Eldritch Horror Theatre

Although she had claimed she hadn't expected the Knight to arrive so soon, the Witch clearly had a few plans ready. She settled on a target for Fu Qian in an instant.

"Actually, ever since I noticed a few changes, I've been meaning to take a look."

As she explained, the Witch fell right back into her old habits. She slouched sideways in her seat, looking like a bout of procrastination had just flared up.

"Your timing is perfect. Having you here will save me some effort. Care to guess where we're going?"

She even retracted the wings on her back as she spoke, projecting a genuine sense of total relaxation.

'Where exactly...'

"A Nightmare?"

Fu Qian considered her question for a moment before hazarding a guess.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" the Witch asked with a touch of amusement.

Fu Qian shook his head.

"So in the apocalypse outside, aside from checking in on Her Excellency when it's convenient, it feels like there isn't much left worth exploring.

"On the other hand, the sudden reappearance of the Star Law and the unearthed Nightmares are much more interesting. If I were you, I'd also find time to wander through them and see which one had something fun hidden inside."

Having laid out his reasoning, Fu Qian made no effort to hide his own interest.

"Indeed. It seems the non-real world is a bit more entertaining after all."

The Witch smiled with growing satisfaction, acknowledging Fu Qian's guess with a soft sigh.

"You're just a little off on one detail, though. It's not a single Nightmare, but several."

...

'Oh?'

The Witch's deliberate emphasis sounded a bit strange.

However, clearly in high spirits today, she opted to keep him in suspense. She didn't explain herself even as she sat up from her seat.

"Let's head out, you'll see soon enough. You've seen this before, haven't you?"

An object suddenly appeared in her hand as she spoke.

'A Brain Fork?'

Fu Qian casually took the metal tool and weighed it in his hand.

That was it. This was the tool the Celestial Sphere Cult used to enter the dreams of Nightmare victims and patrol the night shift.

It only needed to be stabbed into a dreamwalker's head to activate. It was simple, convenient, and left no lingering side effects.

Of course, this was a new era, so its design had naturally seen a few changes.

It was a bit smaller now, but its engraved patterns were far more intricate and delicate. The overall shape remained a ring attached to a short blade, looking almost like an assembled piece of ceremonial regalia.

"I've seen it. I even worked a night shift with the Celestial Sphere Cult back then. But if I remember right, doesn't this thing need to be stabbed into someone's head?"

Toying with the Brain Fork, Fu Qian silently praised the Pope's thorough planning.

Based on what he had seen before, the tool essentially caused a Nightmare to spread to its immediate surroundings, dragging anyone nearby into it.

This automatic effect was perfect for him right now. Otherwise, relying purely on his own perception to make contact would be a massive hassle.

'But with that in mind, whose head are we going to stab?'

"It used to, but not anymore."

Waving off his concern, the Witch snatched the Brain Fork back and declared it a modified version for the new era.

Before she even finished speaking, she plunged the blade directly into the back of her other hand.

"Besides, due to a shift in the nature of their existence, the people of Laerdin can no longer dream. So, I'll just have to share it myself."

'So it really doesn't need to be stabbed into a head anymore. Praise the Pope,' Fu Qian thought.

Staring at her snow-white, pierced skin, Fu Qian marveled internally while a strange piece of trivia spontaneously popped into his head—it was said that an octopus kept its secondary brains in its tentacles.

He kept the thought to himself, naturally, refraining from voicing such a deeply disrespectful comparison aloud.

"What are you smiling about?"

The Witch's observation skills were staggering, however. She was already eyeing him with deep suspicion.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if I needed to make any adjustments on my end."

Fu Qian adopted a look of utmost seriousness, making it appear as though his entire focus was fixed on the upcoming expedition.

"It would be best if you could; it'll save me some energy. Entering directly at your current Rank would put a tremendous amount of strain on the Nightmare, so you'd better rein yourself in. Just keep it at the level you were at last time."

It was hard to say how much she bought the Knight's excuse, but the Witch let it slide and returned to the matter at hand.

"Done."

Her request was perfectly reasonable. Cramming the fully ascended King of the Abandoned Prison directly into a mere dream was indeed a bit ridiculous.

On the other hand, this kind of task was right up his alley. Having mastered the art of precise micro-adjustments, Fu Qian knew he could drop his power all the way back to the level of their first meeting if he wanted to.

He finished adjusting his state almost the exact moment she stopped speaking.

"Perfect. Let's begin, then."

Given her Knight's notoriously adaptable nature, the Witch clearly hadn't doubted him for a second. She nodded in satisfaction. A strange energy rippled out from her body, amplifying through the Brain Fork's resonance and washing over their surroundings.

...

'So it really is here.'

The transition was remarkably smooth. In the blink of an eye, the Top of the West District Church vanished from view.

It was replaced by an oppressively gloomy corridor—one that looked incredibly familiar.

After a quick glance around, Fu Qian easily confirmed that they had returned to the hospital that treated boiling blood disease. This was the exact place where he had first seen a Brain Fork, back when he was working the night shift with Reginald and the others.

Fu Qian highly doubted this was a pure coincidence, considering the Witch clearly possessed some level of control—

He turned to look at the woman beside him and saw that her wings had vanished without a trace.

Her entire appearance had reverted to the look she sported during their first meeting in the Painting World, complete with an enormous hat perched on her head.

It actually matched his own current style quite well.

"I've been here before. There aren't many wards, but they seem to specialize in treating incurable diseases. If I remember correctly, there's a basement with a pool on the lowest floor at the end of the hall."

Meeting the Witch's gaze as she looked over, Fu Qian pointed down the hall and freely expressed his appreciation as he introduced the place.

Moreover, it was easy to tell that the Witch had actively suppressed her Rank, just as he had.

Everything made perfect sense. The only issue was that this place was quite small in his memory; he found it hard to believe there was much value in exploring it.

"No rush to head down there. Let's take a look outside the hospital first."

Sure enough, the Witch completely ignored Fu Qian's statement, showing zero interest in paying the patients a visit.

'Outside the hospital?'

'If I remember right, wasn't this Nightmare's boundaries strictly limited to the medical facility itself?'

"Did some of the Nightmares merge together? A chain reaction from the disappearance of the Law?"

Fu Qian suddenly understood why the Witch had emphasized the word "several."

"To be precise, it's almost all of the currently known Nightmares."

The Witch gave him a look that practically said, Congratulations, you guessed right.

"They've merged together in a unique way, forming a much larger collective entity.

"It's hard to say whether this is a good or bad thing for the people inside right now. But as a somewhat unified whole, if there really is something special hidden inside, its influence can ripple out and spread to other areas much more easily."

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