Eldritch Horror Theatre

Facing Ji Yicheng's indignant questioning, Fu Qian had answered with complete honesty.

But the truth was always the most painful. After hearing this response, the man glared at Fu Qian with a hatred reserved for a father's murderer, his entire body trembling.

Was it really necessary to be so dramatic?

Beneath his mask, Fu Qian frowned under the intense glare.

Shouldn't a person be ecstatic to hear such an evaluation at a time like this? The expected reaction was to grovel, admit total worthlessness, spill every secret in his gut, and beg for his life.

Was his ego really more important than his life?

"Do you think having the upper hand gives you the right to humiliate me however you please?"

Ji Yicheng proved to be quite the character, however. After trembling in extreme humiliation and rage, he actually slipped into a bizarre state of calm, enunciating every word.

"Doesn't it?"

They were already at this point. What was the point of putting on airs?

...

His response made Ji Yicheng choke on his own breath once more.

It really was the truth, after all. He was the meat on the chopping block.

Thinking about it carefully, Ji Yicheng had done the exact same thing to others more than once.

To say nothing of the psychopath standing in front of him.

"No..."

Yet, after a desperate internal struggle, he finally shook his head.

"You don't have the right. And there are some things you simply cannot comprehend."

As he delivered this solemn declaration, the man slowly descended from his levitating state. He didn't stop there, continuing downward until he rested on one knee and pressed his right hand against the ground.

'Second gear? That posture isn't quite right for it.'

Fu Qian observed his actions with absolute focus, unwilling to miss a single detail.

Even though the man had his head bowed as if charging up some ultimate move, Fu Qian had no intention of interrupting him.

He had been entirely truthful earlier; gathering intelligence was far more important than killing this guy.

Only someone like Ji Yicheng, who projected his own mindset onto others, would think this was a deliberate humiliation.

Then again, maybe the man was so angry precisely because he subconsciously knew it was the truth.

"You will never understand such holy nobility."

His resolve set, Ji Yicheng looked up at Fu Qian, a white flame seemingly burning in his eyes.

His voice took on the cadence of a chant.

"An Angel never sacrifices in vain."

'Hm?'

'Setting everything else aside, how do you have the nerve to call yourself holy and noble with behavior like yours?'

'By comparison, your pile of upgrade materials is far more deserving of the phrase.'

As Fu Qian silently judged Ji Yicheng's boasting, a white flame erupted from the hand pressing the ground. It rapidly expanded, completely swallowing the man's body.

Surging radiance rushed in all directions, enveloping everything around them.

Fu Qian didn't immediately dodge, allowing himself to take the impact head-on.

Scorching heat washed over him, as if he were standing before a high-temperature furnace.

Unfortunately, for someone like Fu Qian who had stared directly into the sun, this was nothing.

It proved that the drop in his SAN Value back in the Ruins was primarily caused by the special state of the corrupt Shadow peeling away.

Out here, with Ji Yicheng's current level of power, this was basically just a Bright Light spa.

However, beyond the scorching heat, the sensation that followed was rather strange.

Bathed in the radiance, Fu Qian felt as if every cell in his body had become clear and transparent.

They were more active than ever before, linking and biting together as if breeding countless invisible bugs within his flesh and blood.

'Is this the essence of a Feather? These bugs devour flesh and blood, then break through the skin to form Feathers?'

Fu Qian had a faint epiphany, his brows furrowing tightly.

'No matter how you look at it, this Angel of yours isn't very orthodox!'

Meanwhile, Ji Yicheng had become completely unrecognizable in the blink of an eye as the flames devoured him.

From his hair down to his facial features, he melted like a candle. Countless tiny bugs seemed to writhe beneath his translucent skin, eventually converging into a cascading fluid.

A moment later, the converged fluid exploded, filling the air with motes of light.

Looking closer, they were actually individual Feathers burning with white fire.

'What a massive firework!'

Fu Qian marveled at the sight while nimbly dodging the shockwave, even managing to snatch a Feather out of the air.

His SAN Value didn't drop, confirming his previous guess.

And with that explosion, every trace of Ji Yicheng vanished completely.

Without the influence of the Ruins this time, Fu Qian was absolutely certain the man hadn't used visual effects to escape; his presence had genuinely dissipated.

'Dead? It certainly seems like it.'

Fu Qian cast a glance into the distance. It was such a spectacular sight that Brother An Gui had undoubtedly witnessed it.

Despite the massive commotion, no one else from the Siren Group had come to investigate, which was likely Kelsen's doing.

'The state that brother is in right now is much more pleasant than before!'

The fireworks quickly dissipated into nothingness. Looking out at the empty clearing, Fu Qian didn't waste any more time; he turned and left.

No task completion prompt arrived, which wasn't too surprising.

After all, he still hadn't figured out a fundamental question: what exactly had gone wrong here?

As it stood, Ji Yicheng was fundamentally the same as Sir William—just a Covenanter. Logically, he shouldn't be able to affect the normal variations of the entity he was bound to.

Much like during Sir William's scenario, Fu Qian's task had simply been to wipe out all the Covenanters designated as sinners.

So what he had concealed was the secret of becoming a sinner, not the Goddess of Sins herself.

The two tasks were fundamentally different.

Therefore, until he figured out what went wrong, Fu Qian wasn't going to be blindly optimistic.

Right now, following his little exchange with Brother Yicheng, it was clear that he needed to pay another visit to the Ruins.

With the only known Covenanter dead, Fu Qian was very curious to see if there would be any changes to the Mirror.

Of course, despite the lack of evidence, Ji Yicheng didn't strike Fu Qian as the sort of person who would rather die than suffer humiliation. Whether he was actually dead was still up for debate.

But regardless, it was worth taking a look.

...

The Underground Ruins soon came back into view, but Fu Qian noticed two strange details.

First, the entrance to the Ruins was completely deserted.

The personnel from Siren had fully evacuated. They hadn't even bothered to conceal the cave entrance, leaving it wide open for anyone to explore.

This was undeniably shocking. The Siren Group had already poured considerable manpower and resources into this operation, and there was a whole crowd of rogue Transcendents watching them. Abandoning it so decisively required serious nerve.

Generally speaking, the larger the organization, the harder it was to execute such a rapid shift in strategy.

Even if it was an incredibly appropriate response to their current situation.

'Brother Kelsen has achieved complete enlightenment! It's practically on par with severing the three corpses!'

Clicking his tongue in admiration, Fu Qian turned his gaze in another direction.

The second strange detail: Siren's people were gone, yet someone else had shown up in their place.

Someone he knew, no less!

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