Eldritch Horror Theatre

”This...”

Kikuchi paled in shock, instinctively looking back.

The Box holding the tentacle had opened at some point, and it was now completely empty.

”You shoved it into Lu Ming’s stomach?”

”Are you crazy?”

”What the hell are you trying to do!”

However, before he could express his shock, a sharp pain lanced through his ribs. A tentacle had unexpectedly thrust out from Lu Ming’s stomach and burrowed straight into his own wound.

As agonizing pain washed over him, Kikuchi instinctively tried to shove Lu Ming away, only to find himself completely powerless.

...

’This should be enough.’Fu Qian stared expressionlessly at the two men on the ground.

More and more glowing blue tentacles pierced the two of them, thoroughly knitting them together.

Their bodies rapidly deformed and rotted, collapsing in the blink of an eye into a single, indistinguishable mass of flesh.

That distinct stench grew increasingly pungent.

Fu Qian watched them while silently calculating the time.

He was currently covered in wounds and scorch marks, but none of them were severe. Under the effects of the Thug, he was rapidly healing.

About fifty seconds later, Fu Qian shifted his stance just as a tentacle slammed into his previous spot like a cannonball.

”In a sense... I really have to thank you.”

Lu Ming’s head opened its eyes on the continuously writhing mass of flesh and began to speak, panting heavily.

”Fusing with this is extremely dangerous, but the rewards are simply too immense. I had been hesitating, but today, you made the choice for me.”

”And fortunately, I accumulated a fair amount of experience during my previous tests. I know a few methods for handling this state.”

”In return... I’ve decided to let you experience... a hundred times the pain I’m in right now...”

”You talk too much nonsense!”

Lu Ming hadn’t even finished speaking before another voice rudely interrupted him.

Kikuchi’s head emerged from the other side of the fleshy mass.

”Hurry up and kill him! We need to find a way to separate our bodies as soon as possible.”

”I don’t need you to rush me.”

Lu Ming snorted. The next moment, a cluster of tentacles erupted outward, striking like a dozen bolts of blue lightning.

Fu Qian narrowly dodged the blow, and the strike smashed a massive crater into the solid metal wall.

”Seems like you two are getting along pretty well.”

Fu Qian smiled, looking at the two symmetrical heads.

”Why would you ever want to separate?”

As he spoke, he flicked his wrist. The Crimson Long Whip materialized out of thin air and lashed heavily against their shared body.

Boom!

Lu Ming, who had just opened his mouth to speak, felt as if a grenade had detonated inside his mind.

Countless chaotic emotions and thoughts flew in every direction, leaving his sanity on the verge of collapse.

”Something’s wrong! Hurry and kill him! Kill him now!”

Kikuchi shrieked as another mass of tentacles lashed out.

Fu Qian nimbly sidestepped the strike and lashed out with the whip several more times.

He leveraged the effects of the Tyrant’s Fist to rapidly shred what was left of their sanity.

”No!”

The newly formed Lu Ju entity felt the chaos in its mind violently spike. The two heads roared in unison, thrashing countless tentacles of all sizes in every direction as they desperately tried to seize Fu Qian.

However, this blind thrashing posed absolutely no threat. Fu Qian moved through the violent storm of attacks as if taking a leisurely stroll in a courtyard, dodging their strikes while continuously lashing them with the whip.

Crash!

Debris sprayed everywhere as a Box containing a massive compound eye was shattered, sending its contents tumbling to the floor.

Under Fu Qian’s deliberate guidance, the chaotic battle had spilled out into the adjacent Materials Repository.

Crash!

More Boxes were smashed to pieces by the flailing tentacles, sending the Laboratory’s years of accumulated research materials flying through the air.

Whatever tumbled out rapidly melded into the flesh the moment it touched the chaotic mass of Lu Ju’s fused body.

In the blink of an eye, the two men morphed into a horrific ball of meat, bristling with hundreds of eyeballs, countless mismatched limbs, wings, and flailing tentacles.

Roar!

The two of them completely lost their minds, blindly lashing out in every direction as their heads let out nothing but beastly roars.

’That’s enough!’

Seeing this, Fu Qian didn’t linger. He immediately turned and sprinted back the way he came, charging out without meeting any resistance.

Now that Lu Ju had successfully fused into a monstrous mass, there was no longer any force left in the Laboratory capable of stopping him. The ordinary guards couldn’t even track his speed with their eyes.

By now, the Laboratory’s blaring alarms had merged into a deafening siren. The massive abomination of Lu Ju burst out of the ground and began tearing through the facility, frantically destroying everything in its path.

Countless guards and researchers fled in terror in every direction.

’He should be coming by now, right?’

Fu Qian hid to the side and ran a palm over his body. Flakes of skin peeled away, erasing the marks left by the tentacles and completely dissipating the distinct stench clinging to him.

Once that was done, he suppressed his aura to the absolute limit and stared toward the White Tower.

Half a minute later, an astonishing killing intent erupted from the White Tower. It felt as though a terrifying thunderstorm was hurtling his way.

Ibu could finally sit still no longer.

A bolt of lightning crashed down in front of the Laboratory, revealing the red-haired, black-robed Ibu, who locked his gaze on the violently thrashing tentacles.

The sheer scale of the destruction caused by Lu Ming and Kikuchi was massive, almost instantly drawing the attention of the Demigod.

’Now’s my chance!’

Fu Qian didn’t hesitate for a second, bolting straight toward the White Tower.

Given his earlier performance, Ibu would undoubtedly assume that the massive amalgamation of flesh was him.

That would buy him a tiny window of time.

’And that’s more than enough!’

”The highly anticipated finals are about to begin! Now, let us welcome our fighters to the stage!”

Just as Fu Qian rushed into the preparation room, he heard the announcer’s hyped-up voice.

The Priestess remained unconscious, but her breathing was steady.

It was indeed time to take the stage.

Fu Qian took a deep breath and stepped out into the blinding glare of the spotlights.

However, amidst the roaring cheers of the crowd, he didn’t walk toward the arena. Instead, he leaped straight up into the air.

At the apex of his jump, his arm stretched out with a snap, embedding itself deeply into the wall. Using it for leverage, he vaulted himself higher, hurtling straight toward Bai Jinting’s viewing box.

Alarms blared almost instantly. Fierce gusts of wind and bursts of fire erupted around him, attempting to block his approach.

As the King of the White Tower, it was impossible for Bai Jinting to have only Ibu guarding him.

However, compared to a Demigod, these kinds of attacks didn’t even count as a threat.

Fu Qian’s body flickered rapidly, easily dodging wave after wave of interception. With one final, explosive leap, he landed directly on Bai Jinting’s viewing stand.

This was his first time coming into close contact with his target.

A furious roar erupted from the distance. He could feel a violent streak of lightning hurtling madly toward the White Tower.

’As expected of a Demigod. He figured it out even faster than I thought!’

Bai Jinting, sitting in the stands, didn’t show much panic. He merely stared at Fu Qian with a darkened expression.

”Why?”

Fu Qian didn’t answer; he simply stomped his foot down.

...

Amidst the spray of flesh and blood, the scene before his eyes violently distorted.

Yet, no prompt for success or failure appeared.

”The highly anticipated finals are about to begin! Now, let us welcome our fighters to the stage!”

When his senses returned, Fu Qian found himself back in the preparation room, the announcer’s hyped-up voice echoing from outside once again.

The only difference was that the Priestess, still slumped over beside him, was now panting rapidly in her deep sleep.