Eldritch Horror Theatre

Their technique looked incredibly practiced.

Despite the sudden ambush, Fu Qian remained entirely unfazed. He held up the arrow in his hand and examined it.

Both its material and design were highly unusual. It was likely a specialized assassination tool.

Its flight had been almost entirely silent, making it genuinely difficult to detect.

Even so, Elena falling for it so easily still came as a slight surprise.

It seemed the move she used to block the Butcher's Hook Chain earlier had taken a heavy toll on her body.

Fu Qian casually tossed the arrow to the ground, took a step forward, and flicked his fingers.

Two more arrows streaked through the air, only for him to swat them both aside.

Their target was blindingly clear. The attackers had completely given up on him, locking entirely onto Elena's head instead.

"You alright?"

Fu Qian glanced back at Elena, noting that the first arrow had struck her arm.

Her left elbow had been almost completely pierced through. Blood had splattered across her white dress, staining a large patch of the fabric red.

While it looked gruesome, a flesh wound like this shouldn't have been a major issue—

Yet as he looked at the silent, trembling Elena, Fu Qian furrowed his brows.

Surely she didn't faint at the sight of blood?

Something was clearly wrong with Elena. She looked completely stupefied, staring blankly at the crimson stain.

"Bastards!"

Witnessing this, Cross let out an anguished roar and charged straight in the direction the arrows had come from.

This bodyguard was a bit dense.

Fu Qian sighed.

Clearly, Elena was the brains of this duo, and right now, she was completely out of commission.

It seemed he, her temporary ally, would have to pick up the slack.

Fu Qian stepped to the side and snatched outward.

A figure burst from the mirror-like surface of the water, a narrow, elongated blade thrusting straight for Elena's throat.

Unfortunately for the attacker, the sudden ambush might as well have been hand-delivered to Fu Qian, who caught the strike effortlessly.

For a split second, the assailant was clearly stunned.

Recovering quickly, he immediately abandoned his weapon and dove back toward the water without a moment's hesitation.

To his surprise, Fu Qian released his grip at the exact same moment. Snapping his hand downward, Fu Qian clamped his fingers firmly around the man's slender neck.

Much like hauling a fish from a pond, Fu Qian hoisted the man right back out of the water.

The assassin's eyes instantly filled with despair.

"Quite the professional."

Fu Qian offered a sincere compliment as he took in the man's sharkskin suit and array of specialized gear.

Without waiting for a response, he dragged the man over to Elena and tossed him onto the ground.

"It seems we've stepped into a trap."

...

It took several seconds for Elena to register that Fu Qian was speaking to her.

Tearing her gaze from her wound, she stared blankly at the man lying at her feet—the very assassin who had just tried to kill her.

Given their brief encounter, the assassin had completely lost the will to struggle.

Under his target's scrutiny, he instinctively averted his eyes.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek rang out right next to his ear, making him instinctively turn his head.

A hideous woman's face appeared just inches from his own. At the same time, he felt a viselike grip clamp down on his shoulder.

Dense, inky-black mist began to seep from the woman's head, coalescing into the shape of a hollow skull that drifted toward him.

It was far too close. By the time the assassin reacted and tried to dodge, his vision had already plunged into total darkness.

"Argh!"

A bloodcurdling scream tore from his throat as the assassin violently wrenched himself free from Elena's grasp. He rolled onto the ground, clawing desperately at his own face.

In mere seconds, the flesh of his face was corroded away to the bone, and the rot showed no signs of stopping.

"What happened?"

Hearing the commotion, Cross abandoned his charge midway and rushed back, but by the time he arrived, the assassin had already stopped struggling.

Crack!

Elena ignored him entirely. Gripping the arrow lodged in her arm, she snapped the shaft without hesitation, yanked the rest out, and tossed it aside.

She then turned her gaze in the direction Cross had just charged.

Three figures had emerged there. One of them was holding a bow—clearly the sniper from earlier.

They were in no rush to leave, simply watching from a distance.

Elena took a single look before averting her eyes. She slowly crouched down and pressed her splayed fingers against the ground.

Instantly, Fu Qian sensed something enter the soil.

Several snake-like trails of darkness slithered out from beneath Elena's hand, spiraling outward as they snaked across the ground toward the distant figures.

"Argh!"

Despite their vigilance, the bizarre underground assault proved too difficult to defend against, and the three attackers were struck before they could dodge.

Amidst screams of agony, they collapsed one after another.

Much like the assassin before them, large chunks of their flesh instantly began to corrode away, leaving them thrashing in pure agony.

"Their target is the Fire of Sin."

Elena finally spoke. It was still her voice, but her tone had undergone a radical shift.

"Elena, you..."

Hearing her icy tone, Cross was visibly pained.

"Figured as much."

Fu Qian nodded, agreeing with her analysis.

The ambush had undeniably been lethal, and their priority target was incredibly clear—they had aimed straight for Elena, the one bearing the heaviest Sin Fire.

"And they likely had the same idea as you: collecting Sin Fire to empower the Sin Seeker."

"What makes you say that?"

Elena looked at Fu Qian. Having just killed four people in quick succession, her already boiling Sin Fire flared, casting a dark crimson glow into her pupils.

"Because of their numbers."

Fu Qian gestured toward the distance.

"There were four of them just in this ambush. And as we all know, there are no saints in this place."

"Put yourself in their shoes. Four people forming a Hunting Squad to pick off targets one by one, only to equally distribute the Fire of Sin so everyone progresses together? How likely do you think that is?"

...

Elena and Cross both fell silent.

"Let alone distributing it equally, even if they took turns securing kills, no one would ever want to be last. Who could guarantee that the one who received the Sin Fire buff first wouldn't just turn around and kill the rest?"

"In a life-or-death deathmatch like this, you can't even trust your own flesh and blood."

"So, the only way a squad like this could function is if they cooperate on the kills, and whoever absorbs the Fire of Sin immediately heads to a Statue to purify it. That empowers the Sin Seeker, allowing them to borrow a knife to kill."

"There's one more piece of proof."

Fu Qian pointed at Elena.

"This squad was strong and highly coordinated, yet not a single one of the four had any Sin Fire on them. They couldn't possibly have gone this long without securing a single kill, could they?"

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