Eldritch Horror Theatre

It seemed something incredible had been disturbed.

”What did you see?”

As Fu Qian marveled, the Indigo Witch’s low voice sounded behind him.

”I saw it, and I didn’t see it.”

Fu Qian still didn’t turn around, simply copying the format of her previous answer.

As it turned out, even an ancient higher entity couldn’t stomach being treated the way they treated others.

”You have no idea what role you are playing...”

After a silence of a few seconds, the Indigo Witch’s voice sounded again, now completely devoid of emotion.

Yet it inexplicably made sense.

Hearing this, the first thing that came to Fu Qian’s mind was his current state.He truly knew very little about the ”Tyrant”.

And as for the scorching sun that had suddenly lit up the sky, he had no chance of learning more about that either.

Following the Indigo Witch’s words, the penetrating gazes seeping from it vanished in an instant.

They were replaced by a sudden radiance that burned so fiercely it was almost pure white.

Fu Qian felt as if a supernova had crashed into his mind.

Memories, emotions, logic... every concept belonging to the mind ignited and incinerated under this otherworldly roasting.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Robe draped over him remained entirely unresponsive.

On one hand, the item was indeed extraordinary; on the other, there was a simpler reason—his physical body hadn’t been subjected to a single extra drop of ultraviolet radiation.

This roasting was purely a mental attack. The boundaries were so distinct it was as if it were terrified of harming his flesh.

Which wasn’t strange at all!

Despite his mind literally being on fire, Fu Qian maintained his operational capacity under the extreme heat—he could even still think in exclamation marks.

This selective attack was perfectly normal. It completely aligned with Blazing Rainbow’s goal for this trip: to wipe his mind clean and turn him into an idiot.

In fact, if he weren’t embodying the Mechanical Tyrant right now, Fu Qian believed his SAN Value would already be plummeting wildly.

Even so, that didn’t mean it came without a price. This impact caused the toll of maintaining his Mythical Form to skyrocket.

To quantify that surge in consumption: if he didn’t want to die, he had better cancel it immediately.

And then be burned into an idiot.

...

”To think it isn’t just a simple projection. Your relationship with the sun really is extraordinary!”

Having quickly reached that conclusion, Fu Qian finally glanced back at the fortune teller behind him, immediately opening his mouth to draw more aggro.

”Why didn’t you just strike earlier? Why wait until now?”

”Yes, why indeed?”

At this moment, a blazing white light was also flickering in the Indigo Witch’s eyes, seemingly establishing a connection with the scorching sun in the night sky.

It was hard to say if Fu Qian’s performance had exceeded her expectations, but she clearly had no interest in answering the question, choosing to let him rack his own brain instead.

”Simple. You didn’t find an opportunity.”

Unexpectedly, Fu Qian acted surprisingly magnanimous and answered his own question.

”Such powerful mental annihilation. If applied properly, it would very likely strip away my ability to resist entirely—even as a Tier 2 following my promotion.”

”Unfortunately for you, from earlier until now, I’ve been irrationally forcing my status higher. Without a chance to suppress me in one fell swoop, you decided it was better to wait quietly for the right moment.”

”Is there more?”

The Indigo Witch remained noncommittal.

”There is... Considering it’s clearly a tool, it’s hard to imagine that thing could arrive faster than your true body.”

Fu Qian pointed at her.

”From a certain moment after we met just now, you could have swapped your projection for your true body at any time, couldn’t you?”

”Heh... Then according to you, why stop waiting now?”

She completely ignored his last question.

”Naturally, it isn’t because you were worried I would run away.”

Fu Qian sighed.

”Under my earlier disruption, the sun has already been exposed. It lost its value as an ambush, and even you are at risk.”

”And it feels like you’re extremely wary of exposing yourself, even in this special space and time.”

”Striking preemptively with brute force just means a bit more exhaustion, but it avoids the risk of me causing targeted trouble if you kept waiting. All things considered, it wasn’t a bad choice.”

”Of course, even in this situation, your true body hasn’t shown up. Does this sun require your full focus to control?”

”Otherwise, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t strike together with it right now and finish this quickly.”

”It seems its traits are simply better suited for acting as a mental incinerator. That’s why you used it to divert the Night Watchers’ attention, while simultaneously making it your top choice to solve the problem.”

”That sounds very reasonable. In that case, you can try to take care of it; perhaps you’ll get to see my methods then.”

The Indigo Witch was as accommodating as always, listening carefully and offering a suggestion based on Fu Qian’s line of thought.

”Good idea.”

Not only did Fu Qian listen just as carefully, but he was also readily accepting good advice.

The next moment, he turned around again, directly facing the blazing white sun.

This time, however, he didn’t channel the eyes that symbolized Calamity. Instead, a crystal-clear, exceptionally exquisite longbow appeared in his hands.

Blasphemous Embrace. He had been carrying this thing on his back for quite a while now.

Fu Qian smoothly drew the bow. Streaks of rust snaked out, rapidly coalescing into an illusory arrow.

”Ugh—”

At the same time, the Indigo Witch’s pained groan came from behind him.

Her blazing white eye sockets grew even more dazzling. Golden flames erupted outward, as if torches had been ignited within them.

Naturally, she hadn’t turned up the power. Rather, Fu Qian had conveniently detonated the Calamity.

Even so, this level of damage still wasn’t enough to kill a Deity’s projection.

Although the Indigo Witch was in a sorry state, the explosion of flames had merely burned her headscarf and long hair to ash.

But that was enough. This strike successfully interrupted the action she was preparing, causing a bolt of light to dissipate.

That thing had originally been locked onto Fu Qian.

Her reaction wasn’t slow. Unfortunately, as a professional, how could he give someone a chance to disrupt his sun-shooting?

The next moment, the perfectly straight arrow howled forth.

...

Perhaps the distance was too short, but almost the instant he fired, the thick rust color exploded with a boom, scattering a dark haze in all directions.

It actually worked.

Seeing the night sky—which had been as bright as day just a moment ago—instantly dim from a single arrow, becoming even more murky and oppressive than before, Fu Qian praised it inwardly. He radiated the sheer majesty of a light-destroyer.

This thing really was handy. It hadn’t been a waste for him to practice with it so many times earlier.

The price, of course, remained unavoidable. The moment he fired, a certain discomfort fell upon him right on schedule.

Even his current self wasn’t immune to the side effect—the colorless state.

But in comparison, this was absolutely nothing.

Because with this arrow, the blazing sun’s roasting of his body instantly ceased.

For a moment, it felt like drinking ice water on a scorching summer day—infinitely refreshing.

”There, solved.”

Putting away the bow, Fu Qian glanced back at the increasingly radiant witch.