Eldritch Horror Theatre

It had only been a few short hours since they last parted, but Brother Raylan had actually improved again.

Gunfire Vision was so distinctive it was impossible to miss. It was unmistakably the bald Raylan, who had been operating alongside Winona earlier.

Compared to her, his knack for stealth and ambushes was far superior.

And much more decisive.

Completely disregarding the fact that Fu Qian and Winona had already struck up a friendly conversation, he opened fire the instant he closed in.

The sheer scale of his firepower was absurd.

The fine green beads blanketing the air had already linked into a continuous mass, bearing a strong resemblance to a plague-bearing Insect Swarm.

It was clearly the exact same gun, which begged the question of how he had pulled this off. Had he swapped the bullets for some supreme edition?

Of course, no matter how terrifying the spectacle, Fu Qian treated it all the same.

This time, however, that dense mass of green underwent a bizarre transformation.

As if the space before his eyes had shattered, the eruption spawned crystals out of thin air—the exact same crystals that previously only appeared upon striking a target.

An emerald storm instantly enveloped the rear, swallowing the spot where Fu Qian had just been standing.

It even reached him while he was in the Blood Crusade State.

Indeed, this suddenly erupting Crystal Storm seemed to possess dimension-transcending properties.

The moment it swept past, Fu Qian clearly felt his body endure a peculiar bombardment.

While his clothes remained completely unscathed, the flesh underneath began transforming into sparkling crystals, looking quite a bit like the legendary Diamond Skin.

...

"Raylan!"

Meanwhile, the newly arrived Night Watcher's incredibly impulsive action seemed to shock even his ally.

Faced with this explosive ambush, Winona leaped up reflexively, tackling her friend Claire out of the way.

Only after confirming the latter was unharmed did she shout, her heart pounding with fear.

Just because she wasn't hurt now didn't mean she wouldn't be later.

Although their previous conversation had been agonizing, given the sheer threat level the man displayed, Claire would be in extreme danger the moment this escalated into a direct conflict.

Most crucially, as their past few encounters had proven, while this guy might not habitually slaughter innocents, he clearly felt absolutely zero remorse about breaking taboos to attack ordinary people.

The title of Night Watchers couldn't scare him in the slightest.

"Cover me. Let me get her out of here first."

Plagued by anxiety, she blurted out this plan to Raylan, who had just appeared and was currently busy striking a pose at the empty air.

"It's fine."

To her surprise, however, her highly capable colleague looked incredibly relaxed.

After tossing out that casual remark, he even stylishly holstered his gun, looking perfectly ready to call it a day.

"I believe Master Grimshaw wouldn't do something so petty."

"If my guess is right, he should still be right here."

As he spoke, Raylan's eyes were locked squarely on the exact spot where Fu Qian had just been sitting.

...

"You flatter me."

Before a thoroughly bewildered Winona could even voice her doubts, the shifting scene before her proved him right.

Accompanied by a familiar voice, a figure materialized out of thin air—who else could it be but the mysterious master?

He really hadn't moved!

He still wore his familiar attire, complete with that infuriating smile. Not a single hair on his body appeared harmed.

Aside from the Chair beneath him being blown to splinters in the crossfire—forcing him to stand—that fierce ambush didn't seem to have affected him in the slightest.

For a moment, Winona felt her mind spin even further. First, she couldn't comprehend Raylan's recklessly dangerous actions, and now she couldn't understand why this man had chosen to stay exactly where he was.

Let alone how Raylan was so certain he would still be there.

Or why this man, having stayed put, would volunteer to reveal himself...

"You've been infected."

Not letting Winona torture her brain cells for too long, Raylan's expression turned serious as he faced the modestly materialized Fu Qian and cut straight to the chase.

"Unlike last time, I came specially prepared today."

As he spoke, he opened the hand that had just been gripping his gun, revealing a mass of scorching heat resting in his palm.

Roughly the size of an egg and perfectly circular, it looked at first glance like a red-hot branding iron straight from a set of torture instruments, yet it caused no harm to the hand holding it.

A Talisman. Excellently crafted, carrying no small amount of power.

"Are you trying to say you used the cover of gunfire to pollute me with that?"

While silently appraising the item, Fu Qian spouted casual nonsense.

"Of course not. In fact, I believe you can tell that this is a consumable item."

Raylan gently shook his head.

"I brought two of them. I just used the first. Its function is incredibly simple: it destabilizes a Transcendent effect, pushing it into an explosive state of Sublimation."

"And just now, I used it on my bullet."

He pointed directly at Fu Qian.

...

"You really are a difficult opponent."

Raylan's overwhelming confidence was rather infectious. For the moment, Winona actually held off on fleeing with her friend, opting instead to play the spectator.

And he didn't disappoint her. Seeing that the outlaw wasn't responding for the moment, Raylan quickly explained.

"What seeped into your body can be considered a special type of poison."

"Aside from gradually transforming your body into inanimate matter, its greatest effect is providing a tracking beacon. That's how I knew you hadn't left."

Striding forward, Raylan walked right into the space Claire had vacated, entirely unbothered by the risk of an ambush.

"I'm not exactly sure why you've shown up here, but you clearly have a specific goal in mind and don't wish to be disturbed."

"Unfortunately for you, from this moment on, your whereabouts will be entirely under the Night Watchers' control."

"Our demand is simple: end this game of hide-and-seek and have an honest conversation. Your goals, our bottom line."

"While reaching a consensus might not be easy, believe me—the moment you step out of this place, the Night Watchers will relentlessly hunt you down and eliminate you."

Watching Fu Qian silently listen to this entire speech, Raylan didn't even try to force a stern tone, instead gently laying out the man's current predicament.

"That certainly sounds bad."

Only then did Fu Qian finally nod and offer his thoughts. Instead of questioning the "poison" claim, he simply proposed a new approach.

"But when you put it like that, there seems to be a very simple solution. Why don't I just kill the tracker?"

"Normally, that would be true. I don't even doubt your ability to do it."

"Unfortunately, precisely because of your strength, directly polluting you was far too difficult, which is why I had to rely on the power of this Talisman."

Completely unfazed by the death threat, Raylan once again displayed the scorching mass in his palm.

"Now, its creator—a Demigod, and the Chief of the Night Watchers in Loss—shares this tracking effect."

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