Eldritch Horror Theatre

"See? I told you the drinks were terrible, but the place is nice."

In the blink of an eye, yet another demigod had appeared.

Excellency Crystal's gaze was complicated, but for the moment she merely stared at Akasha and the outsider beside her, in no rush to speak.

It was not surprising. After going to such lengths and taking such risks to search for so long, finding the person in question casually drinking at a bar would make anyone a little emotional.

Not to mention that compared to her last appearance here, Crystal's entrance was far more subdued.

She merely brought a slight chill to the air instead of freezing the surroundings into a solid block of ice.

"These two just shared an interesting story. It sounds like what lies behind that door isn't quite as wonderful as the Prophet claimed. They even went inside and came right back."

As the one who had facilitated this meeting, Excellency Holler seemed to be in a better mood, and was even talking more than usual.

He gestured toward Fu Qian and Akasha as he spoke. Clearly worried that Crystal had missed the explosive revelation upon her arrival, he quickly summarized it for her.

After all, even while holed up here wallowing in decadence, he could not be completely ignorant of the current situation in the Unseen Hill.

A group of demigods had been locked in a stalemate at that door for so long, only to suddenly be told that such a breakthrough had occurred.

Furthermore, for the people involved to remain so calm after their hopes were supposedly dashed—anyone would question the truth of it.

Not to mention, the two people delivering the news did not exactly have the best reputations to begin with.

"It is indeed interesting, because at the very least, I can confirm that Excellency Andiel really did go in and return."

Given Holler's enthusiasm, Crystal could not exactly maintain her cold, aloof front. She gave a slight nod.

...

See? This was why everyone flocked to the Prophet Building.

If you weren't at the center of the action, you were bound to fall behind on the news.

Otherwise, Excellency Holler would have at least known that an outsider really had walked through that door.

Instead of looking utterly dumbfounded by Crystal's confirmation.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Expert Fu's demeanor, by comparison, was leagues ahead. Unbothered by the two of them discussing him right to his face, he offered Crystal a smiling greeting and a polite inquiry.

"Not so well. It seems you lost something of mine."

Slightly provoked by the question, Crystal raised an eyebrow, her tone turning hostile.

"Please believe me, it wasn't intentional. It's mostly that you yourself didn't want to come back."

Fu Qian shook his head, casually offering a defense.

His reasoning sounded incredibly abstract, however, so much so that Excellency Holler's dumbfounded expression only deepened.

"Is that so... Then let's leave it be for now."

As the person involved, however, Excellency Crystal's eyes merely flickered.

After a brief moment of thought, she explicitly stated that the matter would be dropped and pursued no further.

It made sense. It might have sounded entirely illogical at first, but someone could only make a statement like that if they truly knew the exact effects of the Amber.

Clearly, Andiel not only knew the true purpose of the item given to him, but had very likely already used it.

"So, can you explain what is going on with me?"

True to her word, Crystal immediately turned her interrogation on Akasha.

"I apologize... but for the time being, I cannot explain."

Crystal was naturally referring to the "egg" that had appeared on her. Akasha freely admitted to it.

However, despite her apologetic expression, she completely refused to cooperate.

...

The atmosphere instantly grew even stiffer than before. Though Akasha's tone was tactful, her stance was resolute. It was clear she wasn't going to reveal the underlying reasons anytime soon.

As a result, even though Crystal had arrived aggressively demanding accountability, she seemed temporarily at a loss for what to do, since she wasn't actually prepared to start a fight.

Faced with this scene, Fu Qian—who had been operating on the principle of muddying the waters—simply watched the spectacle unfold with great enthusiasm. He made no move to reveal that Akasha had already joined his criminal syndicate.

"Interesting... but you two take your time chatting. I'm going back to my drink."

Unexpectedly, the first to break the silence was His Excellency the Ash Emissary. Holler's deeply furrowed brows smoothed out, signaling that his task here was done.

He stood up, still holding his unbroken glass, washing his hands of the entire affair.

His demeanor was incredibly carefree; he no longer even cared about what lay behind the door. He looked like a man who wouldn't care even if the world ended.

"So, how is that 'dessert' you left back at the restaurant doing?"

True to the notion that people of the jianghu do not fuss over trifles, Fu Qian made absolutely no attempt to make him stay. Instead, he looked at Akasha and Crystal, suddenly asking a bizarre question.

When it came to muddying the waters, the most crucial tactic was striking a nerve.

The 'dessert' naturally referred to Catherine, the night-shift waitress at the restaurant.

Upon hearing this question clearly, the atmosphere between Akasha and Crystal became awkward beyond belief.

"Everything is perfectly normal. I still need to thank you for helping look after her earlier."

Finally, braving Crystal's knife-like glare, Akasha offered a strained response, assuring him there was no need to worry and that she could sense Catherine was perfectly fine.

"So even though she's been alone this whole time, the Lord still let her off? Interesting."

However, Fu Qian's thoughts were clearly on another matter entirely. Lost in thought, he glanced over at Holler, who had been completely ignored and was now awkwardly leaving the table.

"When did you say the Lord left earlier?"

...

If Catherine had been rational, she would have realized there was no future in staying at work, and that her best bet was sticking close to him and Crystal.

Her surviving the initial encounter had been a pure stroke of luck. The Lord, who had targeted her, had not suffered much damage either, meaning he could strike again at any moment.

Unfortunately, her instinctual fear of a predator had driven Catherine to rely on a familiar environment to carve out a false sense of security.

While he respected her choice, Fu Qian did not mind squeezing a bit more value out of her.

The specific form of enlightenment the Lord had received from the Unseen Hill was currently unknown.

Fu Qian was actually rather curious whether it had simply compelled him to uphold justice and become a crusader for righteousness.

"Just shortly before you arrived... Actually, I was a bit surprised he came to see me at all."

There was no need to ask him to stay; at that moment, Holler had already halted in his tracks, deep in thought.

"I have no prior relationship with the Lord, and he didn't even reveal anything of value to me. Logically speaking, before he even came, he should have known I would turn him down—"

Crack!

With another sharp sound, the surviving glass in Holler's hand was finally crushed to pieces. Blood dripped from his tightly clenched palm.

As a dignified demigod, his physical fortitude was naturally far beyond normal. What pierced his palm was actually his own sharp fingertips.

In the dim light, the blood flowing from his hand unexpectedly carried an unnatural gray hue.

"He didn't offer to buy you a drink or anything like that, did he?"

Watching the scene unfold, Fu Qian clicked his tongue.

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