Eldritch Horror Theatre

Hmm?

Fu Qian knew the rain had already stopped, but Li Min bringing it up so solemnly piqued his interest.

"About twelve seconds ago."

As a professional, he casually provided an answer.

"Is there a problem?"

"Something's not right... Rachel, go take a look outside."

Evidently concerned, Li Min subconsciously tried to shake her head, though the attempt failed.

That attempt, however, snapped the dazed Rachel out of her stupor.

"Li Min, is that really your voice... How did this happen?"

Her reaction was entirely understandable. Most of her right shoulder had been replaced by Li Min's head, looking like a sphere embedded in melted butter.

The rest of her arm hanging below was completely useless, refusing to obey any commands.

Anyone turning their head to see such a sight on their own body would find it hard to control their emotions.

"It's me."

Li Min sounded a bit urgent, but she still explained patiently.

"Mister Fang's methods are truly extraordinary. To think he could accelerate the body's collapse like that and seize that tiny window of opportunity to sever the connection. A moment later, and I'm afraid I would have fused with the contamination again..."

It sounded like Li Min had remained relatively lucid throughout the entire process.

"I'm currently in a very special state, which is exactly why I could fuse with your body to temporarily sustain my life. I'll figure out a way to separate myself as soon as possible and return your arm to normal."

"That's not what I meant."

Starting to understand what she had just seen, and hearing Li Min's explanation, Rachel shook her head with absolute resolve.

"As long as it's you, an arm is nothing. Don't rush into taking any risks. You aren't in a lot of pain in this state, are you?"

The next moment, she even rolled her eyes playfully and cracked a joke.

"Actually, if you think about it, this is pretty great. Now you can give me advice whenever I want."

It was clear that, compared to her friend dying, Rachel was genuinely satisfied with this outcome.

"It's not bad. At least my facial features obey me. This is already much better than how I was a while ago."

Seemingly infected by Rachel's mood, Li Min's tone lightened as well.

"The only slightly regrettable part is that I probably don't have a single strand of hair left, right?"

"True..."

Rachel hesitated for a moment, ultimately choosing not to tell a white lie over such a trivial matter.

"Look on the bright side. You've gone bald, but you've also grown stronger."

Unexpectedly, the deeply enigmatic Mister Fang spoke up with a word of comfort.

"Nothing escapes your eyes... Although I feel like I'm in a very bizarre state, there's no doubt that my Rank has increased."

Unsure of how to respond to that consolation, Li Min fell briefly silent before candidly admitting her changes.

"Regardless, this can be considered a blessing in disguise. Thank you again."

"Rachel, go take a look outside."

Satisfied with her current situation, she issued another instruction to her host.

"Okay."

Learning that her friend had actually leveled up, an invigorated Rachel responded briskly.

"This... what's happening..."

However, when she hurried out of the cave, the sight that greeted her left her stunned once more.

...

"Is that a tree?"

Li Min's question was the first response to reach Rachel.

Due to her limited angle, she could only look toward the sky, yet she was thoroughly shocked regardless.

"No."

Standing to the side, Fu Qian shot down her guess while similarly taking in the magnificent scene.

The sky remained just as dim as before, even after the sudden end of the torrential rain.

Miraculously, however, this gloom had been sliced into a sharp triangle that only existed directly overhead.

Bordering one side of the triangle was a crystal-clear azure expanse, and further away, a scorching sun was visibly blazing.

Directly beneath it, the reflection of the gray tides on the sea surface was blindingly bright.

Just like that, fragments of completely different skies—each a distinct shape—were pieced together, densely blanketing the heavens above.

At a glance, it really did look like a massive tree canopy stretched across the heavens.

Unfortunately, it was not.

To Fu Qian, it seemed as though different parts of the Ash Sea had intersected in some incomprehensible manner.

The Floating Island the three of them stood on was just one of those fragments.

Strictly going by direction, the path out of the Ash Sea was currently blocked by a stretch of jagged, grayish-white reefs that were being relentlessly torn apart by a massive nearby whirlpool.

Though Fu Qian had realized things were changing outside while still in the cave, the sheer scale of the shift defied imagination.

"Rachel, let me take a look around."

Palpable anxiety had crept into Li Min's voice.

"Okay."

Realizing another massive change had occurred, Rachel asked no questions. She immediately bent over and spun in a circle.

Li Min's face was angled so awkwardly that it forced Rachel into a rather contorted posture to accommodate her.

"This is..."

It was evident that Li Min was genuinely frightened, completely forgetting to tell Rachel she could relax.

"A Miracle?"

Fu Qian directly applied the concept he had just learned.

Even among the examples Li Min had previously provided, he felt none fit the term better than the sight before them.

"Yes."

Li Min confirmed his guess.

"Do you recognize it?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it looks a lot like one my teacher described."

She actually recognized it?

Wasn't that Ms. Claryn a little too knowledgeable?

Li Min's answer prompted another silent sigh of admiration from Fu Qian.

Given this woman's mature and steady nature, if she said it looked similar, she was at least eighty percent sure.

He had assumed his violent provocations had finally drawn a strange reaction from the Ash Sea. He never expected it to be the reappearance of a Miracle.

"In my teacher's descriptions, she called it the Shattered Crown."

Not waiting for Fu Qian to ask, Li Min proactively shared what she had learned.

"Its most distinct feature is a sky riddled with tree-like cracks. That also symbolizes its true nature—different areas of the Ash Sea forcibly stitched together by the power of a Miracle to form a unique whole."

"There is very little information about it. Compared to Miracles that annihilate all living things, being trapped inside won't expose you to immediate, direct harm."

"But contrary to its fractured appearance, the Shattered Crown has a unique core attribute: stability."

"It is said to be the only Miracle that does not dissipate over time. Every fully formed Shattered Crown wanders for all Eternity within the Ash Sea."

"Eternity?"

That was certainly counterintuitive. Not only had a Miracle appeared, but it was such a rare one, too?

Fu Qian furrowed his brows slightly.

"Yes. I would much rather my judgment be wrong."

Li Min sounded deeply troubled as well.

"If it really is that thing, it means we have been banished into a prison."

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