Eldritch Horror Theatre

”What crazy thing are you doing now—”

Fu Qian’s latest bizarre stunt made Yuan Shan frown again.

But she only got halfway through the question. The next moment, her expression drastically changed, and she shot backward as if electrocuted.

Yet this reflexive movement was nowhere near as swift as usual.

This reaffirmed an unbelievable fact for Yuan Shan—she had lost her supernatural powers.

That Bell?

How was that possible... What kind of transcendent item could achieve such an effect?

Realizing the problem likely stemmed from the Bell in Fu Qian’s hand, Yuan Shan felt her very understanding of the world take a blow.

Where did this guy even get so many bizarre things!

More importantly, what is he trying to do?Seeing that Fu Qian hadn’t moved after ringing the Bell and was instead standing in place, frowning in deep thought, Yuan Shan found herself momentarily afraid to question him.

The memory of her chest being pierced earlier was still fresh in her mind.

Even though it didn’t look like he was specifically targeting her right now, this guy had always been utterly ruthless!

With her supernatural powers dispelled, taking even a single hit would put her in a dire situation... Wait, is he affected by it too?

After all, with such a ridiculous effect, if he could release it selectively, wouldn’t killing people be as easy as eating radishes for him?

All these thoughts flashed through Yuan Shan’s mind in less than a second. Just as she breathed a slight sigh of relief, her eyes suddenly went wide.

An elegantly designed, silver-white handgun had appeared in his hand at some unknown point.

Normally, Yuan Shan wouldn’t have spared a glance for something like that.

However, the powerlessness currently gripping her body made her truly appreciate the deterrent force of a dark gun barrel for the very first time.

Wait, if things go south when he talks to my teacher later, and he just rings the Bell and pulls out his gun...

Following that train of thought one step further, Yuan Shan felt her scalp tingle even more. She didn’t dare imagine the scene.

”Bang!”

At that exact moment, a sharp sound actually rang out. Acting on pure reflex, Yuan Shan lunged sideways, putting all her effort into diving behind a streetlamp she had previously eyed for cover.

Yet it was only when her hands gripped the metal pole that she realized there had been no muzzle flash; the sound had come entirely from his mouth.

The second thing she realized was that her dispelled powers had returned to her body.

Bathed in the instantaneous, surging sense of security, even her displeasure was somewhat washed away.

”What the hell are you doing?”

A second later, she rolled her eyes hard at Fu Qian.

”Just a joke. Don’t be mad.”

Fu Qian maintained his friendly expression, tucking the gun away with a smooth motion.

”After all, I couldn’t just eat everything.”

So that’s how it is...

This explanation left Yuan Shan momentarily stunned, but she quickly caught on—he was deliberately demonstrating this combo to her!

As for his purpose, it was simple: to show sincerity.

This trip was dangerous. A method like this, which could absolutely serve as a trump card, was something he could have easily kept hidden for final self-preservation.

Instead, the very first thing he did upon arriving was openly demonstrate it to her, not caring in the least about exposing his hand.

It was the most earnest possible display of a willingness to communicate.

With this gesture out of the way, she really didn’t need to worry too much about all the random junk he had geared himself up with.

Huu—

Yuan Shan let out a long breath, her expression softening in an instant.

”I’ve received your sincerity. Don’t worry, the Night Watchers are definitely not unreasonable.”

Without another word, Yuan Shan flagged down a passing car. After Fu Qian slid in with all his assorted odds and ends, she gave the driver an address.

True to what had just been said, she had chosen that central district where faiths converged.

...

Chief Yuan undoubtedly possessed the demeanor of a great leader, and she was an extremely decisive person.

Of course, that didn’t prevent her from making a flawed judgment just now.

Sitting in the car, Fu Qian watched the streetscape flash by, marveling inwardly.

Ringing the Bell and pulling out the gun to show sincerity was only a very small part of it.

The most important reason, in truth, was to confirm how his Rank had changed after eating that thing.

The very moment he had rung the Bell, Fu Qian had started silently keeping time.

The facts proved that his supernatural powers recovered far faster than they did for the frantically fleeing Chief Yuan. His recovery speed was actually extremely close to a genuine Tier 2 like Ariel.

Back in Dunis, he had used this exact method to finally land a successful shot on him.

As for pulling out the gun afterward, that was nothing more than a bit of twisted humor to confuse Chief Yuan, making her subconsciously assume he hadn’t recovered either.

So why reveal such a method this early, instead of saving it for his meeting with Henry?

Given the current situation, that man’s threat level was far higher than before.

The question itself was the answer.

A character very likely to have extremely close ties to Blazing Rainbow, and one who was already on his guard.

If he was naive enough to treat the Eternally Lucid Mind as a trump card then—even ignoring a scenario like Ariel directly inviting a Deity to possess him—if Blazing Rainbow pulled the slightest trick, he would likely end up facing supernatural powers with just his mortal body. That would simply be suicide.

Therefore, no matter how one looked at it, using it to test his current Rank was the most logical application.

Not to mention a crucial detail: he knew the Eternally Lucid Mind had a twenty-four-hour cooldown, but Chief Yuan didn’t.

Trading a single-use tool that might easily backfire on him for a long-lasting deterrent—and possibly even swaying her to his side—was a worthwhile trade by any metric.

...

”We’re here.”

His reverie was broken as Chief Yuan prompted him to get out of the car.

Fu Qian glanced out the window. They truly were master and disciple; this was the very same Church that Old Man Henry had stayed at before.

”So, your teacher is a devout follower of this one?”

Stepping out, Fu Qian sized up the magnificent architecture before him.

”Not just this one...”

Looking slightly embarrassed by the question, Yuan Shan muttered softly and took the lead, seemingly too ashamed to explain further.

”We’re in luck.”

However, her spirits immediately lifted the next moment when she spotted a figure sitting quietly in a corner.

”Follow me. My teacher’s name is Henry Campbell, a Tier 2 Transcendent.”

Although Fu Qian’s getup was bizarre, the devout believers beneath the Sacred Emblem clearly had no time to spare for such trivialities. Chief Yuan didn’t bother trying to persuade him to change his appearance either. She softly relayed a bit of information about her teacher, then motioned for Fu Qian to keep up.

Just like last time, Old Man Henry still had a stern face, sitting upright and proper. No matter how you looked at him, he seemed like a true, devout believer who disdained associating with the crowd beneath the Sacred Emblem.

However, this posture instantly changed the moment Fu Qian drew slightly closer.

Inside the originally bright Great Hall, the light actually dimmed noticeably.

At the same time, before the two of them even arrived in front of him, Henry turned his head. His gaze locked directly onto Fu Qian’s face.

Faced with this visibly grim scrutiny, Fu Qian returned an incredibly sincere smile and, fully armed, walked right up to him.