Eldritch Horror Theatre

'A kin-slayer? And a Greek-style tragedy at that!'

Fu Qian digested Elena's words, realizing this was likely her way of showing sincerity.

"Thank you for your honesty."

He nodded.

"Unfortunately, I can't remember who I killed."

...

Fu Qian was telling the truth, of course, though it was completely unconvincing.

Elena, who had smiled while recounting her patricide, couldn't help but grimace.

She stared at him for several seconds but couldn't detect the slightest hint of a guilty conscience.

"That's not a bad thing..."

"Regardless, Patrick is the most dangerous player in this game. Since he's madly accumulating Sin Fire, he'll only be harder to deal with the next time he appears. We have to treat him with caution."

'And yet, knowing this, neither of you made a move just now.'

Fu Qian glanced at Elena, easily guessing their reasoning.

On one hand, they naturally wanted to keep the Butcher around to draw fire.

On the other hand—he hadn't made a move either.

After all, he had just blown someone's head off.

With a ruthless, highly capable madman watching from the sidelines, these two weren't about to risk fighting to the death before figuring out his background, for fear of falling prey to the oriole behind.

"Stop!"

Up ahead, Cross's voice rang out; it seemed he had found something.

Fu Qian and Elena broke off their conversation and looked up.

The direction they had been heading led to another massive building. It was completely circular and surrounded by a ring of white pillars.

They were now standing right in front of it.

From their vantage point, they could see the main doors had long since collapsed. Only a narrow spiral staircase was visible on the side.

"Based on what we know, the locations where the Statues appear have almost no pattern. Since this has just started, we can only search place by place."

Elena explained.

"Mm."

Fu Qian raised no objections.

"No signs of prior exploration."

Cross observed the area briefly from the front before looking back to report.

"Then let's go."

Following Elena's order, Cross said nothing and continued to take the lead.

The group circled to the side and headed up the suspended stairs, quickly finding a side door in the wall.

The interior was incredibly narrow. The dim passageway curved not far ahead, leading to an unknown destination.

Cross stopped and looked back at Elena with a questioning gaze.

"Shall we go in and take a look?"

Elena asked Fu Qian.

"You decide. I'll defer to the professionals."

Fu Qian replied casually.

Elena didn't waste words, simply nodding at Cross.

The latter said nothing and squeezed in first.

The passageway was far more winding than expected. The only certainty was that it headed downward.

The trio pressed on, taking countless turns until they finally stepped out onto flat ground.

This was a much more spacious Corridor. Judging by the elevation, they had reached the ground floor.

It was much brighter here than outside, primarily due to a massive brazier burning brightly a short distance ahead, illuminating the surroundings.

Without needing a reminder from Elena, Cross assumed a defensive stance and approached.

His weapon was a pitch-black Flanged Mace. It was impossible to tell what material it was made of, but it was clearly extremely heavy.

Just as he neared the brazier, his footsteps suddenly faltered, his leg suspended in midair.

Clang!

Amidst a shower of sparks, a golden spear plummeted from above, stabbing deeply into the stone floor barely half a step in front of Cross.

'Perfect aim. If he had kept walking, he definitely would have been skewered.'

Fu Qian marveled from the rear.

However, based on his reaction, Cross had clearly been on guard. The experience they had gathered earlier was proving useful.

Following the trajectory of the spear, they spotted a massive figure crouching in a corner of the vaulted ceiling.

The creature had a human face and a beast's body, with wings growing from its back. It was entirely dull gray, looking as if it had been carved from solid stone.

"A Gargoyle."

Unhurried, Cross called out to Elena and raised his Flanged Mace defensively.

The next moment, having failed its ambush, the Gargoyle leapt down from above.

Its massive stone wings snapped open, allowing it to instantly glide right up to Cross.

Astonishingly, faced with such a sudden assault, Cross neither dodged nor evaded, choosing instead to meet it head-on.

Boom!

With a deafening crash, the Gargoyle's enormous head was instantly smashed to pieces. Its body plummeted heavily to the ground, shattering into fragments.

An instant kill with a single strike—terrifying to this degree!

But this kind of head-to-head clash was not without cost.

With a heavy clang, Cross lost his grip on the Flanged Mace, sending it crashing to the floor.

Jagged, torn wounds covered both of his arms; it was clear he was badly injured.

The very next moment, a gentle halo of light enveloped him, and his wounds began to heal at a visible rate.

'What an overwhelming sense of incongruity!'

Looking at Elena's ethereal and holy expression, Fu Qian couldn't help but shake his head as he recalled her glorious achievement of patricide.

Still, a tank and healer duo in a death game like this boasted formidable Combat Power.

"Thank you!"

Cross quickly recovered his Combat Power and grabbed his weapon once more.

At the same time, a streak of dark, blood-red light flashed across his body, and a trace of savagery twisted his expression.

'Fire of Sin?'

Fu Qian recognized it instantly—it was the exact same thing he had seen on Patrick.

'So "sin" isn't just limited to actions between The Prisoners? Under the Goddess's gaze, any killing is defined as a sin?'

'Doesn't that mean even without killing others, one can accumulate the Fire of Sin just by farming monsters?'

'No wonder most of them were so eager to leave.'

"These kinds of monsters don't increase the Fire of Sin by much, so the immediate impact is small. But we still need to avoid conflict as much as possible going forward."

Elena advised Cross after evaluating his condition.

"Mm."

The latter grunted heavily and stepped up to clear the way once again.

Bypassing the brazier, they reached the end of the Corridor, which led to a flight of stairs going up.

Cross took the lead and headed up, but immediately fell silent.

...

Elena and Fu Qian exchanged a glance before hurrying after him.

Stepping onto the final stair, they were met with a much smaller room.

Just at the top of the stairs, Cross stood with a blank expression, staring at a figure at the far end of the room.

It was a rather tall woman, reclining on her side on a long bench.

She was draped in a heavy cloak, her gaze cast downward toward her feet, with thick, long hair cascading down to her waist.

Her expression was gentle and tranquil, her body slowly rising and falling with her breathing.

"What's wrong?"

Fu Qian looked at Elena, who was similarly dumbstruck.

"The Goddess of Sins..."

Elena stood frozen for a long while before finally uttering the name.

"But how is she alive?"

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