Eldritch Horror Theatre

It was cold, but there was no wind.

Entering a Nightmare through the Brain Fork was already routine for Fu Qian.

Since the Witch was clearly interested, he naturally raised no objections.

After he accepted her shared connection, a unique physical sensation washed over him.

They really had come here.

His gaze immediately fell on the frost-speckled Greatsword embedded in the red sand. Fu Qian wasn't entirely surprised.

Biting frost and a forest of stone steles filled his vision. This was the exact wreckage of the suspected sea of mind from his previous exploration.

The Witch, having taken a great interest in this place, had ultimately chosen to use Dark Moon Power as the foundation to support this unstable Nightmare, saving it from collapse.

Of course, she wasn't just doing this out of charity.

Before they left this place last time, the Witch had even pointed out a few tombstones, explaining where each one led.

So, no matter what the Witch intended to do through the Nightmare, choosing this as their first stop was perfectly normal.

He also had to admit that the condition of this place made it look exactly like a preserved specimen.

Although the ground wasn't covered in frost, between the initial biting chill and the deathly silence that followed, the experience was incredibly immersive.

All motion had stopped; time had lost its meaning here.

"Come this way."

Just as he was taking it all in, the Witch called out. Unsurprisingly, she was standing next to a tombstone.

"Heading to the Fallen Stars' side?"

Fu Qian walked over, glanced down, and easily identified their destination.

"You remember very clearly."

Looking quite satisfied, the Witch gestured for him to place his hand on it.

...

It really was the Fallen Stars' Underground Base, or rather, a base within the base—the very lowest level of the entire structure.

Just like when they first entered the Nightmare, his surroundings changed the very next moment.

Fu Qian could easily identify where he was, even without his Transcendent Perception.

After all, he had engaged in a massive brawl with Brother Proxy here back in the day, wrecking the place quite thoroughly.

He could spot lingering traces of that destruction at a single glance.

He could even roughly estimate their distance from where the Fallen Stars stored their Sacred Relic.

He had to admit that the Witch's move was truly transcendent, akin to opening a portal straight into a bank vault.

"...So you're trying to tell me that you were so happy about the excellent situation that you sneaked down here to share the news with the Sacred Relic?"

The only pity was that there was clearly someone on duty in the vault. A moment later, a voice rang out from behind a nearby door.

The voice was female and faintly familiar, but it didn't belong to Xia, whom he had just encountered.

"Is there a problem?"

But this one was.

...

The tension was palpable.

He could easily tell that the second speaker was Madam Xia, who had accidentally Descended in the wrong place.

Even through the door, he could feel the sharp, adversarial bite between them.

Their conversation was clearly hostile.

And at this moment, Fu Qian finally realized why the first voice sounded so familiar.

During his first visit to the Fallen Star Clan, he had met their Big Four all together—two men and two women.

The one aggressively demanding accountability was precisely that remaining female member.

This perfectly explained the content of their conversation.

After all, it was obvious the conflict stemmed from Madam Xia sneaking into the forbidden area where the Sacred Relic was kept and getting caught red-handed by this woman.

If she weren't one of the Big Four, it would likely have been difficult for her to follow Xia in the first place.

"Of course there is... Do you think everyone believes your story? From where I stand, even Frankie is skeptical about this so-called Dark Moon Knight, Herbert."

The Female Magnate clearly had no intention of letting her colleague off easily. She simply sneered repeatedly at Xia's explanation.

As for the name she mentioned... Fu Qian naturally recalled a bronzed figure with a thick beard.

He was another of the Four Giants of the Fallen Star he had seen before, and he gave off the faint vibe of being the person in charge.

He remembered that when he greeted Brother Proxy back then, that man had suffered some collateral damage.

It seemed his luck was good, and he had survived.

However, Madam Xia didn't seem quite as lucky. It sounded like the story she had brought back wasn't very convincing.

Even though her comprehension seemed quite good—she had actually connected a lot of dots based on his final remark, "Give my regards to Dean Glenn," thereby confirming his identity.

But stumbling into a perilous place and then being rescued by the Dark Moon Knight and his Pope?

The story itself was truly bizarre, to say the least.

Furthermore, in Fu Qian's view, a major reason for the distrust was that his previously cultivated image as this Dark Moon Knight was hardly positive, which had dragged down the reputation of the Dark Moon Faith.

And now, it was even affecting Madam Xia's faith.

"Why wouldn't you believe it? Regardless, shouldn't this count as good news? Doesn't it prove that a force we don't fully understand has been helping us fight the crisis all along?"

Fortunately, Xia was no pushover. She immediately threw out a rapid-fire Three-Stage Questioning.

"Heh, so you're holding the only remaining Sacred Relic just to learn more about this force?"

The Female Magnate was equally unwilling to be outdone.

...

The conversation behind the door painted an incredibly vivid picture. Combined with what he had seen before, Fu Qian could easily imagine Madam Xia trying to slide a certain Elastic Skull over her head.

According to what Frankie had demonstrated during the mission, this item would allow Order Hunters like them undergoing Awakening to relive the moment the Nightmare shattered back then.

So after Xia returned, she hadn't just remembered the Dark Moon's grace; she even wanted to dig up more of its traces in history?

Not bad. Very ambitious.

"I do hope to understand more and see if I can find traces of them."

Amid Fu Qian's silent praise, Xia's response from behind the door confirmed this.

"Very well... But you can take that excuse to Frankie and see if he believes you."

Unfortunately, the other woman seemed unwilling to accept this, insisting on hauling her in for an interrogation.

"What are you afraid of?"

A counter-question answered her.

"...What do you mean, what am I afraid of?"

It was an abrupt question out of nowhere, but it carried quite an impact, causing the other woman to freeze for a brief moment.

"I did sneak in here, but aren't you a bit too tense?"

In an instant, the momentum of offense and defense had changed. Xia's words were sharp and relentless, striking straight at the heart.

"To me, compared to Frankie and the other guy, you seem to lack confidence in the current situation."

"Not believing my words is one thing. The situation clearly looks somewhat stable, yet at the slightest unusual movement, you get this tense?"

She made a good point. The one aggressively demanding accountability was indeed a bit tense.

However, this was human nature. Xia had previously mentioned that there were some differences of opinion within the organization regarding this great era of Nightmare fusion.

While making his silent appraisal, Fu Qian cast a glance at the Witch.

"You—"

The latter didn't speak, but the voice behind the door had also come to an abrupt halt.

Giving a slight nod, Fu Qian simply stepped forward and opened the door.

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