Eldritch Horror Theatre

Fu Qian didn’t know what had terrified the Countess, but her hysterical outburst still unleashed tremendous power.

Amid the endless glow, streams of light bombarded the headless armor from all directions, ringing out like hammer strikes.

The onslaught forced the headless armor into a staggering retreat. Even its seemingly indestructible Armor warped under the sheer force of the blows.

The black fluid within the armor also twisted and writhed violently under the barrage.

The relentless bombardment lasted for an unknown amount of time. Only when the headless armor was battered into a mangled heap and ceased moving altogether did the Countess collapse to the ground, gasping heavily.

”Don’t space out. There might be more!”

Fu Qian coldly reminded her.

Before his words even faded, two heavy thuds rang out as a pair of dark silhouettes leapt down.

’I knew it. With her screaming that loudly, any other monsters in the area were bound to be drawn over.’

One of the two figures that landed wore the same style of armor, though he wielded a round hammer that looked exceptionally heavy.The other wore what looked like a bishop’s robe, but his body was so hideously swollen that, coupled with the long Scepter in his grip, he looked exactly like a Fat Ascetic.

Furthermore, he was dripping wet from head to toe, his flesh mottled with massive patches of black.

The moment the new Armored Guy landed, he hurled his hammer straight at the Countess.

Thanks to Fu Qian’s warning, the Countess had snapped back to her senses just in time to narrowly dodge the blow.

The near miss fully jolted her awake. She swung her arms repeatedly, casting rings of light that snared her attacker.

Fu Qian no longer had the luxury of checking on her, however, because the Fat Ascetic had locked onto him.

The Fat Ascetic thrust his staff high into the air, gathering dense shadows at its tip.

Without a sound, a black orb the size of a washbasin hurtled straight toward Fu Qian’s face.

’It’s best not to let that hit me,’ was Fu Qian’s immediate instinct.

Fortunately, the projectile wasn’t fast. Fu Qian quickly darted aside, letting the orb smash directly into the adjacent stone wall, where it instantly corroded away a massive chunk of stone.

Whoosh!

The next moment, despite missing his first strike, the Fat Ascetic charged right up to Fu Qian, raining blows down on his head with his Scepter.

’Is everyone a melee mage these days?’

Noting that the Scepter was also wreathed in black shadows, Fu Qian opted against blocking and dodged again.

A split second later, a pale dragon head materialized out of thin air.

’Passively taking a beating has never been my style.’

As the Fat Ascetic’s strike met empty air, leaving him momentarily off balance, Fu Qian decisively unleashed his ultimate move.

A surging, transparent breath instantly blasted into the Fat Ascetic.

The Fat Ascetic froze in his tracks, his body immediately convulsing in a violent reaction.

As if he had been pumped full of boiling asphalt, massive blisters erupted across his surface. His body contorted and swelled into grotesque shapes as his skin grew practically translucent.

Sensing danger, Fu Qian immediately snatched up the previous Armored Guy’s shield and braced it in front of himself.

A moment later, the Fat Ascetic swelled to his absolute limit before bursting like a balloon, sending ink-black bodily fluids splattering in every direction.

Clang!

Once the shockwave subsided, Fu Qian tossed the massive shield aside.

The shield’s gilded surface had already been eaten away, riddled with corroded craters.

Fortunately, the shield had been large enough to prevent a single drop from splashing onto him.

The situation on the other side, however, was far more chaotic.

The Countess had naturally been keeping an eye on Fu Qian’s battle, but since she was busy dealing with the other Armored Guy, her movements weren’t nearly as free.

Seeing the situation turn dire, she barely managed to bait the Armored Guy into turning his back to the explosion, using his body as a meat shield against the blast.

At that moment, another pale dragon head appeared, blasting a surging breath directly into the center of the Armored Guy’s back.

Clang!

With the heavy thud of a dropped hammer, the Armored Guy slowly ground to a halt before crumbling to pieces across the floor.

The Countess stared vigilantly at the ruined armor. Once she realized nothing else was going to emerge, she let out a long breath, her face deathly pale.

The string of sudden, intense battles had placed a massive toll on her.

”Is something wrong?”

Fu Qian asked, walking over to her.

Only a fool wouldn’t realize she knew something, given her extreme reaction to seeing that asphalt-like sludge.

After taking a few deep breaths, the Countess looked up at Fu Qian, her voice trembling near a sob.

”They’re here!”

It was the first time he had seen this fierce heroine display such vulnerability. Piqued with curiosity, Fu Qian pointed at the ground.

”Who exactly do you mean by ’they’?”

”Those monsters that destroy everything... I didn’t think they’d actually manage to find this place.”

The Countess muttered, staring blankly at the corroded craters on the floor.

”What kind of monsters are they to warrant such an exaggeration?”

”They can’t be described...”

The despair in the Countess’s eyes was almost tangible.

”Do you know why the original pioneers migrated here in the first place?”

”I once heard someone say that they weren’t fleeing war or plague, but rather monsters that bring endless chaos and distortion.”

”Every single one of those monsters is powerful enough to evoke pure despair. They can corrode and distort everything, even inanimate objects.

Rumor has it that a mere glance from them can tear your soul apart.

Even their very names are a form of corruption; just knowing them will bring you doom.

A long time ago... the outside world was already destroyed.”

The Countess’s voice drifted like someone speaking in a dream.

”Now they’ve found this place too... Even though the path in was destroyed right away, they still came...”

’So this place is like the hidden utopia from the Tale of the Peach Blossom Spring?’

Hearing this secret history for the first time, Fu Qian mused to himself.

If what the Countess said was true, then this world was basically a destroyed, apocalyptic wasteland.

”Looking at it now, this place was likely abandoned back then for reasons beyond just raging natural disasters.

They might have already noticed the signs and decisively chosen to leave.”

The Countess slowly sorted through her thoughts.

”When I saw the Pus Stone, I had a terrible premonition. As it turns out, the worst-case scenario has actually happened.”

”Wait!”

After her string of murmurs, the Countess suddenly cried out in alarm and sprang to her feet.

”The Pus Stone appeared in the town. Doesn’t that mean—”

”We have to hurry back and tell the Priest about this immediately!”

’So this stuff is the Pus of Man?’

Fu Qian looked at the corroded craters around them and remembered his own task.

If this sludge really was the Pus of Man, then his workload was probably going to exceed his wildest imagination.

Just in this immediate vicinity alone, there were a full three infected targets.

Moreover, the vast majority of this place was buried under ice and snow. Were there any infected buried in there?

There was absolutely no way to know for sure. Was he going to have to dig them out one by one to check?

’Is the true nature of this task just a monumental exercise in moving mountains?’

For a moment, Fu Qian felt a profound headache.

”It’s time to move!”

Now that she had a clear goal, the Countess quickly rallied her spirits.

Just as she was about to set off, she suddenly remembered the very reason they had come here.

”By the way, has the Key on you reacted at all?”