Eldritch Horror Theatre

The causality of this world was truly wondrous.

Although she was young, it was obvious Clara had realized this in that moment.

"Ah—that's not necessary."

A Lian's understanding, by contrast, was clearly much shallower. Faced with such an overly generous reward, she instinctively declined.

"Don't mention it. Today's performance alone was more than enough to satisfy me."

Fu Qian tossed the money over without giving her a chance to argue, acting so casually generous one might think the money wasn't even his.

Snap—

Ignoring A Lian's reaction, he took the two bundles of incense straight from her hands, lit a stick, and handed it to Clara beside him.

"Here. Keep going."

Jolting awake from her reverie, Clara ultimately failed to find a reason to refuse under A Lian's baffled gaze.

She took the incense, stepped to the side again, and planted it in the exact same spot.

The instant she struck her pose, she acutely felt that this night was grotesque to the extreme.

Theoretically, she still had the right to refuse to continue dancing.

Yet, through a myriad of coincidences, she truly felt stripped of her own agency.

Even more wondrous was the peace of mind that came with it.

Gazing at the starlight reflected between the sky and the water, Clara set her feet in motion once again.

...

"Were you two... just doing this earlier?"

The performer wasn't the only one who found things bizarre. Clara's dancing was indeed moving, but A Lian was clearly far more astonished by this strange scene of one person performing and another watching.

How had this pair even come together?

Old friends at first sight? A reunion after a long separation? Or were they both just possessed?

Between the performer's absolute devotion and the spectator's utter leisure, it was impossible to believe these two were mere strangers who had met by chance.

Not to mention these two had already acted bizarrely together once before...

"Yeah, what do you think?"

Fu Qian understood A Lian's feelings, but he had no intention of comforting her.

Which wanderer traveling the jianghu hadn't seen a few bizarre things? She could just treat it as bumping into something unholy.

"She does dance well... Even the best dancers in Lanphilai would probably fall short."

Even though she knew this shouldn't be the focus, A Lian's eyes were subconsciously drawn to the movements the moment he mentioned them. In the end, she couldn't help but murmur her praise.

"So, you've seen quite a few performances then?"

Fu Qian seized on the stray detail she had just let slip.

"Indeed... even though it's never been officially listed on the itinerary, this kind of performance is extremely popular."

A Lian nodded, readily admitting to the lowbrow tastes of the masses.

"That's what you call a crowd-pleaser. So, when exactly did this classic routine start catching on?"

Without the slightest hint of embarrassment, Fu Qian asked in a casual, conversational tone.

"That was a very long time ago. Long before I was born."

The bizarre aura radiating from Clara's movements was growing stronger by the second. If it weren't for this leisurely chat acting as a buffer, A Lian might have genuinely turned and fled.

"Before Gregor died, then?"

Fu Qian casually tossed out a name.

"I'd have to think about that... but it should be even earlier than that."

Not even realizing how strange it was for a tourist to drop that name, A Lian pondered for a moment before nodding again.

"I once knew a retired dancer. She mentioned that the scholar was even invited to give them pointers."

Oh? That piece of information was undeniably interesting.

"On their movements and attire?"

"Mhm."

"Including the decorations on their bellies?"

"...She didn't mention that part. But from what I understand, people started doing that not long after the profession first appeared."

Their exchange flowed smoothly and naturally, and A Lian seemed to have wrung her memory completely dry.

...

Gregor, a folklore expert with unique insights into transcendent powers, had once guided the newly emerged profession of dancers?

At first glance, it sounded perfectly logical. But combining it with the swift emergence of the Inviolable decorations and the scholar's academic theories... the whole affair practically reeked of deliberate orchestration.

He had merely been taking the opportunity to fish for more details from A Lian, though the conclusion did veer a bit into conspiracy theory territory.

In all fairness, there were no glaring logical flaws in the matter. Everything was entirely reasonable—the Night Watchers felt the exact same way.

And if they didn't, the consequences would be dire.

It could all just be a coincidence, but if there truly was a guiding hand behind the scenes, that was also logically sound.

As for this potential "mastermind," did they know that the entity targeted by the divine dance was still breathing?

That was equally hard to say.

Fu Qian lowered his gaze to his palm once more. In the short time it took to burn three sticks of incense, the erosion of chaos had already pushed this Demigod Physique to the absolute brink of collapse.

Although Clara herself remained unaffected, her increasingly immersed performance was indeed forging a smoother conduit for the Descent of power.

To Fu Qian's senses, his body was now truly as fragile as thin paper. If even the slightest tear opened up, he might just detonate into a pile of fireworks.

But it still wasn't enough.

Snap—

A moment later, under A Lian's watchful eyes, Fu Qian finally stood up, casually lit the last bundle of incense, and walked straight over to Clara.

When he looked at the mark on his palm, his Calamity Eyes could already reverse-trace a certain target, but the connection was still a bit blurry.

The connection needed to be tighter to maximize his output.

Fortunately, his hand-picked dancer was now completely immersed. Even after another routine ended, she silently maintained her posture, showing no intention of resting.

Fu Qian didn't disturb her, simply planting the fresh incense into the ground.

No reminders were needed; everything was understood without a word.

This bottomless, ruthless exploitation left even A Lian staring in dumbfounded shock. She wasn't sure if she should step forward to intervene.

Oh? It seemed there was no need for that anymore?

Just a second before Clara began moving, Fu Qian lowered his head once more to stare at a cluster of erupting lightning in his palm.

That was right, the abnormal change was stemming from the middle ring of the three.

Compared to fire and blood, this inherently violent form of power felt practically out of control in that instant.

It looked like nothing more than a miniature cluster, yet it housed a world-destroying might.

It even transcended the very concept of lightning. In Fu Qian's eyes, this frenzy and destruction—transmitted across time and space—had come from the hands of at least a New God.

That was right, it wasn't the same entity that had profaned the Third Cause. He was absolutely certain of this.

Because this attack was actually locking onto both contending parties at the exact same time.

A third player had entered the struggle for the Third Cause.

As for who exactly this sacred figure was—who else could it be?

The Night Watchers were always so reliable, and this time, they had arrived right on cue.

It seemed highly likely that the Ancient Higher Being who liked to steal things was, just as he had guessed, under the surveillance of the Night Watchers.

Although it seemed the Night Watcher monitoring Him possessed a power type rather similar to His own.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to trace the connection all the way back and lock onto him through the Third Cause.

But it didn't matter. This development was practically one of the best-case scenarios—

Although the Night Watchers of Lanphilai had been utterly useless, their upper echelons had been directly alerted and were now helping him deal with the source of his problem.

In fact, this extra surge of frenzy had finally made the connection established through the Third Cause completely clear.

Fu Qian took a deep breath, his Rank unceremoniously recovering all the way back to that of a true higher entity.

In sync with this, his reverse-tracing Calamity Eyes rapidly expanded, detonating with a thunderous boom before "He" could sense the problem and successfully sever the link.

'Hmph. How dare you rats?'

Piercing through time and space, crossing the boundaries of realms, this full-powered strike—brimming with the might of a Tyrant—annihilated everything in that instant.

[Current task completed. Containment of Number 3-399 successful.]

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