Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 146: Disorder (17)
Because of preconceived notions, Duchess and her team members almost immediately attributed Nun's death to Colorless, without ever considering the possibility that it might be a member from within the Sequence.
If Nun could be silenced for discovering the Eclipse Curse, then it was equally possible she was silenced for discovering the contamination of Human Pus.
The brooch in Nun's mouth indeed belonged to a man, and most likely someone close to her. Although her lover also met a tragic end, there was no rule stating she could only have one lover.
Given the current situation, as one of the most senior members within the Sequence, Priest's popularity was definitely not low.
However, if it really was Priest who did it, his own situation would be a bit dangerous.
Duchess wasn't stupid. Her mind was just in chaos today from the continuous shocks; she hadn't thought of this point for the moment, but it was only a matter of time before she reacted.
Priest could definitely anticipate this, and he would certainly take action against it.
Under these circumstances, the most logical choice was nothing less than eliminating all the witnesses—which meant Duchess and himself.
And the sooner the better, to prevent the matter of the Human Pus from spreading too widely.
For instance, right now.
The next moment, Fu Qian looked up at the sky, and the feeling of neural chaos struck again.
Since digesting the Dragon Blood, although his abilities had upgraded, the negative effects had also intensified. The current shock intensity far exceeded what it was before.
It took Fu Qian a lot of effort just to barely adapt.
Phew!
Several minutes later, Fu Qian let out a long breath, confirming that no one had come looking for him.
This was when the importance of secrecy was reflected.
Given his previous strong adaptation to the negative effects, he had never exposed the exact time of his flare-ups in front of others.
Otherwise, if someone really wanted to harm him, they would definitely choose this opportune moment.
However, as for that particular person, it was hard to say...
Fu Qian thought for a moment, then got up and went directly out the door.
Although it was just a guess, it was best to verify it.
If something really happened to Duchess, he would absolutely be next.
The place where Duchess lived was very easy to find and not far from here. It was a manor that occupied a sizable area, quite unique in the small town.
It was already the latter half of the night, but the manor was still brightly lit.
It was understandable. The head of the house had just returned, and her subordinates were bound to be bustling about.
Fu Qian never thought of taking the main entrance. Instead, he made a light leap and vaulted over the wall.
Casually knocking out a few people, Fu Qian successfully infiltrated the interior of the manor.
Then, it didn't take long for him to notice a trace of abnormality in the silence.
Following the disturbance, he crept to the front of a room. The door was ajar, and next to it lay an unconscious servant.
He really hadn't overthought it; there really was a situation!
Standing outside the door, although the commotion inside wasn't too loud, he could already clearly perceive the fluctuations of power within.
The next moment, Fu Qian knocked on the door, and without waiting for a response from inside, pushed it open and entered.
The scene inside the door could be called intense.
Amidst the mess on the floor, a mass of snake-like black fluid coiled in front of him. Its massive body was viscous and shiny, occupying almost half the room.
Surrounded by coils of snake bodies, Duchess, with her entire body flashing with light, was trapped in the center. Her expression was savage as she struggled to hold on, looking as if she was about to succumb.
The end of the black snake's tail was connected to Priest, who had lost half of his body.
No longer possessing his usual kind and benevolent countenance, awakened by Fu Qian's knocking, he was glaring over with a ferocious look.
"I'm not interrupting you two, am I?"
Tossing out a greeting, Fu Qian leisurely stepped into the room, picked a clean spot on the floor to stand, and then looked at the giant black snake with great interest.
This thing was exactly the same as the one on the armor guy over in the Old City.
"Don't mind me, I'm just watching. You guys continue."
Priest, of course, couldn't possibly believe Fu Qian's words. While intensifying the strangulation on Duchess, he vigilantly watched Fu Qian's every move.
The body of the black snake surged, splitting off a black snake as thick as an arm, aiming it at Fu Qian from afar.
On Duchess's side, the moment she saw Fu Qian, a flash of obvious pleasant surprise crossed her eyes, and the shield on her body even brightened a bit. However, facing the intensified strangulation of the black snake, it quickly dimmed again.
At first, Fu Qian wondered why she wasn't speaking. After taking a look, he found that not only was Duchess tightly besieged, but there was also an unnatural flush on her face.
She was indeed in the midst of a negative effect flare-up; Priest's timing was impeccable!
"Kill... him... he's... contaminated..."
It took a great deal of effort for Duchess to finally squeeze out these few words.
Did you even need to say that? I can see it with my own eyes.
But considering her current state, Fu Qian didn't demand too much.
"So, this is how Nun's lover died?"
Turning a blind eye to the snake head aiming at him, Fu Qian pointed at the trapped Duchess.
"More or less."
Clearly not expecting Fu Qian to ask this, Priest froze for a moment before finally responding with a cold sneer.
"So it was Nun who discovered this thing on you, which brought fatal disaster to both of them?"
"...Blame it on her having too much curiosity."
"Just as I thought. Then, as a member of the Investigation Team, I have no choice but to enforce the law impartially."
Fu Qian nodded, then took a deep breath.
The next moment, an illusory grayish-white dragon head appeared in mid-air, opening its mouth to spew a transparent, formless ripple.
However, Priest had been watching his every move. Almost the instant the dragon head appeared, the black snake reacted.
The massive body displayed astonishing agility, swiftly slithering and dodging. In the end, Fu Qian's breath attack missed, blasting into one side of the room.
Although it missed the target, it bought Duchess an opportunity. Under the sudden reduction in pressure, her body flashed consecutively, and she finally leaped out of the encirclement.
However, before she could land, her right leg tightened, caught firmly by a thin snake.
Priest had actually laid an ambush on the side early on, instead taking advantage of her momentary relaxation to catch her.
Crack!
Before Duchess could react, one of her legs was forcibly snapped into three sections. Amidst a scream, she collapsed.
"Interesting ability. Does it originate from the blood inside the Holy Relic?"
Priest only glanced at Duchess before turning his gaze to the wall struck by the dragon's breath.
The latter was rapidly decaying and withering.
"No need to be surprised. Did you really think you could steal from the Church without me noticing?"
"You monster! I can't believe I never thought it was you!"
Duchess roared from the side at this moment.
With her broken leg tightly bound, she was completely immobilized.
But the silver lining was that the pain from her broken leg diluted the negative effects, allowing her to speak freely.
"Monster?"
Priest snorted.
"You understand absolutely nothing!"
"Do you know what the outcome would be if your plan was actually carried out?"
"What... do you mean?"
"What if I told you that there's far more than just one monster like me in this town?"
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