Eldritch Horror Theatre

Grandeur was a matter of atmosphere, not merely piling on spectacles.

Though thick fog surrounded them just a short distance away, it was almost certain the scope of this Nightmare was limited to the immediate perimeter of the Ruins.

What they could see of the landscape alone—its highly distinctive, undulating curves—was startling, giving the sensation of stepping onto primordial land.

The Ruins ahead lay buried deep within one such swell.

Furthermore, despite clearly being at the bottom of the sea, the area just outside the exit resembled a holiday beach. A flat expanse of fine red sand surrounded it, creating an even more bizarre contrast.

This layer of sand was noticeably thick, naturally pouring down into the lower-lying Ruins.

The Natives, constantly moving steles to block the doors only to tear them down again, probably couldn't even imagine such a scene outside.

Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

Even to the two of them, the discovery felt rather eerie.

Did this count as finding the sea of mind or not?

"This sand seems to be acting as a shield, isolating the destruction outside."

The Witch, having caught up beside him, stared at the scene and offered her assessment.

"It should be. Otherwise, they might not have even maintained their previous state. I suppose this proves it is the core of the Nightmare's power."

Fu Qian agreed.

Although the beach before them looked strange, this smear of red genuinely created the feel of a moat.

The area beyond the red sand in the dream wasn't empty. Much like a real ocean, traces of numerous creatures were visible.

Except the forms of these creatures visually embodied the very definition of madness.

There was no shortage of giant remains, and the twisted mutations on their limbs were even more pronounced, bearing clearly visible, spreading trails of a peculiar rot.

Of course, all of that was in the past. Now, even the corruption itself was extinct.

It was hard to imagine the Ruins they had just seen withstanding such devastation.

If what lay before them was truly the Mind Sea of Death, then the red sand seemed to have carved out a safe zone within it, preserving a sliver of vitality.

Though based on what they had learned earlier, everything would be destroyed the moment the people inside successfully opened the passage.

One could only say this place truly lived up to being "abstract." It even seemed to offer a direct, visceral sense of the Mind World's fragility.

"Up there."

The Witch spoke again, signaling for Fu Qian to follow her to the high ground at the back of the Ruins.

"All right."

Fu Qian simply took the lead.

After they successfully reached the outside together, the sensory obstacles the Witch previously faced seemed to have vanished, allowing her to discover even more extraordinary things—though wasn't this a bit too extraordinary?

They reached the top of the rock shelf in the blink of an eye. The sight waiting for them there left even Fu Qian deeply intrigued for a moment—

A towering figure, comparable in height to the earliest Stele-Bearing King and clad in a highly textured full-body Armor, was actually kneeling there on one knee.

An outfit clash?

Fu Qian found it hard to imagine he could still clash outfits even with his current look.

And comparison was the thief of joy. Compared to his own excessively exquisite, artwork-like style, the other party possessed far too much of a murderous, battle-hardened aura—not to mention they actually had a weapon.

The right hand of the Armor rested on an imposing Greatsword, its size looking massive even relative to the figure's giant frame.

Although it looked majestic and domineering at a glance, the blade's position was far too close. It was deeply embedded into the figure's neck, visibly severing at least half the head.

And the endless red sand seemed to originate right here.

...

"His blood?"

After carefully inspecting it, Fu Qian turned to confirm with the Witch.

Faced with this scene of someone slitting their own throat, the origin of the red sand seemed to have a visual answer.

"That's right. The form might have undergone some changes due to the special nature of this place. This should also be one of the reasons it was difficult to grasp earlier."

"At the same time, it is exactly this shift in form that allowed the underlying power to maintain the appearance of sand even after you utterly destroyed it."

The Witch nodded, even taking care to corroborate it with their previous situation.

"So you lean toward this place truly being the former sea of mind, and the reason this Nightmare's nature is so special is that it condensed from the 'seawater'?"

Though this made his earlier actions seem akin to mutilating a corpse, Fu Qian remained entirely unashamed.

"I haven't seen the sea of mind, but the scene does look very much like the reality outside—ultimate collapse and decay... So I do tend to think this is a manifestation of the apocalypse on the mental plane. What do you think?"

The Knight's summarizing skills were equally impressive. Showing no fear of misleading him, the Witch straightforwardly tossed out her own still-immature view.

"Unfortunately, my experience with the sea of mind is limited to a few glances, so I don't have much insight either."

Fu Qian sighed, naturally recalling the second-class citizen treatment he always received due to his status as an outsider.

"However, everything we've encountered inside the Ruins—whether people or objects—has indeed been a bit emotional."

He wasn't talking nonsense. Plagued by obsessions and haunted by karmic sins, what the Ruins lacked most in Fu Qian's eyes was perhaps the legendary state of a tranquil mind—

The Stele-Bearing Kings constantly piling up and tearing down obstacles, Liang Shangjun's fear of opening the door, the switching between two forms, and even the yearning for upward ascension felt from the steles...

Everything highlighted an extreme nature, calling to mind the legendary undissolving wisp of obsession that prevented a soul from reincarnating.

They were all condensations of the sea of mind under devastation, twisted reflections of the apocalypse deep within human hearts. It was indeed a rather reasonable explanation.

"But he probably isn't one of them. After all, his blood is considered a foreign substance."

The next moment, Fu Qian gestured at the armor and added.

At this point, the two of them had nearly reached a consensus: this Nightmare was highly likely the materialized wreckage of the sea of mind.

But if that was the case, the motives of this kneeling figure were truly profound and mysterious.

The owner of the armor couldn't be a simple character if just their spilled blood could achieve such an effect. It felt like they had to be at least Tier 1.

And they ran into the sea of mind during the apocalypse to commit such an act of self-slaughter, just to help preserve a sliver of vitality?

Theoretically, this possibility couldn't be ruled out, but Fu Qian remained rather skeptical.

"He certainly isn't. But there's a problem now: what about the parts other than the blood?"

Agreeing with Fu Qian's assessment, the Witch stepped forward as she spoke and reached out toward the heavy helmet, which was almost as tall as she was.

Clack!

With a light sound, the helmet was lifted right off, making no other noise or movement during the process.

But that wasn't the main point. Through the opened section, they could clearly see the inside of the armor was completely empty.

Interesting... Was this the origin of this Nightmare's theme?

Fu Qian and the Witch exchanged a glance, and in the next moment, almost simultaneously made a lifting motion with their palms.

"Blood loss."

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