Eldritch Horror Theatre

"I was short on time, so I just drew something casually."

Obviously, the Witch had no illusions that Fu Qian had simply misremembered the location.

Aware that her masterpiece had already been viewed, she maintained her authoritative tone and offered a casual explanation as if nothing were amiss.

"Casually... I have to say, I definitely felt that theme from the painting."

As the Pope's knight, Fu Qian was quite cooperative. He chimed in with complete seriousness, even expending considerable effort to nod his irregularly shaped head.

"...Actually, I made some additions later. Do you want to take a look?"

Though it sounded like she was asking for his opinion, the Witch stood up as she spoke.

Still incapable of independent movement, the insect knight naturally expressed his consent by letting her carry him.

...

The path from the Great Hall to the studio wasn't long, and the Pope and her knight moved at a pace that seemed leisurely but was actually quite fast.

Steps blurred beneath them as shadows flickered. Soon, the two core members of the Dark Moon Cult arrived at the dark room behind the small stained-glass window.

It was also the birthplace of the Dark Moon Cult.

The massive easel was still there. The Witch slowed her steps, leaning against the room's only tall stool.

Held up in front of her, the Templar Knight seriously looked the piece up and down before expressing his approval of her additions.

As an upright knight, this was by no means a compromise in the face of absolute power.

Though it was still the same Laerdin he had seen last time, the details were noticeably richer.

He could even spot a few minor additions to the Mist Outside the City.

It was nothing short of miraculous. Logically speaking, this should have been the Witch's first time returning here since escaping her confinement.

Of course, those were just minor details. The most important point was that the Pope's new masterpiece remained incredibly difficult to appreciate.

"And it has a strong personal style," he added.

Fortunately, the Templar Knight was far from ordinary. Without pausing for breath, he had already delivered two consecutive compliments.

"Even though the circumstances are bizarre, this kind of ancient reproduction is nothing short of a miracle."

The Pope, possessing her own grace, didn't press him further. She gave a slight nod and took the initiative to steer the conversation toward the artwork's profound inner meaning.

"Indeed, but it still feels a bit lacking. For one, time was short. For another, the reproduction doesn't seem completely whole," she said.

The Templar Knight also had his own deeper thoughts on this matter.

"'Not whole?' Why would that be the case?"

The Witch was clearly intrigued by his line of inquiry.

"When I was practicing medicine in Laerdin, I encountered a special case."

Fu Qian's tone was entirely natural as he recalled his transition from medicine to a military role.

"An ordinary person offered their blood for the Blood Clan to taste, and in return, they received a gift from the Law."

"Yet, even with a member of the Blood Clan who claimed to be a Divine Child personally guiding the process, an unavoidable mutation still occurred."

Fu Qian was, of course, talking about Miss Winslow's surreal two-dimensional beauty.

"To some extent, this could be explained as a side effect of the Law forcibly interpreting everything, much like what happened to those awakened ones in the Shadow of Laerdin."

"But when I discussed this issue with the Blood Clan, we used a process of elimination and arrived at a theory that hasn't been disproven yet: the Law itself is distorted."

"The final result is that, aside from the ancient blessed ones who have returned to the world, everyone who has recently received a boon suffers from varying degrees of mutation."

"The former can maintain their forms because the commandments they control are inherently a part of 'reality.' Personally, I lean toward that conclusion."

Fu Qian shook his head slightly as he spoke.

"But this brings up a problem. Back in that place just now, I didn't feel any obvious signs of distortion... Sublime, orderly, and majestic—the reproduced Law seemed absolutely perfect."

"So, as someone who came into even closer contact with it, what was your impression?"

...

"The situation you mentioned is indeed widespread. In fact, I've made similar deductions."

Faced with the findings from Fu Qian's 'Interview with the Vampire,' the Witch quickly validated his theory.

"Including the contradictory fact that, up close, the Law didn't seem distorted at all."

"It wasn't until I woke up this time and reviewed the entire process that I finally noticed something unusual."

"I have to admit, the word 'missing' is quite precise."

"The problem doesn't lie with the Law's structure, but with its essence. It remains supreme, yet it has lost the foundation of its existence."

"It's difficult to describe accurately, but I've always had this feeling."

The Witch pointed at her own face.

"Even if my power can withstand the drain and continue burning as fuel like this, if given enough time, it would still warp and distort."

...

The essence, not the structure, was flawed.

The Witch's description was a bit obscure, but for Fu Qian, who had been pondering this very question, it wasn't too hard to understand.

It was like how a thief would still get struck by lightning, but not because the act was defined as illegal?

Simply because the action itself triggered that specific result.

Since it lacked that core essence, it was more prone to warping when projected onto new members?

Just as he had repeatedly emphasized when dealing with Frankie and the others before—personal experience was crucial.

If they didn't have the Witch, someone who had experienced it firsthand and possessed a high Rank, it probably would have been impossible to detect such a subtle conceptual difference.

So, compared to its ancient glory, was this reproduced Law essentially just an empty shell?

That fit the nature of a terminal flash... But now the question was, who triggered that final burst of life?

Who applied that stimulus?

"I don't have any clues at the moment."

Seeming to read his mind, the Witch shook her head slightly.

"And I can confirm that there is no specific will residing within the Law."

"It might really be as you said. We might only be able to work backward and find some clues if this anomaly attracts a gaze of some kind—what is that?"

Her voice came to an abrupt halt, an uncontrollable surprise bleeding into her tone.

A brilliant golden radiance was seeping out of Fu Qian as he admired the painting.

"That form of power is extremely similar. It's hard to say if there's any fundamental difference at all. Where did you get it?"

Staring at her golden insect knight, who now looked fresh out of the frying pan, the Witch unmistakably grasped the core of the issue.

He wanted her to compare the differences between the two.

"A constantly rotting tree that desperately wants others to look at it."

Having achieved his goal, Fu Qian immediately deactivated the Commandment Residue, recalling his first experience serving as an operations advisor for the Night Watchers.

He had absolute trust in the Witch's judgment.

It truly was fascinating. To think that two completely different worlds possessed such staggeringly similar existences.

Perhaps it was time he found a moment to visit his family's old friends, the West Plain Huang Clan.

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