Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Good."

Maintaining the exact same interval, Dorian stubbornly tapped for the fourth time. Fu Qian finally gave a slight nod and released his grip, letting the man drop.

True to form for a pragmatic atheist, his level of composure was commendable.

The reason for his sudden shift in behavior was simple: before his counterattack was even finished, he realized that someone capable of seizing his neck like that was absolutely not an opponent he could handle with mere physical combat.

Thus, in an instant, he chose this method to express his restraint and willingness to communicate.

Although the communication was, in fact, already finished.

Fu Qian believed this casual reminder would be quite helpful in making him realize his current situation.

"...Who exactly are you—I look forward to your good news."

Sure enough, the grounded Dorian only struggled to squeeze out a few words before quickly correcting himself, refraining from any further impolite questions.

This seat is the dignified King of the Abandoned Prison. Approachability was one thing, but he still highly recommended that the doctor understand his proper place.

The nature of this task was special. The extent of his actions required careful consideration, but that did not simply mean keeping a low profile.

A mysterious, powerful outsider with unknown motives and unpredictable moods—such a display would likely impact the situation far more than killing Dorian outright.

Even though the Containment target still hadn't appeared.

He hoped that Doctor Dorian would bring him more surprises later on.

...

It was indeed daytime, yet the dark clouds in the sky remained so thick that not a single gap could be seen.

The Clinic door closed behind him as Fu Qian examined the scene outside.

He now found himself in a human settlement with an architectural style strikingly similar to the Clinic's interior.

Copper railings, stone walls, red bricks, and modestly tall buildings—it was a completely classical style without a single trace of modernity.

The atmosphere here perfectly matched Brother Dorian's description.

On the crisscrossing, somewhat narrow streets, not a single walking human could be seen.

The scattered broken tiles, shattered windows, and even the completely incinerated remains of wooden houses made one wonder if they had been burned to gain a brief moment of light in the "dark night."

Walking through these ruins where he could practically smell the fear, Fu Qian soon spotted a building with a circular dome rising above the various rooftops.

Without a doubt, it looked exactly like the one he had just seen in the Healing Dream.

So much so that just by standing here and looking at it, he could easily sketch out its interior layout in his mind.

Akons' Sanctuary, an abandoned religious building.

According to Dorian, Hilaria—who was similarly ostracized in the dream—was still holding out there.

...

It truly was a miraculous place.

Walking down the uneven streets, even though devastation filled his sight, Fu Qian—who was always good at finding the bright side—quickly let out a sigh of admiration.

The reason was simple: the Lucid Dream in his hand was currently active.

Although he had escaped the Healing Dream, no matter how he looked at it, this place didn't seem like somewhere that would exist in reality.

Surprisingly, however, not only could the Ring actually be activated, but the resulting dream was exceptionally stable.

Even from the perspective of a Dream Dominator, it was hard to find much to criticize.

Not only did the place not reject it, but it even felt somewhat inherently attuned to dreams.

While this made Dorian's ability to design such a treatment plan seem much more reasonable, it also further stoked Fu Qian's curiosity about what exactly this place was.

Furthermore, despite its dilapidated exterior, Dorian was right. There were still people living in this once somewhat prosperous place, though they were sparsely scattered behind tightly shut doors and windows.

Even as he passed the burnt remains of the wooden houses, Fu Qian clearly confirmed that eyes were quietly peeking out from a gap in the curtains on the second floor of a nearby street corner.

His unsuppressed footsteps were evidently still far too loud in this dead, silent place.

In response, Fu Qian gave a friendly wave in that direction.

Unfortunately, almost instantly, that barely finger-wide gap was tightly drawn shut from the inside.

Just as Dorian had said, everyone's sense of security was very poor here.

Fu Qian naturally didn't mind this minor impoliteness. A moment later, he even casually deactivated the Lucid Dream to avoid accidentally disturbing the residents.

Ultimately, as he walked past the building, Fu Qian easily noticed some incongruous marks on the frame of that small window.

It looked as if something originally there had been violently scraped away.

...

It wasn't strange. If they were devout enough to name this place directly after a Divine Entity, it was perfectly normal for the buildings to have faith-related elements.

It seemed that Excellency Akons had been abandoned to a very deep extent, as even traces like these were seemingly deliberately eradicated.

The foundation of this place wasn't perfectly flat. While analyzing the situation, Fu Qian had already stepped onto a set of stone stairs and started walking uphill.

In fact, this was also why the Church could be seen at a glance. Its height wasn't exaggerated, but it sat at almost the highest elevation.

Looking at it from this angle, he didn't spot any obvious signs of damage.

It seemed everyone still had some sense of proportion. Even if the Deity didn't manifest, they hadn't actually run onto the Deity's turf to blatantly commit offenses.

Of course, this was just a preliminary observation. The specific situation inside was still uncertain—

Fu Qian's commentary paused, because at that moment, his observation was interrupted.

The originally gloomy sky abruptly plunged into darkness.

It truly came without any warning.

Without changing his pace, Fu Qian's curiosity about this place instantly grew by another point.

Suddenly experiencing this transition and plunging into a seemingly familiar darkness undoubtedly made it easy to draw associations with that "It."

However, Fu Qian had absolutely no intention of changing his route. He continued forward toward the highest point.

Speaking of which, this behavior inexplicably matched the rules in the Healing Dream—hide in the Church when it gets dark.

Of course, this time, it seemed he was the only one taking such action.

The living people in the surrounding buildings merely seemed to light faint lamps, remaining hidden behind their thick curtains.

"Excuse me."

With this sentiment, Fu Qian finally arrived in front of that distinctly styled outer wall.

The iron gates were even half-open, allowing him to walk straight to the Church's archway unimpeded and casually push it open.

Amid his polite greeting, a figure prostrated on the floor inside the empty building looked over in surprise.

Wearing a black gauze gown, pale and slender—it was undoubtedly Hilaria.

The only difference was that the style of her gown was much more conservative—compared to the one he currently held in his hand.

As Fu Qian lowered his head to confirm, he easily noticed that the woman's gaze had also frozen onto the Doll.

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