Eldritch Horror Theatre

"You really are... full of surprises."

Amid the slaughterhouse carnage, Yasui Tokiyuki stepped over a massive, bisected corpse to stare at the blood-soaked Fu Qian.

The shattered giant blade, dripping with foul blood, was slowly retracting into Fu Qian's hand.

Just a moment ago, the man had crossed space through incomprehensible means.

Just as before, the strike meant to execute the monster had been swung directly at his own face.

Yasui Tokiyuki had assumed the man was simply bloodthirsty, deliberately orchestrating that earlier decapitation, but it had all been a misdirection.

The shift was so abrupt that Yasui Tokiyuki had no time to manifest a shield, forced to let the monster's flesh block the blade instead.

Even so, some of the blood on the blade now belonged to him.

Though the strike hadn't landed directly, a Deity Level curse upon the weapon had tainted him, inflicting the very concept of a wound onto his body.

"Not bad. I am suddenly a bit hesitant to sacrifice you," Yasui Tokiyuki said.

"To actually injure me... that is quite a feat."

"If you were to join Anjing, I'm sure you would create some spectacular scenes."

"That wasn't just moving at the speed of light. That was something akin to spatial deception. Where did you get that ability?"

As Yasui Tokiyuki spoke, Flesh Vines burst from the ground, rapidly tearing apart and decomposing the corpse before them.

"But you won't be able to pull off a trick like that again anytime soon, will you?"

"From a guy named Patches."

With the giant blade fully retracted into his arm, Fu Qian nodded and answered honestly.

"And you're right. I really can't use it again in the short term."

The Delusion Step Ring. This was its first real combat use since he had acquired it.

Paired with his earlier deliberate misdirection, the results were delightful.

Deception was always such a handy tool.

Unfortunately, just as Yasui Tokiyuki noted, the item entered a dormant state after a single activation and required a significant amount of time before it could be used again.

Furthermore, compared to Yasui Tokiyuki, he looked far more miserable right now.

To land that previous strike, he had chained uses of the Mark of Old Days. Wounds now covered his entire body.

"So you still haven't changed your mind?"

Sated with flesh and blood, the vines emerged from underground and coiled like snakes into a shield in front of Yasui Tokiyuki.

He expressed genuine surprise at Fu Qian's stubbornness.

"Or are you planning to try that again?"

"To be honest, the success rate of that trick drops significantly when I am prepared for it. Wait—"

Yasui Tokiyuki's advice came to an abrupt halt, and he touched his face.

Where the cut had just healed, semi-circular patterns of Dislocation had begun to spread.

The instant they appeared, it felt as though the moonlight and his flesh were rejoicing together.

"So this is your trump card?"

For the first time, Yasui Tokiyuki's expression turned solemn.

"Guiding your Pope? Exposing my blood to her?"

As he spoke, an iridescent cloak fell from the sky and draped over him.

In an instant, the pervasive moonlight was forcefully blocked out.

"You really look like a zealot now."

Yasui Tokiyuki's voice even sounded a bit hoarse.

"Well done. Clearing this out will take some effort, especially since the connection hasn't been completely severed."

"It's truly unpleasant for this to happen right after my promotion."

"But it doesn't matter. I've survived much worse."

"The question is, have you?"

The Flesh Vines before Yasui Tokiyuki writhed and suddenly erupted, spewing forward to form a giant web that completely engulfed Fu Qian.

"I told you, the ancient Deities have long since gone mad. Yet you actually thought to rely on one."

"Can't you feel it? Your situation is much worse than mine."

Did he really need to point that out?

Fu Qian examined his right hand.

After that last strike, it was covered in deep gashes.

Now, despite his powerful flesh vitality, the wounds were writhing with no sign of healing.

Patterns similar to those on Yasui Tokiyuki had spread around the wounds, and countless connected fleshy sprouts stretched and thrashed in chaos.

Fu Qian knew the rest of his body looked exactly the same.

But it didn't matter. This was the plan all along.

He really had been waiting for the Red Moon to appear.

Otherwise, given Yasui Tokiyuki's ability type, the Nightmare Head Cage would undoubtedly have been the better tool.

Yet Fu Qian had still chosen the Witch Mask. The reason was simple: he needed to use himself to provide coordinates for the Red Moon.

If his gaze were blocked, the red moonlight probably wouldn't be able to shine upon this moon.

However, the Red Moon was indeed unstable, even if she called herself "Mother."

As the crimson light intensified, he could feel her gaze drawing closer—but that gaze did not distinguish between friend and foe.

Or perhaps she wanted to, but simply couldn't control it.

Just as Yasui Tokiyuki said, "they" were mad.

Right now, his body was twisting and melting like wax, just as it had on his first day in the Full Moon Garden.

...

"I told you, this is my home turf."

Compared to the trapped Fu Qian, Yasui Tokiyuki was in much better shape.

Even the patterns of divinity symbolizing pollution on his face had almost stopped spreading.

"Did you really think you could compete in resisting pollution against a Deity on their home turf?"

"Why would I resist?"

Clad in what looked like a suit of living armor, Fu Qian let out a maniacal laugh.

"I am about to return to a warm embrace. I couldn't ask for anything more."

"And I will be here to witness the moment you accept this glory."

...

This textbook zealot speech actually silenced Yasui Tokiyuki for a moment.

But he clearly wasn't so easily fooled. With a wave of his hand, a seemingly familiar brilliance tore through the darkness once again, crashing down from the sky straight toward the trapped Fu Qian.

It was obvious he intended to end this quickly.

"Someone like you would never do anything pointless."

"Under the cover of that mask, you used some method to elevate your Rank. That is how you've lasted this long, isn't it?"

"It's a miraculous trick, but I am sure it has a time limit. And right now, you are bearing the curses of at least three Deity statuses."

"If you don't have any new tricks, let's see which breaks down faster—your mind or your body."

"My mind breaking down?"

Fu Qian withdrew his admiring gaze from the descending comet and scoffed.

The next moment, he raised his slightly deformed finger, effortlessly jammed it into his own temple, and stirred it clockwise.

"You couldn't possibly understand this ultimate euphoria. As for new tricks—"

Amid his wild laughter, Fu Qian pressed his other hand to his face and tore off the mask.

"Za Warudo!"

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