Eldritch Horror Theatre

"My thanks. That was a truly pleasant journey," he said.

Destroying the root of the desecration with a single strike and returning the Third Cause to a state of purity—such efficiency was undeniably satisfying.

Amid the pleasant chime of the prompt, Fu Qian did not turn around. He simply gazed into the scattered starlight to express his thanks, looking every bit the man leaving after his curiosity had been fully satisfied.

With a flutter of his robes, the space he occupied became truly empty, leaving only three people standing in the darkness, overcome by a sense of loss.

[Task Evaluation: King of Offense]

The very next moment, having withdrawn after a successful mission, Fu Qian found himself in a place with similarly poor visibility.

Though the evaluation given by the Warehouse this time was a bit strange.

[Ancient accumulation is never reflected merely in broken bricks and tiles.

As a city that existed before the Long Night, Lanphilai has weathered countless cycles of destruction and rebirth. Numerous ambitious schemers lie buried here alongside the suffering they created.

As a result, they showed considerable tolerance when certain ancient things were reborn from history.

Almost no one remembered the original meaning represented by the Dancers' graceful figures.

Just as the Dancers themselves did not know the true power represented by the ornaments embedded in their bellies.

This was especially true after they had hoped, on more than one occasion, that these ornaments would help them escape the troubles following their revelries, only for things to backfire.

In such ignorance, they became bridges, allowing pollution to gradually accumulate on the masterless Third Cause.

Once this connection reached a certain threshold, the latter would not only manifest its power, but it would also turn into nourishment to mend the withered flesh of an Ancient Higher Being.

Theoretically, this process could not be stopped.

Because purifying an imprint that had already been carved required introducing another imprint.

The pure, nascent power, like a child utterly devoid of immunity, would ultimately fail to escape the fate of being devoured and divided.

Fortunately, on this day, a special will manifested within space and time.

Your unique state of self allowed you, as the master of the Third Cause, to expel the other filth without leaving any self-imprint upon it, truly returning it to purity.

Now, the Third Cause has entered an undisturbed state of peace.

And the people who harbored various thoughts toward it, after briefly experiencing the wonder of that destiny, will never again find anything transcendent about it.]

[Kills: None]

[Rewards: SAN Value +20, Body-Slaughtering Talisman]

[Current SAN Value: 150]

[Play Event Review?]

...

Aha?

A special will... able to expel filth without leaving a self-imprint?

The task summary this time was rather detailed. Sitting in his seat and listening silently, Fu Qian quickly picked up on a few keywords.

The "special will" undoubtedly referred to him, even if that latter description made him sound a bit like a sucker.

At the same time, putting cause and effect together, Fu Qian managed to form a theory regarding a doubt he had harbored from the start—

Was there anything special about this first task after achieving complete Mechanical Ascension?

The answer was yes. As expected, the Warehouse hadn't deliberately lowered the difficulty just to foster a pleasant atmosphere for the week's work.

The reason this first task was designated as number three was because, even as a number three, he was the only one who could do it.

First of all, he could tell there was actually nothing wrong with its difficulty level.

Although the way he completed it ultimately amounted to directly confronting an Ancient Higher Being and a possible New God, this was entirely the result of deliberately guided choices.

Judging from the task summary, it was highly likely that the milder strategies available earlier would have also been effective.

The symbol of the Dancer was indeed a crucial bridge. If he had actually gone about cleansing or executing them one by one, there would probably have been a significant chance of completing the task.

Not to mention that, with just a little guidance, the Night Watchers would have taken relevant measures to help.

So, if one didn't mind the trouble and concealed their actions carefully, the danger level of this task truly wasn't high.

It was just that he had opted for violent mine clearance, bulldozing his way straight through.

Then why say that only he could do it?

The answer lay in his vanished attribute: inspiration.

That was right. In Fu Qian's judgment, the "special state" mentioned by the Warehouse most likely referred to exactly this.

It was truly a rule-based will that exploited people to the fullest. His current state was undoubtedly extremely delicate. The loss of Transcendent Perception meant that, aside from his Rank, he seemed fundamentally different from ordinary individuals of the Transcendent Tier.

And this abnormality was utilized by the Warehouse—only someone like him, when assigned the identity of master over the Third Cause, would leave no lingering side effects after solving the problem.

Otherwise, it would be the eternal trope of the dragon-slaying hero becoming the evil dragon, and there would be no hope of obtaining a pure Third Cause for Containment.

In summary, this task was not an act of pity; rather, it was a long-existing problem that had finally, on this day, met the person who could resolve it.

...

Given the Warehouse's style, it was hard to imagine it being so generous.

Arranging a simple task was one thing, but upon seeing the administrator level up, its first priority was to help find a lost authority?

Facts proved that the title of "master"—much like in those legendary maid cafes—was only valid when they needed you to pay up.

Once the transaction was over, all ties were severed.

But it didn't matter. For one thing, he had never harbored such beautiful fantasies anyway. For another, the harvest from this trip was already quite lucrative.

Leaving aside the prior experience of clashing with authorities, the description of "pure, nascent power" in the task summary's evaluation of the Third Cause really sparked the imagination.

It wasn't a spare part that had dropped off the ancient gods, but rather a direct, brand-new authority?

Was that why it was masterless? Was that why it was so easily desecrated?

Given the previous example of opening the Divine Path, this situation wasn't entirely unimaginable.

It seemed what he had experienced wasn't an absolute coincidence. Similar things did happen, and sometimes what was created from nothing wasn't a Divine Station, but purely an authority.

The only regret was that the Warehouse lacked a description of its specific gestation process.

Ancient accumulation... was the power of the human heart truly that strong?

It was hard to say, but he could obviously keep an eye on the subsequent developments in Lanphilai and the reactions of various factions.

Just as he had suspected during the task, Master Gregor seemed to have played an overly active role in promoting the traditional culture of the Dancers.

Even after his death, for it to continue developing so vibrantly made one suspect there was an extra driving force behind it.

Of course, that was a matter for later. For now, he might as well study the reward contents.

First of all, it undoubtedly proved once again that the attribute of inspiration hadn't just been reset to zero.

The task rewards were business as usual, and the amount of SAN Value added was correct, but inspiration wasn't even mentioned.

He was indeed in some kind of specially corrupted save state right now.

As for the remaining reward... its name was somewhat odd.

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