Eldritch Horror Theatre

The Decree of Return, an ability rooted in the concept that nothing exists outside the mind, had previously proven capable of dispelling the gazes of a higher entity.

Of course, Fu Qian wasn’t certain if it would still work against the blessing right in front of him.

He decided to use it first because he could see A Long was clearly making a similar attempt.

A Long clearly understood that this untimely infusion of power wasn’t enough to help him fight a demigod; it would only accelerate his death.

And a patient’s level of cooperation was always a crucial factor in a medicine’s effectiveness.

As it turned out, the effect was at least passable.

With the Decree of Return assisting him, it didn’t take A Long much time to gradually bring the situation under control.

Before long, the fluttering Soul Butterflies dispersed completely.

”Why are you helping me?”

A Long’s voice drifted over, exactly as expected. The tension in his tone had dropped slightly.”Considering the risk of exposure, you could easily let your other self do the talking.”

Fu Qian didn’t rush to answer, thoughtfully offering a small reminder instead.

”...You don’t hand out favors without a reason. Aren’t you worried I’ll run?”

This time, it was Sunny’s voice. A Long clearly knew how to take advice.

”Not at all. Since you’ve come to pay your respects, I couldn’t possibly let you leave empty-handed.”

Fu Qian adopted a dismissive posture, completely unbothered.

”As an added reminder, once you step out of my Great Hall, this blessing will vanish.”

After all, the Decree of Return had a limited area of effect.

”...Since when was this your Great Hall?”

Even though she understood what Fu Qian meant, the sheer absurdity of his claim finally drove Sunny to retort.

”Oh? Then whose Great Hall is it?”

Yet in response to her complaint, the man shot the question right back with absolute naturalness.

...

A hesitant expression flashed across Sunny’s face. But soon, she gritted her teeth, seeming to come to a decision.

”I don’t know its exact honorific name, but the illusion earlier was its true form. And you absolutely have nothing to do with it.”

”Oh? Did you manage to dig up an inexact honorific name, then?”

Fu Qian didn’t deny her claim, simply playing along with a follow-up question.

Not knowing the name wasn’t strange. The covenants he had encountered so far almost never required one to be established.

”How did you know...”

Sunny was visibly taken aback.

”Is there anything my Origin Council doesn’t know?”

Fu Qian scoffed, his tone dripping with arrogance.

”Did you think I’d be like that idiot Kelsen and mistake you for some so-called creature born of the blessing?”

”I know exactly what you are!”

”The titles are a mess, but the general meaning is more or less the same... Dragon King.”

A Long didn’t seem to entirely buy this claim of omniscience.

But given that he was at the man’s mercy, combined with the sheer shock of the Origin Council’s name, he decided to cooperate.

”Unlike most faiths back then, its honorific name seemed to be a taboo even during the Mythological Era. That was all I managed to find out after exhausting every avenue.”

”Of course, it clearly had a massive following of believers.”

”And it looks like you aren’t thrilled about being one of them.”

Fu Qian offered a timely piece of commentary from the sidelines.

”You really do know a bit too much!”

That clearly struck a nerve. The careful restraint A Long had been maintaining instantly collapsed.

His subsequent explanation flowed out smoothly, carrying the air of someone who had decided they had nothing left to lose.

”That’s right. I’m no Ancient Giant Dragon. I don’t know why it suddenly vanished, and honestly, I couldn’t care less if it lives or dies.”

”A long time ago, Sunny and I broke into this place, on the exact day the blessing appeared.”

”And while inside, I felt an incomprehensible change wash over me.”

”Unfortunately, I wasn’t so optimistic. What others dreamed of obtaining always felt strange and wrong to me, so I spent a massive amount of time and effort investigating what the blessing actually represented.”

”The final conclusion was that I seemed to have become a believer of an ancient Divine Entity. The ridiculous part was that I couldn’t even confirm the honorific name of the being I was supposedly worshipping.”

”I can certainly imagine the frustration.”

A Long was delivering quite the monologue, and Fu Qian tossed in a perfectly timed interjection to keep him going.

”Then what was the point of all those terrifying actions you committed earlier?”

”To stop them.”

Sunny’s voice was absolute and unwavering.

”This place isn’t offering any sort of blessing. I didn’t want anyone else ending up like me.”

’So to save people from falling to corruption, you just kill them?’

’A highly effective technique.’

Fu Qian nodded thoughtfully.

’I think I’m starting to see why you’re called an Oathbreaker.’

’Not only do you refuse to serve the deity, but you actively sabotage its attempts to gather more pawns.’

”So you used your powerful stealth capabilities and Sunny’s cover to constantly stir up conflict, making everyone paranoid so you could minimize their exploration of this place?”

”Forgive my bluntness, but your results haven’t exactly been stellar.”

”Actually, it was working quite well at first... It was just completely unexpected that Siren and the Ji Clan would manage to reach such a tacit understanding.”

Perhaps simply to prove he was still there, it was A Long who spoke this time.

”I’d vaguely sensed that something was off earlier, so I was trying to be as careful as possible. But of course it had to be Kelsen, and of course his luck had to be ridiculously good...”

That much was true. Kelsen’s massive, area-of-effect lightning strikes were perfectly suited for striking the grass to startle the snake.

Had it been any other demigod, they might not have actually managed to blast out a spectator who was merely watching from the sidelines.

Fu Qian perfectly understood A Long’s grief. The very next second, he drove the knife in a little deeper.

”Are you sure it was only Kelsen?”

”The object of your faith seems to be overlooking past grievances and showering you with a blessing, doesn’t it?”

Heh...

A Long’s voice was a mix of sheer helplessness and deep sorrow.

”The power infused into me in the form of the Soul Butterfly is indeed protecting me. It even helps throw off my pursuers. But that’s obviously meaningless against a demigod. All it did was break my stealth.”

”You’re right. It looks like I really did anger it. I don’t know if it’s even capable of feeling wrath anymore, but it’s obvious that it’s using this blessing to accelerate my death.”

”More than that. There’s also the Ancient Giant Dragon that was exposed as an illusion. Any hunter with half a brain who saw what just happened has probably marked you as the real target by now.”

”They might not have the guts to try snatching food from a tiger’s mouth, but I imagine they wouldn’t mind lending Siren a hand in exchange for a little reward.”

Fu Qian’s heart-piercing logic landed blow after blow, completely merciless.

”To sum it all up, thanks to your excess of rebellious spirit, it doesn’t look like you’re going to live to see the dawn.”

...

Faced with this harsh reality, the ensuing collective silence was absolute. Seeing this, Fu Qian finally nodded in satisfaction.

”They say a man’s dying words are always honest. Now, I have a question. What exactly were you planning to do to me earlier?”

”Exactly how were you planning to use the deterrence I hold over Kelsen to secure a sliver of survival for yourself?”