Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 143: Disorder (14)
"Together?"
Facing the Duchess's questioning, Fu Qian didn't show a hint of the embarrassment of being caught, and simply pointed into the distance.
Appearing so timely, she must have been staking out here the whole time and knew his purpose perfectly well. There was truly no need to hide it.
Clearly not expecting Fu Qian to be so frank, the Duchess was stunned for a moment.
"Didn't you hear what the Priest said? It's extremely dangerous!"
"I know, but at times like this, we shouldn't let go of any sliver of hope, should we?" Fu Qian looked at her with a smile. "Don't you think so too? Or are you telling me you dropped everything else to come stake out here just to catch me?"
"Anyway, I'm going no matter what, unless you lock me back underground again."
"Let's go." The Duchess fell silent for a moment, seemingly hesitating whether to insist, but finally let out a heavy sigh. "The tunnel was sealed off a long time ago. We need to find another way."
……
"I was also born in the current town, so I don't have any memories of the Old City." In the darkness, the Duchess spoke softly as she cleared the path ahead.
"My understanding of that place is limited to some documented records and the oral accounts of the elders in my family. But even the limited information is enough to show that it is extremely dangerous there. You must listen to my arrangements later."
"Understood."
The Duchess was clearly well-prepared and spent almost no time identifying the direction.
The two of them quickly traversed through the foliage, and after a short while, they felt the temperature dropping precipitously.
Frost could already be seen on the surrounding leaves and rocks.
Fortunately, he had leveled up earlier, otherwise, if they kept going, he probably wouldn't have been able to withstand it.
Just as Fu Qian was sighing in his heart, the Duchess ahead suddenly signaled, gesturing for Fu Qian to stop.
"Be careful—"
Watching their surroundings vigilantly, the Duchess seemed to have noticed something and suddenly spoke up to warn him.
Before her voice faded, Fu Qian also heard bursts of howling sounds.
The next moment, a vast whiteness descended, and the surroundings instantly turned into a world of ice and snow. Visibility plummeted.
It truly deserved the name Calamity!
Fighting against the extreme cold that seemed capable of freezing the soul, Fu Qian recalled the Priest's words.
A halo of golden light erupted from the Duchess in front, enveloping both herself and Fu Qian within it.
The low temperature and the blizzard were blocked outside, and their body temperatures quickly recovered.
"How could this..." However, the Duchess's face was noticeably looking a bit poor.
"What's wrong?" Fu Qian glanced at her.
"Logically speaking, we should have to walk a bit further to get there. The area of effect of the blizzard seems to have expanded. This is not a good thing." The Duchess shook her head, her expression growing more solemn. "Are you sure you still want to continue? It might be even more dangerous ahead than expected."
"As if you'd stop if I said we should turn back." Before she could finish, Fu Qian said directly. "Let's continue."
"Alright then."
Since Fu Qian's attitude was so firm, the Duchess didn't waste time and directly continued forward.
It could be seen that the expansion of the Calamity's area of effect had made her quite anxious, and she no longer had the extra energy to test him.
The two continued through the blizzard. Soon, the surroundings completely turned into a world of ice and snow. Everything in sight was a vast expanse of white, with hardly a trace of any other color to be seen.
Nor was there a single trace of vitality!
Above their heads, there were faintly traces of the Seven Lights, yet they were equally indescribably dim.
"Found it!"
The Duchess ahead suddenly called out.
Hearing this, Fu Qian took a couple of steps forward and found that under his feet was no longer gravel and white snow, but something like terracotta tiles.
And dimly ahead, several straight spires appeared.
"Are we on a roof right now?" Fu Qian realized this and looked at the Duchess. "Looks like this place has been pretty much buried completely!"
"Yes."
This scene devoid of life made the Duchess's voice lower.
After briefly observing their surroundings, she took the lead and headed straight toward the highest spire.
Fu Qian had to fight against the blizzard himself as he followed behind her.
Although the vast majority was already buried, the scale of the place could still be seen. It was much larger than the current town, allowing one to imagine its grandeur in the past.
"Hurry up."
Up ahead, the Duchess stood next to the spire, waving and calling out to him.
By the time Fu Qian arrived, a ball of radiant light had already gathered in her hand and was fiercely smashed against the side of the spire.
Crash!
Countless shards of ice splashed everywhere, and colored tiles flew apart, revealing a gap in front of them large enough for a person to pass through.
The Duchess jumped down directly without saying a word, not even greeting Fu Qian.
She was clearly in a foul mood!
Fu Qian sighed while following her down.
Rapidly descending along various crossbeams, the Duchess continuously emitted specks of bright light from her hands, illuminating the surroundings.
While descending, Fu Qian looked around. This was clearly also a building similar to the church in the town, perhaps even larger.
He quickly caught up to the Duchess and found her looking down at her feet.
That wasn't the floor at all, but a thick layer of ice and snow. They were probably standing mid-air inside the church.
Even inside the building, the vast majority of it had been buried under the thick ice and snow.
Looking from the outside, this church was already the highest building in the area. Since even it was buried like this, there was no need to think about the other places.
Trying to find anything in a place like this was virtually impossible.
The Duchess kept her head down in silence. Fu Qian continued to observe on his own, and the next moment, he heard a faint, strange noise.
It sounded like pieces of iron clashing, coming from above his head.
"Above!"
Realizing what it was, Fu Qian called out a warning.
The distracted Duchess was suddenly jolted awake. She looked up just in time to encounter a dark shadow descending from the sky.
Radiant light surged upward, meeting the dark shadow in the nick of time, and the Duchess took the opportunity to roll to the side.
Under the glow of the light, the attacker's true face was revealed.
It was actually a tall figure completely covered in armor.
This place is already in ruins like this, and there are still guards?
Fu Qian was somewhat surprised for a moment.
This guy clearly jumped down from somewhere above and must have been disturbed by the Duchess and him.
The Duchess also looked surprised and suspicious, watching the attacker raise the longsword in his hand again.
The next moment, an illusory warhammer made of gathered starlight viciously smashed onto the heavy armor.
The attacker crashed to the ground, and its face helmet flew off and rolled to the side.
Yet what was surprising was that it was actually empty inside.
Has the armor become possessed?
While Fu Qian made irresponsible guesses from the sidelines, the headless armor stood back up.
The next moment, a mass of pitch-black, viscous substance, similar to asphalt, slowly oozed out from the collar of the armor.
Ah!
Witnessing this scene, the always calm and capable Duchess had a drastic change in expression and let out a trembling scream.
Endless light erupted from her body, illuminating the entire building.
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