Eldritch Horror Theatre

Metal clashed against metal, scattering sparks and Frostfire.

In the dim space, the Sin Seeker and the Mad Swordsman collided, instantly locked in a frantic melee.

Surprisingly, Swordsman Yun wasn’t losing ground at all. If anything, he was visibly suppressing the Sin Seeker.

The knight tasked with eradicating sin was quickly struck multiple times by the blade blazing with Sin Fire, leaving its sturdy armor riddled with gashes.

Even so, the Sin Seeker continued to chop, thrust, and slash with mechanical precision.

Its strikes were heavy and powerful, executed with a complete disregard for death.

Yun fought like a man possessed, refusing to retreat a single step as he met every blow head-on.

Even from a distance, the sheer sharpness of the radiating sword energy was palpable.

”An opportunity. Let’s go, quickly!”

Having witnessed the clash, Elena turned to Fu Qian and Cross, her face pale.”Shouldn’t we take advantage of the chaos to strike?”

Fu Qian pointed toward the brawl and let out a cold scoff.

”When dealing with this kind of demonic heresy, there’s no need to speak of jianghu honor. Let’s rush him together!”

...

After he delivered this righteous demon-slaying speech, not only did Elena shoot him an are you kidding me look, but even Cross stared at him in utter bewilderment.

”There’s no point. We have more important things to do, and the Sin Seeker won’t last much longer!”

Elena was the first to snap back to her senses. She hastily reasoned with Fu Qian before taking the lead and dashing forward.

Cross didn’t hesitate to follow right behind her.

Left alone at the back, Fu Qian shook his head, lamenting how the dao wanes as the demonic waxes and the declining public morals, before finally trailing after them.

The trio advanced rapidly in the direction the Sin Seeker had come from.

Severed limbs and mutilated remains littered their path. Judging by the wounds, they had all been cleanly sliced by a sharp blade.

The carnage wasn’t even limited to humans; many of the severed limbs clearly belonged to creatures of the Transcendent Tier.

This Mad Swordsman truly slaughtered everything in his path. It made perfect sense that the fiery aura around him was so red it bordered on purple.

”What an absolute lunatic!”

Elena couldn’t help but voice her heartfelt assessment as she led the way.

”I have never seen anyone accumulate that much Sin Fire in such a short amount of time!”

”But don’t worry. With his style, he’ll be wiped out by the Sin Seeker sooner or later.”

”Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to ask!”

Fu Qian suddenly remembered something and looked at Elena.

”Isn’t that Sin Seeker a little weak? It was clearly losing that fight.”

”That is because the Sin Seeker’s strength isn’t static.”

Elena let out a long sigh, confirming that Fu Qian truly hadn’t watched any of the previously recorded footage.

”The Sin Seeker’s power is directly linked to the amount of Sin Fire purified by the Goddess of Sins. The more Sin Fire extinguished, the stronger it becomes.”

”On top of that, it is immortal. Striking first and killing it is completely useless.”

”After every death, it quickly undergoes a rebirth in a brand new form to resume the hunt.”

”That is why I said that lunatic will be killed by the Sin Seeker eventually. He is facing an unkillable assassin.”

So that was how it worked!

After Elena finished her explanation, Fu Qian nodded slightly.

This Goddess of Sins gave off an increasingly enigmatic feeling.

And whoever discovered her traits and used them to design this death game possessed quite an impressive imagination.

The fact that the Sin Seeker’s strength was variable was an absolutely brilliant touch.

As a role akin to a knight of Chastisement, if the Sin Seeker was too strong right from the start, no one would dare kill anyone in the early stages of the game. After all, being targeted would mean certain death.

But if it was too weak, its presence would quickly drop to zero, failing to serve as a limiting factor at all.

As it stood now, the amount of purified Sin Fire would undoubtedly increase over time, ensuring that the Sin Seeker’s threat remained constant.

”Even so, the Sin Seeker isn’t strong enough yet. We have to find the location of the Statue as quickly as possible. That way, we can extinguish our own Sin Fire while simultaneously increasing its threat level—the exit is over there!”

Elena pointed as she spoke, gesturing toward an open set of doors not far away.

She was noticeably more cautious this time, using a glance to signal Cross to go out and scout the way.

”No problem.”

He stepped out without complaint, and a sound soon drifted back from the other side.

Elena offered Fu Qian a slight nod before slipping out through the gap in the doors.

”We came straight outside?”

Upon stepping out, Elena looked momentarily stunned.

Glancing into the distance, she could see the white building surrounded by stone pillars—the very place they had initially entered.

In other words, they had explicitly descended a floor into the Underground, yet they had still emerged on the surface.

It truly was a Shattered Land!

However, this was no time to marvel.

Elena looked at Fu Qian.

”We have to hurry. Someone is growing too fast this time, and we can’t forget about Patrick.”

Fu Qian nodded. There was nothing wrong with her train of thought.

At this point, Elena’s strategy was abundantly clear.

Her plan was to find the Statue of the Goddess of Sin as quickly as possible, then use the Sin Seeker’s traits to continuously suppress Patrick and the others.

Considering they could actively hunt players at any time and then seek out the Goddess of Sins to purify themselves, the Sin Seeker’s power level would be entirely in their grasp. That would allow them to eliminate threatening opponents one by one and secure ultimate victory.

He had to admit, it was an excellent strategy.

Unexpectedly, however, an unforeseen variable had appeared this time: Yun’s Sin Fire was accumulating far too quickly.

Combined with his already overwhelming strength, the Sin Seeker at its current intensity was clearly no match for him.

If this went on and formed a vicious cycle, it would become incredibly troublesome.

And the reason Patrick was brought up was quite simple.

The Sin Seeker was currently locked onto Yun, meaning the Butcher was completely unhindered and free to accumulate the Fire of Sin however he pleased.

Under zero pressure while picking off kills, it was incredibly easy to foster a monster.

By the time all the kills were snatched up, there wouldn’t be enough sin left to strengthen the Sin Seeker, and Elena’s plan would end in total ruin.

While finding the Statue was indeed the top priority, the question remained: where exactly were they supposed to look?

She had just rushed through two locations back-to-back, coming up empty-handed and nearly falling into a death trap.

Elena was clearly aware of this as well. She frowned, her eyes sweeping the surroundings relentlessly like searchlights.

She was trying to pinpoint any anomalies amid the vast desolation.

”Aargh!”

Right at that moment, a shrill, bloodcurdling scream rang out from a distance. It sounded like things had already taken a grim turn for whoever cried out.

”Let’s go check it—”

Before Elena could finish speaking, she realized Fu Qian’s figure had already drifted off, leaving her no choice but to follow behind.

After cresting an undulating slope, the scene that greeted them was thoroughly gruesome.

Severed limbs, shredded flesh, and flowing blood painted the ground. Several corpses were already sprawled out amidst the rubble.

Judging from the blood trails, they had all tried to escape from a slanted building nearby.

And standing amid the gore was Patrick, whom they had seen earlier, wearing a smile as he wrenched his fist out of a corpse’s chest cavity.

The next moment, cloaked in dark red Sin Fire, he looked up and stared right at them.