Eldritch Horror Theatre

It wasn’t a question of doubting destiny, but rather suspecting that destiny’s guides had long since fallen to corruption.

Despite his abrasive tone, the Rookie Lord of the Rings expressed himself with undeniable clarity.

In the dim light, it was clear that Ais and the other two had fully grasped the implication.

But grasping his meaning didn’t equate to accepting it. Everyone present was proud and arrogant, and they soon frowned at the flawed logic—

Even destiny had been delivered to him by these very guides. If he doubted them, where did he get the confidence to believe in destiny’s calling in the first place?

Everyone had entertained the idea of being a Child of Destiny at some point, but it never became true simply because you shouted it the loudest.

Internal criticisms aside, one fact was undeniable: despite his rebellious attitude, the Vacuum Flower truly hadn’t reacted at all.

They even vaguely realized by now that the one who had lost her composure earlier wasn’t him...

The two young people still standing in the corner subconsciously turned their gazes toward Ais in the other.

”As an incomprehensible entity, what makes you think it would be interested in your childish provocation?”The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

With her sharp Insight, Ais naturally noticed the rapidly growing hesitation in the eyes of the newcomers who hadn’t received their Weapons.

However, as a veteran of the jianghu, how could she lose her composure over a few words of doubt? In the blink of an eye, she adjusted her emotions and shot back with a cold sneer.

Of course, she shouldn’t have chosen such a reckless, head-on confrontation in the first place.

”Fair point. I was being shallow.”

Fu Qian offered this self-criticism without a second of hesitation.

”So I suppose if we wait a little longer, the gold coin on the ground will still turn into a Weapon?”

”Or is it just mine that won’t change? That would be understandable. After all, withholding Chastisement doesn’t mean tolerating disrespect. But these two haven’t done anything wrong.”

While suggesting he deserved what he got, Fu Qian turned and gestured toward the young man and woman.

”A transcendent entity like that wouldn’t resort to taking its anger out on bystanders, would it?”

...

Facts speak louder than words, but facts could be circumvented if one tried.

And the highest realm of debate was nothing more than guiding the opponent to crash headfirst into them.

In truth, when dealing with an entity that was the profound of the profound, both sides could have argued in circles forever if they wished.

But an ironclad fact lay right in front of them: the original purpose of this trip.

Filled with ambition, they had finally gathered a third person and entered this special place.

Yet despite their efforts, the legendary Weapon had still not been forged.

As the core issue of concern, once Fu Qian steered the topic toward it, Ms. Ais didn’t even have the option of looking around and speaking of other things—just as was happening now.

With Fu Qian opting to retreat in order to advance, the two young people stared in unison at the gold coin on the ground. Even if they disliked his style, they still subconsciously looked toward Ais with anxious, expectant expressions.

They clearly realized things weren’t going smoothly, but they hoped for an explanation that could convince them otherwise.

Unfortunately, Ais’s gaze swept across their faces, and she found herself hesitating, momentarily unable to answer.

”Of course, you could also tell them that they need to eradicate a blasphemer like me to please the Vacuum Flower so it will continue bestowing its gifts.”

Facing Ais’s hesitation, Fu Qian didn’t miss the chance to press the attack.

He wasn’t keeping up this act just because his chuuni soul was burning brightly.

Fu Qian naturally couldn’t believe that Ais, who had inherited two extra portions of the Gold Ripple, had gone to all the trouble of gathering three hot-blooded youths just to pull a prank.

Coupled with her loss of composure just now, the situation had clearly derailed from her plans as well.

What Fu Qian wanted to confirm was exactly what her original plan had been.

Because there was a very simple logic here: if all the Golden Saint Robes came about this way, then this Vacuum Flower had clearly been in their organization’s hands for more than just a day.

The fact that he had just received a mission to find and destroy it was probably because some anomaly had occurred.

No matter how you looked at it, the probability of a connection between these two things was far from small.

...

In fact, up to this very moment, playing the chuuni persona to the bitter end had already achieved considerable results.

The target this time was clearly somewhat special. If he had resorted to violence the entire way, Fu Qian believed that finding this place wouldn’t have been difficult.

But if the Vacuum Flower was truly as hard to observe as Ais described, then even if he coerced her into bringing him here, he would undoubtedly be just as clueless when faced with the current situation.

Was it here, or wasn’t it?

If not, where did it go?

In short, to resolve this mess, it seemed he needed to guide the involved parties into providing more value.

So he might as well let his chuuni soul keep burning and completely expose the ’corrupt’ side of this organization.

...

”Heh... I can only say your intuition is sharp, but you think a little too highly of yourself.”

The next moment, with a laugh that laid her cards on the table, Ais withdrew her gaze from the other two and shot Fu Qian a mocking look.

”There is indeed a blasphemer, but you are far from worthy of the title.”

”Want to come take a look with me? Show off your side as a chosen one responding to destiny’s call?”

’Was she planning to squeeze every drop of use out of her available pawns?’

Faced with this sudden shift, Fu Qian felt a fair amount of empathy for Ais’s state of mind.

For a suspicious person like her, she was probably still weighing whether he was truly just a chuuni or harboring malicious intent.

But the moment this invitation came out, it clearly meant he wouldn’t be able to leave this place normally; he would have to make a contribution to the organization.

”Sure.”

How could Fu Qian be dissatisfied with this finally provoked enthusiasm? He agreed immediately.

”As for you two...”

However, Ais clearly wanted to control the pacing. Instead of rushing to answer him, she turned to look at the other two.

Under her scrutiny, the gazes of the two young people flickered with obvious uncertainty.

Compared to the Rookie Lord of the Rings, whose chuuni traits were maxed out, they obviously respected reality much more.

Their earlier mindset of being the chosen ones ordained by destiny had swelled to its peak when the three of them finally gathered.

Yet after all their effort, the crystallization of their hopes seemed to fall through, reflected only by the cold gold coin on the ground.

Using others as a mirror reflects one’s own gains and losses. This chuuni youth—the third person—and Ais, who seemed to have been infected by his chuuni behavior, inevitably reminded them of one possibility: that everything they had been doing for the past few days was truly an utter farce.

”Go back for now. Once the matters here are resolved, someone will contact you again.”

Staring at them, Ais naturally saw this as well. The next moment, not only did she not ask them to join the operation, she outright drove them away.

”...Alright.”

And after only a moment of hesitant eye contact, the two chosen ones nodded in unison.