Eldritch Horror Theatre

Making up stories was never an easy task. After so many years of bluffing and scamming, Fu Qian felt he had only gained a little bit of insight.

Because of this, a certain line of thought had always been clear to him: the first brave soul to step through that door deserved to have their mental journey thoroughly heard out.

That was exactly why he engaged in such patient, meticulous conversation after Amber actually helped track the guy down.

What a pity. His Excellency the Black Doctor seemed prepared, but his performance was still a bit too clumsy in the end.

If he had known how to hide his flaws—even just playing dumb and claiming ignorance would have worked—it might have been fine. But the man was overly confident in his fabricated story. He even tried to show off a character arc. He couldn't blame anyone for suspecting him when he gave himself away so obviously.

Did he really just write the words on the wall?

The effects of that door were so extraordinary that it wasn't easy to link them to a mere demigod in the first place.

Unfortunately, the man's behavior had grown increasingly bizarre. The inconsistencies in his story piled up like a string of self-sabotage, forcing one to consider the possibility.

Just as he had noted earlier, writing that line on the wall could hardly be considered an act of goodwill. It was practically a prank.

Not only did that make the sick joke feel even heavier, but it also fundamentally clashed with his supposed personality.

In Fu Qian's eyes, unless someone was a truly deranged lunatic treating the world like a game, almost no one would pull a stunt like that and then actually walk through the door themselves.

But how could that kind of lunatic character show such a fragile reaction when faced with the trivial "truth" behind the door?

Frankly speaking, His Excellency the Black Doctor needed to put a bit more effort into making his persona believable.

Not to mention how terribly he was struggling to adapt to the current threat.

"I don't want to listen to your insane ramblings here... Heh, is this the wisdom of an outsider?"

After realizing he had inexplicably offered up his own neck to be grabbed, the Black Doctor surprisingly didn't fight back. He simply let Fu Qian hold him up by the throat, even taking the opportunity to mock him.

Quite the dignified display—if he hadn't ruined the effect by drawing a snake with feet and shooting an extra glance at Amber.

In Fu Qian's view, that last sentence was clearly meant for her, a deliberate attempt to spark some sense of crisis.

All in all, he had once again contradicted his own persona.

His fearless-in-the-face-of-death act was on point, but this subconscious attempt to rally every available force showed a will to live that was far too strong.

"Yes, and now for the outsider's strength portion."

Fu Qian gave a slight nod as a brilliant golden radiance erupted from his body.

...

The full-power output of the remastered Commandment Residue was already putting quite a bit of pressure on a demigod.

Even if His Excellency the Black Doctor had braced himself mentally, that preparation was almost certainly inadequate.

Reflected in those brilliant golden hues, his eyes were visibly turning clear.

Crack!

It seemed a little too inadequate. The next moment, those two eyeballs practically burst out of his skull in sheer shock, popping out like one of those squeeze-toy prank dolls.

The effect was similar, too. They didn't actually hit Fu Qian's face; instead, after reaching their maximum distance, they were yanked right back by whatever was connected behind them.

‘It seems there aren't any bodily fluids left?’

This grotesque spectacle didn't stop Fu Qian from quickly drawing an observation, clicking his tongue in marvel.

As expected of the Black Doctor, his physical structure was truly different from an ordinary person's.

It was still flesh and blood, yes, but beneath an exterior that resembled a normal human, his internal structure looked exactly like a pile of withered, dried-up specimens tangled together.

Whether it was blood or any other messy bodily fluid, it had long since dried up. The empty spaces had been filled with some bizarre substance.

Even though physical form didn't matter as much once one reached the High-Tier Transcendent level, this wasn't just anti-human anymore—it was practically giving the middle finger to the very concept of life.

And yet, despite such a structure, he had maintained a flawless exterior and functioned perfectly up until now. One could only commend the doctor for his excellent craftsmanship.

Including at this very moment.

His eyeballs actually seemed to act as bottle stoppers. Even though they hadn't hit their target, the moment they popped out, some kind of colored gas sealed inside instantly blanketed the surroundings.

Now this was a High-Tier Transcendent.

No matter how weak they looked on the surface, they always hid a few vicious tricks up their sleeves in the end.

"Haa—"

Clearly, the Black Doctor possessed no sense of camaraderie. At that moment, even Amber was caught within the strike zone.

Though she reacted quickly—immediately putting distance between them and even summoning a barrier to protect herself—a faint wisp of grass-green gas still brushed against her.

The effect was practically instantaneous. Before she could make any further moves, Amber's expression twisted into that of a cat lifted by the scruff of its neck. Her body abruptly went rigid, and the sound tearing from her throat was utterly bizarre.

Mental Shock? The legendary fear gas couldn't be much worse than this, right?

Such a scene was undoubtedly capable of sparking one's imagination, and Fu Qian tossed out a casual guess.

Just like how he hadn't dodged the flying eyeballs, he still made no attempt to leave the gas's area of effect. Instead, in the very next second, he took a deep breath.

‘Still too mediocre. I don't feel a thing.’

...

Back when he acted as a target for Eldest Miss Wen at the Academy, the true value of being an uncultured brute had already been proven.

She could be called a veteran at manipulating emotions, yet even after advancing to a demigod and attacking with full force, she still hadn't left a single scratch on his mind.

At this moment, His Excellency the Black Doctor's little tricks were exactly the same.

Even when Fu Qian actively inhaled more of the gas, it still failed to cause even the slightest ripple.

Was it a bit unfair to judge him so harshly?

After all, the gap in their Rank was already quite large, and Eldest Miss Wen hadn't performed any better.

It was simple: he called it mediocre because he had held higher expectations to begin with.

As a demigod's technique, this trick might actually be considered pretty good.

But that door had treated everyone completely equally—whether they were a demigod or a Tyrant, an outsider or one of the Natives.

If the door was truly just another one of the Black Doctor's tricks, there had to be some explanation for how he could tap into such a sublime power.

Screech—

Unfortunately, it looked as though His Excellency the Black Doctor had been thoroughly enraged by the slander, and he had no intention of offering any more explanations.

Instead, a bizarre noise erupted from deep within that peculiar body of his.

Like the shrill plucking and scraping of terrible instruments.

Yes, to Fu Qian, that felt like the most fitting way to describe it.

If his fluid-drained tissues were like a pile of withered specimens twisted together...

Then right now, they were violently grinding against one another, producing an utterly grotesque sound.

And that was only on the surface. An extreme, agonizing pain of flesh and blood was being projected outward through the noise, its intensity skyrocketing like mad.

Oh?

And this time, even Dayun Mingwang was finally affected.

Though, even as Fu Qian marveled at the display, his Commandment Residue remained at maximum output, kindly helping the other party pacify these "delusions."

Boom!

Alas, it seemed that had only spurred a rebellious reaction.

At a certain point, the Black Doctor's already heavily deformed body reached a crescendo of absolute agony—and blew itself to pieces.

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