Eldritch Horror Theatre

Some bizarre experiences are hard to imagine until you actually encounter them.

For instance, seeing your own face on a bug comfortably coiled around your body.

Before the gorgeous throne of the Dark Moon Pope, even the Cosmic Pretty Girl, Nelgria, was left in prolonged shock by the forbidden knowledge before her eyes.

”Not bad, right?”

Fortunately, the bug’s magic was ultimately limited.

After struggling to maintain itself for a few breaths, that face—seemingly the very manifestation of beauty—finally rippled and scattered like water.

Meanwhile, the clearly exhausted knight in her embrace still hadn’t forgotten to ask for her review.

”So you absorbed the mask.”

Unfortunately, as the subject in question, the Witch didn’t seem inclined to answer. Instead, she resorted directly to the grand art of changing the subject.

”At the time, only the Dark Moon appeared, but there was no further response. I was looking for a way to establish a connection.”Fu Qian didn’t mind this at all, casually explaining the situation at the very beginning of the rescue operation.

”Then why didn’t you choose that bow?”

The Witch’s tone carried no dissatisfaction as she asked.

”Because I still had to keep looking for a way to establish a connection.”

...

The Witch’s question was actually quite reasonable. If he wanted to establish a connection with this world without her response, let alone travel here...

...absorbing the Blasphemous Embrace, which could call upon the Dark Moon, was obviously an option worth considering.

In fact, it had truly been Fu Qian’s backup plan—if all other attempts failed.

After all, if the bow was destroyed and Insight didn’t capture its full effect, he wouldn’t be able to call upon the Dark Moon at all.

”Speaking of which, after I ate the mask, I also sensed a clear intent. Are you interested in knowing what it was?”

Seeing the atmosphere grow quiet, Fu Qian took the initiative to bring up a topic.

”What was it?”

The Witch’s curiosity was indeed piqued.

”A name: Dazzling Visage.”

”And the explanation for this title was that as long as your exterior is gorgeous enough, no one will care about what’s on the inside.”

Fu Qian didn’t keep her in suspense, sharing what he had gained from his Insight.

As long as the exterior is gorgeous enough...

Perhaps influenced by Fu Qian’s earlier posture, the Witch actually sat back down on her papal throne as she listened to him.

She immediately leaned back with incredible naturalness, her languid posture a highly accurate recreation.

”It seems your luck is still quite good.”

When Fu Qian finished, she nodded slightly in evaluation.

”There weren’t any deviations.”

This Cosmic Pretty Girl, who was reluctant to easily reveal her name, still had absolutely no concept of modesty in certain aspects.

While Fu Qian secretly praised her, he—having also been forced to sit on the Pope’s throne—tried to get into character, turning to look at the empty Great Hall below.

Compared to the grand spectacle from not long ago, the contrast was undeniably stark.

’To think my Dark Moon Cult has withered to this extent.’

...

”The Law and the Stars appeared suddenly, without any prior warning.”

Noticing his movements, the Witch slipped into past memories, though her expression showed little emotion.

”And the nature of this place began to undergo a fundamental change almost instantly, with absolutely no sign of reversal.”

”Turning into a Nightmare?”

As an academic who had wrung the blood and sweat from countless grunts along the way, it wasn’t hard for Fu Qian to follow the Witch’s train of thought.

”Right. Existence started to become unreal.”

She nodded slightly.

”Although for the people inside, the feeling wasn’t obvious in the short term. Even if someone briefly woke up in ’reality,’ they would only treat it as a special dream and wouldn’t easily change their self-perception.”

”True. The place I went to last time even needed the help of the Law’s boon to make them Awaken faster.”

Fu Qian was naturally talking about the Shadow of Laerdin managed by Brother Proxy.

His cellmate at the start of the mission, the ’nine-year-old’ Esther, was a prime example.

If Mariana hadn’t displayed Transcendent Tier methods and told her she could attain them too, the girl would have most likely chosen Dean Warren’s treatment plan.

”Unfortunately, compared to the Shadow of Laerdin, the people who once gathered in this Church didn’t have as much time to adjust.”

As the Witch spoke, she sighed over how worldly affairs are hard to predict.

”Because this sanctuary itself was also based on your power?”

”Yes. Not only was my existence fading away, but so was this place.”

”So, after making a few probes and confirming the situation was irreversible, I manually gave them a little help.”

’As expected of my Dark Moon Pope. This level of thinking is truly far above the Proxy’s.’

Fu Qian marveled inwardly, his sense of righteous justification for the Seven Apostles of the Dark Moon wandering around and spreading the gospel soaring even higher.

”However, during this process, I discovered an advantage to the Nightmare transformation. Do you know what it is?”

Right on cue, the Pope’s test arrived. The Witch changed the subject, looking at Fu Qian with an amused question.

”Some concepts became much easier to manipulate, like erasing memories, or even rewinding time?”

How could such a question stump Fu Qian? He answered fluently and casually.

”How are you so experienced with this?”

The Witch actually seemed a bit startled this time, looking at him in astonishment.

’Isn’t it obvious? How long have I been a Dream Dominator?’

Snorting coldly in his heart, Fu Qian gave a clear and logical answer the next moment.

”For one, judging by the results, the former Dark Moon Believers have completely forgotten your existence.”

”For another, when it comes to settings like dreams, I have a relatively sufficient amount of operational experience.”

...

”No wonder. If that’s the case, then it makes more sense. I was still wondering how you managed to enter this place.”

The Witch surprisingly didn’t question Fu Qian’s self-proclaimed status as a Dream Dominator much, looking instead as though she had figured something out.

”Actually, I was just as puzzled. Since then, I’ve been thinking about the nature of that change.”

Fu Qian fully adopted a posture of closely following in the Pope’s footsteps.

”Right now, it seems the activation of the entrance properties of the painting outside requires two conditions.”

”First, the place it’s located in must lose its absolute reality attribute. Normally, this would mean the collapse of the Law maintaining Ancient Laerdin.”

”Second, it hasn’t disappeared along with you, its source of power. In other words, you are still here.”

”I have to say, this seems like a rather awkward arrangement. The two conditions are almost mutually exclusive in themselves, making the probability of it being discovered approach zero.”

”...Didn’t you discover it?”

She seemed a bit stumped by the statement, but the next moment, the Witch’s expression brightened into a joyous smile. Not only did she not deny the ’awkward’ claim, she even looked at Fu Qian with smiling eyes, adopting the tone of a teacher rewarding a child with a little red flower.

’The Pope is truly in a good mood today. She’s actually still not done playing around.’

Fu Qian shook his head inwardly once again.

’What a pity. Her estimation of the Outland Knight’s aggressiveness is still somewhat lacking.’

”That’s true. It’s even quite a coincidence—the place I entered from this time happened to be exactly where I left last time.”

...

Quite possibly for the first time in history, the Dark Moon Pope sat up straight on her throne.