Eldritch Horror Theatre

As an essential skill for an apostle, the user could always choose whether to broadcast the Gospel Shockwave.

Fu Qian certainly hadn't kept a low profile this time. The tall-hatted elder's roar was cut off instantly; his eyes glazed over as thunderous booms swept in all directions.

Such a commotion was bound to attract numerous elites from The Order. Coupled with the old saint's miserable state, it was easy to imagine the intensity of the ensuing lockdown and manhunt.

Yet Fu Qian maintained his steady pace, strolling right past his incapacitated opponent.

Calling for backup when outmatched was indeed a correct and decisive choice—if this guy had actually had one.

Every anomaly had a reason; one shouldn't fall into the bad habit of taking things for granted.

For instance, how had this person discovered him?

Furthermore, knowing the name Herbert meant knowing of Fu Qian's past glorious exploits. Yet, upon encountering him, the man hadn't called for backup immediately; he only did so after failing to drive him away.

Keeping an open mind, it was easy to realize that whether blocking the path or crying out for help, both actions fundamentally served to stop his advance.

The facts proved that a new anomaly had truly emerged: their current space didn't seem to want to transmit the commotion outward.

A concrete example was that another saint of The Order, located not too far away downstairs, had shown no reaction whatsoever.

...

Fu Qian had actually been curious all along about how the Blood Clan would attend today's meeting.

After all, following his visit last night, he believed The Order's vigilance had increased by more than just a notch.

In the past, the Blood Clan's method must have been simple: directly activate the Untouchable ability almost all of them mastered, and swagger right in. At most, it would only slightly disrupt the Church's normal order.

However, thanks to his help, The Order now clearly possessed a certain level of awareness regarding this overly casual infiltration method. They had even implemented targeted restrictions, such as prohibiting Blink.

Under these circumstances, it was hard to say whether the combined chaos caused by a group of Untouchables would still go undetected.

Even if they weren't discovered, whatever the situation ultimately developed into would likely carry a worrying risk of spiraling out of control.

That would be far too inelegant for the Blood Clan, so they might not resort to such forced tactics anymore.

And that seemed to be the case. Despite the earlier phenomena, The Order's operations tonight didn't carry the scent of excessive chaos.

His decision to follow The Order's squad back rather than acting alone was, of course, not merely to hitch a free ride.

The squad contained numerous high-ranking members of The Order. If there truly were any operational disruptions, it would easily reflect on them.

...

Moving at a steady pace, he was no longer far from the top of the building.

And Fu Qian had already roughly figured out the Blood Clan's low-profile method for today—the space before him might not be real. He had very likely just crossed an invisible boundary.

Of course, this didn't mean the old man he had just laid out was an illusion.

This wasn't a dream, just an overlap.

People outside the area could enter without any hindrance, act as normal, and even genuinely eliminate a peer.

It was just that they couldn't intersect with the Blood Clan, who resided in reality.

His reasoning for this judgment, aside from the results of his recent probing and a bit of deduction, came from a living example he had witnessed not long ago—the Hunting Domain he had been invited to observe.

Isolating the target in a special domain to avoid harming the innocent was truly an impressive hunting method.

As Divine Children blessed by the Favor of the Stars and natural vessels of the Law, it was no surprise that the Blood Clan had mastered similar or even advanced techniques.

Of course, if this guess were true, then the Blood Clan was being rather impolite.

He had attended the meeting as invited. It was one thing for there to be no directions, but walking up here with Resplendent Tyrant active was essentially equivalent to knocking on doors the entire way.

Yet, not only was he not welcomed, they even sent out a puppet to drive him away.

That's right. In Fu Qian's eyes, the tall-hatted elder from earlier had most likely been dragged out as a proxy.

One should never place their hopes in self-restraint. Brother Jacques, whom he had dealt with previously, might still have had a few principles. But for a group with the capital to be utterly unscrupulous, it wasn't hard to imagine someone with a sick sense of humor turning a human saint into a puppet.

And once this point was factored in, it was easy to understand why the victim had been waiting there—it wasn't because he had discovered anything, but because someone had told him.

Stepping onto the final flight of spiral stairs, Fu Qian proceeded down the Corridor without a moment's pause.

"Welcome!"

At a certain moment, a slightly effeminate voice rang out through the dead silence, brimming with theatrical flair.

Almost simultaneously, a faint glimmer of light pierced the darkness from behind the corner ahead, casting a slightly flickering glow on the floor.

Having examined the building's layout beforehand, Fu Qian naturally knew that the highest point of the Tower Building lay just past that corner.

Without any hesitation, Fu Qian adjusted his cape as he walked, simultaneously deactivating Resplendent Tyrant. His body rapidly shrank back down.

By the time he turned the corner, he had reverted to his normal size. At the same time, the quietly open double doors ahead came into view.

Behind the doors lay a rather spacious Rotunda. Candles had been lit, illuminating numerous crimson eyes peering back at him.

The most conspicuous among them was a gentleman in luxurious robes, seated directly facing the doorway.

"Welcome! You may call me 'elder'."

He had delicate features and an elegant demeanor, making his age impossible to guess. Meeting Fu Qian's gaze, he gave a slight nod in greeting.

"Apologies, but you aren't on the attendee list, so there is no seat for you at the moment."

It was indeed the same voice from earlier. Aside from him, no one else spoke.

Under their multitude of silent stares, Fu Qian maintained his steady pace and stepped through the doors.

Clack!

The doors instantly snapped shut behind him.

In the corner, Fu Qian spotted his old friend Jacques, whose expression was clearly a bit complicated.

Squelch!

Blood sprayed. In the next instant, a deep gash appeared from his left cheek all the way down to his neck, as if he had collided with an invisible saw blade that cut clean through the bone.

Even as he brushed his hand over the wound, stark white bone could be seen in more than one place once his hand fell away.

It seemed they still hadn't learned any manners.

With that inward sigh, Fu Qian's footsteps continued without a pause.

...

"I have never been able to understand your actions, but I still regret that you refused my goodwill."

As if caught in an invisible meat grinder, every step Fu Qian took resulted in double-digit wounds appearing across his body.

As blood sprayed wantonly like a fountain, the elder let out a hearty string of laughter.

"Hazy Saw, my favorite boon. I hope you like it too—"

His voice trailed off as he watched the figure approaching step by step, already mere inches away and climbing the dais.

Beneath the shredded cape, the previously mangled and bloody limbs suddenly exuded an indescribable terror.

It felt as if an entity of extreme malice had descended right before them.

There wasn't even time to be shocked. In the next moment, a hand reached out from beneath the cape and rang a delicate Bell.

As the crisp ring entered his ears, an unprecedented sensation followed: his innate Favor of the Stars was actually stripped from his body.

Although it only lasted for a fleeting second, the shock of instantly falling to the state of a mortal was clearly not so easily erased.

By the time the excruciating pain snapped him awake, a sharp claw had already been driven deeply into his chest.

"You..."

Blood-colored patterns instantly enveloped his entire body, radiating with the brilliance of the Stars to fiercely protect this heavily blessed physique.

Boom!

However, in the very next instant, an indescribable destruction crushed this sacred, infallible, and pure form.

The elder didn't even have time to utter another word.

"Apologies for being late."

Toying with a peculiarly shaped heart in his hand, Fu Qian, having deactivated his Mythical Form, finally stopped in his tracks, turned around, and sat down in the now-vacant seat.

"Did I miss anything?"

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