Eldritch Horror Theatre

’Is this the legendary heartwarming sensation of having both your chest and back embraced?’

As an ascetic Saint, Hilaria weighed practically nothing. Having two of her hanging off him was hardly a burden.

Furthermore, without actually deforming their bodies, both Hilaria I and Hilaria II had adjusted their postures to the absolute limit. They pressed themselves against him as tightly as possible, distributing their weight with almost ergonomic perfection.

Thanks to this effort, the embrace that supposedly could never be repeated so soon had instantly been achieved in parallel.

And the effects certainly lived up to their reputation.

Fu Qian could clearly feel it. The moment the joint embrace was completed, that intoxicating fragrance Sublimated almost directly to the spiritual level.

As for the sheer pleasure of it, even shattering the void was nothing more than this.

Even the crying that had maintained a state of Transcendence was completely suppressed in that moment, fading until it was nearly inaudible.

Haa—

It seemed even the ones initiating the embrace could not resist its effects.Their veils had slipped off during the entanglement. Resting on either of his shoulders in rotational symmetry, the two Hilarias’ heads seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

Their four eyes were squeezed shut, exhaling nothing but scorching breaths.

Even so, Fu Qian remembered their identities perfectly clearly—

Hilaria I on his right shoulder, Hilaria II on his left.

It seemed this was Dorian’s way of maximizing the utility of the two Hilaria Dolls.

Until he cleared them out, he was clearly trapped in an endlessly sustained double embrace.

And even for him, this situation required considerable effort to constantly fight off that overwhelming sense of relief—the urge to let everything fade away in the wind.

Or even to just remember to fight it at all.

...

’This is finally getting interesting. Brother Dorian didn’t disappoint.’

Fu Qian was rather satisfied with this mutual outcome between doctor and patient.

His purpose for this trip had always been clear: to find any means that might help him truly affect the Akons.

No matter how massive the side effects were.

Therefore, Fu Qian had absolutely no intention of breaking free from this front-and-back embrace, even if his mind felt like it was walking along the edge of a cliff.

Not to mention, a three-headed silhouette in the dark could easily scare someone.

”Ah—”

The very next moment, a scream actually rang out from behind him.

It was not Hilaria III, of course. While the voice was familiar, it belonged to an entirely different lady.

”Hello.”

Fu Qian turned around and greeted Sarah, who was dressed as a bride.

She was supposed to be waiting silently in the Church above, yet she had actually come straight down to find him.

Such proactive behavior proved that Dorian was not satisfied with his temporary results and had continued to work hard.

How comforting.

”Heh... hello, outsider.”

Not only had she taken the initiative to run down here, but Sarah’s mental state also appeared far more intense than during their first meeting.

After her initial shock, she seemed to accept Fu Qian’s appearance effortlessly, even laughing aloud as she looked him up and down.

”Did you hear a particular sound?”

”What sound?”

Fu Qian’s face betrayed no emotion, and neither did the two faces on his shoulders.

”Crying. A child’s crying, right down here.”

Sarah spoke firmly, looking all around.

...

’She was actually drawn here by that?’

’As the mother of the Divine Child, having a special affinity and sensitivity to it does seem quite reasonable.’

’Even though right now, it isn’t easy even for me to sense that crying.’

Facing Sarah as she stated her purpose, Fu Qian offered a silent critique.

Regardless, the situation was very clear—Sarah, the most radical of the Dolls, had cornered him down here in an even more radical state.

He knew that the longer he was embraced, the smaller his chances of breaking free would be.

Since he had not cleared out the two Hilarias, using any method to stall him inside the Church was clearly a reasonable choice.

”I heard a little bit too. Is it your child?”

Of course, anyone could be radical. Forgoing any attempt to beat around the bush, Fu Qian simply agreed with her.

He had no intention of giving Doctor Dorian, who had clearly gotten serious, any chance to slack off.

”...It is my child. Have you seen it?”

The power of sincerity was formidable indeed. For a moment, even Sarah, who had quickly entered her state, could not help but fall slightly silent.

But it was only for a moment. She quickly adjusted herself and stared at Fu Qian, countering with a question.

”I have to say, as a mother, you are being a little too careless.”

Fu Qian shook his head, severely criticizing this negligence.

”But there is no need to be too sad. Take a look—is this your child?”

Turning sideways as he spoke, Fu Qian aimed the face on his right shoulder at Sarah.

...

”No. She’s Hilaria.”

Seeming somewhat dumbfounded by the question, Sarah stared for a few seconds before finally shaking her head.

”What about this one? Is this the child you dropped down here?”

Fu Qian turned around, presenting his left shoulder to Sarah as well.

”...No, this is still Hilaria.”

Pausing for a moment, Sarah continued to shake her head.

”What an honest mother. But my apologies, I temporarily cannot give these two to you.”

After highly praising her honesty, Fu Qian looked as if he had just remembered something.

”Where is the child’s father? With something this major happening, why haven’t I seen him?”

The child’s father...

For the Sarah standing before him, this was clearly the first time she had been asked this question.

And for a lady still dressed in her wedding gown, this question was undoubtedly incredibly sharp.

”Why must there be...”

When she finally spoke, her initial answer was strikingly similar to her previous one, once again demonstrating the Doll’s reflection of true nature.

”You wouldn’t understand even if I told you. A simple title can never truly represent Him!”

However, her secondary statement was a bit peculiar.

’Why does it seem like she plagiarized a bit of Hilaria’s dialogue?’

Facing the increasingly agitated Sarah, Fu Qian naturally recalled his experience sitting and debating with Hilaria in the Church.

A simple title, or even the medium of language itself, would always be a distortion of a Higher Existence.

Although, strictly speaking, this wasn’t necessarily wrong.

It was one thing for Hilaria, a Saint driven mad by faith, to reach such an extreme ideology, but for Sarah to actually share such identical sentiments?

Weren’t these Natives of the Akons a bit too spiritually gifted?

Having gained yet another harvest, Fu Qian naturally began to ponder the reasons behind this anomaly.

”Ah—”

At the exact same time, Sarah’s scream, which scarcely sounded human, came rolling forth.

And one of her hands had once again pressed against her lower abdomen.

Only this time, entirely unlike her previous caution, she applied force and clawed directly in the moment her scream dropped, forcibly tearing it open.

”Even Offspring cannot—”