Eldritch Horror Theatre

She really isn't afraid of dying.

Although Madam Jill's greeting was perfectly polite, it didn't stop Fu Qian from drawing an entirely different conclusion.

Paranoia was undesirable, but he couldn't let superficial appearances sway his reasoning, either.

Facing a high-tier transcendent advancing aggressively toward her, she hadn't just stood her ground instead of fleeing. At a glance, her haggard, heavily scarred appearance made it look like she was in the throes of a final struggle under the torment of the Crimson Frenzy and the three auras.

He couldn't detect a single hint of the guilty conscience expected from someone whose perfect disguise had finally been pierced.

Even now, relying on his own perspective and perception, he still couldn't sense anything unusual.

Under these circumstances, it was hard not to wonder if he had overthought things earlier, and if the Virgo, La Nina, was simply hiding too well.

But how could he so recklessly interpret the faint ripple the Wanderer Knight had won for him by burning through his longing for his beloved wife?

Since simple intimidation didn't work, the next logical step was to actually strike. He could blow Madam Jill's head off with a direct Air Bullet—there was no way the Virgo could maintain her act after that. But that was the wrong approach.

He couldn't afford to forget what had happened after the previous knights died.

Their heroic souls had refused to disperse, leaving behind final ripples that bound them deeply to this Frozen Sea Prison.

If they possessed such traits, wouldn't this seemingly far more mysterious and unpredictable Virgo have them as well?

Operating on that premise, the situation before him was very likely another trap.

The reasoning was simple: if he directly crushed this suspect and the task notified him of failure, it would prove that the Virgo, La Nina, had hidden within Jill but failed to reveal herself before Fu Qian obliterated the very foundation of her existence.

That outcome would mean he had spent one point of his SAN Value to lock onto his target, achieving massive progress in the task. Even if it forced a restart, the trade-off would be worth it.

But what if the task didn't notify him of failure?

What would he do then?

Would it mean the Virgo, La Nina, hadn't been hiding in Jill to begin with?

Would he have to overturn the hypothesis he had formed from the Wanderer's information? Would he have to attribute his failure to find the target to La Nina hiding too well, or to their bond being too shallow for his obsessive search for the woman to take effect?

That might seem like a gain, as it appeared to eliminate a suspect. But could he really rule her out? What if his earlier hypothesis had been correct?

With the three knights serving as precedent, if Jill died and the task didn't fail, her death would yield no meaningful conclusions.

In fact, keeping her alive right now made her a far more valuable asset to manipulate.

Just imagine: if the host died and his target returned to a unified whole, no longer existing in human form, the difficulty of locking onto her would undoubtedly skyrocket.

Under those conditions, keeping the host alive made things much easier to control.

The next moment, the Blue Gemstone Ring on Fu Qian's sole remaining hand flickered faintly, shrouding their surroundings in a Lucid Dream.

He had deliberately deactivated the Resplendent Tyrant earlier to minimize his stimulation of this place, aiming to delay the Fourth Knight's Descent for as long as possible.

Simultaneously, it ensured the transformation wouldn't interfere with his subsequent plans.

...

"Sinner Excellency, cough, cough... your hand?"

Compared to Madam Jill, the Scholar possessed a unique sort of naivety; his sense for danger wasn't nearly as sharp.

Facing Fu Qian, who had suddenly returned to scrutinize them, the man clearly hadn't considered his own safety. Instead, he was shocked by the physical changes in Fu Qian, crying out in alarm the moment he looked his way.

Fu Qian did look rather miserable. He had lost at least eight percent of his body mass, not to mention the fish scales coating his skin.

Clearly, Fu Qian's overwhelming display as he dispatched the Dragon of Pestilence earlier had left a deep impression on the Scholar.

For a high-tier transcendent with such absurd combat power to end up in this state in the blink of an eye, one couldn't help but fear what other massive perils lurked in this increasingly deadly domain.

Furthermore, since their previous parting, the Scholar's condition had also deteriorated. The most obvious change lay in the crimson bloodlines across his body, which were already pulsing and threatening to tear through his skin.

"Where is Li?"

Fu Qian naturally wasn't going to reminisce about their parting. Ignoring the Scholar's shock, he took a step forward, questioning the pair while scrutinizing them.

"Please rest assured, he hasn't undergone his final transformation yet, either. He just went off on his own... The two of us aren't in very good condition."

It was obvious that Jill didn't dare show any negligence. The fact that Fu Qian was still willing to talk bolstered her spirits, prompting her to explain almost immediately.

So they really were abandoned.

Fu Qian wasn't surprised by the development.

While Li might not have possessed high intelligence, he clearly had his own plans. He had only traveled with them earlier out of a need to survive.

Jill might still be functional, but after enduring continuous torment, the Scholar was practically gasping for breath with every step. If not for the stimulant effects of the Crimson Frenzy, he might have frozen to death already.

In this state, there was no safety in numbers; instead, the dead weight would only limit efficiency.

By leaving on his own, Li could easily excuse it as splitting up to cover more ground.

Whether he would actually return if he found clues regarding the Virgo, La Nina, was another matter entirely.

"So, any gains?"

Jill and the Scholar might have been tense, but Fu Qian asked the question casually, nodding slightly.

"I'm sorry, no... We tried to open many of the cells, and we were even forced to execute three of those monsters, but we gained nothing."

Seeing the Sinner Excellency focus on the main issue, Jill appeared somewhat relieved and quickly elaborated.

"It seems we are among the few lucky ones in this prison. Most people have very poor resistance to the Crimson Frenzy."

Having failed to acquire any bargaining chips, Jill watched Fu Qian as she spoke, not bothering to beg for mercy.

It was clear that his unpredictable behavior up to this point had crushed any hope she harbored that he might show some pointless pity.

"I understand."

As expected, Fu Qian showed no emotional reaction. However, as he spoke, he stared straight into Jill's increasingly bizarre eyes, making her instinctively sense that something was wrong.

"When you consistently fail to get results, have you ever considered that the problem might be yourself?"

Validating her sharp intuition, Fu Qian even revealed a rare smile when he spoke again.

Considering it was highly likely that even the death of her host wouldn't critically impact her, the Virgo undoubtedly possessed immense strategic patience.

It was hard to imagine anything threatening her the way Eve had been threatened, thereby forcing her to reveal herself voluntarily.

But that didn't matter. Threatening her host was far too simple.

Within the Lucid Dream, the coercion from the Sovereign would be enough to force Jill to examine her own mind to the point of developing a split personality.

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