Eldritch Horror Theatre

True God Rank. The Existence Core of the False Law.

Even through a monitor, the Commandment Residue blooming from this foundation was far from easy to endure.

Ah—

In less than half a second, miserable howls began rising from the audience, spiraling entirely out of control.

It was obvious the researchers hadn’t lied on this point; they really could see it.

With this kind of high-end configuration, this place truly qualified as a solid research facility. The wisdom of those ancient predecessors was not to be underestimated.

Unfortunately, miraculous as it was, it clearly wasn’t high-end enough to feature a fail-safe mechanism.

After the initial impact, the researchers had no strength left to cut the feed.

This briefly revived bastion of human exploration was rapidly sinking into the radiance symbolizing the Law.

This was what you called high efficiency.In theory, the safest approach would have been knocking on every door to attempt communication, verifying his suspicions step by step to confirm whether the power of a higher entity was hiding here.

But safety was relative. He could take his time, but the other party could also calmly prepare. If that happened, it would likely turn into a protracted hidden war.

The resilience of the Etched Intellect might seem vastly improved right now, but expecting that to last indefinitely was simply too optimistic.

Considering these two points, Fu Qian figured he might as well use the high-end equipment here to sweep everything away with the Commandment Residue. He would display the might of the King of the Abandoned Prison and see if it baited out any special reactions.

The researchers had built such a convenient display channel; how could he not use it?

Even if, at the moment, it just looked like a one-sided massacre. It felt as if the other side had absolutely no power to resist.

”I knew it—”

Just as Fu Qian was carefully evaluating the situation, a gratifying reaction finally occurred.

Amidst the mass of nearly unconscious ravings, someone actually managed to clearly convey a different emotion.

The voice was high-pitched, yet it held no anger. Instead, it carried an extreme excitement—the exact same excitement The Thinker had displayed upon finding the answer earlier.

”The path we took all along was wrong. Light is the answer to everything... Wheel That Cannot Be Looked Upon...”

Before Fu Qian could even comment, the other party continued muttering, spitting out a somewhat familiar honorific name.

Wheel That Cannot Be Looked Upon... the sun?

Naturally, Fu Qian hadn’t forgotten the intel he had recently exchanged with Chief Yuan.

The Ancient Sun God, the former master of Paradise, the entity served by Ancient One Eckhart, the apex of the Godhood Sequence corresponding to Ariel...

To think he would hear the name of that higher entity—who had vanished without a trace at the onset of the Long Night—in a place like this. He was even witnessing His radiance.

At a certain moment, a blazing white Sea of Light rose from within the glorious aura of the Commandment Residue.

It quickly matched it as an equal, without suffering even a hint of color loss.

...

It really was?

For Fu Qian, certain things were etched deeply into his memory.

With a single glance, he confirmed that the Sea of Light looked extremely familiar.

That’s right. It was exactly the same terrifying divine descent that had smashed him right in the face when Old Man Logan launched his sneak attack back in Shangjing.

Sure enough, speak of the devil. He had just brought up Ariel’s name, and now the commotion that guy had once caused was replaying itself.

In short, this point alone was enough to prove the shouter wasn’t just spouting nonsense. He was truly unleashing the power of the blazing sun.

As a result, the situation suddenly turned even more bizarre—

Good news: his suspicions seemed correct. The power of an ancient higher entity really was lying low in secret.

Bad news: this was a bit too ancient.

The Ancient Sun God, who had fallen at the very beginning of the Long Night, actually came to the Ash Sea to join the fun?

He had just noted earlier that the Etched Intellect was a jumbled mix of fallacies from various elements. Didn’t this at least prove that a power imprint related to the sun had genuinely appeared in this place before?

This broadened his understanding somewhat... Although the sun and ashes did go quite well together. Could it be that He burned this place into existence?

”Light really is the answer to everything? How did you know? Is this why you asked me where I came from?”

In light of this, Fu Qian expressed intense curiosity toward the character currently clashing head-on with him.

His tone was as casual as making small talk, as if he were inquiring whether the other party’s chosen deity was effective and was already contemplating converting himself.

Of course, this small talk wasn’t aimed blindly. He recognized the voice. Aside from the Person Behind the Door, it belonged to the other researcher who had directly questioned him moments ago.

The guy could be considered an active participant. It only proved his earlier judgment correct—they were all great actors. Contacting and screening them one by one would have been a troublesome process.

Additionally, as someone accustomed to asking questions while already holding the answers, Fu Qian seemed to glimpse this ancient research institute’s myriad gaping holes through his casual chatter.

It was far more than just curses, madness, and confusion... Someone’s original intentions had wavered during this process. They had questioned whether the organization’s ideals were correct, and eventually devoted themselves to the light.

What was even more bizarre, however, was that this decision currently appeared correct. Under the evil invasion of the King of the Abandoned Prison, this man was indeed the only one to last until the end.

”Ha—haha—”

Unfortunately, the questioning brother had clearly fallen into complete fanaticism. He turned a deaf ear to any desire for friendly communication, leaving only his drawn-out, eerie laughter to echo across the area.

Even the radiance that dispelled everything and the scorching heat that incinerated all matter were simultaneously growing more exaggerated.

In that moment, not only was the entire Academy rapidly turning to flying ash, but Fu Qian also deeply empathized with Old Man Logan’s past ordeal.

He still remembered that just watching the spectacle from afar back then had drained dozens of points from his SAN Value.

What a pity. Some things were different now.

Sighing softly in that moment, Fu Qian’s SAN Value didn’t budge an inch. He didn’t even blink as he stared toward the direction where the sun was rising.

Because of the aforementioned incineration of all matter, there were no longer any barriers between them, allowing him to easily capture the sight.

Of course, not a single tile remained in the surroundings. There was only a body overlapping with an orb of light, blooming like a supernova in an incredibly flamboyant posture.

Wasn’t this a bit too rushed?

This scene was so identical to Ariel’s appearance back then that the theory about the sun seemingly no longer needed questioning.

Yet, as Fu Qian witnessed this scene, what he tasted from it was anxiety.

Naturally, this kind of attack couldn’t hurt him, but it wasn’t completely ineffective either.

Aside from reducing both the research site and his colleagues to ash, under this level of power clash, the thing most heavily affected was undoubtedly the Etched Intellect itself. Everything could shatter at any moment.

On this matter, the attitude of this grand power seemed completely different from that of the Chief Judge, didn’t it?

As deduced, the latter had resorted to every conceivable extreme to prolong the process, to the point of being kidnapped by him.

Yet the one right before his eyes was actively accelerating it?