Eldritch Horror Theatre

”Heh... I have a question then.”

Faced with Fu Qian’s counter-question, Henry’s expression suddenly softened under Yuan Shan’s worried gaze.

”Knowing the true nature of this city, if your actions weren’t restricted, what would you do next?”

”Simple.”

Fu Qian glanced at Yuan Shan, looking as though he had prepared his answer long ago.

”I’d take a tour of all these Churches and the like, then go try my luck.”

”Whatever this so-called true nature is, it doesn’t stop the place from being a top-tier amusement park.”

Hahaha...

Henry froze for a moment after hearing Fu Qian’s plan, then broke into a genuinely hearty laugh.

”How did you learn the name Blazing Rainbow?”But he dropped his smile a second later, immediately steering the conversation back to the main topic.

The sheer speed of the shift caught even Yuan Shan off guard. She watched Fu Qian with mounting tension.

She was a Chief, after all. She naturally knew the banter between them was far from as simple as it seemed.

Her teacher was definitely probing him, but this top-tier strategist under her command was never one to take things passively either.

A moment ago she had felt like smacking them both, yet the conversation had pivoted to the actual issue so quickly that she found herself worrying all over again.

”I’ve had a few dealings with Him.”

Yet, under Yuan Shan’s tense gaze, Fu Qian delivered an absolutely horrifying answer in the most casual tone imaginable.

...

Once Fu Qian’s words fully registered, Yuan Shan felt her brain short-circuit for several seconds. When her thoughts finally resumed, she immediately shot her teacher a look of pure horror.

”I thought we had established an atmosphere of honest communication...”

Her teacher didn’t look to be faring much better. In the blink of an eye, every last trace of his smile had vanished.

More than that, visibility in the room dropped rapidly following that sentence.

It was certainly approaching midnight, but the quiet room was brightly lit, and all three people present were high-Rank transcendents. Their vision shouldn’t have been affected in the slightest.

Yet at this very moment, the darkness felt almost tangible. It seeped out from every corner, swallowing everything within.

What incredible suppression!

It was just a pity he couldn’t see how this connected to the power he had encountered inside the Color Wheel.

As the actual target of this pressure, Fu Qian showed no panic, only disappointment.

This display of intimidation was exactly what he’d been aiming for. Why else would he have tried so hard to scare the man?

Unfortunately, what a furious Divine Emissary put on display fell short of the ideal outcome.

It was certainly powerful. The mass of darkness shrouding him went far beyond simply suppressing his movements or manifesting physical attacks.

The very space seemed defiled.

Fu Qian could clearly feel an invisible imbalance and distortion filling the air around him.

It acted like an uneven lens. It looked normal, but any action he tried to take could be repelled, magnified, or entirely blocked.

Even if he did nothing, this bizarre, curse-like presence gnawed at him as he sat there, leaving him with the sickening sensation of being swarmed by filth.

Power was just a tool, of course, and just as you couldn’t judge a book by its cover, you couldn’t judge a tool by its appearance—but wasn’t this tool a bit too disgusting?

Fu Qian grumbled inwardly, checking on Chief Yuan out of the corner of his eye.

She seemed quite experienced in handling this; strips of black ribbon were currently wrapping around her body.

The very ability she had once used to control corruption was now wrapping around her in reverse.

Though her fists were clenched tight, she was clearly keeping her composure, refusing to make any hasty moves that might escalate the conflict.

”No problem. I feel the same way.”

Giving Yuan Shan’s handling of the situation mental applause, Fu Qian refrained from any antagonistic movements. He simply propped his cheek on his hand, letting the filth wash over him to demonstrate his stance.

”Your Excellency seems to think my claim is impossible. But if it weren’t true, why would I be searching for information regarding that name?”

”That is exactly what I want to know. That name shouldn’t exist in this world in any form—”

Henry only made it halfway through his sentence before his gaze was captured by the object that suddenly appeared in front of him.

It was an old-fashioned Lantern with a black cylindrical top and a rounded belly. Its exterior was battered and worn, and no wick could be seen inside the glass casing.

Instead, a faint, indescribable hue rippled within it.

”How is that possible? Where did you get that?”

All his previous composure shattered. The Tier 2 heavyweight shot to his feet, his tone dripping with utter disbelief.

”Oh, I dug it out of the Warehouse.”

Fu Qian had clearly prepared his answer well in advance, replying with absolute ease.

...

While Henry was busy questioning reality, Yuan Shan actually looked a bit calmer. After her gaze darted between Fu Qian and the Lantern a few times, her face filled with suspicion.

”That’s a massive item. How did I not notice you carrying it? Where did you even pull it from?”

”Something this dangerous naturally requires a special method of storage.”

Fu Qian shook his head, looking utterly enigmatic.

Miniature Universe Aberrant Color. He certainly hadn’t been carrying around this Lantern, which undeniably shared some connection with Blazing Rainbow.

What Fu Qian had just done was extremely simple. While resting his cheek on his hand, he had casually slipped off the Emissary mask and taken a quick trip back to the Warehouse.

But under the effects of The World, Yuan Shan and Henry clearly couldn’t perceive that. To them, the Lantern simply seemed to appear in his hand out of thin air.

This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment idea. As one of his top-tier collectibles, Fu Qian had decided on the way over to use this item to give His Excellency Henry a little extra shock.

”It is indeed a very special transcendent item, but didn’t Mister Fang just sidestep my question?”

Henry seemed to have finally steadied his emotions, but the glare he leveled at Fu Qian only grew sharper.

”What does it have to do with the name Blazing Rainbow? The name isn’t carved onto it, is it? We were just discussing where that name came from.”

”Of course it isn’t carved on there, but it is indeed the source of the name.”

In response to Henry’s uncompromising stance, Fu Qian merely offered a satisfied smile.

”As a transcendent item, its property is that tapping it three times in a row will randomly project the phantom of an ancient God.”

”The name Blazing Rainbow simply appeared in my mind the moment I obtained it.”

Fu Qian casually scrambled the cause and effect, masking the truth that the name Blazing Rainbow had actually come from the mission summary.

”You summoned the projection of Blazing Rainbow?”

As expected, Henry didn’t question his logic. His shock was accompanied by a chilling, palpable killing intent.

”His name appeared in your consciousness, and then?”

”And then? I didn’t really understand what He was trying to do, so I refused.”

Faced with the explosively surging pressure, Fu Qian continued his response with absolute calm.

”But given the threat He presented, I sought out Chief Yuan to try and confirm a bit more information.”