Eldritch Horror Theatre

Older, and far more majestic.

Ariel and the Proxy Bearer sat there, remaining completely motionless the entire time.

Yet in the blink of an eye, their surroundings had ascended from the barren earth, rocketing straight into the Divine Domain.

Though this Divine Domain still looked somewhat dilapidated, the ancient and luxurious court had already been reduced to ruined walls and shattered pillars.

Thanks to that, he could easily see farther into the distance. The blizzard had stopped, and under a sky full of stars, everything in sight shared the exact same desolation.

The originally bustling city had completely transformed, looking like a ruin on the verge of annihilation.

And the figures walking within it vividly illustrated what it meant to be wandering ghosts.

By now, no aura of the living remained on them. Their bodies seemed cast from white ash, ready to scatter at a single breath.

That wasn't the only change. The ash-white outlines were unexpectedly different from what he had seen before.

Wings and horns. Though their shapes were rather bizarre, they were still recognizable.

Even their placements corresponded perfectly: the left side of the head, and the right side of the back.

Indeed, whether wing or horn, there was only one of each, carrying a strange, conjugate beauty.

What kind of trendy style was this? His Excellency the Solitary King seemed to have somewhat eclectic tastes.

Staring at this scene, Fu Qian deeply felt that a king's mind was unfathomable.

Fortunately, not everyone was so flamboyant. Just look at His Excellency Needle Witch, who kept a very low profile—

Despite such drastic changes, a familiar figure could still be seen nearby at the exact same angle and location.

Roughly crafted, with a polygonal head and a face possessing nothing but a mouth.

His Excellency Needle Witch's puppet doll was not only still there, but it also hadn't changed in the slightest.

Even as seas changed into mulberry fields, the crimson snow and white ash had failed to leave a single mark on it.

More than that, its state of mind appeared entirely unaffected.

The Burlap Doll still looked as unbothered as ever. It didn't show the slightest sign of maladaptation despite seemingly arriving at a ruined royal court.

Specifically, it showed no stress response at all; it simply continued to quietly enjoy the performance of the two contestants.

...

So, it really was related to divine grace?

Faced with this scene, Fu Qian directly reached a conclusion.

Not underestimating one's opponent was one thing, but blindly exaggerating them was equally a sign of insecurity.

In his view, rather than believing the Night Watchers had cultivated their composure to such a degree that they wouldn't blink if Mount Tai collapsed in front of them, it was better to try a simpler explanation: they hadn't seen Mount Tai collapse at all.

Exactly, just like his earlier guess about why he could see the "snow."

It wasn't the wind moving, but the mind.

The snow had actually been there the whole time. He could only see it because he had drawn closer to the Solitary King.

Thus, the Night Watchers were so calm most likely because nothing had changed in their field of vision.

As for whether they knew his own vision had changed?

Since they could make such arrangements, the possibility that they had absolutely no concept of this place's nature was extremely slim.

In Fu Qian's eyes, the greatest possibility was that the audience knew things were changing, but they were stuck at a stage where they could only observe the characters.

That meant, unable to see the background, they could only deduce how the situation was developing based on the characters' reactions.

As for the reason, it was partly due to the Burlap Doll's detached posture of not letting a single leaf touch it, and partly derived from his previous speculation: why had the Night Watchers chosen him for this key role in the first place?

Making the most of everyone's talents was one thing, but this kind of synchronization likely came with negative side effects.

And since it was just a reconnaissance mission, it didn't warrant a suicide squad. Therefore, they probably had a way to evade the influence.

Although, as a result, it seemed their observation of the Solitary King could only be conducted indirectly.

From that perspective, his arrival could even be considered a gift to the Night Watchers.

Of course, there were pros and cons.

The candidate problem was solved, but the apparent results seemed somewhat less than ideal—the tool man still had no reaction up to this point, and the same went for both sides of the standoff.

They might not have perceived the matter of the Calamity Eyes, but Ariel and the others clearly knew something had gone wrong with the Descent.

Specifically, the Proxy Bearer's struggle for its own will had practically paused in that moment.

The Solitary King had merely delayed the progress of the Descent, not reversed it.

Theoretically, the Proxy Bearer's efficiency should only depend on the Solitary King's level of Descent, so it seemed the most it would do was simply stop accelerating?

This sudden pause in action made one suspect that subjective factors were at play.

Unable to figure out the situation, did they take a conservative approach right away to avoid being led into a ditch?

From the Origin Council's perspective, this was perfectly understandable, but it resulted in a headache for the Night Watchers.

The true and false Ariel once again sat quietly opposite each other, without saying a word. The scene was so abstract it was baffling.

Yet even in this situation, the Night Watchers didn't show any weakness; they firmly held their ground.

The Burlap Doll not rushing in was undoubtedly rational.

After all, the Origin Council's hesitation was only temporary. No matter what, given the current situation, they had to make their next move. Pulling chestnuts from the fire was never that simple—here it came.

It didn't disappoint. Although the Solitary King's Descent was still sluggish, a new disturbance truly did abruptly appear.

...

The Origin Council had once again secured third place in the composure competition.

Fu Qian was absolutely certain that the disturbance came from this old rival of his.

Because he didn't even need any special senses to directly see the changes on the Proxy Bearer—

Red as dark blood and sharp as pointed needles. At first glance, they looked a bit like blood vessels entrenched in that bionic body, but they quickly extended outward, becoming flamboyant and ferocious.

The Proxy Bearer, whose original appearance was already rather unsightly, instantly turned into a voodoo doll wrapped in thorns.

Yes, they were truly thorns, and their sharpness was completely absurd, because Fu Qian had already verified it personally—

The Proxy Bearer wasn't the only one showing anomalies. Almost in the very next moment, the exact same changes appeared on his own body.

Streaks of dark red blood thorns seemed to sprout from the depths of his soul at that moment, erupting both inside and outside his body with unstoppable force.

In the blink of an eye, they turned Fu Qian into a felony prisoner as well, accompanied by considerable pain—a seemingly familiar pain, in fact.

Thorns of Sin?

At that moment, Fu Qian naturally thought of a certain thing, which coincidentally had some relation to "heavy felonies."

When he first arrived in the Wasteland, he had participated in a special survival game.

At the end of the game, the "First Sinner" Sir William, who was favored by the Goddess of Sins, had entered a second form.

The things entwined around his body back then were extremely similar to the scene before him.

Even the reward he had received at the very end of that mission was something resembling thorns.

Going by the Warehouse's habit of exploiting loopholes... apart from the Solitary King, was the Goddess of Sins also involved in the current situation?

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