Eldritch Horror Theatre

Faint yet resilient. Though the flame inside the glass shade was small, it stubbornly carved out a sitting area in the dark room.

Staring into it, one could almost feel it pulsing faintly, like a heartbeat.

"What do you mean?"

Olinter gave him no more time to observe; Fu Qian's words had provoked a fierce reaction.

"Your assessment of Mister Winslow seems a bit too condescending."

Fu Qian shook his head, looking around.

"Self-deception is his choice, not yours. Do you really think you have the power to change that?"

"Why couldn't I?"

"Simple. In my judgment, if you told Mister Winslow about our conversation just now, he would express his deep gratitude—and then stubbornly cling to his original views."

"You're too eager to find an advantage over him. That will only make you lose faster."

As he spoke, Fu Qian's gaze locked onto a single spot.

In the blurry shadows of the corner sat a pile of more than one Lantern.

"Me? Lose to an ordinary man?"

Olinter was so furious he almost laughed.

"You've already lost once, and in terms of charm, no less. By the way, can those Lanterns over there be lit? The lighting in here really isn't great. Or does your wound require a dark environment to heal?"

Fu Qian casually struck a nerve, gesturing toward the corner with his chin.

...

"There's no need. Do as you please."

Clearly bleeding from that verbal stab, Olinter took several slow breaths before speaking again.

"But don't worry, there's no one ambushing you from the unseen corners."

"Then I'm relieved. As a polite person, I prefer to cause as little disturbance as possible."

Fu Qian nodded.

"I can hardly argue with that, considering they haven't discovered you yet... So, do you want to just sit here and wait, or will you explain your purpose before they do?"

Olinter kept a cold face. While he acknowledged Fu Qian's low profile, he also made it clear that his discovery was only a matter of time.

"Simple. I just came for a follow-up visit to check on your recovery."

Fu Qian pointed at his face.

"That special wound... You really did do it on purpose!"

This honesty was clearly unexpected. Olinter froze for a second before gnashing his teeth.

"That's right, it was intentional. Also, it looks like the saints of your Order are highly skilled in medicine."

"So you want to know how they did it?"

Olinter sneered, his tone carrying a firm refusal.

"I don't. Relatively speaking, I'm more interested in the standards for a saint. Would it be convenient to share?"

Fu Qian shook his head again.

"...Saint is the abbreviation for a member of the Harmonic Sanctuary, and they are also the decision-making body for the affairs of The Order."

As if verifying that he wasn't joking, Olinter hesitated for a moment before actually answering.

"As long as one masters the Forbidden Level of Star Law, they earn the qualifications to enter the Sanctuary."

Forbidden Level...

Fu Qian recalled the decaying flesh when this guy had unleashed his ultimate move.

"Looks like you've already mastered it?"

"Which is why I was already undergoing the assessment."

Olinter did not deny it.

'Truly a young man with a boundless future. He seems even stronger than Reginald.'

Fu Qian praised inwardly.

'If this world really is a Nightmare, then the foundation that makes up this Nightmare is truly of a rather high level.'

At the same time, he arrived at the first important conclusion of this trip.

The Dimensional Poison had undoubtedly been expelled by Star Law.

And the caster was a human saint, someone far duller compared to Jacques and his fellow Children of the Stars.

Yet the necrotic wound that would give even the Gods a headache had been cleansed without a single trace left behind.

It could only be said that the commandment had proven its own "powerful correctness."

"Assuming you really did come to check on my recovery, I'm very curious as to what your goal is."

Seeing Fu Qian stay quiet for a moment, Olinter finally asked.

"Didn't I mention it earlier?"

Fu Qian looked confused at this.

"I wanted to compare medical skills with The Order, so I tried creating a complicated condition. I have to say, the saints' performance pleasantly surprised me. They didn't waste my efforts."

Compare medical skills...

This was such an absurd answer that Olinter, in his shock, didn't even seem to know how to respond.

'This is the drawback of a mind bound by prejudice. Even sincere communication becomes strenuous.'

Fu Qian sighed inwardly as he watched him.

He wasn't spouting nonsense. His goal in leaving the Dimensional Poison behind was exactly to see the result of matching it up against Star Law.

After confirming the outcome, simply knowing that the saints of The Order could do it was enough. The specific method they used wasn't important at all.

Unfortunately, Olinter clearly couldn't understand this and would only feel that he lacked any sincerity.

The atmosphere grew stiff for a moment, but a second later, a light flashed. The visibility in the dark, silent hall suddenly increased by a fraction, and it steadily continued to grow brighter.

Fu Qian looked up, only to see that one of the Lanterns in the pile he had noticed earlier was actually slowly lighting up, despite there being absolutely no one around it.

Such a miraculous scene noticeably eased the awkward atmosphere.

For example, out of the corner of his eye, he could visibly see Olinter breathe a sigh of relief.

"You were right, it looks like it really did light up."

Meeting Olinter's gaze, Fu Qian stood up and walked forward, his tone as casual as if they were just chatting.

The spontaneously igniting Lantern was a similar style to the one in Olinter's hand, and the swaying flame inside seemed to be about the same brightness.

But that was only how it looked. Fu Qian knew very well that the two were far from the same concept.

Standing this close to it, he could feel the connection between this flame and himself even more strongly.

That was right. The moment he first saw it, Fu Qian knew the fire had been ignited by him.

More precisely, it was ignited by the fire of his own life.

And resonating with it right now, it was already a symbol of his life. Its extinguishing would mean Death.

Such a tyrannical binding easily brought to mind the commandment that had just proven itself.

"You're even the one who lit it, can you feel it?"

Olinter's voice came from behind at the perfect moment, carrying unconcealed glee.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention one thing earlier. There really is no one else in ambush, because my welcome alone is enough."

"This lamp takes time to ignite. The only thing I needed to do was keep you sitting in this room for a little longer, and I knew that wouldn't be difficult, because you're simply too arrogant."

"You always think you can see through everything, that you have every variable firmly in hand. How could someone like that ever leave easily?"

"You flatter me."

Faced with this showdown-like speech, Fu Qian offered a modest reply, his expression entirely unbothered.

The next moment, he smoothly reached out and picked the Lantern up, savoring the unique sensation.

'At least it didn't waste too much of my time.'

'If I had only wanted to see whether the Dimensional Poison could be cured, I could have just left the very first moment we met.'

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