Eldritch Horror Theatre

To catch bandits, capture the king; to curse someone out, go after their mother.

As everyone knew, once a conflict broke out, going straight for the other side’s family tree was a move that worked every time.

Especially in an abstract situation like the one right before them.

What needed to be done now was trace the wound, peel back the bandage and the blood scab beneath it, and finally expose whatever lay underneath.

The process looked straightforward enough, but given the unique nature of this dream, pulling it off in practice wasn’t nearly so simple.

The rose vines had no fear of damage; even if a flower was plucked, another would quickly grow back in its place.

That was because the vines themselves could be considered a concept at the deepest layer of the dream tied to the Blood Clan’s bloodline, generated in tandem with the overlaid ”wound.”

A concept at the foundation of the dream couldn’t be touched, and the wound was even more impossible to fill in, so this indestructible nature made complete sense.

In short, brute force wouldn’t work.

Then what could possibly deliver a shock to those two solid foundations of the rose vines?There was a way. Only a concept could defeat a concept.

Given his current unique state of existence, the ”apostle” was actually a very thorny point for the concept of the Blood Clan’s bloodline. In theory, from the Mythological Era down to the present, Herbert had never truly died.

Yet a long career as a Dream Chaser had made him vastly different from living creatures in reality, and now he had been reduced to a literal walking corpse.

So from the moment he put on the Glove, Fu Qian had been keeping a close eye on the rose vines.

As it turned out, the Blood Clan’s family tree didn’t seem to take much of a hit at that point, remaining just as it was.

Faced with this situation, further steps were needed—such as trying to bring the apostle a little closer to the family tree.

To that end, Fu Qian had made two adjustments.

The first was having him hold the rose that symbolized Serana.

It had already been verified earlier that anyone holding a flower could have their status temporarily elevated into the clan.

The second was having the Seranas drag him down into the two-dimensional plane—a place much closer to the bottom layer of the dream.

Would it work? That remained to be seen.

...

”As you wish.”

First, and unsurprisingly, after all that patient guidance earlier, Serana struggled with herself for a moment before following the plan.

”Don’t dodge.”

While her attitude practically screamed, ”Go ahead and get yourself killed, see if I care,” Fu Qian gave further instructions to the apostle, signaling him to cooperate the whole way through.

His obedience proved as excellent as ever. When the two-dimensional Seranas reached out their corrupting hands one after another, the apostle put up no resistance at all.

Perhaps the only slightly unusual detail was the faint, brilliant radiance that flared from his body at that moment, carrying a hint of Brother Sanxun’s unwillingness to yield.

”Is this... pieced together from the limbs of the Blood Clan?”

For Serana, though, it was still somewhat startling.

Her hands didn’t stop moving, yet a flash of realization seemed to strike her right then, and an irrepressible hostility crept into her voice.

Clearly, the philosophy of the Rebirth Club had spread far and wide by now. Combined with the appearance of the puppet before her, it was easy to assume this thing had been synthesized from countless dismantled parts.

Even though she didn’t usually care all that much about family ties, Serana still showed genuine revulsion toward an act like this.

Of course, what she had pieced together actually had things backward.

”No, this is a member of the Blood Clan pieced together out of limbs,” Fu Qian said, shaking his head as he explained the true nature of the apostle.

...

The Blood Clan wasn’t the raw material; it was the concept ultimately borne by the finished work before them.

Fu Qian was undoubtedly telling the truth, though unfortunately for his listener, it was still far too difficult to wrap her head around.

”Do you really think those two faces are ones your kin would ever have?”

In the end, amid Serana’s silence, he casually delivered the clincher.

Indeed, after undergoing a rather extreme transformation, the faces of Old Man Lu Ming and the other were somewhat twisted and difficult to make out.

Even so, anyone could tell that the resolution of their facial features wasn’t on the same level as the Blood Clan’s.

Anyone willing to take a second look would never claim these limbs belonged to the Blood Clan.

Which raised the question: why had Serana said that?

”Compared to me, does the apostle have a stronger affinity?”

Fu Qian naturally wouldn’t chalk it up to sheer stupidity, and in that instant he guessed at a reason.

”That’s right... He might not even need that flower. With just a bit of guidance, he’s already sinking into it on his own.”

Not disappointing him, the Seranas watched the apostle—already half-submerged in the two-dimensional plane—and confirmed it in person.

”That’s only natural. After all, his seniority looks to be even higher than yours.”

Sensing the confusion in Serana’s voice as she spoke, Fu Qian pointed overhead, signaling that the reason was actually very simple.

The rose vines, which had remained completely calm until now, finally began to show an abnormal change as the apostle sank deeper into corruption.

With their overly vivid hue, the branches already bore an uncanny resemblance to flowing blood—and at that moment, they actually began to flow.

The end result was a new rose rapidly stretching out from a spot near the roots.

...

”Impossible!”

All along, Excellency Serana hadn’t been the type to think too highly of herself just because of her bloodline.

Yet the sight before her seemed to breach her mental defenses all the same, drawing a low growl from her throat.

The Blood Clan’s family tree, stretching back across millennia, was just opening a brand-new page right here on the spot? That really did look a bit too hasty.

Fu Qian was very understanding of Serana’s loss of composure.

”Is this not so good?”

So much so that, while watching the flower bloom, he even considerately asked for her opinion.

”Of course not...”

Serana clearly had no idea what he was getting at with the question, yet she answered instinctively all the same.

”All right then.”

Fu Qian was brisk about it. Once he had her confirmation, he didn’t even snap his fingers this time—he simply pulled the Glove straight off.

Unsurprisingly, the apostle, who had looked incapable of breaking free even if he’d tried to struggle, vanished into thin air with that single motion.

And the new flower that had been on the verge of blooming withered in an instant, while the three vivid rose vines ”flowed” in reverse, rapidly returning to their original state.

”...What are you trying to do?”

Having her opinion respected so readily left Serana unable to handle such sincerity, and she asked the question in a daze, as if talking in her sleep.

”Hmm... ripping off a blood scab?”

Even so, Fu Qian gave it some earnest thought and offered a description she might be able to understand.

The Vacuum Flower was a scab upon the world, so calling the version modified by the Progenitor of the Blood Clan a blood scab wasn’t wrong, right?

”Pluck a flower.”

Without waiting for Serana to share any further thoughts, Fu Qian slipped the Glove back on and issued his order once more to the newly reappeared apostle.

”Pull him back in.”

Serana clearly wasn’t getting a chance to slack off either, receiving her instructions right after.

That was right. What Fu Qian intended to do was very simple—

Through the apostle’s rapid flip-flopping, he would force the Blood Clan’s family tree to be wrenched back and forth again and again, testing the fatigue resistance of the rose vines.