Eldritch Horror Theatre

The title of Angel inherently carried labels of purity and holiness.

Unfortunately, the genuine winged covenant standing before them was nothing of the sort.

If his earlier guess held true, forging this covenant essentially meant manifesting an entirely new, dark, and depraved persona that turned around to repudiate the original self. It had absolutely nothing to do with holiness.

Just look at Classmate Ji, who had fully transformed into an Angel. Over the course of their journey, his character had proven to be the absolute worst. That alone spoke volumes.

Speaking of which, given that this covenant required the sheer coincidence of looking into the Mirror paired with completely irrational self-denial, pulling it off was far more difficult than becoming a sinner.

Yet, despite such harsh prerequisites, an even more unique individual had emerged right alongside Ji Yicheng. It truly showed that worldly affairs are hard to predict.

By the time Elena stopped Cross, she had already stepped forward, clearly planning to undertake this suicide mission herself.

However, her flickering gaze made it obvious she was in poor shape; her mind was severely unfocused.

On the bright side, she had completely forgotten the meaning of fear.

Elena's muddled brain clearly couldn't piece together why Fu Qian was forcing the three of them to throw their lives away one by one. Fortunately, she didn't seem inclined to demand an answer either.

All they could confirm right now was the obvious presence of a special entity in the Ruins. It couldn't be observed, yet it would unleash an outrageously powerful counterattack the moment it was offended.

Although the grotesque man who had just died had spouted nonsense about saving her, his strength had been undeniable.

If a powerhouse like him could be instantly killed, it didn't matter whether she or Cross went next—the result would be the same.

"No!"

Elena might have been ready to face death, but Cross vehemently disagreed.

A split second later, he charged through the wall of flames without hesitation, burn marks and corrosion instantly spreading across his body.

"Doing this will only render everything meaningless!"

"It has meaning. I'm tired."

Elena looked back and blinked with a bright smile.

"This Nightmare... has gone on for too long."

"In her condition, she won't obtain any useful information whatsoever."

Recognizing Elena's unyielding stance, Cross looked directly at Fu Qian, clearly understanding who was really calling the shots.

"No matter what you're trying to test, you need someone with a clear head."

He had obviously noticed that Fu Qian was probing for something, and his reasoning was perfectly sound.

"It's fine. It's all the same."

Unfortunately, Fu Qian's reply was excessively laid-back.

As he spoke, his eyes never left the Mirror, where Elena's Reflection could now be seen.

In the dim light, she appeared as a dark, profound silhouette. There were no messy details of flesh or color—just a clean, simple outline.

"Have you not looked in this Mirror before?" Fu Qian asked thoughtfully.

Such an obvious anomaly would have been impossible for Sybil to miss if Elena had previously used the Mirror.

"They advised against looking into it, so I kept my distance."

Elena's tone made it sound like a simple matter of fact.

Look at that! That was how you listened to advice and stayed out of trouble!

Fu Qian did not hesitate to offer silent praise.

Logically speaking, someone with Elena's personality would never be so obedient.

It was clear that her mind had been suppressed since she entered the Ruins.

Some things truly made one wonder: who knows if it brings misfortune or blessing!

"It's fine. You can look now."

Fu Qian made a gesture.

Look...

Elena froze for a moment before the words registered. Then, she naturally raised her head and peered into the Mirror.

...

A few seconds later, Elena smiled again.

"It truly is a magical Mirror. I feel like it reflects my true self."

Judging by her reaction, she was seeing the exact same silhouette.

"I can't confirm the true self part, but you are undoubtedly very unique," Fu Qian said mildly.

"Unique... I've heard people sigh and call me that far too many times growing up."

Her smile vanished in an instant.

"If my father had gleaned even a shred of caution from those praises, things wouldn't have ended this way."

"Don't be so easily led. That thing is incredibly wicked, and your mental state is already unstable."

Beside her, Cross immediately tried to talk her down, clearly unwilling to watch her evaluate herself like this.

Things were spiraling straight toward the worst-case scenario!

Fu Qian sighed inwardly as he kept a close watch on Elena's reactions.

He hadn't been spouting nonsense when he mentioned the process of elimination.

First was Classmate Ji, the Chosen One.

As a resurrected Angel and the behind-the-scenes mastermind of this entire sequence of events, Ji Yicheng had been eliminated first out of sheer respect.

Unfortunately, the facts proved that he truly wasn't the protagonist of the story. He had died without a whisper, and Fu Qian's mission remained entirely unresponsive.

Elena's condition, however, was visibly different from the rest. Her Reflection closely mirrored Ji Yicheng's state after he used Ash Descent, perhaps feeling even purer.

This phenomenon likely tied into her innate talent for rapid flip-flopping.

Yet, looking into the Mirror hadn't changed her in any way. She clearly hadn't triggered the covenant.

This practically ruled out the possibility that simply looking into the Mirror while in a spiritual state was enough to forge the covenant.

The possibilities were narrowing. Combined with Lorraine's situation, the likelihood that Cognitive Misalignment was a mandatory step was growing by the minute.

And this gestating angel was undeniably the true key to the entire mission.

Classmate Ji would never know this, of course, but his sacrifice hadn't been in vain.

The explosive outburst that reduced him to ash had given Fu Qian a clearer glimpse of the silhouette at its epicenter.

It confirmed that he hadn't been mistaken earlier: it was a relatively young, short woman.

Not only did her lower abdomen visibly bulge, but her movements were also utterly stiff. She appeared entirely devoid of self-awareness.

At the same time, an astonishingly pure wave of divinity washed over the area, far eclipsing Ji Yicheng's prior level.

It was just as he thought!

Fu Qian let out a long sigh in his mind. He had finally figured out a possible way she achieved Cognitive Misalignment—the secret lay with the fetus in her womb.

According to Elena, Lorraine had been a shrewd and experienced adventurer.

It was practically impossible for someone like her to suffer Cognitive Misalignment, even if confronted with the chaotic imagery inside the Mirror.

But the same couldn't be said for her unborn child.

Given the Mirror's bizarre properties, if the 'it' inside Lorraine could also observe the Reflection...

Faced with that unfathomable chaos, there was no telling how rational its cognition would be.

If it were just that, she would have simply become a covenant angel. She shouldn't be this extraordinary.

But there was a catch. Under normal circumstances, infants almost never develop true self-awareness until they are nearly a year old, let alone a fetus still in the womb.

So when the fetus observed the Mirror, it most likely perceived itself and its mother as a single entity.

Because of that unique state of coexistence, the unborn child's observation fulfilled the covenant's conditions. It then turned around and denied the host's consciousness, formatting Lorraine out of existence in the most unjust way possible.

The end result was a mindless walking corpse left to wander the Underground day after day.

At the same time, because of this unique purity, the source of power backing the Angelic Faith bestowed upon her exceptional favor.

This was why her divinity was so overwhelmingly heavy, and the swarm of glowing bugs from earlier had likely manifested under her influence.

If this was the bug he had to eradicate, it really wasn't good news!

Fu Qian exhaled a long breath.

It meant that to finish his mission, he would have to lay his life on the line against a target capable of an instant kill.

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