Eldritch Horror Theatre

Commandment Residue.

Besides the Flame of Frenzy, Fu Qian figured he had much gentler ways to illuminate the world.

Since he was operating on someone else’s eye, it paid to be a little friendly.

Besides, in Fu Qian’s view, the Wise Dead had been quite friendly from the moment he first entered this place.

Take the old man they encountered first, for example.

His goal in lighting up the world right now was simple: to see if the Lighthouse could restore its function.

Returning to simplicity and true nature—that was the core principle he had just summarized.

Not to mention that this light of splendor could naturally bring enlightenment to the mind and clear away anxiety.

As for why he needed to try this now, considering the place had already been brightly lit during his earlier conversation with Nepheli?

Simple. Never forget that Etched Intellect was a negative effect.Not only were the words spoken within it untrustworthy, but it was also best not to take the scenes it presented for granted. Was everything really as fine as it seemed?

The Lighthouse lit up. Even the lens worked normally, piercing the storm to cast a beam of light far into the distance.

Beneath that beam, however, all he could see was continued emptiness. There was nothing special.

Even when he rotated the lamp fixture to sweep the light across other directions, nothing unusual appeared.

It made sense. If it were truly that simple, Excellency Nepheli would have discovered it long ago, no matter how disinterested she was.

So had he just been projecting his own petty thoughts? Did returning to simplicity and true nature really have no effect, forcing him to find another angle?

There was no need to belittle himself. When comparing oneself to others, one had to be good at discovering one’s own advantages—

Without a trace of dissatisfaction, Fu Qian twisted his body into a peculiar angle and pressed his eye directly behind the lens.

[When you encounter confusion, you must learn to look at the problem from a different angle.]

Focusing light, seeking—it perfectly matched the traits of a certain item he once possessed: the Starry Sky Prism.

Even though the item was destroyed, Fu Qian still clearly remembered its method of use and the experiential advice from its item description.

He believed that no matter how vast Excellency Nepheli’s accumulated knowledge was, she still lacked this kind of hands-on operational experience.

Speaking of which, the Star Map for this operation even came from that very item—didn’t that prove the point?

After looking at the problem from a different angle once again, Fu Qian finally made an interesting discovery.

...

It was not a mirage.

The light was clearly shining outward from the Lighthouse, but at that moment, the scene reflecting in Fu Qian’s eyes was bizarre: he was looking at the very Lighthouse beneath his feet.

It was as if he wasn’t looking out from the inside, but rather looking down at the structure from a distance.

Even the entirety of Moore, engulfed in the storm, was drawn into his line of sight.

This was getting stranger and stranger. But one had to look on the bright side: although he hadn’t seen the Inverted Lake, wasn’t this perspective inverted enough?

Additionally, he had to admit that from this angle, Moore really did possess a bit of a living creature’s aura.

It looked like a miasma-wreathed corpse lying in an utterly twisted posture upon the land... or rather, by the sea.

For a moment, it almost felt as though the thing had washed up from the ocean.

And it wasn’t just this omniscient view of the whole picture; all the various details within the storm suddenly felt as though they were within arm’s reach.

Fu Qian even saw those three flying one-winged birds again, though their movements were no longer as graceful as before.

They moved with a harsh, straining visual quality, like someone who had swallowed a raw persimmon, tightly besieged by the stagnant storm.

Excellency Solondir was really going all out, trying his hardest to bring even these unknown things under his control.

As for the Blood Clan Demigod, Serana?

Although she didn’t seem to be present at first glance, Fu Qian easily found her figure hiding off to the side.

The two demigods didn’t seem to be getting along very well, quickly devolving into a state where they were completely at odds.

However, Serana didn’t look like she wanted to leave so easily. She even subtly seemed to want to help the three birds escape, making the situation rather tense and confrontational.

And it was obvious that she was at a disadvantage.

It wasn’t due to a gap in strength or a type advantage. The one countering Serana was someone else entirely: the Wise Dead.

Fu Qian felt that he truly possessed a ”God’s-eye view” right now. He could even ”see” the bond tying Serana to this place.

That bond was not only subtly restricting her power, but it was also growing heavier with every passing moment.

So, was this the reason Excellency Kelsen had left the message?

Shaking his head slightly, Fu Qian muttered to himself as his Calamity Eyes locked onto the Siren Demigod Solondir, rapidly expanded, and then detonated.

...

Hmph, you actually dare to make things difficult for this seat’s favored one right to my face? Do you think I hold the title of Dominator of Death for nothing?

The force wasn’t massive, but the effect was more than enough.

The moment the precisely locked Calamity erupted, Excellency Solondir’s momentum plummeted.

Immediately after, the only place in all of Moore where the storm had temporarily paused vanished with a crash, and the wind and rain in the sky began to churn once more.

Faced with a situation that had suddenly spun out of control, the Siren Demigod didn’t go so far as to flee in panic, but he no longer dared to make a move, instantly shifting into a guarded stance.

Clearly oblivious to what had just happened, Serana remained cautious, neither rushing in to attack nor turning around to leave.

Not bad. Carrying out this seat’s will to protect the favored one; you haven’t disgraced the name of an Ancient Angel.

Watching this scene with great satisfaction, Fu Qian opened his Calamity Eyes once more, this time locking firmly onto that tangible bond.

Oh?

His earlier claim about the Wise Dead’s friendly attitude seemed to have been verified once again.

Fu Qian noted that before his eyes even had time to detonate, the connection between Serana and this place was rapidly dissolving on its own.

It seemed the miraculous creature was quite sharp; sensing the pressure, it simply took the initiative to cooperate.

Since that was the case...

Calculating the time, they had already entered the final countdown. Fu Qian paid no more attention to the office and pulled his focus back to what was right in front of him.

Crack!

His actions were far rougher this time. With a soft crack, he gripped the previously mentioned lens and casually crushed it.

Returning a favor for a favor—since the other party was being so polite, it seemed he could help purify the cornea a bit, couldn’t he? To clear out a certain foreign object placed here out of self-interest.

And it seemed there really was something here—

As the fragments peeled away, Fu Qian noticed a strange texture in his hand. Rubbing it, he extracted a bizarre eyeball from within the lens.

It was made of a completely transparent material, looking as though it had been embedded inside all along.

Moreover, calling it an eyeball was a stretch; it wasn’t even round, possessing distinct edges and corners.

Even if it was a Prosthetic Eye, it was hard to imagine who would be willing to wear it—Squish!

Fu Qian adjusted his angle, rotating the eyeball as he pressed it right into his left eye socket.

As for his original eye, it shrank deeper inside, faintly giving off the vibe of a makeshift Lighthouse core.

It felt pretty good—

Almost the moment he critiqued that unconventional sensation, the sky before his eyes suddenly brightened, completely devoid of any trace of the storm.

This weather forecast was truly accurate.

Knowing clearly that he had returned to the ”true” Moore, Fu Qian experienced the unique perspective of his left eye and let out a momentary sigh of awe.