Eldritch Horror Theatre

’Is this a God?’

As the Indigo Witch reacted viscerally, Fu Qian marveled inwardly.

His body hadn’t merely expanded, nor was this simply the effect of Resplendent Tyrant.

Just a moment ago, upon his ascension to False God, his newly acquired Mythical Form had activated for the first time.

Just as he had sensed back then, a fundamental, transcendent shift had occurred.

Though he remained entirely draped in yellow robes, Fu Qian was certain his exterior was no longer that fusion of starlight and dark domains.

It had once again become a body of flesh and blood.

A burly physique, dull skin, and knotted muscles. With his every casual movement, space and time seemed to shudder around him. He looked every bit the giant, a slayer of gods.

Even his bodily proportions were remarkably standard.

And Fu Qian was dead certain that this form—radiating power down to its very strands of hair—belonged exactly to the entity whose Skin he had draped over himself.Yes, he had completely and utterly transformed into ”Him.”

Unlike the simple Rank elevation of Pseudo-God Incarnation, he could vividly feel this change in essence.

Sublime, transcendent, capable of tearing everything asunder with a single strike.

The Indigo Witch and her small shop could no longer exert any pressure on him.

Though it was draining his body and mind at a blistering pace, he was, in this peculiar manner, briefly standing on equal footing with her.

...

It was indeed a highly unusual experience, but that wasn’t actually what amazed Fu Qian.

As a carbon-based lifeform with decades of experience, he immediately recognized the unnaturalness beneath this fleshly exterior.

Granted, this body—brimming with divinity, where a mere glance at its silhouette might shatter a person’s mind—could not be viewed through the lens of simple biology.

But this was simply... too unbiological!

Fu Qian could clearly sense the completely logic-defying structure inside this massive flesh-and-blood frame.

During his fusion with the Crystal Sun, his body had been warped into interlocking fragments, like various components inside a machine.

Right now, it felt as if those components had been dismantled, tempered a thousand times over by the fire of life, and finally reassembled according to a specific set of laws.

Every single movement of his body was generated by their operation—in a manner entirely removed from biology.

The sensation was incredibly bizarre, as if more than a single cog were spinning beneath the skin of this flesh-and-blood god-slayer.

And the resulting output of their coordinated operation was a divine body that felt utterly flawless.

’This has to be the most interesting thing I’ve run into so far!’

Fu Qian mused silently.

Compared to the result of this operation, the process itself felt like an even greater embodiment of divinity.

He had every reason to believe that a single glimpse of this unimaginably complex internal structure would be enough to drive any transcendent with an insufficiently strong mind insane.

’Is this a False God?’

Fu Qian didn’t think it was a mere coincidence that this state mirrored his previously shattered Mythical Form.

In his current state, he seemed to have completely incarnated as an ancient Divine Entity, but in reality, it felt like he had crafted a one-to-one replica based on a specific archetype.

All the materials came from his dismantled Mythical Form, much like individual mechanical parts.

And it was wrapped in a flawless Divine Skin that no one could see through.

’A mechanical ancient Divine Entity? Isn’t that a little too sinister?’

Of course, the most crucial point was that, as this alternative Divine Entity, he could still command his authority.

...

At this moment, Fu Qian was observing everything around him from an unprecedented perspective.

This perspective wasn’t even abstract.

It took the form of pupil-less orange eyes manifesting everywhere, overlapping in a peculiar manner.

It was as if some ancient creature were gazing outward. Those blurry, mostly half-opened eyeballs oozed with endless ill omen.

Fu Qian instantly knew that these were the very Calamity he had inflicted on Old Man Henry to trigger his intense reaction.

Following his true incarnation as an ancient Divine Entity, they had become shockingly concrete and omnipresent.

With just a slight concentration of his will, the blurry eyes would gradually come into focus on anything.

They weren’t even limited to living beings.

This was why the eyeballs were layered so thickly even in this relatively quiet place.

From a person to a tree, or even a table, a window, and the very house they formed—all of them possessed their own corresponding eyes.

These concepts inevitably overlapped, yet they didn’t conflict with each other in the slightest.

In other words, he could define his surroundings from various angles and bestow Calamity upon them individually.

...

Even the concept of Calamity itself was far less subtle or obscure.

In his relatively short career, Fu Qian had encountered more than one character whose abilities were tied to fate, claiming to control luck or even inflict misfortune.

But compared to their overly subtle methods, which manifested more like a ”trend” or ”momentum,” this Calamity Authority was far simpler and purer.

It was the most direct form of destruction and decay.

The doubled damage Old Man Henry had suffered back then wasn’t actually the result of Fu Qian being unpracticed after just taking control of the authority.

Now, looking at every eye in his field of vision, Fu Qian clearly understood that how wide they opened determined the degree to which damage would be amplified.

Just like with Henry, any harm inflicted on the targets of their gaze would be unreasonably magnified, accelerating their decay.

Even if the target suffered no damage during this process, as long as he willed it, the Calamity could detonate directly at any time, automatically selecting the most appropriate method.

It felt exactly like a natural disaster being poured into a human body.

And as the source of the Calamity, the opening and closing of those eyes strictly obeyed his will.

Fu Qian looked up at the Indigo Witch.

She was included in this.

Even though this was just a projection, an eye was currently blinking right above the fortune-teller’s head as well.

The only difference was that, despite his urging, it was opening noticeably slower.

Compared to Old Man Henry, her Rank was simply a bit too high.

”Truly astonishing!”

Following his movements, the Indigo Witch let out an exclamation of shock.

This was the first time since her appearance that she had expressed such intense emotion, though how much of it was an act was hard to say.

”I thought what you did to Henry was the limit. I never expected you could reach this level!”

”For a moment, I almost had the illusion that I was facing an old acquaintance.”

”It’s as if a certain long-fallen Tyrant has stood before me once again.”

”To think you’d receive a gift like this. You’ve certainly reaped quite a few benefits!”

’Hmm... Tyrant?’

That simple title in the Indigo Witch’s words reached Fu Qian’s ears, sparking a flash of realization.

’No wonder. I was just wondering where that hint of familiarity came from when I was picking out clothes earlier.’