuinely gruesome, giving off the eerie vibe of a flesh-and-blood doll.

At the same time, its sudden, unheralded arrival made her feel like the situation was spiraling even further out of control.

”You can call him an apostle.”

With no intention of showing off, Fu Qian went with the briefest title possible.

As for why Serana hadn’t noticed it earlier? That actually hadn’t been on purpose.

He had tested it back in the Archipelago: as long as he was inside a dream and wearing the Glove, this grotesque creation would appear automatically.

This time, however, with someone else present, it had instinctively stayed hidden on its own. Since he had still been busy talking Serana around earlier, he hadn’t rushed to call it out and scare anyone.

Why call it out now, then?

”Pluck that flower.”

Pointing a finger, Fu Qian actually gestured for the apostle to pluck the freshly regrown rose once again.

”Mind letting go of me now?”

The apostle naturally obeyed, and under Serana’s incredulous gaze, Fu Qian gave her another prompt.

Hm...

Serana didn’t make a sound, but the silhouettes gripping Fu Qian’s hand quickly retreated back onto the wall.

”Don’t go too far. Drag him inside.”

Fu Qian wasn’t done giving orders yet, gesturing for the two-dimensional figures to grab the apostle now holding the flower.

Yes, the raw materials that went into making it might have been a complete hodgepodge, but theoretically speaking, this hideous puppet really was the Blood Clan’s First Apostle Herbert.

If a figure like that showed up and even made close contact, would it affect the entire Blood Clan’s bloodline inheritance—namely, the form of the rose vine right in front of them? Now that was a true shock on a conceptual level.

And if it really did bring about a change, would that count as tearing at the ”wound”?