Eldritch Horror Theatre

Claudora’s mental state remained fairly stable.

Theoretically, whether through Commandment Residue or Lucid Dream, there was an opportunity to pry out or test for more of the Academy’s ancient secrets.

But out of respect for this venerable senior, Fu Qian was in no rush to subject her to further torment during this brief, borrowed moment of tranquility.

Then again, it was genuinely strange that a genius from the Apocalypse Branch like Claudora would be skilled in mental soothing.

Logically, she should have been exactly the kind of talent Linghui would fight desperately to recruit.

Even her meticulous appearance and steady working style were completely at odds with the usual crowd from the Apocalypse Branch.

He could only marvel that this truly was the Academy at its peak.

”Up until I appeared here, there was no definitive conclusion. We only knew it involved an exceedingly high level of power. Not even Tier 2 could resist it...”

Living up to Fu Qian’s high opinion, Claudora considered it briefly. Clearly recognizing Professor Fu’s courtesy, she chose to answer his earlier question.

”The specific manifestations were highly unusual. Rather than a curse, it was more like a blessing... a crystallized blessing.”Not only was there no discomfort, it even felt as if it were completing our abilities—even pushing our Ranks to advance.”

Seeing Fu Qian listening earnestly without objection, Claudora sighed softly and held out her hand.

”Comparatively speaking, my symptoms were milder. The height of one’s Rank didn’t affect its progression much.

”Furthermore, the changes mainly manifested in our abilities. The physical alterations weren’t all that obvious.”

...

It really was crystallization. Hadn’t he been running into this sort of thing a bit too often lately?

Claudora’s cooperation was gratifying. Fu Qian carefully examined the hand presented before him and quickly agreed with her team’s self-diagnosis.

It still maintained a human shape.

However, as he watched, the area from her palm to her fingertips quickly began to sparkle, as if she had donned a diamond glove.

Even in the dim light, it was glaring enough at a glance to subtly impact the mind.

Fu Qian naturally didn’t attribute this subtle sensation to it merely being too shiny.

The ”glove” undoubtedly stemmed from Claudora’s ability. Yet, under the crystallized mutation, a trace of divinity vaguely seeped through—enough to have a slight effect even on a Tier 2 like him.

The changes indeed manifested in her abilities rather than her simple appearance. It was almost as if her transcendent traits had been fundamentally modified.

Calling it a blessing rather than a curse was an apt description.

An entire Academy team had been infected by something like this?

For anyone lacking germaphobia, this was practically a wondrous fortuitous encounter—like stumbling into a blessed haven and inheriting an ancient legacy.

Unfortunately, germaphobia was a standard prerequisite for any true academic.

Moreover, the answer was somewhat unexpected.

Judging by the state of the ”Claudora” back in the Academy, he had assumed the original team suffered some sort of corrupting, blasphemous curse. He hadn’t expected it to be something so sparkly.

And visually, he really had been running into similar things a bit too often lately.

Not just this glittering architecture, or the Virgo La Nina he had just seen—even the White-Hot Knight from earlier possessed similar methods.

Was she chosen as a Knight of the Apocalypse precisely because of this trait?

That didn’t seem right either. For one, Pestilence and Wanderer hadn’t displayed any such characteristics. For another, according to Claudora, even Tier 2 members of the Academy exploration team had received this blessing. No matter how you looked at it, it shouldn’t have been her turn to be chosen.

There had to be another reason.

”This was originally my ability—a special type of protection. But now it has become something different.”

As he pondered, Claudora glanced around and quickly explained the glove’s origin.

”It is indeed quite unique. And your vigilance is justified; once it deepens, it’s hard to say what one might become.”

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Having witnessed far too many methods from higher entities, Fu Qian gestured for Claudora to retract her hand.

”So is this the reason I was chosen to be projected here?”

Her mind was sharp, as expected. Retracting her hand, Claudora voiced a reasonable guess.

”I’m not sure. There might just be a connection.”

Fu Qian remained highly pragmatic.

”...So do you need to dispose of my projection to stop this incident?”

Claudora looked somewhat surprised.

Normally, this was obvious logic: better to kill by mistake than let one slip away. Furthermore, she was just a projection, and upon assessment, had absolutely no capacity to resist.

”Not for now.”

He had to admit, she was quite self-aware. Yet Fu Qian’s response was natural and certain. At the same time, he abruptly stopped walking and held out his hand.

Under Claudora’s watchful gaze, an anomaly appeared just above his palm.

A glowing red sphere, like a burning lump of coal, materialized out of thin air.

Through the many cracks across its surface, an even more searing core flickered within.

...

It wasn’t real... but it truly was the third game of rock-paper-scissors.

Although this orange-sized sphere was perfectly rendered, it had no physical form. In essence, it was merely a concept locked onto his palm.

In fact, with his perception, Fu Qian could confirm that it was locked onto his fundamental self.

This meant that even if he chopped off this singular hand, it would still be there when a new one grew back.

Even if the hand didn’t grow back, it would fundamentally still be there.

With such methods, what else could it be but Excellency Holy Infant’s rock-paper-scissors invitation?

Calculating the time, it was indeed about due.

As mentioned before, this place wasn’t all that large.

Even if the other party was situated on the opposite diagonal, Fu Qian had already closed more than half the distance.

Moreover, this wasn’t just a crude repetition. This time, it seemed to have learned its lesson.

Through this ”bond,” Fu Qian could clearly sense that in the slightly raised hand of the La Nina Statue over there, an identical ”orange” rested at this very moment.

He had to admit it suited her appearance quite well, giving her a bit more vitality compared to before.

As for the goal, it clearly didn’t want to repeat past mistakes.

Staying completely quiet when winning, but vanishing without a trace when losing—no matter how you looked at it, this was the most despicable kind of gambler.

Therefore, the explosives were already maximally locked onto both gamblers’ hands in advance.

Fu Qian could clearly sense the bond between the two oranges. They were like two ignited gas canisters, linked by the concept of ”who blows up first.”

Of course, a more elegant term would be Handheld Thunder?

Regardless, the fuse had already burned down to an invisible point.

Claudora, having just been rejected, could also see this anomaly, prompting her to subconsciously take a step back.

Though even if she hadn’t, she likely would have been fine.

Much like the Meteor of the Typhoid Terror, this kind of locked-on lethal attack was hard to evade and extremely targeted. Even if he lost and was blown to ashes, there was a high probability it wouldn’t bring disaster to the fish in the pond—and he really did lose.

At that moment, he felt chosen by fate, just like last time.

As expected of a character who used Russian roulette as a basic attack; their luck was no joke.

While marveling at this, Fu Qian activated Blood Crusade—as well as Left and Right.

His spoils from swallowing the Tyrant’s Fist back then.