Eldritch Horror Theatre

Excellency Serana certainly had some nerve, handing out missions just like the Warehouse.

The words in the booklet carried such a strong sense of deja vu that Fu Qian found them instantly familiar.

Snark aside, he obviously wouldn’t hold a grudge over something like this.

There was a fundamental difference here: this wasn’t his mission, it was Serana’s.

He had just been noting that he didn’t know the details of the Blood Clan’s Tier 2 advancement ritual, and now it seemed very likely that this was the very core of it.

The Starry Sky Rose, the depths of the dream, the Blood Nova... Every single element matched the style of Blood Clan Progenitor Annalise.

So she really had lost herself in dreams later on, even placing her kin’s advancement ritual inside them.

And the Starry Sky Rose served as a guide, leading a person into the deepest layer of the dream.

That explained why the Blood Clan went to such lengths to collect Starry Sky Roses, and why their bodies acted as special vessels unlike those of ordinary people.

Even if the Blood Clan had been created for an ulterior motive, Annalise wouldn’t have gone out of her way to sabotage their advancement.Aside from needing some luck to acquire a Starry Sky Rose, the rest of the path was practically smooth sailing.

Although he still wasn’t sure what the ”Blood Nova in the depths of the dream” actually was, it had to be a power under Annalise’s control. If she were still alive and well, she probably wouldn’t play hide-and-seek with her own kin.

Of course, things only looked rough by comparison, and right now Serana seemed to be facing two major problems.

First, Annalise was gone, so finding the Blood Nova might not be nearly as convenient anymore.

Second, not only was she gone, there was also the Red Moon to deal with.

Because of the erosion caused by the name Annalise, the Red Moon had indeed retained several elements tied to the Progenitor of the Blood Clan—like answering summons, or casually unfolding an advancement dream.

Yet there was a bloody example right in front of them: not long ago, Excellency Ambor had reached this exact step and failed to achieve true fruition.

To some extent, that proved he had failed to find the Blood Nova.

Worse still, the Red Moon handed out fake diplomas, tricking people into believing they had succeeded.

And right now, the Red Moon was likely even harder to read than it had been back then.

All things considered, the prospects for Serana’s advancement this time looked far from ideal.

Still, looking on the bright side, he was the one playing the exploiter here.

Whether the pawn actually got paid in the end was another matter; it didn’t stop him from squeezing every bit of value out of the process. By using a Blood Clan Demigod’s advancement as an opportunity, he could try to establish contact with the Red Moon, probe its condition, and maybe even find a solution.

From that angle, he was already seeing real progress.

Not only had contact actually been made, but judging from this whole crowd of Seranas, the Red Moon’s influence over this dream ran deep, promising plenty of chances for further interaction.

It sounded a little cruel to Excellency Serana—burning through her resources and putting her life on the line with zero guarantee of success, while running a very real risk of reverse contamination that could drive her straight into madness.

Then again, that was the price of progress.

The Progenitor who had sheltered them every step of the way was gone. If they wanted to climb higher, they had to face the same high risks for high rewards as everyone else.

Without that bloodline of hers, she wouldn’t even be worth using in the first place.

Besides, though he didn’t have much proof, Fu Qian suspected that if the Red Moon fell during this ordeal, things wouldn’t end well for the Blood Clan either.

Going by the premise that ”Annalise has already fallen,” whatever was plaguing the Red Moon right now was nothing more than contamination tangled up in a Death Rattle left behind by the Progenitor of the Blood Clan.

If this ”Annalise” used the Red Moon to be completely reborn, there was no telling what she would become.

”Do you want me to give it back?”

After running through all these thoughts in a flash, Fu Qian beamed at the still-shaken Seranas. It might be her dream, but the owner seemed a bit short on courage.

The Serana whose booklet he had picked up kept her eyes glued to his hand, yet didn’t dare ask for it back.

...

Was this the Night Demon constitution at work—coming with its own Demon King’s Descent fear effect?

Rather than simply looking down on others, Fu Qian always preferred giving himself credit.

Seeing how the Seranas reacted, he quickly came up with an explanation.

They clearly didn’t recognize him, though that alone shouldn’t have made them this passive.

Answering the call as a dream devourer seemed to carry a natural aura of terror upon entry, making friendly conversation with the dream’s owner rather difficult.

”Let me see that.”

Not that it mattered. Fu Qian was plenty good at unfriendly conversation too.

As the Seranas nodded instinctively, he didn’t hand back the booklet he was holding; instead, he gave a cold snort and pointed at another one.

”Who are you...”

True to the innate pride of the Blood Clan, the defiance sparked by his commanding tone managed to break right through the aura of fear.

They didn’t swarm him and attack, but the Seranas mustered their courage and pushed forward a spokesperson.

Sure enough, much like the Red Moon’s state on the Half-Step Moon, the individual Seranas here didn’t have much independence and operated by pooling their thoughts together.

”A bad guy.”

Unfortunately, as everyone knew, pride without the strength to back it up usually just added to the entertainment.

Drawing a silent conclusion from Serana’s reaction, Fu Qian had no intention of speaking to her as an equal.

He tossed out a thoroughly unfriendly reply and reached straight for the other booklet.

As it turned out, the strength in her grip didn’t nearly match the unwillingness on her face.

Fu Qian easily snatched it away, flipped it open, and confirmed that the contents were identical.

...

Was this a message left specifically for him?

He obviously wasn’t just scaring her out of boredom; he was mainly testing a theory.

No matter how poor Serana’s memory might be, she wouldn’t need to write down the details of the ritual.

Yet the Night Demon had been drawn here by ”longing,” and right beside his point of entry lay more than one booklet detailing the ritual.

Given how this dream was set up, Fu Qian was inclined to believe that Serana wasn’t completely rigid after all.

The details of the Tier 2 ritual were a Blood Clan secret. Even under the previous circumstances, she had kept them to herself, which was understandable.

Still, holding back like that had created a major drawback: once he followed her in, he didn’t even have a set of guidelines to work from as a supervisor.

Now it looked like Serana had shown a bit of flexibility.

As soon as she arrived in her personal advancement dream, her first move had been to leave behind information for the helper who might show up.

Which brought up the real question—

”Where does the rose guide you?”

Fu Qian handed both booklets back together, his tone just like a visa officer’s.