Eldritch Horror Theatre

[Accessing network...]

Though it was slightly out of place, a line of dialogue popped into Fu Qian's mind at that moment.

The transformation was simply too evocative, triggering an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, and it was far more visceral than the last time he had seen it.

The Brain Jellyfish were no longer merely reacting to one another in the abstract; they were now physically linked together.

Given that the Tiered Lecture Hall was already in ruins, less than one in ten of those cage-like solitary cells remained.

As a result, the Brain Jellyfish that materialized out of thin air seemed to have suddenly gained their freedom, no longer strictly confined within a specific space.

Their tentacles stretched out radially, rapidly linking together. Paired with the human brains acting as nodes, the surrounding atmosphere instantly shifted from a mystical vibe to pure flesh-punk.

"The Fool Faction could never imagine the exquisite beauty of knowledge!"

The Lord of Intellect looked immensely satisfied with his work. Accompanied by a thoroughly immodest declaration, he pointed his Sword-Staff toward the empty air above.

Acting like a conductor's baton, that motion triggered an immediate reaction. From Fu Qian's vantage point, he could clearly see the multitude of human brains serving as nodes suddenly begin to twinkle like stars.

The shifting light and shadow even traveled down their tentacles, overlapping and resonating with one another—were there actual musical notes jumping out?

To avoid being lumped in with the Fool Faction, Fu Qian, who was earnestly experiencing the "exquisite beauty of knowledge," noted that he had reaped yet another new discovery.

Amid this symphony-like spectacle, ethereal symbols actually seeped from the connected tentacles. It was as if a binary code of light and dark had finally compiled a piece of music, and its volume was steadily rising.

In the blink of an eye, countless complex symbols covered the entire web, leaving not even the central human brains untouched.

Although it lacked a certain aesthetic appeal, Fu Qian—who had already had his fair share of contact with divinity—could easily identify them as something akin to divine patterns.

It was truly no simple feat to casually conjure such a scene.

This was far more exaggerated than what Professor Rob had encountered back then. It would be entirely normal for anyone below the Demigod Realm to go instantly mad just from glancing at it.

Even looking away wasn't an option. Though it was completely silent, Fu Qian knew clearly that a surging torrent had taken shape, enveloping every inch of the space before him.

No will could avoid this forceful infusion.

......

This really was the power of knowledge. Force-feeding math problems into someone's brain on the battlefield couldn't be any worse than this, could it?

With just a casual gesture, the Lord of Intellect had actually deployed an area-of-effect field. Fu Qian could deeply empathize with just how ruthless it was.

He could only say that the Back Room had truly become a classroom. It was as if an ear-piercing lecture played on a constant loop; a single moment of inattention, and one would be genuinely drowned in an ocean of knowledge.

While this might not be considered too outrageous for the King of the Abandoned Prison—especially the Mechanical Ascension version—even if it wasn't a Deity's method, it was close enough.

The pressure instantly fell upon A Fei.

Clang—

In the next moment, it physically manifested. A Fei, who had just struggled to his feet after his fall, instantly lost his grip on the Greatsword. The heavy weapon dragged his body right back down to the floor.

This time, even the side effects of the Stardust Curse—that half-awake, half-asleep state—couldn't save him. In the blink of an eye, a beast-like growl tore from his throat.

It was as if they were chasing him down to forcefully pour calculus into his mind, even in his dreams.

Roar—

Under such ravagement, that final shred of killing intent finally seemed unable to bear the burden.

Accompanied by a roar overflowing with endless negative emotions, A Fei ultimately failed to raise his sword against the enemy. Instead, looking absolutely deranged, he plunged the blade deep into his own body.

Truth be told, if it weren't for his exceptionally flexible skeletal structure, that motion would have been hard to execute. But the force behind the thrust was immense, nearly pinning him directly to the ground.

It wasn't surprising. Human strength had its limits, and willpower was a kind of strength too.

Even a thoroughly tempered Dao heart, when faced with a certain dimensional strike, seemed to only serve one purpose: making one's own collapse all the more agonizing.

"Do not resist. Open your mind, and you will eventually experience the most beautiful thing in this world."

The Lord of Intellect across from them was even rubbing salt in the wound.

Both his lines and his physical gestures looked increasingly like a maestro waving his baton.

The only flaw was that, for a practitioner of the arts, he wasn't as entirely intoxicated by his own performance as his words implied. He actually remained distracted enough to cast his gaze their way.

It was understandable. After all, there had been two hostile intruders to begin with.

Now, one of them was completely powerless to resist, while the other appeared utterly devoid of emotional fluctuation. It made it impossible not to take him seriously.

What a pity. There was a saying for this: the Lord couldn't care less.

Fu Qian, who was clearly being treated as a major threat, merely met the Lord of Intellect's eyes for a second before looking away, ignoring him entirely.

The reason was simple: the Lord of Intellect wasn't the only one looking his way. A Fei was, too.

Being pinned there by the Greatsword had still failed to quell the latter's madness.

But with this Anchor Point, A Fei seemed to finally scrape together a sliver of strength amid his struggles, fixing his single intact eye intensely in Fu Qian's direction.

"I understand."

Given that they had previously fought, at first glance it was easy to assume that A Fei, driven mad, had rekindled his murderous intent.

However, Fu Qian, who had operated on the principle to 'never doubt those you employ' the entire way, clearly had a different interpretation of this bizarre action.

Giving a slight nod as if in approval, he remained calmly seated while his will locked onto the Lord of Intellect in his vision, causing the Calamity Eyes above the man's head to snap open.

However, he didn't detonate it. He merely appended a damage-amplification effect.

Because the one dealing the damage would be someone else.

With another thunderous roar, A Fei yanked the Greatsword free from the floor and leaped up, charging straight at the target locked by the Calamity.

......

Not bad. This was what a true sword heart looked like, rather than just a reskinned superpower.

A Fei, with one crippled leg, wasn't originally very good at jumping.

Yet, perhaps because his movements in that moment were closer to a wild beast's, he leaped incredibly high this time.

So much so that, aside from his far more gruesome appearance, everything was almost a perfect recreation of their opening scene—the Greatsword descending from the heavens to slay the wicked.

As for why his mind had suddenly cleared up again?

It was simple. He hadn't cleared up at all. Instead, he had gone completely mad.

This was exactly what Fu Qian had "understood" from that single glance.

After continuous bloody battles, A Fei had clearly developed some sensitivity to the Calamity Curse attached to his weapon.

To the point that, when faced with an irresistible madness, he made an even more insane choice.

If he couldn't resist it, he simply wouldn't. He surrendered his sense of self and transformed into a "tool" of slaughter until he utterly collapsed.

Of course, if that were all, he would just be a lunatic hacking wildly at anything in sight.

Was there a way to increase the odds of this final bout of madness locking onto the correct target?

Yes. Since he had become a tool, it was only natural to let the tool's user help guide it.

The sword carried the Calamity, and the target was marked by disaster.

With his self completely gone mad, he simply relied on those similar elements to let the sword identify the target on its own.

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