Could the Cthulhu Mythos also be considered a piece of history returning to reality?
Tang looked at the sky. The afternoon sunlight was still bright, but the tranquil and humorous colors under the blue sky and white clouds were replaced by deep black, as if day had instantly turned into night.
Beneath the vast, seemingly infinitely high dome was an boundless darkness formed by the complete fusion of various twisted knowledge and darkness. Countless star-like objects glittered on the silently unfolding giant curtain, peaceful and serene, yet revealing terror, distortion, and strangeness in the shadows.
"It's like staring into the abyss, and the abyss is also returning the gaze," Tang tugged at the corner of his mouth.
These countless 'stars' based on mystical symbols represented higher-level powers, influencing the power inherent in this Sealed Artifact, enhancing 'concealment,' and shielding the spirit world and various extraordinary powers from any external world.
He sensed it slightly. Under the shroud of the curtain, he could no longer seek answers from the spirit world through divination.
The spirit world was isolated, similar to the situation when he entered the unrecovered 'Never-Ending Theater' before, isolating the internal and external connections, similar to the simple divine kingdom that only a Sequence One, Mystery Keeper, could create.
However, the dome curtain mixed with various mysterious powers should have stronger isolation. It shouldn't be comparable to the gray fog and the Goddess of the Night, but it would be stronger than other Extraordinary individuals who were more skilled at creating similar domains.
"It should be able to isolate Mr. Door's murmurs... emm, I'll pull Olson in tonight to try it."
Tang withdrew his gaze. After being enveloped by the huge curtain, all natural light disappeared without a trace.
Along with that, he seemed to have been teleported into a strange space.
At the moment the black box in his hand was opened, the box turned into starlight and dissipated invisibly,融入 (melting) into the surroundings.
The feeling under his feet was not the muddy unevenness of the mountain forest, but a soft touch, which seemed to be a carpet or perhaps the skin of some monster.
Darkness, absolute darkness and silence surrounded him.
The theater opened, but not as Tang had imagined, with cheers and applause surrounding him, but with deathly silence.
It was as if all the marionettes had fallen into a standby state, with no one starting them, so naturally there would be no sounds of applause and cheers.
However, in this environment, Tang felt his Seer's intuition frantically triggered. Even without the shouts of the marionettes, they should be hidden in the shadows. Countless gazes were cast towards him from the darkness, scrutinizing and contemplating.
The theater core was 'alive.' Although it had been optimized by the System, this characteristic had clearly not been erased.
Tang moved his hand, and the ring on the little finger of his left hand emitted a faint light, dispelling the surrounding darkness.
The light quickly illuminated Tang's surroundings.
An exquisite cane appeared not far in front of his left.
'Identifying. One identification次数 has been automatically consumed. Remaining identification次数: 33 times.'
'Host, this item belongs to Sequence Four of the 'Seer' pathway, the Extraordinary characteristics of a Trick Sorcerer + Sequence Five of the 'Monster' pathway, the Extraordinary characteristics of a Winner, forming a Sealed Artifact.'
Tang raised an eyebrow.
It should be the product of the Trick Sorcerer who went completely mad and died from his 'Knowledge Follows the Person,' combined with the cane in his hand called 'A Moment of Luck.'
As for what kind of Sealed Artifact it specifically formed, Tang flipped through the report given by the System's appraisal, then stepped forward, took the cane, and threw it into the System storage.
The light source shifted with Tang's movements. Countless darkness enveloped the surroundings, and even more terrifying monsters seemed to be hidden beneath the darkness. However, Tang had no fear and walked forward following the guidance of his Seer's intuition.
The originally vast stage seemed to have shrunk. Tang took a few steps and reached the edge of the stage. The light illuminated the marionettes sitting in the audience seats one by one.
The light couldn't illuminate all the marionettes, and its reflection made them look even more eerie and terrifying. The marionettes, seemingly endless, extending along the stairs leading to an unknown realm, were all exquisitely crafted, with smiles on their faces, looking straight ahead, breathing and with body temperature, like the most expensive lifelike dolls. But Tang was very clear that these were real living people.
However, they wouldn't move on their own, wouldn't speak, eat, or sleep on their own. All their physiological phenomena originated from the puppeteer behind the scenes.
After seeing these lifelike marionettes, the lights on the stage suddenly turned on.
On the huge stage, a magician wearing a top hat and a fitted red suit stood there quietly, staring at Tang's direction.
Tang met his gaze. After a long time, the magician bowed to Tang.
The ring was heating up, and spirituality frantically poured into it. At this moment, his will seemed to be above the entire theater, overlooking the huge 'playing house' toy in front of him.
"Cheer! Rejoice! Miracles happen here! The greatest miracle of this era—"
"Now begins!"
After roughly scanning the Never-Ending Theater, Tang looked at the ordinary people here again, preparing to解除 (undo) their marionetting.
After解除 (undoing) the historical projections, the number of ordinary human marionettes in the theater also reached an astonishing level, jaw-droppingly so.
"But they're not very useful, they can only serve as atmosphere props and shout slogans."
More than two hundred years had passed since the Fourth Epoch War. During this time, the 'Never-Ending Theater' might have eaten enough ordinary people and transformed them into its marionettes. Of course, there were also Extraordinary individuals among them, willingly or unwillingly, and there were not a few Extraordinary individuals of the low and mid sequences.
It was hard to imagine how much wealth he could accumulate if he killed them all, extracted their Extraordinary characteristics, and then sold them.
"But there's still one problem..."
The theater core was hiding from him.
Through the connection of the ring, he could clearly feel that there was another 'thinking' consciousness within this theater, able to quietly observe him while wandering among the countless marionettes. But when Tang looked over, that consciousness would quickly shift its position.
"Looks like it was scared pretty badly." It clearly had PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
The theater core completely ignored him now, acting as if 'do whatever you want, arrange it however you want,' completely refusing to communicate with him face-to-face.
However, this gave him even more authority.
As the theater proprietor, it wouldn't be too much for Tang to take a few marionettes for himself, right?
Apart from the Extraordinary characteristics returned to Olson and the Abraham members who mistakenly entered or were caught up in the Fourth Epoch War, Tang also found two Traveler marionettes.
He had the theater disconnect its manipulation of the spirit threads, and then Tang connected them. The marionettes then changed owners.
This was much happier than painstakingly going outside to find Extraordinary individuals and hanging them up.
Tang looked at the marionettes here with a kind expression.
This role-playing game, he could throw one away after using one... ah, but it was still a bit wasteful.
(End of this chapter)