Eldritch Horror Theatre

Naturally, he was the one dealing the damage. When it came to explosive output, Fu Qian had always been extremely confident.

Unfortunately, it seemed the damage he unleashed was being reflected back onto himself in some abstract manner.

He had encountered damage reflection before, but this felt like an entirely different concept.

Based on his earlier deductions, the attacks had indeed landed on the opponent, but the resulting damage had been temporarily sealed.

And now, as that sealed damage finally manifested, it seemed most of it bore his own name.

No wonder Excellency Destiny Serpent was so calm. From beginning to end, He hadn't even thought about counterattacking or bursting out any damage of His own.

It looked like if Fu Qian struck any harder, he would eventually beat himself to death.

"Since the day of His birth, the Tyrant has made countless beings experience the destruction He brings... Now I, too, have felt it. This savage withering, this absolute rest of all things...

"But have you ever considered that the withering of withering, the cessation of cessation, is an even more beautiful thing?"

It sounded like the original Tyrant had possessed a terrible reputation right from the start, relying entirely on sheer, overwhelming power. Did that count as part of His authority as well?

As for the latter statement, it was practically a backhanded admission that the wounds appearing on Fu Qian's body were the direct result of His manipulation of destiny.

"Returning to my earlier question: I know what He sent you here to do, but do you truly know what you are here to do?

"Of course, it does not matter if you do not know. You will inevitably do what you must. Hehehe..."

...

What a classic charlatan's flair.

The low laughter seemed to mock the foolishness of the newly ascended King of the Abandoned Prison.

Yet, as the target of this mockery, Fu Qian didn't immediately snap back. Instead, he found himself praising the entity's stage presence.

If nothing else, if this guy set up a fortune-telling stall under an overpass with that attitude, his table would have been flipped over countless times by now.

"Indeed. As you said just a moment ago, there isn't much time."

Ignoring the wounds riddling his body, Fu Qian snapped the fingers of his restored hand.

A wisp of golden flame leaped to life, instantly engulfing his hand, his arm, his entire body... and eventually everything in the surroundings.

The Flame of Frenzy, which specifically targeted the will, was one of the essential manifestations of the Tyrant's power.

It might not possess the sheer intensity of his earlier concentrated bursts, but it made up for it with enduring stability.

Unsurprisingly, the scales on Excellency Destiny Serpent's body all shifted back into the shape of eyes, maintaining the maximum possible resistance.

However, no matter how immense that resistance was, it obviously couldn't match a true master of the authority.

So much so that, theoretically, it seemed entirely possible to whittle the entity down to victory through a battle of attrition—

"Not enough. Far from enough."

Watching Fu Qian's actions the entire time, Excellency Destiny Serpent slowly shook His head.

"You have found a path that might lead through to the future, but it is a pity that you lack the time to walk it to its end—even if you count the time starting from when you woke up this morning."

It was clear from those words that the entire duration of the mission had been under this entity's observation.

As for whether that claim was true or false—Fu Qian didn't withdraw the Flame of Frenzy.

Though he leaned toward believing it was true.

Between the targeted resistance and the shared destiny, the actual amount of flame damage that would ultimately land on the opponent was dismally low.

And from the beginning of the fight until now, despite looking worse for wear, the higher entity actually seemed to be in fairly good condition.

Trying to slowly wear down such a higher entity to death would naturally require a massive amount of time.

Even if he did have enough time, fighting a protracted battle against an existence that excelled at orchestrating everything and steering every possibility to its own advantage was hardly a good idea in Fu Qian's book—Rip!

So, he might as well dial up the intensity.

The next moment, from beneath the raging flames, thousands of tentacles surged out once more.

"It is not entirely surprising that you would do this... No matter the entity, they can never struggle free from their own destiny."

The attack successfully landed once again, though it only drew out more mockery from Excellency Destiny Serpent, along with an even more violently surging spray of blood.

Compared to the few scales blown off his opponent, the damage ravaging Fu Qian's own body was far more gruesome.

The rate at which his wounds were multiplying had more than doubled compared to a moment ago.

Fu Qian could almost feel himself rapidly becoming the ultimate destination of all that withering—the absolute vessel for the destruction he was dealing out.

The withering of withering, the cessation of cessation... Excellency Destiny Serpent truly was putting His earlier words into practice.

Not bad—

Before the tentacles could even fully retract into his body, they exploded outward once again, sweeping across everything in their path.

...

"Truly astonishing... If I had any other choice, I never would have willingly appeared before you."

The Serpent of Destiny's voice carried a distinct note of admiration, completely unbothered by admitting His reluctance to endure the Tyrant's full might head-on.

However, while He merely paid lip service, His words were accompanied by the rapid disintegration of Fu Qian's body.

Even for a formidable Tyrant, the Health Bar wasn't infinite.

Under the successive strikes, his body could barely be considered intact anymore, and it was rapidly tearing itself even further apart.

"You flatter me."

Naturally, that didn't stop Fu Qian from maintaining his polite demeanor.

"Why not try to unleash your true form? That might actually cause a slight disturbance in destiny."

Receiving such a cordial response, Excellency Destiny Serpent gave a slight nod and casually offered a suggestion of His own.

"True."

And Fu Qian actually took the advice to heart, snapping his fingers once more.

Amidst the boiling flames, his mangled body rapidly began to expand.

He found it.

At the exact same time, from the perspective of the higher entity, an illusory Calamity Eye was detonated once again.

...

It wasn't the same eye as before, but in that instant, Excellency Serpent of Destiny suddenly fell entirely silent.

Accompanying that silence was a flurry of scales fluttering to the ground like dead leaves.

It seemed He wasn't particularly known for His Health Bar, and this sealed destiny had finally arrived.

As for the reason, it was simply because there was no longer anyone left to endure that withering in His stead.

What he had just found was very simple—a connection.

Destiny was bizarre and unpredictable. Aside from the one weaving it, it was nearly impossible to grasp. However, since the damage was being actively transferred, there had to be a connection on some abstract level.

Savage withering, the absolute rest of all things... The entity's description of the Tyrant's essence had been remarkably accurate, especially the word 'all.'

With absolute power over life and death and the authority to command Calamity, the being standing before you was no mere costumed puppet. This seat was the true King of the Abandoned Prison.

If he could end destiny itself, why couldn't he sever the connections of destiny?

He had afflicted special concepts with Calamity on more than one occasion. Through his steadily escalating tests just now, under the combined barrage of the Frenzied Flame and Myriad Tentacles, he had used his own accumulating injuries to trace that abstract connection backward. He had locked onto the concept itself, directly and violently dismantling it.

Being more of a tyrant than the Tyrant had never been empty words.

Of course, a Sovereign of destiny hadn't earned His title for nothing.

Without the slightest intention of clocking out early, Fu Qian locked his gaze onto that rapidly decaying lump as a sphere of golden flame frantically condensed in his hand.

"Truly... magnificent..."

A moment later, a brand new head and neck pushed its way out from beneath the pile of rotting filth.

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