Eldritch Horror Theatre

A true master never relied on gambling to win.

To be precise, even at the gambling table, they never relied on luck. They used every available means to guarantee their victory.

Take the Holy Infant across from him, who didn’t fear losing, or his own current attempt at becoming Untargetable.

And it seemed his minor innovation had worked.

Because this involved high-tier power, the duration of the Eternally Lucid Mind was exceedingly short, so Fu Qian timed its activation with the utmost precision.

Thus, at the exact moment the sonic boom within the ice crystal threatened to erupt, the supernatural-suppressing power swept past.

And then—nothing.

The chime faded, and the sonic boom never materialized.

The gambler’s lock was severed in that instant. Simultaneously, on the other end of their connection, the crystalline body of Virgo, La Nina, shuddered violently once more.

He didn’t even need to use his perception to confirm it; he could hear the ferocity of the impact with his own ears.After all, her blink distance hadn’t been very far—merely between the upper and lower floors of this building.

So, upon him becoming Untargetable, not only did the loaded bullet of this Russian roulette fail to blast him, but with only one target remaining, it had fired directly at her regardless of the consequences?

As expected, rigid thinking was a liability. Both items and abilities had to be applied flexibly.

In past encounters, Fu Qian had rarely attempted to use the Eternally Lucid Mind to evade strikes from high-tier beings.

For one, the timing was incredibly difficult to control. For another, this method of locking onto both parties in a gamble for their lives was exceedingly rare.

In short, the results were excellent.

Though the Virgo Statue—which still appeared entirely unharmed—blinked away again after its brief shudder.

This time, the distance was far more exaggerated.

According to Fu Qian’s memory of the building’s layout, she had practically reached the diagonally opposite corner.

He still refrained from using Blood Crusade to phase through the walls, instead taking the path and walking over step by step.

...

It seemed Excellency Holy Infant needed a little time to recover.

Stepping onto the stairs leading to the lower level confirmed his suspicion that the layout here was nearly identical to his previous prison cell. At the same time, Fu Qian arrived at another conclusion.

Enough time had passed to match the interval between the first and second rounds of their guessing game, yet no new activity had occurred.

Even though Virgo at the other end of the connection remained quiet and graceful, showing no visible damage, there was no reason for her to grant him a breather under these circumstances.

The only explanation was that her condition had placed slight constraints on either the invocation of that destructive power or the triggering of the Butterfly Effect.

After all, suffering two consecutive failure penalties would do that. It was understandable.

Regardless, this was good news. Winning two gambles in a row through a mix of luck and wit had allowed him to test her boundaries to a certain extent.

Theoretically, his best move right now was to use this brief respite to rush over and relentlessly attack until she was reduced to dust.

But how could it be that simple?

Fu Qian paused, staring down from his vantage point at a relatively unfamiliar figure standing at the very bottom of the stairs.

The figure was cautiously examining a certain direction, evidently drawn by the recent commotion. A second later, sensing something, she abruptly whipped her head around to look up at him.

”Hello. May I ask your name?”

Resuming his descent, Fu Qian walked down the steps one by one. Drawing on his past experience dealing with the Wanderer Knight, he offered a polite greeting.

...

That was right. Aside from the legendary Fourth Knight, who else could it be?

Furthermore, based on the timing, this arrival was long overdue.

If he could arrive here through their connection, why wouldn’t this Knight of the Apocalypse be summoned here to protect her?

As for why his task hadn’t failed?

Fu Qian didn’t think his previous deduction regarding the knights’ final ripples—his worry that killing them was useless—had been an overreaction.

But logically speaking, ”before the four Knights of the Apocalypse descend” was merely the prerequisite for the previous task.

It no longer had a direct correlation with his current objective to kill the Holy Infant.

Even the notice stating the Holy Infant had halted Rebirth somewhat corroborated this point.

Because he had arrived in this space-time and become a contaminant, whether the Fourth Knight descended was no longer a predetermined death condition.

Theoretically, of course, it still counted as a lethal factor.

They were knights. Wasn’t purging pollution and maintaining holiness their fundamental duty?

Appearing right in the middle of his subjugation run, there was no way the knight would harbor good intentions—especially since Fu Qian’s current appearance was hardly benevolent.

But Fu Qian didn’t strike first. The reason was simple: he had come specifically to converse with the Fourth Knight.

This was precisely why he hadn’t taken shortcuts and was willing to risk mission failure.

...

Who exactly were the Knights of the Apocalypse?

Through all his prior deductions and verifications, he had reached an almost certain conclusion: they were all temporary projections of some High-Tier Transcendent from the past.

Thinking about it carefully, one would realize just how wonderful this truly was.

An entity from the past, standing at the apex of the transcendent sequence, and quite possibly capable of communication.

The kind of precious information such a character could provide was truly something to look forward to; it couldn’t be missed.

And that wasn’t all. Was being a High-Tier Transcendent the sole screening criterion?

He had a wide network of acquaintances and knew quite a few capable and bizarre individuals, yet he hadn’t seen a single familiar face.

Since these four knights were enough to aid the rebirth of Excellency Holy Infant Calamity Star, it was hard to believe they didn’t share some special bond.

As things stood, the origin of this unexpected incident had to be Jill’s parasite, La Nina, combined with the trigger of the Crimson Frenzy.

Otherwise, it was hard to explain how someone of Jill’s age had never made an error before.

But this was only the most superficial deduction. There were many other thought-provoking elements at play.

Even if the Fourth Knight couldn’t provide key information in this regard, the final ripple of a High-Tier Transcendent might still hold precious value.

Though it was quite a stretch to call the person standing before him a High-Tier Transcendent.

She merely possessed a slight trace of divinity.

A woman with black hair. Not very tall, but quite young—younger than Jill, with far more delicate features.

The gaze she cast his way was gentle yet firm, and her clothing was elegant, dignified, and meticulous. She carried the distinct demeanor of an old-school intellectual.

”Hello.”

She was cultured, as expected. Even though her vigilance was clearly maxed out, faced with Fu Qian’s polite greeting, she ultimately didn’t give him the cold shoulder.

”You look very unfamiliar, Excellency, but you may call me Claudora.”

After scrutinizing him for a moment, she even gave a slight nod and introduced herself.

But that name...