Eldritch Horror Theatre

So the time on the report was indeed correct. His countdown had been fine all along.

That was the benefit of dealing with technical personnel. Even without deliberate probing, one could easily glean important parameters between the lines.

That time was running out wasn't even the only important parameter; the mention of the "snow tree" was even more astonishing.

Excellency Nepheli's grasp of the situation at the Academy seemed far more extensive than he had imagined.

Even though she hadn't performed the Miracle of "Meria's Resurrection" in this life, she remained familiar with the name and could instantly connect it to the "snow tree."

After all, the fact that the latter only changed color within the confines of the Academy due to its connection with the concept of Meria had been one of the ultimate discoveries from his recent stretch of continuous research.

"Yes, the snow tree."

Fu Qian did not withhold the truth, immediately confirming it.

Mm...

Nepheli's reaction was rather peculiar. She stared at Fu Qian for a few seconds before confessing.

"Right, but I am sure."

Fu Qian's expression remained completely unfazed.

"—Thank you for sharing."

Realizing he was returning the favor—generously sharing information even knowing it might be a probe—Nepheli offered her earnest thanks before continuing to gaze off into the distance.

"So you aren't here to kill me?"

"No."

"True, it doesn't seem very necessary for you. I suppose this is that legendary thing called fate, then.

"I didn't expect things to get so lively. I accidentally caused trouble for everyone."

Devoid of any joy over escaping death, Nepheli muttered to herself, her gaze remaining dull and glassy.

"Really? Was it deliberate, or an accident?"

"I thought someone would come, but I didn't expect there to be so many."

...

She was honest, at least. Nepheli readily admitted that she had anticipated the disastrous consequences all along; her earlier words had just been a milder way of putting it.

"But for you to come here—has the Academy still not let go of what happened back then?"

But her self-reflection lasted only a single sentence. Immediately changing the subject, she once again spoke astonishing words.

"They really haven't."

Recalling the Academy's recent situation, Fu Qian noted that theoretically, he was even here on an official business trip.

"But speaking of seniority, isn't it inappropriate for you to use that kind of tone? You didn't participate in the expedition back then either, did you?"

Not at all intimidated by her status as a senior, he quickly furrowed his brow and voiced his doubts.

He was fairly certain of this, of course. After all, the only publicly acknowledged survivor of that year's expedition was still sitting in a tank back at the Academy.

"Heh... true, I wasn't part of the expedition, but I inherited a bit of their regret from back then."

For the first time since they met today, Nepheli smiled, though she looked profoundly shattered.

"They wanted to find Moore's Wise Dead, but they never gained anything. Left with no choice, they headed directly into the Ash Sea."

So this woman had actually known the title 'Wise Dead' all along, and even knew they were located in Moore.

Fu Qian tutted in his mind. Truly worthy of being a rare genius from the Benevolent Curse Institute, she was deeply versed in the art of playing the pig to eat the tiger.

But that made sense. There had to be a reason for her to find her way to such a remote place.

Moreover, back when she had asked him for that flame, her scheming for this place had obviously already begun.

Sure enough, academics all had a heavy streak of rebellion. Cass wasn't the only one at the Academy who ignored the bans.

"That is indeed a regret, though it's gratifying to see that they seemingly managed to find the Inverted Lake anyway."

Fu Qian didn't mind her bit of dark humor, even offering a casual word of comfort.

Thinking deeply about those words made them feel a bit hellish, though; the fate of the expedition team after finding their target back then was truly too horrific to look at.

"Yes, it truly is miraculous."

Nepheli reached out her hand as if stroking the head of a giant beast in the void, making no attempt to hide her astonishment at Fu Qian's statement.

"Cass was actually quite exceptional—calm and sharp. However, everyone has things they excel at. For me, it was clearly much easier to discover the traces left behind by the expedition team."

He could even hear from her tone that she was somehow keeping tabs on Cass's activities in this place.

"This was indeed their first stop. The team did a lot of work here, and one could completely feel how important the Wise Dead were to them—

"And it is exactly because of that, their eventual decision to give up and head directly into the Ash Sea—where they actually managed to find their target—feels a bit surprising."

Interesting.

Those few short sentences held a massive amount of information.

In other words, the Academy team's plan back then had actually been very concrete. Even their steps were clear; they knew there were clues here pointing toward the Inverted Lake.

Yet, despite the trail going cold, they had stubbornly set sail and eventually found the place anyway?

"Understood. It is indeed strange—but don't you seem to be putting the cart before the horse? This doesn't look much like searching for clues."

The predicament of the expedition team back then invited more and more speculation, but Fu Qian didn't dig any deeper into it. Instead, he took issue with Nepheli's behavior.

"Indeed, I am not. Unlike Cass, I am merely interested in the Wise Dead—do you know why they are the key to finding the Inverted Lake?"

She admitted it instantly. Nepheli directly stated that she had no intention of following in the footsteps of the Academy's predecessors; she was actually only interested in the clue itself.

"Because they are wise enough to distinguish truth from falsehood?"

Fu Qian was quite happy to discuss this question, looking as if he had figured out the answer long ago.

"What astonishing intuition—I don't know whether the Academy is fortunate or unfortunate to have you."

Even though she didn't seem entirely in the mood for a long chat, a sense of immense satisfaction could still be heard in Nepheli's voice.

It was just that her latter assessment carried a deeper implication, creating a stark contrast where knowledge felt more like a curse.

"It's fine. Wasn't the Tower Keeper from just now a glaring example? The true dead or the false dead, the true Moore or the false Moore, the Ash Sea or the Inverted Lake—

"I think I can even roughly guess the reason why you came here: the true apocalypse or the false apocalypse.

"You want the Wise Dead to tell you whether this world is real or fake, and whether the apocalypse truly happened nineteen years and three months ago, don't you?"

Clap, clap!

After a brief silence, Nepheli actually began to applaud, no longer hiding her satisfaction.

"Truly excellent. Is there more?"

Not only did she not deny it, she even turned her head to encourage Fu Qian to continue, as if unwilling to let the splendid performance end so easily.

"There's also the question of whether you personally initiated the apocalypse."

What seemed like a slightly excessive request was incredibly simple for Fu Qian. He continued laying out the facts without any hesitation.

During the Inner Demon Deathmatch with Master Yuhun back at the Academy, the latter had once shown him the scene of the Mother of Gospel's direct Descent.

And the beginning of it all was Nepheli publicly demonstrating the Miracle of Meria's Resurrection.

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