Eldritch Horror Theatre

Old Man Tyr was in rather high spirits!

Slipping away to a place like this at such a critical juncture completely broke his persona as a veteran of the jianghu.

Upon realizing exactly who was hiding nearby and observing from the shadows, Fu Qian didn't rush into the Ruins. Instead, he silently changed direction.

From this new vantage point, he could easily lock onto the concealed Tyr.

It was obvious the man's attention was entirely focused on the entrance to the Ruins. He hadn't noticed someone had already locked onto him.

Of course, that "someone" wasn't Fu Qian, but an entirely different party.

Perhaps he was too absorbed in watching the Ruins, but Tyr didn't seem to notice that several auras had already quietly surrounded him.

Squelch!

The putrid swamp never seemed to rest. With a sudden tremor, another small mound tore open in the ground, releasing a dense plume of mist.

The stench was naturally horrific. The old man furrowed his brows and hunched over, preparing to find a different hiding spot.

But a moment later, he seemed to realize something was wrong. His slowly moving body jolted before breaking into a sudden sprint.

Unfortunately, even with such a rapid reaction, a pitch-black arrow tore through the air and pierced straight through his right calf, pinning him to the ground.

Clang!

Tyr's reflexes were razor-sharp. The moment he realized his mobility was crippled and he couldn't dodge, his right arm instantly inflated as if pumped full of air.

He immediately swung that massive arm to block a second pitch-black arrow.

With a ringing crash of metal against metal, his right arm emerged completely unscathed. The arrow, on the other hand, instantly shattered into ash, leaving absolutely no trace behind.

"Very impressive!"

Along with the praise, someone walked out, clapping.

"As expected of the Hand of Justice."

"It is a profound honor to meet you today!"

The man who emerged was one of the ambushers Fu Qian had noticed earlier. He walked at a leisurely pace, his face concealed behind a Falcon-Shaped Mask.

With a wave of his hand, two more figures stepped out from different directions. One of them carried a massive bow, his aim still locked onto Tyr.

The other figure was even more bizarre. His right hand was empty, but a grotesque dagger had been driven straight through the palm of his left hand. The bloody tip protruding from his flesh gleamed with an eerie iridescent light.

Much like the man clapping, these two also wore masks.

What a familiar scene!

Watching from the sidelines, Fu Qian sighed deeply.

Not too long ago, three fine gentlemen had appeared before him in the exact same fashion.

"Garm, what's the point of the mask? We've crossed paths for years—did you really think I wouldn't recognize you?"

Despite being heavily surrounded, Old Man Tyr remained incredibly calm. He barked directly at the speaker, exposing his identity.

"A lifetime of justice, ultimately cut short in an assassination by some nameless villain... Wouldn't that just make your story more legendary?"

Rather than being surprised that his cover was blown, Garm burst into a hearty laugh. He pulled off his mask, revealing a face that wasn't much younger than Tyr's.

"You poisoned me?"

Tyr held his massive, glowing golden arm horizontally in front of him, sealing off any angle for the arrows.

"No, he poisoned you."

Garm shook his head and pointed at the man with the dagger driven through his hand.

"Of course, the idea was mine. Mixing a toxic mist with the natural stench of this place made it incredibly hard to detect, didn't it? By the time you realized something was wrong, your mobility was already impaired."

"But you gave us the opening. If you hadn't come to a place like this, it would've been nearly impossible to catch you with a trick like that."

"Why?"

Seeing Garm's smug demeanor, Tyr finally lost his temper. His voice carried an uncontainable fury.

He had vaguely sensed something was off earlier, but because his attention had been focused elsewhere—and because the swamp already smelled terrible—he had unwittingly fallen for their trap.

"Take a guess."

In stark contrast to Tyr, Garm was as leisurely as a cat playing with a mouse.

"I know it will take a long time for you to finally collapse, so feel free to guess as much as you like."

"In fact, all we're doing right now is keeping you pinned here until the toxins in your body build up to a critical point. After all, I really don't want to take one of your punches."

"We've crossed paths many times over the years, but there's no bad blood between us."

"And a crew like this isn't something you could put together on short notice."

Even in such a dire situation, Tyr ultimately suppressed his anger and analyzed the situation with icy calm.

"Tell me. Who wants me dead?"

"I really can't hide anything from you. But it's a pity—I have professional ethics. I can't leak any information about my employer."

Faced with Tyr's sharp intuition, Garm clapped his hands and laughed once more.

"You're right, we have no grudge. I even hold quite a bit of admiration for you. Unfortunately, someone was willing to offer an irresistible reward just to see you die."

"So you finally compromised as well? Was it Siren or the Ji Clan?"

In just that short amount of time, Tyr's breathing had already grown ragged, though the sigh in his voice remained crystal clear.

"It seems few people can truly resist temptation."

"Looks like you know exactly who wants you dead."

Garm shook his head.

"I have no choice. I'm getting older, yet I see no hope of advancing my tier. Fumbling around on my own is practically impossible now, so I had to seek out some external help."

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to warrant this much attention. After all, I didn't think your existence could cause them much trouble."

"But as it turns out, their tolerance for eyesores is incredibly low."

As Garm spoke, he signaled for his archer teammate to hold his fire.

"Don't underestimate the resilience of the Hand of Justice. I'll make a move myself when the time is right."

"Their only requirement is you, dead or alive. But for the sake of our years of acquaintance, I'll try my best to let you live long enough to see the people who want you dead."

"By the way, what are you doing in a place like this at such a critical time? This isn't your usual steady style at all."

"The moment I heard the news, I almost suspected you had discovered something and were setting a counter-trap."

"Cut the crap!"

While Garm was expressing his doubts, Tyr had lost all interest in chatting with him.

His lungs burned like fire, and his body grew heavier by the second. Knowing perfectly well that stalling would only put him at a greater disadvantage, he decided to just make his move.

He slapped a hand against his wounded leg, instantly turning the Black Arrow embedded there into flying ash.

With his mobility restored, he charged straight toward the archer.

He truly was a veteran of the jianghu; he knew to kill the ranged fighter first.

"Looks like it really wasn't a counter-trap."

Witnessing this, Garm wasn't alarmed but delighted. He calmly stepped forward to intercept him.

Just as the words left his mouth, however, Garm watched a geyser of blood spray into the air as the ground in front of him swelled into a torn mound.

Not only that, but two other mounds appeared simultaneously right in front of his two teammates.

'Is it already this unstable?'

Garm frowned, carefully dodging the spraying fluids and steam.

'This is the first time so many fissures have appeared at once, but it won't change anything—'

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt. A split second later, the three mounds detonated at once, blasting out hundreds of blackish-red tentacles like an erupting fountain.

His body, tempered to the Transcendent Tier and far beyond that of a mortal, was as frail as paper against such an impact. In an instant, it was riddled with holes.

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