Eldritch Horror Theatre

Clang!

At almost the exact same moment, Chang Mo, who had been watching closely, struck out with her Longsword.

Her previous encounter with the crystal beetles left her highly wary of this thing. Even though it had shown no hostility, she remained on high alert.

Knowing exactly how tough this thing was, she held nothing back, pouring all her strength into the strike.

Yet despite the speed, precision, and ferocity of her attack, the strike failed once again.

The crystal arm, formed in an even denser configuration, displayed an absurd level of durability. It took the sword strike head-on without leaving a single mark.

”I’m fine.”

As the one caught in its grasp, Ah Kai immediately realized that the force crushing his wrist was freakishly strong. Seeing Chang Mo’s fierce but ineffective strike, he made a prompt, decisive choice.

Accompanied by a sickening sound, he slowly pulled his twisted, deformed hand out of the Shatter Glove.

He obviously hadn’t worn the glove just to escape like this, but it proved useful now—even if the lingering damage looked horrific.Even so, the crystal hand refused to let him go.

Almost the moment Ah Kai pulled free, the arm shot forward, trying to grab him again and drag him into the pool.

Clang!

A second sword chime rang out. This time, it wasn’t Chang Mo, but Guan Jingzheng, who had reacted a beat slower.

Facing the pursuing crystal hand, he raised his sword to meet it. He didn’t aim to deal damage, just to stall it for a fraction of a second.

Yet even such a modest goal went unfulfilled.

The massive recoil left Guan Jingzheng’s palm completely numb. Not only did he fail to leave a mark, but he couldn’t even slow its momentum.

Just as the crystal hand closed within a hair’s breadth of Ah Kai’s neck, his body suddenly accelerated, narrowly dodging the blow.

Kasi, who had been quietly observing, stepped in just in time to yank him back.

Casually tossing Ah Kai aside, Kasi faced the relentless crystal arm. An instant later, an ashen-black flame spear reeking of destruction materialized out of thin air and slammed solidly into it.

With a muffled explosion, the ink-thick flames flared and vanished.

The dean of the Apocalypse Branch was no fraud. Under a Demigod Level attack, the crystal hand finally showed a reaction.

After a brief stall, it began to crumble apart, turning into shattered crystalline chunks that rained back down into the pool below.

That shape looked a little familiar!

This entire exchange happened in a split second. Faced with the sudden mutation, Fu Qian was focused on something else entirely.

The crystal hand that had just tried to drag Ah Kai in bore a striking resemblance to the corpse they found earlier.

Granted, one was a pitch-black lump and the other was dazzlingly bright—effectively the difference between graphite and diamond.

Could there be a connection between the two?

As for why he hadn’t intervened just now?

If a Demigod Realm leader from the Academy managed to suffer casualties while slacking off in a place that wasn’t even a forbidden zone, then Kasi wouldn’t deserve to be the dean.

Besides, he was merely a guest here.

Of course, there was also someone who seemed not to have acted, but actually had.

Take the pale-faced Ni Huayuan next to him. Although he stood completely still, he hadn’t been idle—unfortunately, his efforts had been completely ineffective.

As a Psychic Type, he was genuinely powerless against an entity that might not even qualify as a living creature.

...

”My glove...”

Having narrowly escaped, Ah Kai stared at his glove sinking into the crystal pool and made a gesture of despair.

It was obvious that he cherished the item quite a bit.

”What the hell is this thing?”

Ni Huayuan finally shook off his sense of powerlessness, blurting out the question in astonishment.

But before his voice even faded, another mutation occurred.

With the monstrous hand shattered, the erratic pulsing of the crystal pool began to slow down.

In its place, more tentacles slowly rose from the pool.

Amidst the flashing light, every single one of those tentacles began to transform.

This time, however, they weren’t hands. They were translucent, crystal-clear spears.

The group subconsciously looked toward Kasi. These things bore a striking resemblance to the Black Flame Spear he had just summoned.

”Pull back outside first.”

Kasi had clearly realized this as well. He quickly condensed dozens of slightly smaller Black Flame Spears in the air, pitting them directly against the crystal spears aiming at them from afar, all while signaling the others to retreat.

From the looks of it, the more disturbed this thing became, the more violently it reacted.

Whether it was the slackers from the Academy or the Kamakura Family, everyone had been thoroughly intimidated by the entity’s properties. They fully cooperated, retreating the way they had come.

...

”We should leave.”

Almost the moment they retreated back into the Corridor, Ni Huayuan swept his gaze across everyone’s faces, his tone firm.

”This thing is indeed bizarre, but it doesn’t look like we’ll find a way to deal with it anytime soon, and we don’t have that much time left.”

”Or do you really think this thing is the target we’re looking for?”

Despite the Academy group’s keen interest in such a peculiar existence, they weren’t about to lie through their teeth.

This thing had likely existed here for thousands of years.

Judging from its earlier reactions, if left unprovoked, it would probably remain completely docile.

”Why don’t we wait for Dean Kasi to come out first?”

Having painfully lost his glove, Ah Kai clearly didn’t want to leave just like that. After a brief hesitation, he offered a tactful suggestion.

At that moment, muffled booms echoed from Inside the Door, making it obvious that Kasi was dealing with the entity.

A moment later, a figure flashed by, and Kasi backed out, looking slightly worse for wear.

”It’s a bit tricky.”

Though he hadn’t sustained any injuries, he gave a very honest summary of their clash inside.

”So shouldn’t we leave now?”

Ni Huayuan didn’t bother with pleasantries, directly throwing out the point they had just been discussing.

”I don’t think this thing has anything to do with our current investigation.”

”It doesn’t matter what you think.”

Yet, to his surprise, Kasi outright rejected his posturing statement.

”In my eyes, this thing is highly important to our investigation.”

The dean’s calm yet resolute tone left him stunned for a moment.

”So you can deal with that thing?”

Once he recovered his wits, he gritted his teeth and demanded.

”No good methods for the time being.”

Kasi shook his head, then looked at Fu Qian.

”What about Mister Yun?”

”Same here. That thing is very unique.”

Fu Qian replied straightforwardly.

Of course, lacking a good method didn’t mean he had no methods at all.

Thanks to the Original Sin Sage’s Ability, Fu Qian had yet to encounter anything he couldn’t cut down.

The problem was, what would be the point of cutting it?

If he had only wanted to carve off a piece to study, he would have done it already.

His task was to figure out why the Divine Seal had failed.

For him, using this thing to run a few tests held far more value than going all out and turning into a meat grinder.

”Are you saying neither of you demigods can do anything about it?”

Fu Qian’s candor left Ni Huayuan feeling a little pleasantly surprised.

”So how exactly does Dean Kasi plan to investigate it?”

”Don’t rush.”

At this point, Fu Qian chimed back in.

”There’s still someone who hasn’t made a move yet.”

As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward Kamakura Ki.