Eldritch Horror Theatre

In that instant, the moonlight before him was pale as frost.

A seemingly familiar sensation washed over him, instantly enveloping his surroundings.

When Fu Qian looked again, the eyeball beneath the windowsill was nowhere to be seen.

"We had better hurry."

Serana was still standing beside him. Seeing that he was unaffected, she spoke quickly.

"Outside?"

Fu Qian sized her up. As expected of someone on her absolute home turf, Serana looked to be in even better condition.

She even had a seemingly familiar pair of membranous wings stretching from her back. Paired with her vivid crimson eyes, she looked both domineering and deeply eerie.

"Yes. And we have ten hours at most."

A transcendent item... She really had come fully prepared.

"Because the sun comes up in ten hours?"

Fu Qian asked casually, still marveling at the sight.

"If it failed that easily, would I have used it to set a trap for you?"

She shot him a glare. The next moment, her figure flashed, and she reappeared in the shadows across from The Bookstore.

"Ten hours because, after that, I might not have the strength left to undo it from the inside."

This Shadow Shuttle really was convenient!

Rather than using an exaggerated move like Blood Crusade, Fu Qian hopped lightly through The Bookstore's open doors to land beside Serana, bathing himself entirely in the moonlight.

Based on his past experience, being fully exposed to the moonlight or completely hidden in the shadows was fine. It was letting the two intersect across his body that caused the binding effect to accumulate rapidly.

"We need to find the Moonlight Glade."

"A forest?"

Hearing the familiar name, Fu Qian glanced around curiously.

"No. You'll know it when you see it. It's somewhere on the outer periphery of this area."

Serana shook her head.

"The replicated Real World environment is limited to just this area. Anything further out is sheer emptiness. It'll be easy to spot."

This layout actually feels quite similar to the dreams I craft using my ring, Fu Qian noted inwardly.

By now, Serana had begun leaping in rapid succession, searching for their destination while keeping the binding accumulation to an absolute minimum.

Fu Qian, who had opted to just bask in the moonlight, followed her with effortless ease.

"I remember hearing that aside from Gulade, there are a few other branches of the Blood Clan?"

Since keeping up was so easy, he even had the spare time to make idle chatter.

"There are two others still in existence, though relations between us aren't exactly harmonious."

If even Serana felt the need to emphasize it, things must truly be bitter between them. Fu Qian nodded.

"But you all share the same Progenitor?"

...

This time, Serana hesitated.

"The Progenitor... You could certainly look at it that way, but there are some subtle distinctions."

"Oh? Do tell."

Fu Qian's interest was instantly piqued.

"You have a remarkably strong sense of curiosity."

With half her body melded into the shadows, Serana surveyed their path, unable to keep the sheer bewilderment out of her voice.

She still couldn't entirely figure out the motives of this demigod who had volunteered—even resorting to threats—just to help her.

Surely no one would court death to this extent out of pure curiosity, right?

As for whether he wanted to harm her... that was just a joke.

He had already had more than one opportunity to kill her, including during the recent Ambor incident. Even if he had casually killed her back then, given how much Yuan Shan indulged him, she probably wouldn't have said a word.

"All three branches of the Blood Clan agree that Annalise is the Progenitor of our entire race. That much is unanimous. Where we differ is on the relationship between the Progenitor and the moon."

"To us, the moon is the symbol of the Progenitor, an identical concept. But others believe the Progenitor is merely the moon's offspring."

Annalise wasn't the moon itself, just its offspring?

Fu Qian touched the Ring of Favor on his hand.

And what about the Red Moon then? It couldn't just be Annalise's mother, right?

If that's really the case, my seniority would be completely absurd.

Even Serana right in front of me would probably have to call me great-grandfather or something.

Probably not. It felt like the Red Moon was clearly quite reluctant to play the role of this moon.

Aside from that, there was also the Dark Moon that appeared after shooting the sun with the Blasphemous Embrace.

It would be hard to believe there wasn't some kind of entanglement there. Wasn't the Gulade Family misled precisely because of that before?

The moon in this world feels like a god with quite the backstory.

"Understood."

Ending his reverie, Fu Qian nodded, grateful to Serana for clearing that up.

Because he hadn't spoken up again, Serana had already leaped several more times, racing against the clock.

Though his mind had wandered, Fu Qian hadn't lost track of her.

True to Serana's word, the replicated Real World wasn't particularly large. By now, the two of them had reached its edge.

...

"From here on out, taking even one more step forward makes orientation incredibly difficult to maintain, so we have to stick together. Whether or not we find our target will mostly come down to luck."

Serana spoke rapidly upon seeing they had arrived.

"Don't worry. Moved by your sincerity as I am, I will give you my full support no matter how many tries it takes for you to achieve your goal."

My sincerity... As if anyone begged you to come!

Serana gritted her teeth inwardly. Unable to hold back, she vaulted out of the shadows and took the lead, sprinting ahead.

...

Outside the boundaries of the replicated Real World, there was no chaotic, fog-filled expanse.

In fact, it was the exact opposite. Illuminated by moonlight several times more intense than before, it looked like a vast, brightly lit plain.

Not a single blade of grass could be seen. Beneath the lunar glow, fine dust-like sand stretched endlessly into the distance. A few broken walls and ruined foundations were faintly visible, looking as though they had weathered countless ages here.

After following her for a few steps, Fu Qian understood why Serana said it was easy to get lost here. Not only did the blazing moonlight multiply the rate of binding accumulation several times over, but it even distorted perception.

Right now, no matter which direction he looked, everything was a blinding sheet of silver-white.

They had only taken a few steps, yet the direction of The Bookstore had already blurred.

"I'm starting to believe that a Divine Entity's secret is hidden in here," Fu Qian noted.

Meeting Serana's scrutinizing gaze, he gestured forward.

"Lead the way."

"Alright."

Confirming once more that he was truly dead set on this, Serana didn't argue. She leaped lightly, gliding forward across a massive distance.

No wonder their whole kind is so narcissistic.

Watching Serana land flawlessly, her gray hair fluttering in an elegant, weightless motion, Fu Qian sighed in admiration, suppressing the sudden urge to sprout a pair of wings himself.

Dayun Mingwang is in the limelight right now. It's best not to invite any unwanted associations in that direction.

...

Their search dragged on for over two hours. Ten minutes after Serana had pulled out the Pocket Watch for the fifth time, she abruptly stopped in her tracks and exhaled heavily.

"Our luck isn't bad."

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