Eldritch Horror Theatre

"I actually quite like it."

Even though Fu Qian described the Flame of Frenzy as being forced into this manual form, the Witch seemed to appreciate his creativity.

"Besides, if it governs the destruction of the 'self,' that makes it very interesting. Use it on that stone stele."

But after merely a brief aside to express her aesthetic appreciation, she quickly returned to the matter at hand, gesturing for Fu Qian to burn something else with the fire.

Oh?

Despite the peculiar request, Fu Qian instantly complied.

The Witch indicated a stone stele identical in size to the one the giant had carried earlier, missing only a piece from the top.

Glancing down at it, Fu Qian raised the golden flower of flame in his hand and blew on it gently.

The flame scattered like a blown dandelion, yet the drifting embers held their shape, never dissipating along the way.

Then an astonishing scene unfolded. The completely lifeless stone stele—both the patterns on its surface and its very interior—rapidly underwent an indescribable distortion.

A comparison could still be made, however: it looked very much like the invisible bug from earlier.

It even struggled briefly before dissolving entirely into nothingness.

"Not only does it genuinely possess the concept of a living creature, it also exists on a mental level."

Staring at the empty space where the stele had stood, Fu Qian casually drew a conclusion.

He also noticed that the effect was strictly limited to the stele itself; the surrounding area remained completely untouched.

Such precise control once again highlighted the fact that the stele was an "individual."

"I think so too. Even if its nature is classified as a dream, certain rules still apply. They aren't just transformed from living creatures; they are living creatures in a highly unique form."

The Witch quickly explained her intent behind having Fu Qian perform the test.

"The reason I had you do this is that I sensed the impact of your flame just now. It wasn't just the bug; the entire Nightmare had a specific reaction to it."

"I suspect you don't even need a very high Rank to easily cause the dream to collapse using this method."

It wasn't just a specialized attack against the ghost bug, but against the entire Nightmare?

"So the original source of this Nightmare is related to the mental world, or even the concept of the 'self'?"

Faced with the Witch's explanation, Fu Qian gave a slight nod and smoothly voiced a deduction.

...

Gains often appeared in the most unexpected ways.

His original intention in choosing to Slay Any God in the Way along the journey was to make it easier for the Witch to observe his condition, but they ended up observing the state of the Nightmare first.

Based on what they knew so far, the shattering of this world's barrier and the arrival of doomsday had happened at least several centuries ago.

And for these "Nightmares" to have survived all the way to the present day—even if their scope and stability weren't as exaggerated as Inner Laerdin's—their origins could hardly be simple.

So looking at it now, the one before them was specifically connected to the mental world—or rather, the Mind World.

The moment the word "self" came up, Fu Qian immediately thought of a concept, something he had encountered not long ago.

In the Bookstore World, there was a convergence of wills suspected to belong to intelligent life—a Mind World that made even Su Gao feel safe and warm.

It even connected to numerous supernatural domains, including the Unseen Hill and the Burial Ground of the Gods... So what about this world?

Regardless, intelligent life must have existed here at some point, right? And they obviously dreamed just the same.

"I had a similar thought just now, but the mental world depends on how exactly it's defined."

Faced with the hypothesis Fu Qian had just raised, the Witch fell into deep thought.

"From what I know, supernatural abilities related to the mind are not uncommon in this world, and higher entities frequently rely on dreams to exert influence, but overall, the boundaries of this concept are not clearly defined."

"So what lies in the depths of the dream?"

In response to the Witch's explanation, Fu Qian instantly provided a limiting condition.

"From the day you were born until now, have you ever tried walking through dreams to reach some special supernatural domain?"

...

Regardless, the years she had lived through were likely far greater than his own.

Seeing the Witch frown slightly, seemingly sinking into memories of the past, Fu Qian did not disturb her.

Decisively falling silent, he stepped across the red sand and continued forward.

Unsurprisingly, the Witch followed right behind him, maintaining the noble posture of having a Knight clear the path.

So this was where that bug had been rolling around?

The winding passage soon neared its end, and as he took the lead into the new space, the first thing Fu Qian saw was the rolling red sand.

Although it was clearly a standard hexagonal hall, the floor beneath their feet was uneven, high on one side and low on the other.

The end of the ramp they had just emerged from was at the lowest point, while the hall's only exit—a door on the opposite wall—was at the highest point, effortlessly creating an atmosphere of a continuing climb.

At the moment, however, this drop in elevation had been largely smoothed out by the thick red sand.

It filled nearly half the hall, burying quite a few stone steles so deeply that only a faint trace remained visible on the surface. One glance was enough to tell the depth was considerable.

"No. I thought carefully about the question you just asked. On one hand, dreams are not my area of expertise. On the other hand, while I have relied on certain things to walk through them, I've never encountered anything too extraordinary—at most, some hidden supernatural creatures."

As Fu Qian observed the room, the Witch caught up, evidently having finished reminiscing.

"What about a black sea? Where minds couple together in a special way."

Even though the news was slightly pessimistic, Fu Qian didn't mind and continued to press for confirmation.

"No."

The Witch shook her head once more.

"The depths of dreams are indeed bizarre. Human thoughts do converge there in various abstract ways, but there is no sea... not in the Painting World, nor in the Laerdin that was recreated earlier."

...

Was there really no sea anywhere?

Could his constitution of being rejected by the Mind World have actually reached such a conceptual level?

He had originally considered whether it might be possible to borrow the Witch's power and walk through the mental ocean of this world, only to learn it couldn't be found at all?

Faced with the Witch's statement, Fu Qian was momentarily filled with emotion.

"The reason I ask is that in the world we were just in, I came into contact with that thing more than once."

Of course, this still didn't stop him from casually describing his multiple experiences of being treated as a second-class citizen, along with the conclusions he had drawn from his tests.

"Understood. So, are you all searching for the sea as well?"

Amidst his generous sharing, and before the Witch even had a chance to comment, a somewhat sharp voice suddenly rang out from above.

Looking up, he saw a face identical to the giant's from earlier, gazing down at them from high above.

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