Eldritch Horror Theatre

Designing a testing plan was highly technical work.

Fu Qian originally hoped that His Excellency the Chief Judge retained some ability to communicate, so they could exchange information more directly. That was why he had extended the invitation the way he did.

Unfortunately, the other party’s condition was simply too deteriorated. Since the Chief Judge was acting almost entirely on instinct, Fu Qian had no choice but to change tactics and conduct a slightly more forceful test.

Fortunately, the payoff was substantial, and he had discovered some rather interesting things.

However, the downside of a forceful test then revealed itself: the situation rapidly spiraled out of control.

With the Chief Judge’s second strike, the Etched Intellect clearly entered an irreversible collapse. Everything could vanish at any moment.

But even at this stage, Fu Qian still saw value in the situation. He could test one more thing.

The Eternally Lucid Mind—one of the few items he could still use normally even after his Transcendent Perception had vanished.

Even though it had a 24-hour cooldown, Fu Qian casually rang it.

He already understood a thing or two about the bizarre way Laws clashed with one another. Was there a simpler, blunter method?After all, in situations where he was sentenced like this, he wouldn’t always be able to use the stability of the outside world as leverage.

It seemed necessary to prepare a more direct method of breaking through; otherwise, he would easily end up on the defensive.

That was when Fu Qian thought of supernatural expulsion.

At this level, the duration of the Bell’s supernatural expulsion was far too short, but he had a reason for thinking of it.

What is overly rigid snaps easily. Something like a Law might possess an unreasonable supremacy, but as long as its execution was not absolute, wouldn’t it easily fall from its pedestal?

Driven by this logic, Fu Qian placed a different kind of expectation on this product of the Nightmare Corridor. Now was the time to witness a miracle.

Ding—

Fu Qian directly rang the Bell.

A barely perceptible flicker occurred. The superimposed, brilliant halos continued to illuminate their surroundings for that moment.

But the color seemed to change slightly?

...

Very nice.

For Fu Qian, catching a slight shift in color was effortless. At that moment, he was absolutely certain that the brilliant gold had dimmed somewhat.

Even more obvious was the burning holy fire within it, which rapidly extinguished after the flicker.

If these were merely personal observations, there was another ironclad fact right in front of him: the notification that his SAN Value was decreasing had stopped.

The Eternally Lucid Mind’s effect was astoundingly effective, instantly shattering the previous stalemate.

As for why the supernatural expulsion showed this kind of bias instead of acting as an indiscriminate attack?

Simple. It actually was an indiscriminate attack.

Fu Qian noted that his four halos weren’t completely unaffected; they had simply been interrupted for a moment before being released again.

In contrast, the Chief Judge’s conviction hadn’t been quite as quick to catch up.

To use an analogy, they had originally belonged to the same tier where neither could negate the other. Therefore, despite their incompatible natures, they had to form a temporary truce and unite, jointly declaring that the rest of the world was in the wrong.

Suddenly, both were cast down to the mortal realm. But while one side was quickly reinstated to its former position, the other had no one to endorse it, instantly breaking the balance.

If the rules were not absolute, then they were absolutely lawless.

At this point, I no longer have any need to compromise with you, and I can even use this to alleviate the distortion on the outside world.

In Fu Qian’s vision, the collapse of the outside buildings seemed to slow down.

Of course, based on the previous situation, His Excellency the Chief Judge was entirely capable of endorsing it again, once more sentencing him to life imprisonment. The truce would reappear, with no distinction as to who came first.

He had to admit, this contest between Law powers was quite unique. In theory, if two such characters fought, they could distort the surrounding area to an absurd degree.

The power that weaves the rules of the world actually brought about distortion? It carried a sense of dark humor.

Additionally, another reason it had worked was likely due to the differing nature of His Excellency the Chief Judge’s abilities.

While ”conviction” could lock onto a target and operate on a personal level, its resistance to supernatural expulsion was somewhat weaker.

The Golden Tree, which anchored itself to a location and wove rules layer by layer, was much more similar to his own approach. In a direct clash, the Eternally Lucid Mind might not be as effective against it.

But that was a matter for later. His Excellency the Chief Judge had clearly realized that his confinement had failed and was already showing a stress response.

Except this time, there was no conviction. Instead, a broken sword seemed to materialize in his hand—Boom!

Unfortunately, he was a beat too slow once again. A split second before the broken sword thrust down, Fu Qian’s left arm had already morphed back into a ferocious head, spewing endless flames.

Not forgetting that his role this time was ranged damage, he directly triggered the last remaining use of the Three Faces.

And this time, it looked quite balanced—lightning, blood, and fire each made an appearance.

...

He really could take a beating. Aside from his poor condition, it was as if a true higher entity were standing there.

The flames instantly swallowed the Chief Judge, and Fu Qian didn’t let a single detail slip past him.

Striking so decisively was certainly not out of a desire for revenge.

The other party might have sneakily drained a bit of his SAN Value, but he had also helped conduct a very crucial test afterward. Strictly speaking, his contribution was actually greater.

The reason he rushed to strike a heavy blow was that if he didn’t, he would lose his chance.

And Fu Qian had one more point he wanted to confirm: the status of this kind of higher entity within the Fallacy Spacetime before him.

The facts proved that while he was a bit mindless, his Health Bar was not weak at all.

It wasn’t just Him, either. This time, the Health Bar for the Etched Intellect was the same.

From just a moment ago until now, even with the Chief Judge desperately trying to maintain it, it honestly was remarkably durable—it was over.

Amid Fu Qian’s high praise, it seemed the limit had finally been reached.

The Chief Judge ultimately failed to deliver that sword strike, vanishing alongside the ancient research facility.

...

Was it because of the location that the Etched Intellect had also been strengthened?

As everything suddenly disappeared, Fu Qian raised a hand. Staring at it, he arrived at another guess.

In terms of sensation, this truly felt distinctly different from his previous experiences, and the location was undeniably a factor that could not be ignored.

For the Claudora Flesh, this place was the source of everything.

And coming to the place of origin to be strengthened seemed reasonably logical.

He had just been in the Etched Intellect state; he was fairly certain of that.

One piece of evidence was the Ring on his hand, its gears currently clicking and whirring as it operated.

The Tyrant’s Mechanical Fist. Through a bit of minor modification earlier, he had given it the function of a timer.

Right now, the results were clearly displayed. The period of time he had just experienced did not actually exist. Everything had returned to the exact moment he pushed open the door.

The only problem was—there was no door here.

Fu Qian raised his head and examined his surroundings.

The bizarre events were simply endless... Everything from earlier had indeed vanished, but while time had reverted to the origin point, his position unexpectedly had not.

He was currently still standing inside a rather classically styled building.