Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Followers of the Stars~
Behind him, a chain of order radiated starlight, carving out a patch of the starry sky and sending this fragment of the Son of Chaos back into the Magic Magic Wishing Lamp.
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After sending off the Son of Chaos, Hastur felt much more relaxed. Leaning back in his chair, he pondered over tonight's gains.
Successfully pulling the Son of Chaos into a meeting gave him a new understanding of the power of the Hall of Stars.
Tonight, he had only used the Hall of Stars' power to open a portal above the Magic Wishing Lamp, and when Bernadette interrupted and reinforced the seal, he thought he would fail.
Unexpectedly, Bernadette's power had no effect on the Hall of Stars at all. With just a simple thought, he could break through those layers of seals and pull the Son of Chaos into the Hall of Stars for a meeting.
Judging from the aura just now, the Son of Chaos had clearly not truly arrived in the Hall of Stars but only sent a small portion of itself, or rather, an avatar with consciousness.
Its true body was still sealed within the Magic Wishing Lamp and could not break free from the seal.
Only when he became strong enough to fully master the Hall of Stars would he be able to break the seal of the Magic Wishing Lamp from afar and help the Son of Chaos return to the starry sky.
The kind of power the Hall of Stars possessed was truly terrifying. If it fell into the hands of beings like the Mother Goddess of Depravity or the Mother Tree of Desire, it might even be used in reverse, sending outer gods beyond the stars directly into the present world through the barrier.
That would be a catastrophic disaster.
Aside from these gains, Hastur had also learned many secrets from the Son of Chaos.
For example: the Hall of Stars was primarily based on the power of the stars, while order and rules were only two minor authorities among them.
The stars were not the same as the astral realm; the astral realm was only a part of the stars.
According to the Son of Chaos, the stars should be similar to the concept of the entire universe, while the astral realm was just a special world within it.
"Restorer of the Stars, the Stars, restore…"
Hastur tried separating "stars" and "restore," pondering it several times, vaguely understanding the meaning it contained.
If "stars" referred to the entire universe, then "restore" should mean order and rules.
So, taken together, the "Restorer of the Stars" represented the rules and order of the entire universe?
"That doesn't seem right. If that were the case, then the Hall of Stars' main authority would be rules and order, how could it be the stars?"
Hastur quickly rejected that thought. He pondered for a long while, realizing that to solve this mystery, he first had to clarify the concept of the stars.
Even after much thought, Hastur still couldn't figure it out. He decided to wait and inquire more from the Son of Chaos later.
"If it's just the Son of Chaos as the only outer god, it seems too monotonous. With only two people chatting face-to-face, it's easy for the other party to see through me."
Hastur muttered as he cast his gaze toward the stars where the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the Mother Tree of Desire resided, finally stopping on the star of the Mother Tree of Desire.
At the next gathering, he would try pulling in the Mother Tree of Desire.
As for the Mother Goddess of Depravity, Hastur had always maintained the highest level of vigilance toward Her.
With God Almighty not there and the Lord of Mysteries still asleep, the Mother Goddess of Depravity represented the greatest power as a pillar.
Her danger level was much higher than the Mother Tree of Desire, making her the number one threat.
However, before pulling the Mother Tree of Desire into a meeting, he needed to prepare some means of self-defense and probe Her first.
After all, the Mother Tree of Desire was not like the Son of Chaos; She lived well beyond the barrier and had even devoured the Chained God.
Pulling Her into a meeting could easily provoke retaliation, so he needed to be cautious.
Hastur sat in silent contemplation for a long time, and as he was about to leave the Hall of Stars, he suddenly realized with surprise that he might no longer be able to whip the Son of Chaos anymore.
Should he try whipping the Mother Tree of Desire instead and see how She reacted?
If it was too troublesome, then perhaps he would skip pulling Her in next time.
On second thought, maybe not. It was too risky. Better to be careful and wait a bit longer.
…
On the Dawn, inside the cabin, Bernadette had been observing the Magic Wishing Lamp, afraid that it might act up again.
At that moment, the starry sky reappeared above the Magic Wishing Lamp, and a chain woven from starlight stretched out and landed on it. Before Bernadette could react, the starry sky vanished, and everything returned to normal.
Bernadette continued observing for a while and found nothing unusual with the Magic Wishing Lamp, but the Son of Chaos continued to hide inside and refused to come out.
"Heh, looks like I need to make a decision. The Storm Cathedral suits you better." Bernadette's beautiful eyes turned cold, and her voice was icy.
"Even if you're suppressed in the Storm Cathedral, you can't escape what's coming."
The Son of Chaos slowly emerged from the Magic Wishing Lamp.
"You think I would believe your words?"
"I have no reason to lie about this. Didn't you personally witness it yourself?"
"What kind of power was that?"
"I don't know."
The Son of Chaos seemed equally helpless. Only a wisp of its consciousness had gone to that mysterious hall. Although it retained awareness and memory, the power it could wield was too weak to discover many secrets.
If it made the slightest abnormal movement, that being only had to press a finger, and that wisp of its consciousness would be annihilated.
Although it didn't care about the fate of that wisp, it didn't want to offend the other party at their first meeting.
"What kind of being is it?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
The Son of Chaos smiled at Bernadette and continued: "Knowledge is poisonous. Once you know Him, He will also know you."
"He already knows of my existence, so naturally, I must learn about Him." Bernadette was not frightened by the Son of Chaos's words.
"I can tell you everything that just happened, but you must promise me one small request."
"I won't agree to any deal with you."
"Help me find the followers of the Stars." The Son of Chaos didn't mind Bernadette's instinctive defensive attitude.
"???"
Bernadette looked confused. What mysterious organization is the Stars? Why has she never heard of it?
Could the Stars be a new organization established by the Evernight Goddess?
The Son of Chaos pondered for a moment and said: "I'm not even sure there are followers of the Stars. You just need to keep an eye out casually, and that will count as fulfilling this deal."
Bernadette warily said: "This doesn't count as my wish."
"This has nothing to do with the Magic Wishing Lamp's three wishes."
The Son of Chaos's voice was majestic and solemn, surrounded by a faint golden glow, signifying there was no deceit or trickery in this deal.
This made Bernadette even more curious about these so-called followers of the Stars, but she still didn't agree directly and instead rephrased:
"This isn't a wish or a deal, just casual conversation."
Even though the Son of Chaos seemed trustworthy, Bernadette still maintained her usual vigilance and would not easily make any promises.
"Alright."
The Son of Chaos was not annoyed and quickly recounted to Bernadette what his avatar had witnessed tonight.
After listening, Bernadette sneered: "No wonder you were so well-behaved tonight. Turns out you don't even know the other party's identity and want to rely on potential followers of the Stars to learn everything about Him."
"His existence is even more dangerous for you. If He cooperates with beings like the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the Mother Tree of Desire, even if the barrier cannot be breached, their erosion and pollution of this world will multiply."
Bernadette fell silent. What happened tonight indeed shocked and horrified her.
It was like the Mother Goddess of Depravity suddenly attacking her across the barrier from beyond the starry sky.
The level of danger was far too great, too terrifying!
"You can tell the Seven Gods' Church about this," the Son of Chaos suggested.
Rather than letting that entity hide beyond the starry sky, it's better to let the Seven Gods quickly uncover His identity.
The unknown is often the most frightening; for an existence like Him, this is even more true.
"You're very wary of Him?" Bernadette saw through the Son of Chaos's thoughts.
"If you were me, you would be too."
"I'll consider it."
Bernadette did not give a specific promise. After confirming the Magic Whishing Lamp's seal was intact, she got up and left the cabin.
"Eleven seats, who else besides me?"
The Son of Chaos returned to the Magic Whishing Lamp and began to reflect on tonight's events.
At this moment, there were only three things He wanted to know.
Who exactly was that existence? Where was that mysterious hall located?
Did eleven seats mean there were other old gods besides Himself attending?
After thinking for a long time, the Son of Chaos finally sighed, and His faint golden figure disappeared.
He was still trapped inside the Magic Whishing Lamp; even knowing, He could hardly change anything.
…
This time, Hastur slept for a long time and even missed breakfast.
Butler Neil sent someone to knock on the door three times, yet it did not wake the deeply sleeping Hastur.
It wasn't until close to lunchtime that Hastur finally woke up.
Last night, his spiritual power was severely depleted and could only be restored through continuous sleep.
"Phew, next time I need to watch the time and avoid being this exhausted every time."
Hastur got out of bed, went to the washroom to freshen up, and even took a shower.
When he was about to change into new clothes, he paused and told the maid waiting outside to fetch a more stylish outfit.
By "more stylish," he meant something different from the traditional formal wear, more individualistic and modern.
For example, Intis-style menswear, where formal suits were usually reserved for banquets, while their everyday clothing was lighter, simpler, and distinctive.
In the southern continent's East Bayam and West Bayam, clothing there was even bolder and more avant-garde, full of wildness.
Hastur wanted a southern continent-style outfit, but unfortunately, there wasn't one in his wardrobe; aside from formal suits and travel clothes, there were only two or three Intis-style outfits.
After choosing, Hastur settled on one: a white Intis-style shirt, a deep black jacket, beige trousers, and black leather boots.
He really had to thank Emperor Roselle this time; without him blending modern fashion with Intis style, Hastur wouldn't even have clothes with a hint of individuality to wear.
Butler Neil thought it wasn't dignified enough, looking more like a commoner's attire than that of a noble gentleman, lacking any sense of elegance or prestige.
"Butler Neil, sometimes you have to be young at least once, or life gets too exhausting."
Hastur replied with a smile, and after finishing lunch, he went out shopping.
Having been promoted to Sequence 8 Barbarian, he had stayed at home for two days to adapt to his new state.
Now that he had basically adjusted to the terrifying strength of a Barbarian, his safety level had risen significantly, making it the perfect time to go out and stroll around.