Eldritch Horror Theatre

They said that looking up suddenly from the beauty of life made it much easier to see death.

He had to admit he was feeling a strikingly similar sense of déjà vu right now.

The restaurant's decor had barely changed since his last visit.

A slightly ornate, old-fashioned chandelier still hung directly above his seat.

It hadn't been lit to begin with, but now a layer of utterly lifeless gray seemed to crawl across its surface.

Shrouded in shadow, it was hard to spot, easily overlooked with a moment's inattention.

But once noticed, it was impossible to tear one's gaze away from the sheer wrongness of it.

All things withering, good and evil reduced to ash—it was enough to instantly plunge a person into a Sage State.

Beyond that, the sensation felt surprisingly familiar. In fact, Fu Qian was certain he had just seen it.

Clink!

Fu Qian reached out, his hand striking something with a sharp, crisp sound.

It didn't just look like that deathly ash. Once it realized it had been spotted, the mass of shadows squirmed and actually thrust out a slender, sharp claw.

Its curve was elegant, its hue a dark crimson. Though it looked like bone, it rang out like clashing steel when it struck the Mirror Armor covering his hand.

Clink!

Before the first ring could fade, a second followed as Fu Qian's pinky finger pressed firmly against another sharp claw.

Clack!

Then came a third.

The sound differed slightly because as this claw pierced through the shadows, its tip suddenly split open, viciously sprouting an extra length.

Fu Qian was ready for it, catching the newly formed blade in a vise grip between two fingers.

This rather elegant exchange of blows finally settled into a stalemate.

His foresight was simple to explain: a similar scene had played out in this exact spot once before.

Crash!

Before either could speak, a much louder noise shattered the brief quiet of the restaurant.

The waitress hurrying out of the kitchen had frozen in her tracks nearby, staring in absolute terror at the clash of armored fingers and bone claws.

The plate she had been carrying was shattered, sending sausages rolling across the floor.

...

This was a perfectly natural reaction to stumbling across an apex predator.

He didn't feel the mood was ruined. In fact, to Fu Qian, the little disruption only made the scene more amusing.

Catherine's reaction was hardly surprising. If he could recognize an old acquaintance, there was no way she would fail to recognize the entity that treated her as a food source: the Spider Silk Queen.

Yes, the missing demigod, Akasha.

Excellency Crystal had searched for her high and low, even going so far as to ask a tiger for its hide.

Yet the target of all that effort had just made a gorgeous, unprompted entrance, appearing in a seemingly familiar posture.

"You've gotten gentler, though your new look is a bit weird."

Her voice remained as warm and inviting as ever, offering a compliment before she had even fully revealed herself.

Completely unfazed by the sound of the shattered plate, another sharp bone claw slowly crept out from the shadows.

This time, its target wasn't Fu Qian. It pressed firmly against the floor.

Using it for support, a bare foot stepped gracefully down from the empty air, followed by a thick cascade of red hair that wrapped around her entire body.

"I thought you were going to snap them off."

She finally took a seat in the booth beside him. The claws pressed against Fu Qian's hand slowly retreated, meeting no resistance from him.

That face—unmistakably Akasha's—stared straight at Fu Qian. She looked on the verge of tears, as if he had already hurt her.

He actually had snapped them off before, and had even scored a nice extra reward from it.

Fu Qian kept that thought to himself.

That ruthless claw-snapping incident had technically only happened in a false history. In reality, his subsequent interactions with the Natives had been largely cooperative.

Yet, it seemed the impression he had left behind still wasn't particularly great.

During their brief clash just now, Akasha's subconscious fear had actually been that he would break her claws.

Granted, it wasn't as if he lacked the interest.

The premise was exactly what he'd thought of during his post-mission review: ripping the entire limb off just to see if it would yield a long-reach weapon.

"Is this look really that strange?"

Evaluating his old acquaintance from the perspective of resource gathering, Fu Qian finally spoke, tapping a finger against the side of his head.

The facial Armor bloomed open like a flower, perfectly recreating the trademark operation of Ballard, that champion of justice.

...

"A little, but looking closely, it's actually quite nice."

Faced with Andiel's face beneath the Armor, Akasha clearly wasn't surprised.

As she studied his new appearance, she even offered a sincere critique.

What a pity. She ultimately could not remember her former companion.

Seeing Akasha's reaction, Fu Qian couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Because of the nature of the Unseen Hill, and the fact that he died to his Visceral Attack, Grimm Ballard—a man who strictly adhered to his code of conduct—had met a clearly different fate from the other Natives. It was a much more absolute erasure.

The specific result was that no one retained a single memory related to him.

This was also likely why the Warehouse had claimed the Mirror Knight would return one day, but that it would no longer be Ballard.

Fu Qian's understanding was that the concept of a "champion of justice" remained an inerasable element of the Unseen Hill, and it would one day be reborn and return.

Sadly, the champion of justice known as "Ballard" had been completely sacrificed.

But that was fine. Wasn't there a fake champion of justice right here?

"Glad you like it. Crystal and I put quite a bit of effort into tracking you down."

Lamenting inwardly, Fu Qian nodded, his tone carrying an easy familiarity.

"...Thanks for the effort."

At the mention of the tirelessly searching demigod, Akasha's coy glances and graceful gait notably dialed back.

But while casually offering her thanks, she merely narrowed her eyes and said nothing more.

"Right, there's Amber too."

Fu Qian suddenly recalled something and added the extra name.

...

"Could we get two fresh orders, please?"

This time, Akasha fell silent. Fu Qian didn't rush her, simply calling out to Catherine beside them.

It was just a plate of sausages. What spilled was spilled, and there was no need to give the waitress a hard time about it.

"Okay..."

Perhaps due to that approachability, combined with the familiar face beneath the helmet, Catherine's brain finally seemed to resume functioning. She gave a dry, raspy response.

"Coming over at this hour, this is the only thing they have left."

Fu Qian gave a satisfied nod, turning back to specifically offer Akasha an explanation.

"No need to force it. Just tell me what you feel you can share."

As the Spider Silk Queen's face stiffened, clearly unsure of how to respond, he offered another gentle reminder so she wouldn't feel cornered.

"Since you didn't come here to fight, I believe you aren't just here to catch up either, but want to discuss something with me. Just speak freely.

"Don't have any reservations. I won't care about your motives."

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