Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Yes, lots of laughter... like children."

His voice was incredibly hoarse, as if he might collapse at any moment.

But A Fei's hands remained steady, even as he clutched his own wound.

Moreover, he clearly remembered who the real Scavenger was. He didn't blame Fu Qian for only talking and not fighting; in fact, he answered the question promptly.

Even as he spoke, his eyes remained as sharp as a beast's in the gloom, scanning the surroundings and ready for a fight to the death at any second.

Lots of... children?

While the academic world certainly had its share of teenage prodigies, a whole bunch of them all at once seemed a bit much, didn't it?

Fu Qian didn't question it. Imagining the scene described, he silently acknowledged that this place indeed had new tricks up its sleeve.

"The lines on the wall."

Lines?

A Fei didn't say a word, but his head snapped to the side, his gaze quickly locking onto a gleaming spot.

Exactly—the dust-covered Silver Dot-Lines running along the wall.

A Fei's reaction speed was already impressive, but unfortunately, their attacker wasn't playing fair.

Fu Qian had seen it clearly. It wasn't even a matter of the attack being impossibly fast; that terrifying, destructive strike had simply seeped out from one line and plunged into another, forming an arc of death in between.

It truly lived up to being the crystallized wisdom of the Stargazers. Even in such a dilapidated state, it hadn't completely failed.

It was just that its effects seemed to have mutated, transforming from a sharp research tool into an actual, literal weapon.

Moreover, the attack wasn't entirely without warning. Fu Qian had spoken up just now because the dark dust on the surface of the line where the death arc emerged had been quietly flaking off.

Even A Fei's counterattack had been aimed in the right direction. Not far from where his strike landed, another line gleamed brightly—the exact spot where the attack had vanished.

Which was exactly what A Fei was staring at now.

Honestly, it was easy to interpret such activity as the research facility's defense mode activating, or perhaps some surviving researchers manually driving out intruders.

But factoring in A Fei's mention of children, the situation seemed to have grown much more complicated. Though, of course, that was A Fei's problem.

Having given his hint, Fu Qian did nothing else. He just continued rolling the two eyeballs around in his hand, aiming them in various directions as if scanning the terrain.

Sshk—

Gratifyingly, A Fei didn't demand any more help. His practically crippled body displayed astonishing agility in that moment as he leaped upward once again.

A split second after he moved, an arc of light swept right through his previous hiding spot.

It possessed no thickness, dark and murky as blood.

Unless one was specifically looking for it, it would be incredibly hard to spot in the shadows.

From this perspective, A Fei's initial reaction to extinguish the lights might have been clever, but he had clearly been hit with a dimensional strike. It had only plunged him into an even more dangerous situation.

Furthermore, this second strike was obviously aimed far more viciously. Had he dodged even a fraction of a second slower, he would have been sliced clean in half at the waist.

As for how he managed to dodge it, the reason was simple: the dark dust on two other lines had started peeling away.

This time, A Fei displayed not only his instincts as a hunter but also his grasp of geometry, instantly deducing the exact curved plane that would form between those two points.

Even his landing spot was cleverly chosen. Realizing that the shadows were now working against him, he decisively corrected his mistake and aimed for the brightest spot under the remaining light.

Once the pattern was grasped, facing this kind of attack no longer meant being completely helpless.

The only regret was that, as an evil god gracing the scene, Fu Qian still hadn't heard any children's laughter—Sshk!

Just as he was musing over this, the scene unfolding before him perfectly illustrated what happened when you spoke too soon.

Despite the brighter light making things much clearer, A Fei's third dodge was a fraction of a second too slow.

As a result, a fresh wound was added to his body, and his only remaining usable arm was nearly ruined.

Huu—

Yet, he didn't seem panicked. Fixing his gaze on the line where the attack had converged and vanished, A Fei took a deep breath.

Boom—

Then, his body violently sprang up, directly smashing through the obstruction overhead.

...

Always thinking about striking back. His eye for talent as an evil god was pretty good after all.

The ceiling was already in disrepair, and for a moment, debris rained down in a shower of rubble.

Easily sidestepping the debris to prevent his new weapon from getting scratched, Fu Qian quietly followed him up, highly appreciative of A Fei's reaction.

It was obvious that the hit he took just now hadn't been a momentary lapse in focus.

Normally, in that kind of situation, demolition was indeed a solid choice.

A more simple-minded person might think there was something hiding inside the walls and try to dig it out.

Even a more experienced veteran, realizing they could destroy the source of the light arcs, would undoubtedly start smashing the walls where the lines were most densely packed.

But Brother A Fei was clearly neither naive nor willing to remain passive. Instead, he wanted to find the true source of the laughter.

His specific method was to intentionally take another hit, trying to strengthen the connection between himself and the attacker in order to pinpoint their location.

It wasn't a particularly hard idea to come up with, nor was it guaranteed to work, but this kind of thing all came down to execution.

A second later or a fraction slower, and the success rate would plummet.

Fortunately, it seemed the heavens favored ruthless men. His sheer resolve paid off.

Following him to the upper floor, Fu Qian arrived just in time to see the figure stop for nothing, ruthlessly hacking his blade into a nearby door.

...

It was evident that not only were the Silver Dot-Lines on the walls still functional, but the ones on this door hadn't failed either, providing it with actual defensive properties.

For a moment, the originally fierce slash seemed to encounter layers of invisible barriers, even triggering a teeth-achingly sharp screech.

Unfortunately, all of that lasted for merely a split second before being entirely annihilated at an astonishing speed, taking the Silver Dot-Lines on the door with it...

And even the entire door itself...

Personally enchanted by the King of the Abandoned Prison—did you think it was a joke?

Not surprised in the least, Fu Qian merely scoffed inwardly.

Of course, it wasn't that A Fei had suddenly comprehended some ultimate door-breaking technique. The weapon Fu Qian had picked out and casually consecrated for him had finally come in handy.

It hadn't taken much effort, but it was still a royal gift from the Tyrant. Countering this kind of trick was no problem at all.

This was exactly his original intention: for the wielder of the Blade of Calamity to carry out the will of the evil god and spread corruption.

Brother A Fei's method of execution was even highly satisfying, exactly matching what had been said earlier about kicking down doors and hacking at people—it was just that this "person" really seemed a bit small.

The moment the door shattered, the scene inside became perfectly clear.

First—and not entirely surprisingly—a figure dressed in an ancient uniform heard the commotion and turned its head to look.

However, this simple movement seemed to have received a little outside help.

A crudely made, rather ugly Burlap Doll was sitting squarely on its shoulders.

Although it showed no signs of being a living creature, in that moment, the doll's movements made it look as though it were holding invisible strings, manipulating the human body beneath it like a puppet.

See? He just knew the Night Watchers had a hand in this.

Faced with this scene, Fu Qian sighed inwardly as another one of his theories was confirmed.

That's right. That was His Excellency Needle Witch's doll.

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