Eldritch Horror Theatre

Sure enough, as long as one sat high enough, an aptitude for coordination came naturally.

It seemed the tragic massacre of the Academy Exploration Team from all those years ago had been Blazing Rainbow’s personal handiwork.

Furthermore, beyond just pointing the way in the Ash Sea, the origins of the very first two clues the Academy obtained were now highly suspect.

Moreover, the long-destroyed ancient Academy uncovered by the exploration team also sounded like it was tied to Blazing Rainbow.

Blazing Rainbow hadn’t just locked onto the location of the Inverted Lake ages ago; for a considerable span of time, it had been actively guiding the related trials.

One could only say that curiosity truly was humanity’s shining virtue. All those mortals charging forward wave upon wave must have provided that entity with at least some value, right?

”What a pity. That guy was actually quite active.”

As expected of a seasoned veteran, Excellency Patches seemed to be lamenting the concept of value as well. It was just that his subject wasn’t the researchers, but his theoretical peer, Rom.

As for Fu Qian’s claim that he had killed him, Patches didn’t voice a single doubt, looking entirely convinced that Fu Qian could pull it off.

”Indeed. Although his health wasn’t the best, he was always keeping busy.”Fu Qian completely agreed with this lament.

In all fairness, for someone dragging around a heavily crippled body, Excellency Rom truly was quite active.

For these higher entities who were used to quietly hiding away, having such a shit-stirrer around was actually rather nice.

Now that he was completely silenced, there was undoubtedly one less target to mess with.

”Actually, I never intended to go that far. It’s just a pity Excellency Rom didn’t quite believe me.”

Recalling the moments leading up to the entity’s fall, Fu Qian couldn’t help but feel he had been a little heavy-handed.

”That can only be chalked up to his own bad luck. Running into you in that situation, the outcome was predetermined long ago.”

Not only did Patches accept Fu Qian’s incredibly hypocritical-sounding excuse, he even gestured for him not to blame himself.

He truly understood his peer. No wonder Excellency Rom’s painstaking schemes had ultimately just been used to set off fireworks.

As Patches casually evaluated the heroes of their time, Fu Qian found himself in deep agreement.

This was absolutely no empty comfort; Patches clearly had a perfect grasp of Rom’s character.

While willing to use any extreme measures necessary, Rom clearly operated on an absolute dark forest mindset, refusing to put faith in promises of any kind.

Therefore, running into Fu Qian while heavily wounded, no matter how much Fu Qian insisted he was just passing by and had no intention of killing him, Rom would never have believed it.

Every word and action that followed would solely have been to create an opening for a desperate, life-or-death struggle.

One could only say that even without witnessing it firsthand, Patches’s judgment perfectly matched how things had actually played out.

”Hehe—so you specifically brought this up just to remind me not to mess around?”

Only then did Patches seem to remember that they had just been casually discussing something as monumental as slaying a Deity.

”You already said yourself that such reminders are useless.”

Unfortunately, it only took a second for Fu Qian to counter by using his spear against his own shield.

A person’s mindset might sound like an abstract concept, but just like how Rom wouldn’t have believed him regardless of what was said...

...since Patches had chosen to reveal himself just now, the threat of death held absolutely no meaning for him.

Furthermore, no matter how leisurely he appeared, this entity hadn’t answered his call just to engage in idle chatter.

”Then I’m relieved. After all, you hit incredibly hard.”

Patches still let out a breath of relief. As he spoke, he reached out a hand and actually mimicked Fu Qian by snapping his fingers.

Whoosh—

The snap itself wasn’t very loud, but its reverberation was incredibly long.

Even after Patches pulled his hand back, a wave-like cacophony continued to echo in their ears.

”This night has gotten a bit noisy.”

It wasn’t the sound of real ocean waves, of course. Having made no move to stop him, Fu Qian carefully savored the details of the noise, managing to distinguish ambiguous whispers, excited screams, and even hysterical roars—

Yes, it was a tidal wave formed entirely of human voices.

The reason it was so noisy was that nights in the Archipelago were naturally this restless.

Then why hadn’t he remarked on it earlier?

Simple: because he couldn’t hear it before.

The residual dream only covered the Laboratory’s perimeter—the ruins beneath their feet. The distant White Tower was nothing more than a background texture. This was the conclusion he had reached earlier.

This also perfectly explained why the thrill-seekers hadn’t flocked over to spectate despite such a massive commotion.

And this was exactly why the current change was, theoretically, not good news.

The noise of the Archipelago’s nightlife filled their ears, sounding so close it felt like it was happening right beside them.

In that case, were the distant White Tower and everything else in sight truly just a background texture anymore?

Excellency Patches had clearly shown off his skills, seemingly erasing the physical distance between everyone and causing the liveliness of the nightlife to surge.

But was the distance between people the only thing erased? What about the boundary between the dream and reality?

It seemed the Deity’s residual dream was now enveloping everyone.

”Don’t you think this fits the atmosphere around here much better?”

Having effortlessly achieved such a monumental feat, Patches didn’t forget to respond to Fu Qian’s silent criticism.

”Are you sure about that?”

Unfortunately, despite his pleasant attitude, Fu Qian just frowned at him.

Just as quickly as the tide had risen, the cacophony in their ears began receding at a staggering pace. In the blink of an eye, even the sounds of drunken ravings had completely vanished.

”It always takes a little time to adjust.”

The atmosphere grew slightly awkward for a moment, but Patches stubbornly insisted that the dead silence was only temporary.

”True. New things always require a bit of time for everyone to accept.”

Fu Qian didn’t press the issue, casually remarking in agreement.

Of course, it wasn’t that Patches’s illusion had been broken and lost its effect in the blink of an eye.

The reason the noise had died down was quite simple—the nightlife participants had been terrified.

Having the voices of everyone in the Archipelago suddenly whispering right in your ear was enough to make anyone uncomfortable.

But there wasn’t actually anything wrong with Patches’s reasoning. Despite what he had just said, Fu Qian could tell that the decibel levels were clearly just scraping the bottom of the curve right now.

As long as it built up a bit of momentum, there was a very high probability of an upward surge.

It was also fortunate that they were in a place where all taboos are lifted, ensuring everyone’s mental state was relatively ”colorful.”

Were they anywhere else, such an overly avant-garde nightlife experiment would likely struggle to survive until things took a sudden turn for the better.

”It’s about time. It should be eight o’clock now, right?”

”Eight o’clock.”

Fu Qian casually agreed.

Sure enough, fortune takes turns. Just earlier, it had been him reminding the other party about the time.

”They only have an hour. Who do you think will be the first one unable to hold back from speaking before then?”

Patches also seemed to be lamenting how quickly time flew.

Pointing at the nine to evaluate heroes, was it?

Fu Qian glanced around. He could already clearly see the silhouettes of people moving outside the perimeter. The upward surge he had anticipated earlier seemed to be actively taking place.

”Master, I suppose. After all, this place is essentially his property.”

As for Patches’s question, a higher entity had to be bold in making judgments.