Perhaps there was some mysticism knowledge He didn't yet understand, or perhaps Son of Chaos had his own deeper calculations.
Hastur silently pondered the many possibilities.
------------------------------------
The sea, inside the Dawn.
Inside the captain's cabin, the Son of Chaos's avatar was sent back into the Magic Wishing Lamp by the Chains of Order.
Bernadette only silently observed all of this. She could not stop it from happening; she could only try to calm her heart.
The Son of Chaos's phantom manifested again from within the Magic Wishing Lamp, looked at Bernadette, and said: "Tonight, I encountered a familiar existence there, the Mother Tree of Desire."
"?!" Bernadette's expression grew solemn, filled with vigilance.
"There's no need to be so tense. It is still trapped beyond the starry sky, unable to enter this world."
"Why was It also able to appear there?"
"The power of that Ruler of the Stars has grown stronger. Tonight, right before my eyes, He bridged distant time and space to draw in the Mother Tree of Desire."
Speaking to this point, the Son of Chaos sighed: "The Hall of Stars, where the Outer Deities gather, how unbelievable and shocking it is."
Bernadette was equally shaken by those words: The Hall of Stars, the gathering of Outer Deities.
According to the Son of Chaos, that Ruler of the Stars was constantly restoring His strength. Once fully restored, wouldn't He be able to summon all the Outer Gods of the entire cosmos?
She must not think further!
Bernadette quickly severed her thoughts in that direction, not daring to continue.
Otherwise, she feared she would be tainted by the knowledge and mysteries hidden within. Matters concerning the Outer Gods of the universe were not something she, as she was now, could peer into.
The Son of Chaos understood this as well. He also did not want Bernadette to meet with disaster, after all, she was His favored one.
"I learned something from the Mother Tree of Desire: sometime soon, It will hold a Descent Ritual in West Balam."
He did not speak directly of the wager he had made with the Mother Tree of Desire, otherwise, Bernadette might not help him.
"A Descent Ritual?"
"That's right. The Mother Tree of Desire has reached an agreement with that Ruler of the Stars and is preparing to attempt something. If you do not want Its interference in the physical world to grow stronger, then pass this information to the Churches of the Seven Gods, and let them step in to stop it."
Seeing that Bernadette did not immediately agree, the Son of Chaos continued:
"In regard to Its intent to descend, I have told no lies. If you do not stop It, West Balam will be completely ruled by Its power."
"Why would you choose to betray the Mother Tree of Desire?"
"As you once said, my relationship with those Outer Gods beyond the starry sky is mediocre at best."
"That reason alone is not enough to convince me."
"Hehe… I simply do not wish for the Mother Tree of Desire's power to break the balance too early. Keeping the situation stable until Doomsday arrives, that is what I desire."
Finally, the Son of Chaos reminded her once more:
"Find the followers of the Stars as soon as possible. Otherwise, your world will not last until the prophesied Doomsday. He will be the greatest variable."
The Son of Chaos's phantom merged back into the Magic Wishing Lamp, leaving Bernadette alone in the cabin to think.
From her years of experience with the Son of Chaos, she knew he had not lied about the Mother Tree of Desire preparing to descend.
Even if there were lies, ultimately it would be the Churches of the Seven Gods who busied themselves with it. She would not go to West Balam to join in the chaos.
"Ah…" So many vexing matters lately, and she had not been sleeping well, she was starting to miss the food of Backlund.
After a long while, Bernadette finished writing a letter, summoned her messenger, and disclosed this information to the Churches of the Seven Gods.
Only after confirming the truth of this descent would she reveal the existence of the Ruler of the Stars to them, letting them instead of herself seek out the followers of the Stars.
...
Headquarters of the Rose School of Thought.
Beneath a moonless night, a small mountain lay hidden beneath the cover of trees.
Deep within the dense forest, a massive black tree rose skyward. Its canopy was vast enough to block out sun and moonlight. Countless vines and branches twisted together, from which hung fruits in the shape of human faces. Their eyes were closed, swaying gently in the breeze.
At the trunk of the tree, a figure whose facial features could not be discerned stretched out its arms, embracing the tree trunk, as hundreds of dark-green branches wrapped around it, letting it slumber.
At the roots of the tree, a group of people gathered, forming a circle around the black tree. Their eyes were filled with madness and worship.
At their head stood a middle-aged man with slightly wavy light-blond hair, deeply sunken eye sockets, and a gaunt, skeletal face.
His brown eyes brimmed with unrestrained malice and madness. His somewhat thick lips were sealed shut by rows of golden nails covered in fine patterns, giving his entire face an aura of both evil and terror.
The black clouds in the sky gradually dispersed, revealing a scarlet moon.
The frenzy and chants of the crowd reached their peak.
At that moment, wisps of dark light rose from the giant tree, startling the face-fruits that had their eyes closed.
One after another, they awoke, until all the face-fruits had opened their eyes. The entire tree began to tremble, releasing a muffled, harsh sound that echoed through the mountain.
"West Balam, hold the Descent."
"Seek out the Apostles of the Stars!"
"Beware the power of the Stars!"
Three voices resounded. The devout believers were already prostrated on the ground, trembling with excitement.
Their God, their only Lord, had once again delivered an Oracle!
After a while, the voices of the Oracle faded away, the dense dark light dissipated, and the face-fruits once more closed their eyes. Everything returned to silence.
The figure that had been embracing the tree slowly had the branches withdraw from around it.
Floating in the air, It stood with Its back to the believers below, Its entire body emanating a gloomy, evil aura.
His back was covered in black, sticky liquid, and strange shapes protruded from his arms and shoulders, as if something could sprout from each of those bulges.
"Mahams, you will be in charge of the matter of the divine descent."
"The rest of you, send word, let all members give their full effort to search for the Apostle of the Stars!"
With the two commands given, the middle-aged man called Mahams respectfully led the followers away.
"The power of the stars… Mother, are you dreading this power?"
A murmur escaped, and an eyeball, bloodshot and starkly black-and-white, dropped from His body, rolling across the ground, followed by a second eyeball, a third…
In the end, hundreds of eyeballs covered the ground below, their dark glow flickering in unison, as if probing for something.
After a while, His body trembled slightly, bent over, and each eyeball began to bleed before shattering, dissolving into clumps of sticky, blurry flesh and blood.
"Huff… huff… An existence that cannot be probed, a starry sky that blocks all prying eyes…"
His trembling voice rang out, blood seeping from the corners of His eyes. Only after a long time did His body gradually calm.
On the ground, the exploded clumps of eyeball flesh transformed into blood-red maggots, which crawled along the tree trunk back onto His body, merging once more with His flesh.
...
Backlund.
A new day again.
Hastur rose from bed, stretched his limbs, walked to the window, opened it, and admired Backlund, not yet shrouded in gray mist.
The matter of the Almshouse had been completely resolved. Other than Mr. A, and the Fate pathway Beyonders hidden in the dark, he currently faced no other dangers.
Regarding the Fate pathway Beyonders, he had a thought: as long as he didn't seek out the golden box hidden by Voltaire, he should not touch upon the key nodes of fate.
This was a deduction based on his understanding of fate, and the accuracy should be quite high.
Since his transmigration, he had always felt a vague sense, that was why, up until now, he had never gone to the third floor of this house.
It must have been his spirituality constantly warning him: once he went to the third floor, bad things would likely happen.
Now he somewhat understood, the third floor must be where that fate-related golden box was hidden. If he went there to search, he would inevitably find it.
And that would attract the Fate pathway Beyonders lurking in the shadows.
Therefore, until he grew stronger, he would not go to the third floor to search for that so-called golden box.
For now, only the mad Mr. A was the most unpredictable, Hastur truly feared this Mr. A somewhat.
Who knew what "surprise gift" he would send next?
The last time, he had sent Bard's severed head, drawing the attention of the Night Watchers, forcing Hastur to act in order to pass the Nightmare test.
"Sigh, now I somewhat understand why most members of the Aurora Order are basically lunatics."
As long as they were insane, it was nearly impossible to predict what they would do, and catching them was even harder.
After twenty minutes, Hastur closed the window, went to wash up, and then went downstairs to eat.
After breakfast, Butler Neil came to report on the family estate.
The manor where the Campbell family had begun was not particularly large, but because of its special significance, the family had passed it down through generations.
Today, that ancestral manor still grew flowers: roses, tulips, moth orchids, and asters.
Its annual profit was between 3,000 and 4,000 gold pounds, less than the sole large plantation left behind by the old butler.
That large plantation alone brought in over 4,000 gold pounds in half a year, and barring unforeseen events, its yearly revenue exceeded 10,000 gold pounds.
That was Hastur's main economic source.
Hastur listened silently, then entrusted Neil to handle these matters.
With an extra 4,000 gold pounds per year, plus the plantation's revenue and his own salary as legal advisor to Bavart Bank, the total came to around 15,000 gold pounds annually.
Though not on par with wealthy nobles, it was far above that of ordinary families, enough for a very luxurious and comfortable life.
It seemed like a lot, but compared to Miss Audrey, the gap became obvious.
Even if he saved all 15,000 gold pounds each year without spending a coin, it would still take him at least twenty years to catch up to Audrey's wealth.
The gap was simply too great.
Hastur sighed, deciding not to dwell on such discouraging thoughts.
Thinking of the money he had earned recently, his mood brightened again. With a grand gesture, he told Butler Neil to bring out 100 gold pounds to distribute as bonuses to all the servants according to rank.
At the same time, he had Neil prepare 2,200 gold pounds, which he would personally return to Viscount Glaint.
The extra 200 gold pounds would count as interest.
From his transmigration until now, nearly three months had passed. Ten percent interest over three months was already quite generous.
After resolving these matters, Hastur prepared to go out.
At the door, he suddenly thought of the aster flower. And if he remembered correctly, the estate left in the countryside was also called Aster Manor, wasn't it?