Hastur's voice was calm yet authoritative. The chains of Order withdrew from the Son of Chaos, allowing him to sit back down.
-------------------------------------
Silence.
The Son of Chaos was embarrassed, not knowing what to say, and quietly pulled his two legs back from the table, straightening his posture in the process.
The Mother Tree of Desire obviously had no intention of speaking up to ease the Son of Chaos's predicament.
Hastur, on the other hand, stared at the Son of Chaos with interest, wanting to set a trap for himself but ending up stumbling into trouble instead. That must have been quite a mood.
He should be made to properly savor this awkward and helpless atmosphere.
Let's see if next time he dares to casually test me again.
Why can't he learn properly from Miss Justice? He should at least have some sense of responsibility!
He's the first Outer God to come to the Hall of Stars, yet he hasn't played any of the role or value he should have.
And he's sitting so far away, without even a trace of the Mother Tree of Desire's presence.
When more Outer Gods come to attend future meetings, won't his position become terribly awkward?
Hastur silently grumbled in his heart, wishing Miss Justice could give the Son of Chaos a good lecture.
The class would be called: On the Sense of Responsibility and the Spirit of Willing Service.
Facing the gazes of Hastur and the Mother Tree of Desire, the Son of Chaos felt flustered for a while, and finally had no choice but to speak:
"Lately, I've felt a breath of the Lord of Mysteries about to return."
"Truly?" The Mother Tree of Desire became serious, no longer silently watching the Son of Chaos's embarrassment.
"It's only a feeling. But you should understand, at our level, any kind of feeling could be fate giving you a reminder."
The Son of Chaos wasn't certain. It was just a sudden sense he had.
Ever since encountering the Hall of Stars, whenever he had nothing else to do, he liked to raise his head and gaze at the starry sky, wanting to pluck out the presence of the Master of Stars.
Recently, he suddenly had this feeling, the Lord of Mysteries was about to return.
The Magic Wishing Lamp was both his prison, imposed by the Lord of Mysteries, and the medium through which he could faintly sense Their state.
Otherwise, being sealed inside the Magic Wishing Lamp, he would never have known that the Lord of Mysteries had fallen long ago.
Hastur's expression remained calm, showing no reaction.
The only thing that puzzled him was: Klein had yet to descend from the Sefirah Castle, so how had the Son of Chaos sensed it?
With the Lord of Mysteries' power back then, cutting off its connection to the Magic Wishing Lamp shouldn't have been difficult.
The Mother Tree of Desire said: "Before the Lord of Mysteries returns, if you cannot return to the starry sky, then you will be imprisoned in the Magic Wishing Lamp forever, unable to recover your wholeness and freedom."
"No need to remind me. Let's make a deal."
After being made to suffer a setback, the Son of Chaos had only one thought now, to return to the starry sky as soon as possible.
As for other clashes of pride, he no longer cared.
"Help me complete a true descent of godhood, and I will help you return to the starry sky."
A true descent?
Hastur's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that what the Mother Tree of Desire referred to as a true descent meant its real body breaking through the initial barrier and reaching Earth?
Could the Son of Chaos's wish accomplish something like that?
The Son of Chaos was silent for a moment before saying: "Unless you can seize the Magic Wishing Lamp from Bernadette, I cannot fulfill this wish."
The Magic Wishing Lamp by itself did not have the power to achieve this wish.
But Bernadette had already accumulated two wishes. Once she made a third, the distorted wish would unleash a force far beyond the Lamp's own power.
Combined with his rank's influence, it could exert strength surpassing that of a true god.
With that force working together with the Mother Tree of Desire, it might be possible to bring his true body to Earth ahead of time.
"Tell me Bernadette's location."
The Son of Chaos smiled slightly. "Bernadette is my blessed follower, she is very important to me."
The Mother Tree of Desire remained silent, seemingly pondering the meaning within his words.
But Hastur understood the hidden subtext, the Son of Chaos was saying Bernadette was his follower, so if She wanted to deal with her, She'd have to pay more.
Ahem, the stakes needed to be raised. Only with enough benefit would he betray Bernadette.
"What do you want?" The Mother Tree of Desire also understood the implication in the Son of Chaos's words.
The Son of Chaos sighed.
"You all should know, back when the Lord of Mysteries sealed me in the Magic Wishing Lamp, there was still another part of me deep in the starry sky. If you send that part of me into Earth, I will help you complete the true descent of godhood."
"Impossible." The Mother Tree of Desire rejected him outright.
She knew what the Son of Chaos meant: the Uncertain Mist drifting in the depths of the starry sky, which by itself was equivalent to an Outer God.
If the Uncertain Mist could be sent to Earth, then she herself could directly descend, without needing the Son of Chaos's help at all.
Moreover, she already had followers on Earth, and with the Chained God polluted, her influence was far greater than that of the Son of Chaos, who was sealed inside the Magic Wishing Lamp.
Even she could not yet truly descend, so the Son of Chaos certainly couldn't achieve it.
"No, you can."
The Son of Chaos dropped his casual tone, speaking gravely:
"I only need you to send a part of the Uncertain Mist, not a complete descent. And the Uncertain Mist has another trait, it pierces the initial barrier far more easily than you."
The Son of Chaos did not explain in detail the characteristics of the Uncertain Mist, still keeping some reservations.
The Mother Tree of Desire pondered for a while, then exhaled softly: "Heh, another part of you, in order to protect yourself, already escaped deep into the starry sky long ago and has not shown itself for a long time."
"Facing you hungry hunters, any act of self-preservation is very normal. As long as you agree to my conditions, at the right time, He will naturally reveal Himself from the depths of the starry sky."
"One Bernadette is not enough." The Mother Tree of Desire was somewhat moved.
The Son of Chaos leaned back, his tone returning to ease: "Between us, one side must first take a step back in order to better break the deadlock. If you want to descend to Earth ahead of all other Outer Gods and plunder all creation, this is already the best deal."
After speaking, the Son of Chaos looked up at the starry sky above, his gaze sweeping over the stars.
At present, in this Hall of Stars, there were only Him and the Mother Tree of Desire. Once this Lord of Stars summoned more Outer Gods, the situation would become complicated.
For the Mother Tree of Desire, it would be hard to seize the initiative then.
To cooperate early with Him, to form an alliance of offense and defense, not only would they better face this Lord of the Stars, but also the Outer Gods who would later come to the gathering.
This, too, was beneficial for the Mother Tree of Desire.
However, She must first take a step back and pay part of the price in advance.
As the Mother Tree of Desire had said before, they were not equal. Since her state was better, He could only be the one to give way first.
"Fine, I can help you recover part of your strength first."
"Deal."
The Son of Chaos was in a very cheerful mood, unconsciously manifesting a pair of golden long legs, propping them on the table and crossing them together.
But when He caught sight of Hastur's glance, He retracted His legs, His joyful mood doused with cold water, and He returned to His usual calm.
"Tell me your thoughts."
The Son of Chaos said solemnly:
"First, you must ensure that your followers obtain either a Judgment card or a Black Emperor card, or a sealed artifact containing power of no less than Sequence 2. After all, the Nation of Disorder has already been sealed by that fellow Lord of Mysteries in the Western Continent. You will certainly not be able to find it, much less come into contact with it."
"Using the power of rules and order, then performing the ritual in the manner I provide, all you need to do at the critical moment is to help send a portion of the Uncertain Mist into Earth. That will complete the transaction."
"Once the Uncertain Mist enters Earth, He will naturally merge with Me. Even if the so-called Seven Gods descend, they cannot stop this process. Merging is instinct. Their power is insufficient to affect Me."
The Mother Tree of Desire looked deeply at the Son of Chaos. "You intend to use this to break free of the Seal of the Magic Wishing Lamp and restore half-step Old One power?"
"Rest assured, I will definitely first guide you to Earth, and then seek out the sealed Nation of Disorder."
"I must take a great risk for this."
"You should believe my promise. In the starry sky, no Outer God values transactions more than I do."
The Son of Chaos's voice was grand and majestic, golden light flickering all around Him, as though some kind of law was forming, as if His words themselves were golden decrees, once spoken, they would absolutely come true.
Hastur gave Him a faint glance, the starlight scattering, shattering the Son of Chaos's dazzling, pretentious brilliance.
The Son of Chaos coughed lightly. "Besides, with the stars as witnesses, I cannot possibly violate today's agreement."
Hastur said nothing. His role was as witness, to observe all.
"Very well."
The Mother Tree of Desire contemplated for a long time, and finally agreed to take the first step, to help the Son of Chaos recover strength first.
After all, compared to other descent methods, finding a Tarot card was indeed much simpler. The only concern was whether the Son of Chaos would violate the deal.
But here was the Hall of Stars. Under the gaze of the stars, if the Son of Chaos truly dared to go back on the deal, not only would He violate rules and order itself, He would also suffer backlash from the stars.
"Hoping for a Pleasant transaction." Seeing hope of freedom, the Son of Chaos's mood was obviously good.
He thought for a moment, then with slight respect said: "This is an excellent place for gatherings, a place of hope."
Hastur glanced at the Son of Chaos and said faintly: "While time nurtures miracles, it also brews endless change."
The Son of Chaos was taken aback. "You do not think well of the alliance between me and the Mother Tree of Desire?"
How could I think well of it? Once either of you achieves your scheme, Earth will not escape destruction.
Even if there is no change, I will create change, I will not let your plot succeed. At least until I can leave the starry sky, I will not allow you to be freed first.
Hastur muttered inwardly, then slowly said: "The ones awakening are not only Lord of Mysteries. Time is not on your side."
The Son of Chaos asked instinctively: "Which other being is about to awaken?"
"I am only a witness. You must find the answer yourselves."
Hearing such ambiguous words, practically the same as nonsense, the Son of Chaos's fists clenched slightly.
If not for being unable to win, He truly wanted to beat up this Lord of Stars!
Originally, His mood had been quite good, but after just those few simple words, His mood grew heavy again.
This guy was definitely doing it on purpose!