The Eldritch Files

Having entrusted matters to Song Chushi, Zhang Chiguo gave no further reply and simply strode forward to face them.

The situation had changed. Before, the three had him blocked, making it impossible for Song Chushi to leave even if he wanted to. But now that Zhang Chiguo had switched sides, their blockade was broken. All he had to do was hold back the other three, and Song Chushi could go wherever he pleased.

"No one cares if you’ve gone crazy, but you shouldn’t have become a fool..."

"Of the four of us, you’ve shown the least progress. What makes you think you can take on the three of us?"

Seeing Song Chushi actually begin to slowly retreat, his form fading, Wang Buddha, Zhao Fantian, and Li Moses activated their Spiritual Activity.

With the blockade broken, Song Chushi could now leave Qinggang at any moment, which would mean the failure of a mission signed off on by Secretary No. 5 herself.

Zhao Fantian’s expression turned cold. He was the first to speak, his voice low as he lunged forward.

He dissolved into a series of blood-red afterimages, resembling a giant Crimson python as he sped after Song Chushi.

Wang Buddha let out a low sigh and plunged into the bloody light and shadow, penetrating layers of space to silently bypass Zhang Chiguo.

Li Moses, however, strode forward, a boiling Red Sea churning around him.

All four of them had been corrupted by the same anomalous power. However, due to their different personalities, their methods of coexistence and combat were drastically different.

Zhao Fantian, knowing the might of this power, had never even considered resisting it. He constantly accepted its influence and transformation, seeking a path for his own will to survive within it.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Whether this method could truly allow his will to remain independent was unknown, but four years of not resisting the corruption had all but turned him into a disciple of Crimson—a monster.

Many believed that he only maintained his human form because the will of Crimson had not yet awakened, so he hadn’t received any mysterious commands. But once the Crimson will descended, he would be the first to lose control.

Wang Buddha was the most erudite. He had been studying the power of Crimson, which gave him greater control and a more diverse array of techniques.

Li Moses, on the other hand, had been using the power of Crimson to temper his own Divine Material. He was a man of exceptionally strong principles, but through this torment, his pursuit of those principles and goals had reached an extreme, even twisted, level.

He was losing his humanity.

Regardless, the three of them had made enormous strides in the four years since becoming Independent Investigators. Their abilities had risen by more than just a single level compared to when they were first corrupted.

Except for Zhang Chiguo. He seemed unchanged.

This was why Zhao Fantian thought Zhang Chiguo had gone mad, and the other two felt the same. In theory, Zhang Chiguo was the weakest of them all.

...

Sensing their disregard, seeing them try to bypass him, Zhang Chiguo’s gaze turned grim.

He stopped, then suddenly used his fist as a ruler, slashing it horizontally through the air. A bloody fissure instantly tore open the ground of the Mirror World, rising like a bizarre, blood-red wall to block the three Independent Investigators.

"I said I’m the one dealing with you three now."

Zhang Chiguo stood before the bloody fissure and looked up, his voice cold. "Since I, the one who always followed the rules, have become a joke, it’s time for a change."

"Now you’ll play by my rules!"

"I’m drawing the line here. Anyone who dares cross it, I’ll kill them where they stand!"

"..."

"You’re asking to die!"

Zhao Fantian, who had intended to use his speed to get past Zhang Chiguo and pursue Song Chushi, was filled with annoyance. He whirled around abruptly, his five fingers crooked like claws as he swooped down on Zhang Chiguo from above.

Wang Buddha or Li Moses might have at least acknowledged Zhang Chiguo as an old comrade, whether or not they chose to hold back in this situation.

Zhao Fantian, however, had no qualms about dealing with Zhang Chiguo first before chasing after anyone else.

By letting the power of Crimson corrode him, his own will had been affected. Whenever he grew agitated, his animalistic nature easily overwhelmed his reason, causing him to act purely on instinct.

But facing the overwhelming stench of blood, Zhang Chiguo simply raised a hand to block. Red light flared from his Spiritual Power around his fist, colliding with the Crimson power descending from Zhao Fantian.

The two powers intertwined, and the result was completely different from when Zhang Chiguo had faced Li Moses. Zhao Fantian’s Crimson power was the purest of the four, whereas Zhang Chiguo was so restrained in his usual attacks that the characteristics of Crimson were almost invisible.

As they collided, Zhang Chiguo’s Spiritual Power visibly buckled and shattered. Zhao Fantian seized Zhang Chiguo’s arm, flicked his pinky nail, and slashed at his neck.

Zhang Chiguo planted his feet, jerked his head back, and threw his other fist upward in a powerful, telegraphed blow.

Zhao Fantian, still in mid-air, gave a cruel, cold laugh. He had already gauged Zhang Chiguo’s true strength in that brief exchange.

He raised a hand to intercept Zhang Chiguo’s ascending fist, but in that same instant, his body abruptly ripped in two. The halves, connected by threads of blood, acted independently. One half took the punch while the other flashed behind Zhang Chiguo, its hand plunging toward his back.

With that strike, he intended to rip out Zhang Chiguo’s heart.

Watching this scene unfold, both Wang Buddha and Li Moses frowned. Li Moses looked away, his form flickering as he resumed his pursuit of Song Chushi, intent on saving time.

Wang Buddha, meanwhile, muttered a low incantation. An invisible, bloody red light drifted toward Zhang Chiguo’s feet like a swamp.

But unexpectedly, just as his heart was about to be torn out, Zhang Chiguo’s expression suddenly shifted. The fingers of his upward-swinging fist clenched even tighter.

His knuckles cracked under the pressure, sending ripples through the air and drawing a pained scream from Zhao Fantian. In the next instant, Zhang Chiguo turned slightly to face the "half" of Zhao Fantian behind him, his pupils constricting.

SHLICK!

This half of Zhao Fantian instinctively sensed something, and its expression changed dramatically. The next moment, a flash of bloody light erupted from the ground beneath it. Before it could react, its already halved body was sliced in two again.

Even Wang Buddha’s gently drifting bloody swamp and Li Moses, who was attempting to pass straight through, sensed something and halted.

It felt as if a Crimson Abyssal chasm had opened up before them, splitting the Mirror World into two distinct halves. Anyone who tried to cross it, or even approach it, would be torn apart by its razor-sharp edge.

It was the "boundary."

Moments ago, Zhang Chiguo had drawn a line on the ground. It had seemed like nothing more than a defiant gesture, nothing special.

Of course, no one had taken his threat to kill anyone who crossed it seriously.

But just now, that very boundary had erupted with terrifying power.

Because one half of Zhao Fantian had circled behind Zhang Chiguo, crossing the line, he had been instantly and horrifically mangled.

’It’s just a line. Why does it have such a stunning effect?’

For a moment, an uncomprehending look appeared on Wang Buddha’s face. Fortunately, he had reacted quickly enough to avoid the same fate.

"Wrong... This... This is wrong..."

Meanwhile, the part of Zhao Fantian that had been thrown back let out a series of muffled, pained groans. The bones in that half of his body had been shattered, as if it had been crumpled into a ball. It staggered upon landing, collapsing like a broken ragdoll.

He let out a low growl, flesh and blood squirming as his one intact eye stared grimly at Zhang Chiguo, filled with shock, fury, and resentment.

"You all think I’m the most conservative one when it comes to this power."

Zhang Chiguo knew what the other three were thinking. He simply stood slowly before the line and raised his head.

"But have you ever considered this? It’s precisely because I’m the one who sticks to the rules, because I’ve only ever thought of myself as human, that this power has had the least influence on me. My own will is the most intact."

"You guard the secret prisons, and while that seems to be the duty of an Independent Investigator, don’t think I don’t know the truth. You just enjoy the power of life and death over the creatures inside. You enjoy the thrill of the kill."

"In these four years, I’m the only one who hasn’t killed a single person!"

"..."

His voice was calm as he spoke, and for once, the three masters before him didn’t interrupt.

’It’s the first time I’ve ever felt how satisfying it is to make people listen to you through sheer power.’

His words made the three men before him tremble.

The core of the Crimson power is slaughter. For those infected by it, it’s incredibly difficult to control the desire to take life.

For Zhang Chiguo, a man infected with Crimson, to have not killed a single person in four years... on some level, it was utterly unbelievable.

"But it’s been agony..."

As Zhang Chiguo spoke, he suddenly looked up, his eyes a sheet of blood. "This power affects me day and night. That voice is always drilling into my head. But I’ve always held back. For four years I’ve held back, for four years I’ve endured."

"Today, I’m not holding back anymore. You should all be wondering if you can stop me."

"..."

The bloodlust and madness in his voice as he looked up sent an involuntary shiver down their spines.

Only now did the others understand why the boundary he had drawn was so powerful. He too faced the power of Crimson, but he had always endured it, restrained it, to the point that his own will had suppressed Crimson so completely that it was unnoticeable in his usual attacks.

Because of this, his will had, to a certain extent, replaced the will of Crimson. When he drew that boundary with his own will, the power of Crimson was hidden within it.

"Four years of forbearance, of fighting Crimson... you truly are remarkable..."

In the oppressive silence, Wang Buddha’s expression darkened. "But don’t think for a second that this is some incredible trump card," he said in a low voice.

"You endured for four years without compromise, so your adaptation to Crimson is far inferior to ours..."

"That also means if you truly release your suppression of Crimson today, the backlash you suffer will be far more severe than ours."

"True!"

Zhang Chiguo didn’t deny it. A bizarre smile slowly spread across his face, as if something were tearing through his skin to crawl into reality. "But that’s a problem for after tonight, isn’t it?"