Eldritch Horror Theatre

His judgment had been right on the mark. Driven by paranoia, the man had turned on him faster than flipping a page.

Even as the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, Fu Qian felt no negative emotions.

Useful talent always came with risks. If one lacked even that much awareness, what was the point of discussing the art of managing people?

When he chose to exploit the Wanderer’s paranoia, he had already anticipated a scene like this.

Moreover, the man was indeed deeply connected to The Abyss. That final, frantic back-to-back repetition of the word was not just a desperate invitation to join him there; it naturally brought to mind the unexpected harvest Fu Qian had first found in the underground mines of the Rotten Forest.

Back then, after snatching and swallowing it right before Mister Luo could, he had briefly gained a similar effect to the Blasphemous Words.

And the final reward of that task—a trait that could solidify his Demigod Form upon use—was directly named Mist of the Abyss.

It was indeed a divinity related to The Abyss. No wonder the Rotten Forest had been corrupted to such an extent.

Of course, as he was now, he was in no hurry to pay it another visit.

”I appreciate the gesture.”Feeling himself drawn continuously closer to The Abyss, Fu Qian sighed softly. As he spoke, one corner of his mouth tore all the way to the root of his ear, exposing crimson flesh.

And this was not the only spot. Soon, double-digit wounds blossomed across his entire body.

Accompanying this change, his hair’s-breadth proximity to The Abyss abruptly receded, stirring up a surging sense of sorrowful separation.

...

He certainly hadn’t activated the Mark of Old Days; Fu Qian had simply attempted a reverse conversion.

Eagerness to learn was one thing, but once a skill was learned, it was best to develop one’s own unique insights.

Earlier, when the Wanderer transmitted his own injuries through this Aura of Pain, Fu Qian had relied on the special constitution gained from activating Resplendent Tyrant to quickly learn the trick. Consequently, he could also radiate the effect into his surroundings to vent that accumulated corruption.

But relying solely on that was far from enough.

Aside from the massive amount of corruption accumulated from his earlier ”death,” the final ”door” had practically targeted him directly, opening a directional entrance to The Abyss that poured in corruption endlessly.

If he wanted to vent it, the lifeless stones around him were clearly highly inefficient at absorbing it.

Even when factoring in what he forcefully shoved back onto the Wanderer, it was far from enough to reverse the growth of the corruption.

To deal with this situation, Fu Qian believed that violently raising his rank again—either using Pseudo-God Incarnation or Mythical Form—should be useful. But before resorting to that, he tried another approach.

If bodily injuries could be converted into accumulated corruption to achieve an effect akin to damage immunity, was it possible to do the reverse and revert the corruption back into wounds?

One must always make good use of their strengths—like their Health Bar.

Facts proved that for a Tier 2 Transcendent, combining a commandment carrying a mark of The Abyss like Resplendent Tyrant made certain things quite feasible to manipulate.

Converting the corruption into wounds provided an extra pressure relief valve, and the situation finally reversed.

Not only that, but considering the current state between him and the Wanderer was akin to hacking at each other with lifesteal activated, and his Rank was actually a tier higher, the accumulation of corruption on the other man seemed to enter an irreversible state.

Even the Wanderer himself seemed to think so.

A moment later, he gave up resisting. He no longer tried to transmit the pain back, and a soft, charred blackness even began to creep up his body.

”Thanks for the help. I hope you can find your wife next time.”

The Wanderer remained silent, but Fu Qian gave a slight nod, offering his blessing through a mouth torn with several gaping notches.

He wasn’t sure what this person’s fate would be after falling into The Abyss, but based on what had been said earlier, it probably wasn’t an absolute Road of No Return.

Unfortunately, until the charred blackness swallowed his entire body and he melted directly into the ground beneath his feet, the Wanderer never uttered a single word.

...

He was indeed the Third Knight.

Not minding this minor breach of etiquette, Fu Qian’s attention immediately turned to the changes in the venue the instant the Wanderer’s last trace completely dissipated.

As expected, there was another change.

Following the Plague Aura and the Crystal Star, an extra flavor had suddenly been added to the prison’s cold air, and unsurprisingly, it was full of corruption and gore.

The effect was also simple and brutal. It was no longer an invitation to visit The Abyss; instead, constant pain sprouted from his body, devouring his physical vitality and catalyzing a mental frenzy.

Of course, for an aura that enveloped everything, its intensity was still far from enough.

While it was no longer effective on inanimate objects, it was also far from enough to make Fu Qian feel much.

Naturally, for the trio who had wanted to make a deal with him, it undoubtedly accelerated their Life Countdown once more.

In addition, this change leaving behind another ripple almost certainly added another quarter to his own instant-death gauge.

If just one more hero appeared on the stage, the task would have to be restarted.

But that was fine. Hadn’t he just bought himself more time before the Fourth Knight arrived?

And while they hadn’t found the Wanderer’s wife, this Third Knight had certainly helped him quite a bit.

As these thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind, Fu Qian was already darting forward.

One should never blindly deny hard-won experimental results.

That such an obsessively persistent seeker still hadn’t found the scent of any other woman was a harvest in itself.

...

Virgo La Nina, the entity the Knights of the Apocalypse clustered around—where exactly could she be hiding?

Fu Qian believed the Wanderer had just burned himself out, leaving no surrounding area unchecked.

But why hadn’t he found her?

Excluding reasons like a lack of bonding, could it be that the correct answer had simply been ruled out?

You should never doubt those you employ. Having judged the Wanderer to be more suited for this task than himself, Fu Qian would not dismiss any answer he obtained.

After such a long period of brewing, and even suffering the ravages of the two subsequent auras, it wasn’t impossible that aside from Jill and La Nina, no other female prisoners were left alive in the prison—but Jill was still alive.

True, he had met her early on, and the task hadn’t completed.

He had also scrutinized her and found nothing special.

But similar situations had happened before.

When he first met Eldest Miss Wen, a lady named Eve had been hiding very well the entire time.

It wasn’t until the moment of a successful advancement that she had replaced the body’s original owner.

And she and Wen Li weren’t split personalities of the same person; their names were distinct.

Under those circumstances, if one had run around the Wen Family Luxury Estate shouting out for Eve, surely no one would have known her either.

In the next moment, Fu Qian came to a halt. He had already canceled Resplendent Tyrant even earlier, though the Fish Scale Armor covering his body remained.

”Sinner Excellency...”

On a stone step not far away, Madam Jill was panting with her head lowered, clearly in terrible condition.

Even so, she looked over a step quicker than the Scholar beside her, her eyes filled with both shock and fear.

Clearly, a veteran like her wouldn’t think that a Demigod coming to their door under these circumstances harbored any good intentions.