Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 179: Secret War (End)
Inside the Sword Prison, Fu Qian and "Ji Liushuang" stared at each other. It was unknown how long they had been sitting there.
"It" clearly hadn't expected Fu Qian to be so arrogant as to directly demand a battle to the death right here.
In fact, however, as early as when "It" struck with the Heart Questioning Sword, Fu Qian already had this plan.
What Fu Qian had been painstakingly searching for was a method to truly destroy the "Legacy of the Sword Heart."
Unfortunately, it had already been proven that physical destruction was ineffective. "It" could even hide and transfer at will, practically acting like a phantom.
Therefore, after confirming that "It" was eager to eliminate him as a source of corruption, Fu Qian's strategy was to lure "It" into acting.
Now that this guy had finally taken the initiative to jump out in the form of a spiritual body, how could he easily miss this opportunity?
"We are currently pure spiritual bodies. We cannot attack each other in here."
Staring intently at Fu Qian, "It" finally spoke after a long time.
"Are you planning to just sit here until you die?"
"Can't I?"
Fu Qian, however, looked much more relaxed.
...
"Fine!"
Ji Liushuang laughed loudly.
"Even a spiritual body will indeed dissipate over time, but the time required is far beyond your imagination!"
"The flow of time here is completely inconsistent with the outside world. Do not expect anyone to find us!"
"...Are you really prepared to sit here withered with me for a hundred years?"
"A hundred years, that is a bit long."
Fu Qian blinked.
"So please keep this appearance, at least it's pleasing to my eyes."
*Heh!*
Ji Liushuang sneered repeatedly.
In the utterly void space, time passed exceptionally slowly.
Although as a veteran otaku, Fu Qian had always been good at killing time, unfortunately, there wasn't even a book around here.
Crucially, as a spiritual body, he couldn't even sleep, which removed another source of amusement.
But that was fine; this matter itself was an amusement.
"1, 2, 3... 99... 999... 9999... 99999... 999999..."
Fu Qian began counting numbers, using it as a metric for his patience.
...
...
...
"You psychopath!"
After an unknown amount of time, Ji Liushuang, who had been sitting as still as an old monk in meditation, suddenly jumped up.
*Already losing it?*
*For a 'higher existence', you really lack patience!*
"Zince you want to die zo badly."
Perhaps because of sitting still for too long, her speech was a bit slurred.
"Then I will fulfill your wish!"
As if making some kind of resolution, the next moment, Ji Liushuang's body instantly exploded into a cloud of multi-colored light, filling the entire space.
"Let's play a game."
...
"Hey! Which way should we go?"
When his five senses recovered, Fu Qian found that the pure white space had vanished. He was currently situated in a place resembling a shopping mall, and Ji Liushuang was standing beside him speaking.
The mall was huge, and all the facilities were running. However, apart from the two of them, there was no one else, making it inexplicably eerie.
*Where did that guy go? He spouted some nonsense and ran off?*
Fu Qian wondered inwardly.
"Hurry up, that thing is going to catch up!"
Seeing no reaction from Fu Qian, Ji Liushuang became a bit anxious, forcing herself not to pull on Fu Qian's sleeve.
Fu Qian realized that this girl was acting a bit strange. She looked anxious and scared, yet reluctant to look at him directly, her demeanor almost resembling someone throwing a tantrum.
Just as Fu Qian was about to ask what "that thing" was, a loud crash came from below, sounding like something had smashed through the glass and escaped.
...
Glancing back, Ji Liushuang turned pale, biting her lip tightly to stop herself from screaming.
*We're running from something's pursuit?*
The scene before him was clearly not reality. It seemed this was his and "Its" death match.
Had "It" pulled him into Ji Liushuang's conscious world just now, using this place as the final battlefield?
Then the thing downstairs was very likely "Its" avatar.
*I can't be caught by it, otherwise, I lose.*
A trace of realization suddenly dawned in Fu Qian's mind.
"This way."
Fu Qian grabbed Ji Liushuang and practically dragged her rapidly up the escalator.
This mall was obviously constructed by Ji Liushuang's consciousness. He couldn't tell she loved shopping this much.
The number of floors was absurdly high, and all the various stores were wide open, making it hard to find a secure place to hide.
At the same time, the sounds of pursuit never ceased for a moment.
No matter which direction they went, that thing was rapidly approaching, and nothing could hinder its footsteps.
The sound of metal being forcibly torn apart echoed through the massive mall.
*This game is way too unfair!*
Fu Qian complained inwardly as he ran.
He had already tried earlier; he was completely a normal person right now.
Yet "It" could tear through steel with its bare hands.
But it was understandable. If "It" didn't have an advantage, "It" wouldn't have initiated a game with him.
And just as Fu Qian dragged Ji Liushuang up another floor, he saw the true face of that thing.
It was a humanoid creature over two meters tall. Its limbs were disproportionately long, and it had not a single hair on its body, its grayish-white skin completely exposed.
Yet, with this flesh-and-blood body, Fu Qian watched helplessly as it tore apart a metal roller shutter door with its bare hands, like tearing through a sheet of tofu skin.
"Ah!"
Ji Liushuang finally couldn't help but scream, her body trembling uncontrollably.
But in truth, whether she made a sound or not had little impact. Fu Qian noticed that the creature was charging toward them in almost a straight line, as if using a GPS navigation system, absolutely taking no detours.
Just like that, amidst a game of cat and mouse, he dragged Ji Liushuang all the way to the top floor. By now, Fu Qian could feel his stamina dropping, and Ji Liushuang could barely walk.
Without a word, Fu Qian pulled Ji Liushuang and sprinted for dozens of meters until he found a row of elevators.
He quickly pressed the buttons for all the elevators. When the first one opened, Fu Qian shoved Ji Liushuang inside.
"I'm sorry!"
At this moment, Ji Liushuang finally spoke, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I shouldn't have insisted on going to see that thing. You clearly warned me something was wrong, but I just wanted to go against you..."
"It's fine."
Fu Qian followed her into the elevator and quickly pressed the down button.
The elevator doors slowly closed. Fu Qian silently stared forward as the monster's footsteps drew closer and closer.
Just a moment before the cabin doors shut, a long, grayish-white claw reached in.
*Riiip!*
The metal cabin, like cardboard, was forcibly torn apart to both sides, and the elevator stopped.
A narrow, elongated head poked in, its single eye right in the middle staring dead at the two of them.
*Caught you!*
Although it lacked human facial features, he could feel that "It" was smiling.
In that instant, Fu Qian felt Ji Liushuang gripping his arm so hard it hurt.
"It's all my fault... Actually, having you accompany me out, I was very happy!"
Ji Liushuang's face was already covered in tears.
*So your obsession was just having your old man accompany you shopping? That's really not asking for much.*
"I've always wanted to call you—"
"It doesn't matter."
Knowing what she wanted to say, Fu Qian patted her head, stopping the rest of her words.
"You are my pride."
After speaking, Fu Qian looked up. Half of the monster's body had already squeezed in, its slender, sharp claws extending inch by inch, like the footsteps of the grim reaper.
The next moment, instead of retreating, Fu Qian advanced, reaching out his hand and giving it a squeeze.
Three eyes met, and the atmosphere solidified.
"You..."
A low, hoarse roar emanated from the monster's throat.
"You're wondering why I'm fine, right?"
Fu Qian looked up at the ceiling at a forty-degree angle, gazing at a giant colorful balloon hanging from the mall's roof.
"I was just thinking earlier, if the victory between us is decided solely by willpower, then why should I be considered the loser the moment I'm caught?"
"If my guess is right, the lethal condition for me in this dream isn't being caught, but the fear of failure generated by being caught."
"The moment this flaw in my mind appears, it would project directly into the Sword Prison from before, meaning I truly lost the battle of wills, followed by the complete obliteration of my soul."
"This is also what you've been misleading me about, trying from every angle to make me believe that being caught means losing, thereby triggering my fear."
"Speaking of which, you really are quite pathetic, relying on deception to win a life-and-death struggle, even though from your perspective, your chances of winning were very high."
"Too bad, a real man fears nothing—including failure itself!"
"The highest realm of willpower, you will never understand it!"
...
"Sword Intent is a very good thing. In my eyes, it represents indomitable perseverance and enlightenment pushed to the extreme, a true crystallization of power and wisdom."
Fu Qian snorted, his face full of disdain.
"Regardless of your rank, trash like you does not deserve the name of Sword Heart!"
Following Fu Qian's verbal barrage, the entire dream began to totter, and ripples emanated across the monster's body.
"In this kind of rule-level game, if you want to introduce the possibility of eliminating your opponent, there's a high probability you have to put yourself into it as well. Otherwise, you wouldn't have sat there until you were about to pass away before taking the risk."
"Now that I haven't lost, someone should be bearing the consequences, right?"
Before he finished speaking, bursts of wailing seemed to echo around them, making the entire space tremble.
The next moment, both the dream and the Sword Prison shattered consecutively. When he regained his senses, Fu Qian found he had returned to his office.
The sword was still pointed at his glabella, only the sword wielder, Ji Liushuang, wore a bewildered and thoroughly confused expression.
"Nice sword!"
Fu Qian calmly praised.
[Mission Complete. Entity Number 2-010 successfully contained.]
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