Eldritch Horror Theatre

Has it already become this unstable?

Standing at the center of the encirclement, Tyr watched the three people in front of him instantly get skewered. He reeled from the shock, his mind racing.

Were those tangled roots beneath the surface actually made of this?

The rumors were true. Was the entire swamp a unique transcendent entity, perhaps even slowly coming alive?

It had just attacked with clear intent, but why hadn't it targeted him?

"What a coincidence, Old Man!"

His head full of questions and doubting his very reality, Tyr suddenly heard a voice ring out ahead of him.

Tyr's head snapped up. A masked figure stood there, having arrived completely unnoticed.

"Mr. Fu...?" he asked in disbelief.

Fu Qian replied, glancing around at their surroundings.

"One against three. You're old but still vigorous, Old Man!"

Seeing that Fu Qian misunderstood and thought he had killed the three people, Tyr instinctively tried to explain.

But then his body stiffened, and he whirled back around to stare at Fu Qian.

"Did you do this?"

Could that spectacle just now have been the work of this mysterious young man? Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence?

"Did what?"

Unfortunately, Fu Qian's tone didn't shift at all, and his mask hid any expression.

"...Nothing."

Tyr hesitated before finally letting it go.

First, the spectacle just now had been too astonishing to believe a human could have pulled it off.

Taking a step back, even if the man standing before him really had been the one to strike, it meant he had just saved Tyr's life.

As a sensible man, he knew that if the other party didn't want to admit it, there was no need to tactlessly interrogate him.

"So, how come you're here, Old Man?"

While Tyr's mind raced, Fu Qian asked, his tone laced with curiosity.

"The Underground Ruins should be just ahead... I tracked my way here, but strangely enough, all of Siren's people have withdrawn."

Tyr hesitated briefly before pointing a short distance ahead.

"They are indeed. I've been inside."

Fu Qian confirmed his deduction.

"So you want to go in and explore it too?"

This old man truly had some skills. To be able to find this place so quickly, he was definitely worthy of being a veteran who had survived in the Wasteland for years.

"One of my greatest strengths—and the reason I've lived this long—is knowing my limits."

Tyr shook his head decisively.

"Although I am curious about what's inside, it's not something I can pry into."

"I'm here partly to satisfy a bit of curiosity, and at the same time... perhaps to stop a few young people from throwing their lives away."

So that was it!

This Old Man had risked coming here just to turn back lost lambs?

He had to admit, the truth caught Fu Qian by surprise.

But it made sense why, under the current circumstances, he had still managed to gather a group of people in the Wasteland.

"There's never a shortage of people who think they're a child of destiny."

Fu Qian shook his head, looking toward the ruins, and casually agreed.

"Thanks to the information you provided earlier about the Underground Ruins being caught up in the conflict between Siren and the Ji Clan, most people in the Wasteland should have heard about it by now, so there are fewer people tracking this place down than I imagined."

"Why did you come here, Mr. Fu?"

Fu Qian was more approachable than expected, so Tyr didn't mind following up with a question, though he was mentally prepared to not get an answer.

"To throw my life away."

Fu Qian's answer, however, was incredibly concise.

After speaking, he didn't even look back. He simply crossed through the scattered mess and walked right into the giant, maw-like passageway.

...

After chatting with Old Man Tyr for a bit, he suddenly felt like the situation was quite dangerous!

Heading downward, Fu Qian muttered to himself as he walked through the Corridor. Just as expected, he didn't see a single person.

Passing through the main gates, he soon returned to the Hall of Mirrors.

The ancient stone architecture, the mercury-like mirror surfaces, the slowly decaying Feathers—none of it was any different from when he had left.

As for what was different, a white silk thread now hung from the ceiling of the hall, and at its end dangled a massive Cocoon.

The Cocoon was shaped like a long spindle, and it was twitching unconsciously.

At a glance, it involuntarily reminded Fu Qian of a type of dangling insect known as a 'hanged ghost'.

Sure enough, something had changed!

Faced with this Cocoon that was clearly gestating something, Fu Qian didn't rush to break it. Instead, he observed it carefully.

"You certainly are patient!"

Half a minute later, a muffled chuckle rang out.

At the same time, the massive Cocoon in midair struggled violently before being torn open from the inside.

A gigantic head immediately squeezed out from the tear.

It was followed by a bloated torso and corpse-like, swollen arms, until the entire figure dropped to the ground.

Even though he was completely unrecognizable, the tone and voice told Fu Qian immediately who this thing was—Ji Yicheng.

A thickened, heavily armored edition.

At this moment, not only was Ji Yicheng inflated like a balloon into the shape of a stereotypical otaku, but the pair of wings on his back was also vastly different from before.

Right now, not a single Feather could be seen on those wings. Their surface was covered in delicate skin, smooth and unnerving.

And it wasn't just a change in outward appearance; Fu Qian could clearly sense that compared to before, Ji Yicheng's life form had undergone a fundamental shift.

At this exact moment, an omnipresent aura of "holiness" emanated from his body.

Much like Sir William's final form, his body was covered in a layer of grotesquely shaped armor.

A Mythical Form, similar to a Sin Seeker?

Fu Qian had a vague suspicion.

"An Angel reborn in a Miracle. We meet again."

"I never thought I could maintain this state so effortlessly. I must say, it feels absolutely incredible!"

As he spoke, his wings beat the air, lifting his bloated body slowly into midair.

"Although I had a feeling that my bloodline abilities were becoming an obstacle, I still hadn't wanted to give them up this quickly."

"I should thank you for helping me make up my mind and putting me on the right path."

'I've heard that one way too many times.'

Fu Qian sighed.

'If even one of you people who claimed to be grateful actually put it into practice, I'd be filthy rich by now.'

Even as he complained internally, Fu Qian kept his eyes fixed on his reflection in the mirror.

It was still the same bizarre shape and chaotic blocks of color.

The moment he stepped into the ruins, that peculiar sensation returned.

According to Ji Yicheng, that was the transformation of the corrupting Shadow being stripped away.

For him, this was absolutely not a good thing.

Affecting his mind was one thing, but more importantly, it exposed him to the threat of losing San points.

Fu Qian then looked over at Ji Yicheng's reflection.

Sure enough, just as the man had said, his bloated body was completely devoid of any hallucinatory blurring; instead, his reflection was extremely pure and clear.

Was this the image the man had seen when he first looked in the mirror?

Why was he able to see such an image?

A question naturally surfaced in Fu Qian's mind.

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