Eldritch Horror Theatre

The point of light that launched from the pillar traced a brilliant arc through the air.

In fact, it wasn't the only one. At the crack of the gunshot, almost all the specks of light resting on the pillars sprang into motion.

This...

Brother Overcoat and Elena, who had been marching forward in the light like pilgrims, had initially been bewildered by the sudden gunshot. Seeing this, they finally halted.

Clearly, even they realized something was wrong.

As they watched, one of the lights swooped in an arc, shooting straight toward them.

Bang!

Seeing Elena and Brother Overcoat rooted in place—their minds clearly not yet fully recovered—Fu Qian raised his gun, took aim, and pulled the trigger a second time.

This time, there was no doubt; the shot found its mark perfectly.

Yet this glorious spectacle lasted barely a breath before plummeting to the ground and falling dark.

This was—

Elena and Brother Overcoat simultaneously lowered their heads to look.

What met their eyes was a bug completely covered in spikes.

The bug was a vivid crimson, its spikes jutting outward in a radial pattern. At a glance, it looked like a child's crude drawing of the sun.

However, the back of this sun was densely packed with tiny holes, making it look rather stomach-churning.

Perhaps the intense light from earlier had poured out of those very pores.

To think the source of such holy radiance was nothing but an insect!

Witnessing this, Elena and Brother Overcoat stood utterly frozen.

It seemed that even complete enlightenment had its limits when it came to acceptance.

Unfortunately, they weren't given much time to stand around in shock.

The first fallen bug had clearly agitated the rest of its kind.

The next instant, every single point of light abruptly changed course, locking onto the trio and tearing through the air to attack.

Facing the incoming assault, Fu Qian gave his gun a slick spin. Not only did he hold his fire, but he even took a step back.

After all, he was just playing a background role in this squad. He had done his part; the rest of the show belonged to the two main combatants.

Roused by his movement, Elena and Brother Overcoat finally snapped out of their stupor.

Recognizing the lethal threat swarming toward them, the two sprang into action.

Brother Overcoat's weapon had an exceedingly bizarre design. At first glance, it resembled a short saw, but with a flick of his wrist, it snapped outward into a razor-sharp spear.

An instant later, the spear met the light, cleanly skewering one of the bugs.

Amidst another flash of light, before the bug's corpse could even hit the ground, a phantom-like black mist billowed out from Elena's body.

Has she been stuck in that darkened state all this time?

Watching from the sidelines, Fu Qian nodded in realization.

He remembered this trick. During that Sin Deathmatch, the once Saintess-like Elena had darkened after taking an arrow, using this very ability to corrode a certain assassin to slag.

It looked like she had never recovered her healing abilities since then.

A fall into darkness truly is hard to reverse!

Even as he mused, Elena, boiling with black mist, followed closely behind Brother Overcoat and thrust her hand toward the incoming Insect Swarm.

Following her motion, the churning mist rapidly split, coalescing into short arrows. Each one locked onto a flying bug.

Magic casters really are more efficient!

Fu Qian clicked his tongue in approval, but a second later, his brow furrowed.

Accompanied by a pained groan from Elena, one of the poised dark arrows abruptly exploded.

This sudden misfire triggered a catastrophic chain reaction. In the blink of an eye, the remaining arrows detonated one after another, throwing the dense black mist around her into violent, rippling chaos.

Something like this could happen?

With disaster suddenly striking what should have been a sure thing, Fu Qian only had just enough time to plant a foot into Elena and kick her away.

Like a powder keg going off, the black mist around Elena violently detonated while she was still tumbling through the air.

With an ear-splitting boom, the shockwave instantly swept over the surrounding area, swallowing the sky full of little suns.

Unable to withstand the devastating impact, the fluttering points of light flared brightly before wobbling and plunging to the ground.

Bang!

With a casual shot, Fu Qian picked off the slowest surviving sun, finally wiping the swarm of mysterious bugs out completely.

Only then did Elena hit the ground with a heavy thud, rolling to a stop beside one of the pillars, completely unresponsive.

"Elena's abilities seem somewhat unstable."

Brother Overcoat's voice rang out as he leaned heavily on his spear, struggling to push himself up from the floor.

In the shockwave just now, everything covering the left half of his body—coat and gloves included—had turned into drifting ash.

At the moment, he was practically half-naked, cutting an incredibly sorry figure.

This was entirely thanks to Fu Qian's kick, which had removed the explosion's epicenter from his immediate vicinity. Otherwise, he would be dealing with far worse than just ruined clothes.

"However, I can sense that she has merely fainted. She hasn't lost her life signs."

Even in such a state, his tone remained calm and serene. There was no trace of confusion or lingering fear.

Obviously! With my extensive experience in kicking people, my force control is absolute perfection. How could I kick someone to death!

Fu Qian scoffed inwardly, but the man was right. Despite being at the very center of the explosion, Elena was far from dead.

Since Brother Overcoat's mobility was impaired, Fu Qian responsibly stepped up as the team's support and dragged Elena to the side.

It was obvious that the backlash just now had put an immense strain on her.

And yet, that wasn't even the worst part.

Looking down, Fu Qian could see hideous black veins constantly surfacing and fading across her skin, which had been left mostly exposed by the blast.

Sure enough! You can never keep the clothes you like.

Shaking his head, Fu Qian took off his trench coat and draped it over her.

She wasn't just unconscious right now; she was clearly on the verge of losing control entirely.

Losing control at merely the Mid Tier, you really are a prodigy of the transcendent realm.

"Truly astonishing. To think a biological organism could emit such light!"

By now, Brother Overcoat had shifted his attention to the bugs they had just fought.

"I think we should take a corpse back. It should hold some value."

Is that so?

Fu Qian lowered his head. Because most of the bugs had perished in the shockwave of Elena's explosion, their corpses were scattered all around.

He could clearly sense that whatever spirituality these things possessed had been completely snuffed out by that final blast.

But one thing remained strange. The bugs had all been wiped out, and the hall had grown dim once more, yet that feeling of his soul being continuously purified hadn't faded at all.

"Given our current state, it is unwise for the two of us to press on. You can take a bug corpse and head back to report first."

Brother Overcoat continued to offer his suggestions.

Fu Qian nodded, but he wasn't in a rush to pick up a bug. Instead, he walked over to Brother Overcoat and bent down to grab something from the floor.

It was a grayish Feather.

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