Eldritch Horror Theatre

Searing, viscous, beating like a heart.

Few flames ever gave off such a sticky, sodden feeling.

Yet, appearing in a place like this, it somehow felt remarkably fitting.

Propelled with explosive force, this ball of Underworld fire—likely formed from the absorbed life force—struck directly in front of Lisa.

Less than ten centimeters from its target, the fireball suddenly decelerated to a near standstill, as if caught in an invisible net.

Though the attack was sudden, Professor Lisa's absolute focus allowed her to react in time.

Taking advantage of that momentary hindrance, she quickly dodged to the side.

Almost simultaneously, the fireball—showing no signs of dissipating—seemed to finally burn through the invisible net. Tracing an eerie arc of light, it changed direction and chased after the retreating Lisa.

The thing was actually homing in on her.

Using that brief window, she slipped directly behind the stone pillar.

While the fireball tracked its target, it wasn't smart enough to avoid obstacles. It slammed squarely into the column.

Without a sound.

With an ominous reaction, it phased right into the stone.

On the other side of the pillar, Lisa clearly noticed this and drew a deep breath.

In the next second, light flared. Sure enough, the thing passed through the pillar and shot out without the slightest loss of momentum.

In this place, it was clearly a special kind of existence.

Unfortunately for the flames, they still failed to hit their target. Instead, they collided head-on with a thin Spike forcefully spat from Lisa's mouth.

Boom!

The condensed, asphalt-like flames instantly destroyed the Spike. Almost simultaneously, however, as if injected with an unstable element, the fireball underwent a bizarre deformation and violently exploded after moving just a fraction further.

Raging flames instantly swept in all directions, but ultimately failed to reach the rapidly retreating Lisa.

Instead, the resulting shockwave slammed into the pillar, blasting away countless fragments and even causing the Statue at the top to crash to the ground.

...

"Not bad. Solid reflexes, and you never lost sight of your original goal."

Having truly stood by as a spectator the entire time, Fu Qian immediately did his duty and offered high praise.

Sadly, the recipient ignored him. The moment she steadied herself, Lisa took another deep breath and spat a second Spike at the floor.

It shattered upon impact again. However, the relatively intact fallen Statue was instantly covered in countless cracks radiating outward from the point of impact.

"What a shame I couldn't save one of my teeth."

Only then did Lisa, who had leaped to Fu Qian's side, finally offer a response, her eyes still locked on the results on the ground.

A tooth?

Fu Qian blinked and looked at her face.

"Not these teeth, obviously."

Having confirmed the target was completely reduced to rubble, Lisa finally relaxed. She shot him a glare, signaling that the teeth in her mouth were perfectly intact.

"Understood. It almost feels like a Talisman."

Fu Qian did not question her; in fact, his face was full of admiration.

"A very impressive method. Does it contain venom?"

"Or perhaps calling it Chaos Society would be more accurate. Upon impact, it can trigger a certain degree of structural collapse."

Though the question probed a bit deep, Lisa still satisfied his curiosity.

"An excellent ability. No wonder it could detonate that fireball. However, since you called it a tooth, I assume it can regenerate. Why be so regretful?"

Fu Qian offered his praise without hiding his confusion.

"Does it not take time to grow a tooth?"

Lisa retorted with a cold face, the heartache clear in her tone.

It did indeed, but only a tiny amount.

Fu Qian thought of his own situation and mused inwardly.

By now, he had formed a general understanding of the trump card she had hastily deployed.

This was clearly Professor Lisa's innate ability as a Giant Serpent Maiden, rather than a mere item.

Giving it just a little thought revealed exactly how formidable it was.

His previous praise hadn't been nonsense. With this ability alone, Professor Lisa practically possessed a self-regenerating stockpile of Talismans.

It might be somewhat slow to restock, but it was incredibly useful for explosive bursts in critical moments.

Considering what just happened, that fireball was definitely not simple; an ordinary Tier 4 would likely struggle against it.

Not to mention, if they lingered just a little longer, a second one would likely emerge.

"Crap!"

At that moment, Lisa suddenly started. With no time for further commentary, she looked off into the distance.

"We wasted too much time. That thing has probably gotten far away by now."

"Far, but not too far."

Fu Qian's conversational style didn't look like it was going to change anytime soon. He smiled, gesturing for her not to worry.

"It just moved to a new spot, and it's been lingering in there for quite a while."

"...Did it find something?"

Unsurprisingly, Lisa perked up instantly.

"I was worried I'd scared it off just now."

"Both of those questions can be answered just by going over to take a look."

As expected, Fu Qian continued to play the part of a strategist. Fortunately, he didn't need Lisa to urge him on and had already taken the lead.

...

"In some legends, Gargoyles are the wardens of the Underworld."

Moving at a brisk pace now that things were back on track, Lisa finally voiced her concerns.

Her meaning was plain. Finding statues of this design here—and possessing that eerie hostility to match—made this place feel more like the Underworld by the minute.

"Of course, in those legends, they can actually move—just like real Transcendent beings."

"From that perspective, this place seems more like a clumsy imitation."

Still, she didn't forget to analyze the situation from multiple angles, finding some small comfort in it.

"Maybe it's just dead? Maybe what you smashed was just a corpse."

Unfortunately, Professor Fu was not one to leave people in their comfort zones. In the very next breath, he casually raised a morbid point.

"After all, we even have dead people here."

...

Professor Lisa, who had been about to argue, abandoned her rebuttal in a second thanks to his analogy. Instead, she developed an even stronger sense of anticipation for finding the corpse.

"Here we are... wait, it looks like it's coming out again."

Fu Qian reached out, stopping her as she tried to quicken her pace.

Without a sound, Lisa instantly froze in her tracks.

In the next moment, that bizarre figure actually floated out of a broken window, turning toward the other side.

"We aren't following it?"

Slightly disappointed, Lisa looked at the motionless Fu Qian and asked in confusion.

"Let's check inside first."

Fu Qian gestured toward the broken window.

"It might have just come out, but it stayed in there for quite a while."

"Every anomaly has a reason. Even if it just had a bout of diarrhea, it should have left a trace."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!