Eldritch Horror Theatre

Leaving the chaos behind, Fu Qian wasted no time and headed straight for Claudio's residence.

By his estimation, there was at least a fifty percent chance Li Min had gone there.

The reasoning was simple: despite securing a ritual, Li Min had merely used it as a smokescreen before vanishing without a trace.

This undoubtedly proved her trip to Percy wasn't about breaking through a bottleneck, as she'd made it appear, but rather about an ulterior motive.

Yet her performance as a seeker desperate for advancement had been flawless. She clearly wanted everyone to buy into it.

This contradiction meant she was using that exact facade to achieve a specific goal.

Thinking it over, the most direct result of this posturing would be a chance to receive guidance from the expert behind Rolden—Claudio.

It stood to reason that she was using this method to track him down.

Speaking of which, he had also helped push things in that direction.

That act of framing had, to some extent, prompted Rolden to bring Li Min before Claudio as a mix of a probe and a gesture of goodwill.

Li Min's subsequent actions had been incredibly impatient. The little tricks she pulled during the ritual wouldn't have stayed hidden for long, meaning she had already achieved her preliminary goal and was done playing along.

Taking all of this into account, Fu Qian decided it was definitely worth checking out Claudio's place.

Amid these thoughts, Fu Qian quietly slipped into Claudio's courtyard.

Almost immediately, he noticed something amiss in the distance.

She sure moves fast!

His suspicions confirmed, Fu Qian marveled to himself and rushed straight toward the source of the commotion.

...

"Clarine. Does that name sound familiar?"

Inside the modest room, Li Min stared down at Claudio, her voice icy and dead.

"Didn't you say you wanted to meet my teacher?"

"As her younger brother and one of the people she trusted most, you couldn't have forgotten her so quickly."

Across from Li Min, Claudio had lost all his former composure. He was half-sprawled on the ground, his top hat having rolled across the floor.

A large patch of deep blue marks stained his skin. The stains roamed endlessly as if alive, swirling like a time-lapse satellite weather map.

Judging by Claudio's twisted expression, the marks were causing him considerable pain.

"You're Clarine's student? She never mentioned you."

As the marks crawled up his neck, Claudio looked as though he could barely breathe, yet he still managed to speak with great effort.

"I deeply regret what happened to Clarine, but I would never hurt her. I'm afraid you've been misled."

"To be honest, I wish that were true."

Faced with his defense, Li Min only sneered.

"If it were, my teacher might have been a bit more at peace when she died. Unfortunately..."

"How do you feel right now? Does it hurt? Does it feel like a horde of bugs crawling under your skin?"

She raised a small white knife.

The blade was barely longer than a hand's breadth and appeared to be carved from bone.

"This is one of my teacher's relics. It was the spoils of an expedition we took together. That patch of color on your body used to be attached to it."

"Now, thanks to the stab wound in your back, it has entered your body, continuously eroding and binding you."

"Don't bother struggling. Even a Demigod wouldn't be immune to this."

"And there's no need to rush. This process will be sufficiently long, and sufficiently painful."

"So, your purpose in coming to Percy was to find me?"

Staring at the dagger in Li Min's hand, Claudio's tone turned freezing cold.

"Yes. I spent quite a bit of effort to track you down."

"That was until a friend told me she had joined a secretive gathering, where someone was granting unnatural gifts through a mysterious ritual."

"Coincidentally, my teacher had once told me that her brother—the one she was so proud of—possessed some incomprehensible methods."

"Your friend might already be targeted by the Night Watchers as we speak."

Claudio shot a glance outside.

"Don't worry about her. Rachel will leave when the time is right."

Li Min remained entirely unaffected by his attempt at psychological warfare.

"And don't expect me to act recklessly because of your words. I won't make a move until you've been weakened to a satisfactory degree."

"Your paranoia has driven you mad. I should have listened to Rolden and dealt with you immediately. I even shared the ritual with you."

Claudio's expression darkened completely.

"Don't paint yourself as a saint. Weren't you just doing that to test me?"

"Honestly, being forced to let that filth enter my mind just to deceive you was absolutely disgusting, especially after witnessing some of its 'gifts.'"

"It's exactly what my teacher feared before she passed."

"These things aren't knowledge at all. They're a twisted kind of curse."

"You are just like her. Too stubborn."

Claudio, who had just been wearing a look of deep grief, let out a sudden sneer.

"And I have no interest in explaining it to you."

"Your stealth is indeed impressive, and you excel at creating illusions, but so what?"

"I was caught off guard and ambushed, true. But do you really think you can kill an existence bordering on the Demigod Realm with just a single Item?"

"If it were your teacher, it might have been possible. Unfortunately, your own strength is simply far too weak."

"Let me show you the power of your so-called curse."

The next second, one of Claudio's fingers—one that hadn't yet been stained blue—exploded.

Blood and shattered flesh blew through the air, and Claudio opened his mouth to swallow it all in a single gulp.

"Confinement."

After chewing twice, he spat out the single word.

Instantly, the space around Li Min turned incredibly viscous. It trapped her tightly, looking like a block of dim Amber.

"Until I find a way to deal with this affliction, you aren't going anywhere either."

"With your current strength, you have no chance of breaking out of this."

"Is that so?"

Li Min's voice drifted out from the Amber.

"If a person can be murdered by their own flesh and blood, what is impossible?"

A blazing radiance suddenly erupted from Li Min's body. Enveloped by invisible flames, she forcibly "squeezed" her way out of the Amber, one step at a time.

"That Item wasn't the only thing my teacher left me."

At the sight of this, genuine fear finally crept onto Claudio's face.

...

What a roller-coaster of a show!

Watching the series of dramatic reversals play out before him, Fu Qian marveled from his spot on the roof.

Grievances aside, if Claudio was indeed his target, it looked like he could complete his mission just by sitting back and enjoying the show.

Wait a minute, enjoy the show?

In a flash, countless images cycled through Fu Qian's mind, culminating in a rather bizarre thought.

"Excuse me, you two. Sorry to interrupt."

Without a moment's hesitation, Fu Qian leaped off the roof.

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