Eldritch Horror Theatre

"I didn't want anyone to see this, but you found yourself quite a capable helper."

That was right. It was the former dean of the Benevolent Curse Institute, former key figure of the Origin Council, and the pioneer of the Path of Miracles, Excellency Nepheli.

Despite clearly recognizing Fu Qian, she didn't even turn around when such a dangerous figure approached her from behind, merely sighing casually.

Her familiar attire was gone. Her slim white shirt had been swapped out for an entirely black ensemble.

Its solemnity and elegance could not be mentioned in the same breath as her usual clothes. Dark patterns resembling constellations were woven into the fabric, making it look like an excessively classical scholar's formal dress.

And just like the brown hair spilling from beneath her wide-brimmed hat, the clothes remained completely unscathed despite being bathed in scorching flames.

"I simply felt his passion for his work."

With only a few minutes left on the countdown, Fu Qian remained unhurried as he faced the final reward at the end of his long pursuit, offering high praise for the Tower Keeper's performance instead.

It was the truth. The preceding series of events hadn't seemed particularly intense, but the moment Excellency Nepheli's true form was revealed, the weight behind the "cunning rat" evaluation skyrocketed.

There was even reason to suspect that a certain Miracle had been sheltering this genuinely burning Lighthouse all along, making it impossible to find no matter what.

This meant that the Tower Keeper's seemingly abstract final actions had forcibly unraveled a protective formation laid down by a Tier 2. Calling him "quite capable" was completely justified.

This wasn't just a victory for treating others kindly; it was a victory for trusting a professional.

"He is indeed a special character. I just didn't expect you to refrain from exposing him... Is that terrifying intuition, or have you finally learned respect?"

Nepheli finally turned her head, staring at Fu Qian from under her hat brim. She even made an inviting gesture.

Even though this highest point in Moore was completely bare, lacking even a single seat.

"I learned to respect the delusions of others."

Fu Qian didn't mind that detail. He simply sat on the floor, amending her statement.

"...You still consider my ideas to be delusions?"

Yet that simple sentence left Excellency Nepheli silent for a long time. Only when she turned her back again, hugging her knees, did she let out a long sigh.

...

The situation was obvious. The source of the flames that had been plaguing the Prison of the Dead all this time had been found. It was the woman right in front of him.

Even that partially unanswered question had finally received its last puzzle piece.

Namely, hadn't it been a bit too easy for him to discover this place, considering he lacked Transcendent Perception?

Explaining it away with just Serana's guidance was too flimsy; it didn't seem sufficient to let him break through the barrier of his perceptual illiteracy.

But now, there was another reason: this place already contained an element of his own illiteracy—the Flame of Frenzy.

Nepheli had once asked him for a wisp of flame. Looking at it now, it was likely one of the tinders used to ignite this Domain of the Dead.

Perhaps after layers of disguise and concealment, or perhaps through the permeation of death, it had become completely unrecognizable.

And because it had permeated the entirety of storm-ravaged Moore, the intrinsic connection between him and the flames had finally helped him bypass the barrier and spot the traces Serana left behind.

As they said, the devil was in the details. The question he had raised earlier had been meaningful all along.

At that moment, Fu Qian was thoroughly satisfied with the deductions and confirmations he had made along the way.

Speaking of which, if he expanded on this line of thought, didn't that mean if he just set the entire world ablaze with the Flame of Frenzy, it wouldn't matter whether his perception returned or not?

Not only that, he even arrived at a rather wild conjecture.

Though it was perhaps a bit too wild, making it troublesome to verify.

Furthermore, Nepheli's identity was clearly not as simple as just the arsonist in the Lighthouse.

It was evident from her description of the Tower Keeper that she was still aware of many things happening in this place, and her understanding of them was quite profound.

For instance, her mention of "exposing" the Tower Keeper certainly didn't mean telling him the truth—that he was actually the one who was dead, while everyone else was normal, merely separated by the boundary between the living and the dead.

In reality, if he truly believed he wasn't dead, why would he need the identity of the Tower Keeper to anchor his sense of self?

Behind paranoia often lay a guilty conscience. The greatest agony of self-deception was that you always knew you were deceiving yourself.

And once exposed, that paranoia would often collapse into a complete mess.

This was likely why Nepheli, despite knowing about such a character for a long time, had still refrained from taking drastic measures.

The probability of successfully utilizing a guide who would shatter at the slightest touch was incredibly small.

It was just a pity he hadn't done that, choosing "tolerance and encouragement" instead.

"Lucid dead like him have too deep a connection with this place. If I had actually dealt with him, it would have caused quite a commotion. So after thinking it over, I decided to leave him there,"

Nepheli spoke up again after receiving no response, explaining why she had taken that chance.

"Wise Dead,"

Fu Qian provided the term.

"...That is indeed a fitting description for people like them."

As expected of a former Academy elite, Nepheli immediately approved of such an academic-sounding term.

"Not them. Here."

Fu Qian shook his head, pointing a finger at his feet.

...

Since storm-ravaged Moore could be considered alive, referring to it as dead didn't seem too out of place, did it?

"So you know... That makes sense. Otherwise, finding your way here so quickly wouldn't have been easy.

"A miraculous creature. It seems you really have communicated quite a bit with the Benevolent Curse Institute."

Nepheli quickly verified his deduction, letting out another sigh.

"Of course. Thanks to the departmental cooperation I promoted, Professor Ah Kai has officially become a newly advanced High Tier at the Benevolent Curse Institute."

Professor Fu offered a proud smile, unhesitatingly showing off his recent plentiful achievements.

"Really? That is quite impressive..."

Even though he was merely in the Demigod Realm, it still seemed to move Nepheli. She even took her hands off her legs and sat up a little straighter.

"Of course it's true. Apocalypse and the Benevolent Curse Institute collaborated to establish a Meria Special Project."

Meeting Nepheli's scrutiny, Fu Qian casually blurted out a name that involved numerous secrets.

"Hah... snow tree...

"The storm is about to stop. You don't have much time left. Whatever you need to do, you'd best do it quickly."

Her tone was full of lament and sighs. Regarding that name from the apocalypse nineteen years ago—a name deeply connected to her—Nepheli didn't elaborate. She merely shifted the topic and reminded Fu Qian.

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