Eldritch Horror Theatre

What a joy.

To actually emerge from behind Excellency Serpent of Destiny’s door, rather than His Excellency Arakiel’s.

The location of Brother Persuader’s appearance was more than a little unusual.

But considering what he had been through, it wasn’t all that strange.

Becoming a servant of two masters, or something along those lines, could easily be considered a rather mild outcome.

Shaking his head internally, Fu Qian wasn’t the sort to care about another’s background. Furthermore, the joy on Brother Persuader’s face was so genuine that even the most critical eye would struggle to find any trace of hypocrisy.

He radiated the excitement of a man hearing of an old friend’s sudden visit, jumping straight out of bed without even taking the time to put on his shoes.

”Long time no see. You’re looking well.”

Of course, Brother Persuader never wore shoes to begin with. Fu Qian withdrew his gaze from those spiked hind legs and exchanged pleasantries with a smile.

Although the Persuader hadn’t changed a single hair since their last meeting, this wasn’t baseless flattery.Good or bad all depended on comparison. In this bleak situation, wouldn’t managing to stay unchanged be considered pretty good?

”You’re looking even better.”

Brother Persuader was exceptionally pleasant to speak with today. Staring at Fu Qian, he returned the compliment without missing a beat.

”Of course.”

Fu Qian wasn’t going to be modest. He accepted the praise without blinking, even striking a pose to show off his Limited-Edition Uniform and New Era Weapon.

Admittedly, compared to their last meeting, he had improved slightly.

But because this improvement was somewhat beyond the norm, the chances of the Persuader recognizing it so quickly didn’t seem very high.

As a result, Fu Qian figured it was mostly the visual impact, and that the Persuader was just awed by his upgraded attire.

He couldn’t blame him. A limited-edition design blessed personally by the Pope—both the honor and the effect were truly unique.

”So, are you coming in?”

But as the saying goes, a friend’s success can be agonizing. Faced with such a visually striking outfit, even the Persuader’s smile faded slightly before he paused to ask.

From the beginning until now, he still hadn’t stepped out from behind the door.

”Sure.”

Seeming to realize it was impolite, Fu Qian dropped his pose the next moment, put away Mercy, and glanced behind the Persuader.

...

The view was wide open at a glance.

Sure enough, the rolling tide of the era was something even the space behind the door couldn’t resist.

It was no longer the impenetrable, thick darkness from before. At a glance, he could actually make out the outlines of objects.

And at the very back of these outlines stood another, far more magnificent door, which had clearly been cracked open.

Dilapidated and eerie.

Looking at the scene outside, The Prisoners’ Nightmare behind the door wasn’t necessarily still running. This was indeed a possibility they had guessed earlier.

But to be honest, the chances of Excellency Destiny Serpent simply vanishing into thin air seemed highly unlikely to Fu Qian.

There had to be a reason, didn’t there?

The Warehouse had explicitly stated that The Prisoners had long been sentenced to the ultimate punishment; they couldn’t possibly escape into the Bookstore World.

And the Witch, monitoring things with her equipment, hadn’t found any obvious signs of intrusion.

And yet you’re telling me the entity is just gone? Especially someone as hard to kill as a destiny-aligned expert.

According to normal logical deduction, there was undoubtedly a strong suspicion of a reverse empty city stratagem.

Even so, Fu Qian still gladly agreed. As he stepped Inside the Door the next moment, he wasn’t in any rush to find something to feed the Bone Chain.

...

”What’s behind there?”

The Persuader seemed somewhat surprised by Fu Qian’s straightforwardness, but he displayed a much higher level of courtesy than usual, even deliberately stepping aside to make way.

Taking a step inside, Fu Qian—who didn’t find three hundred axemen rushing at him—observed the unchanged scene before him and started chatting quite leisurely.

The faint glow on the door seemed to be coming from behind it.

It was as if, right as darkness fell, someone had scooped up one last ladle of light and hidden it under the covers. The brightness inside was actually a tiny bit higher than on the door itself.

But that was about it. A High-Tier Transcendent might not have any trouble seeing things with it, but considering how thin and weak it was, calling it the afterglow of a match would be a compliment.

Still, relying on this faint light, he could see that the space behind the door wasn’t large. Its style was roughly consistent with The Corridor outside, so minimalistic that there was nothing extraneous.

So much so that after a sweeping glance, Fu Qian immediately locked his eyes on that other door.

Aside from being much larger in size, its shape was exactly the same as the one outside. As for the color—

Looking at the dull reddish-brown and the somewhat mottled but still familiar texture, Fu Qian felt he could better understand why Brother Persuader had appeared here.

That’s right, it was another of His Excellency Arakiel’s doors.

So he wasn’t a servant of two masters, but a loyal servant diligently following in his master’s footsteps?

...

His Excellency Arakiel, known as the most harmless of them all, actually extended his reach into the Serpent of Destiny’s home?

It was a somewhat counterintuitive development.

”See for yourself; even I find it hard to describe.”

Fortunately, there were already too many counterintuitive things today—such as Brother Persuader not only welcoming him warmly but even showing a rare moment of humility.

’Hard to describe,’ huh? That phrase was quite fitting for the current situation...

And although the remark was polite but lacked substance, the always-generous Expert Fu still managed to find a commendable point in it.

Without pressing further, he was actually readily accepting good advice, walking all the way to stand before the door.

Though it grew increasingly dim, through a gap just wide enough for one person to pass, he could easily observe a bit of the scene behind the door—it was still normal.

That’s right, behind the large door, there was no eerie sight of a dance of demons or a raging Nightmare.

Normal stairs, normal shadows, and regularly shaped walkways made it look as if it belonged to the same building complex as the Corridor outside.

It easily brought a specific scenario to mind: after the Nightmare created by The Prisoners dissipated, the originally concealed parts of this place had begun to reveal themselves.

”Isn’t this pretty easy to describe?”

While silently assessing the scene, Fu Qian didn’t forget that his old friend was right behind him and took the opportunity to liven up the atmosphere.

”...You should go down and take a look.”

Even a Persuader as hospitable as him seemed stunned by this angle of questioning, pausing for a moment before continuing to advise.

”So you’ve been down there?”

Fu Qian didn’t refuse, simply asking out of curiosity.

”Of course...”

When the Persuader answered, it felt as though the words burned his mouth, acting as if he didn’t want any association with whatever lay below.

”That’s great. I remember carrying you through a stage before; it’s time for you to return the favor.”

However, Fu Qian didn’t let him have his way. Nodding with great satisfaction, he gestured toward the space behind the door.

”You...”

It was obvious the Persuader was very hesitant in that moment, though he didn’t deny the favor he owed.

And as he stared at the opened crack, the words of refusal ultimately didn’t leave his lips.

The next moment, this usually cautious God Corroder actually took a step forward and walked inside.