A mocking smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she said, "You're allowed to hunt me, but am I not allowed to hunt you back?"
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At this moment, the clear sky over Backlund suddenly gathered into a storm, layers upon layers of black clouds piling up.
A silver-white spherical lightning bolt blazed across the skies, like the wrath of the skies itself, striking down violently!
The spherical lightning tore through the long sky, accurately striking a seemingly empty patch of space.
That space shattered into fragments, then turned into countless tiny currents, spreading farther along the cracks.
From within the broken space gushed dark black blood, along with a massive arm, thick as a mountain ridge, severed in that instant!
Fine silver-white currents coiled around the pitch-black arm, grinding it down into dust bit by bit!
At the cost of an arm, the abomination Suah evaded the Lord of Storm's strike.
He dared not remain in Backlund any longer, lest he draw down the Lord of Storm's descent in person!
As he traversed the spirit world, preparing to flee far from Backlund, in the distant sky, suddenly bloomed a silver trace. Looking closely, it was a giant serpent biting its own tail!
The Snake of Mercury!
The silver circle spun once in midair, and time itself reversed. Suah's figure was dragged back into Backlund!
Boom!
Several more spherical bolts of lightning, carrying immense wrath, descended from the heavens!
Their power far surpassed the earlier strike, striking Suah's body with pinpoint precision!
With a furious roar, Suah transformed into a monster covered in pitch-black mucus, sprouting hundreds of thousands of arms, while within his body a blood-red sapling opened countless eyes, locking onto the incoming lightning!
Soon, the thousands of eyes erupted like strings of firecrackers, crackling furiously.
Though it was but a fleeting moment, it was enough for Suah to react. After sacrificing hundreds more arms, he finally managed to escape the Storm's domain.
A while later, the clergy of Saint Wind Cathedral arrived in groups. They jointly summoned a sealed artifact to collect the scattered dark blood and to expel and purify any possible corruption lingering there.
The scene came quickly, and vanished just as quickly.
Most people only heard thunder crash under a clear sky, then knew nothing more.
Within the Magic Wishing Lamp, the Son of Chaos no longer dared to project his phantom to provoke Bernadette. Instead, he obediently stayed inside, concealing his presence.
Bernadette let out a soft breath, her brows knitting. "As expected of a Sequence 1 Abomination. Even when the Lord of Storms suddenly cast down divine punishment across distance, He still couldn't hold him."
She felt regret that Suah could not be contained, yet she knew one divine punishment alone could hardly resolve the threat he posed.
Still, after such a painful lesson, he likely would not dare approach Backlund again anytime soon.
After some thought, she chose not to leave Backlund immediately.
She could not be certain whether Suah still lurked just beyond its borders.
Setting aside her speculations, Bernadette turned her gaze toward the now completely quiet Magic Wishing Lamp.
Her lips curled into a mocking smile. "What was it you just said? I didn't quite catch it."
After a long silence, the Son of Chaos's voice finally came from within the lamp.
"When did you establish contact with the Lord of Storms?"
"When I destroyed that descent ritual last time, I gave them a favor. Shouldn't they repay it?"
"That alone is not enough to move a god."
"Don't I still have you?"
Bernadette's mocking tone silenced the Son of Chaos. Indeed, his collusion with the Mother Tree of Desire was reason enough for the Seven to take heed.
An abomination like Suah had always been one of the Seven God's targeted foes, especially when he lingered near Backlund.
If he could be pinned down, the Lord of Storms would naturally be willing to strike.
Unfortunately, last night's battle must have consumed much of the Lord of Storm's power, otherwise today Suah would not have escaped so easily.
But then, what of that Snake of Mercury?
That should have been Ouroboros.
She had not invited him to act. How did he just happen to appear here, and even attack Suah?If not for his sudden intervention, Suah would never have been so gravely wounded.
Could it truly be mere coincidence?
After all, she did carry a Wheel of Fortune card, and destiny attracts destiny.
"Even Ouroboros came to Backlund… what fate lies hidden here?"
"Could it be that the other Snake of Mercury is also concealed in Backlund now?" Bernadette pondered deeply and judged it quite a likely guess.
The only thing that could draw Ouroboros's gaze would be the other Snake of Mercury.
This was a battle of destiny between Them.
"No matter what, at least one troublesome matter has been dealt with." Bernadette thought for a while, then decided to go out for a stroll, to ease her mind.
Putting away the Magic wishing lamp and the triangular space-time artifact, using the pea vine as a path, after just a few steps, the scenery before her eyes shifted. With one step forward, she arrived on the streets of Empress Borough.
Backlund gathers foods from many countries, and the finest restaurants are mostly located in Empress Borough, generally affordable only to nobles living there.
Bernadette walked into an Intis-style restaurant, ordered a table full of dishes, took just a few bites of each, then paid and left.
Passing by a clothing shop, she entered just like other noble ladies would, picking out styles she preferred.
Like many girls who only browse without buying, she simply enjoyed the process of choosing clothes.
In the end, she picked a set of clothes that looked acceptable and left.
Walking into a shop selling trinkets, she remembered that Sharon would be returning to Backlund in a few days, so it was just right to buy some small gifts for her.
The moment she stepped through the shop's door, she sensed a familiar aura.
With just a glance, she saw Hastur's somewhat familiar figure.
This time, she did not step forward to interrupt, but hid in the shadows to observe.
Just as she had said before, if she truly encountered Hastur a third time in Backlund, it would pique her interest.
Now, it was indeed the third time.
She was very curious, why did she keep running into this young baron?
Clearly, she and he did not follow the same Beyonder pathway, and he was not a Fate pathway Beyonder either.
Logically speaking, their meetings should not be this frequent.
This could no longer be explained simply as fate; there must be reasons unknown to her.
Watching for a while, she noticed Hastur was also here to buy trinkets. Judging from his selections, he seemed to be preparing gifts for Sharon, who was soon returning to Backlund.
Having the same idea as herself, it seemed he knew Sharon quite well.
Even as Hastur paid and left, Bernadette still did not interrupt.
Instead, she hid in the shadows and followed him.
Soon after, Hastur went to the same clothing shop she had visited earlier, directly asking the clerk for two of the finest and most beautiful black gothic dresses.
Bernadette furrowed her brows slightly; she was now certain this was no coincidence, but some kind of strange pull.
Even if she hadn't run into Hastur first, judging from his path, there was a strong chance he would have met her anyway.
Yet, she still chose not to reveal herself.
When passing the Intis-style restaurant, Hastur paused slightly, then quickened his steps to leave the area.
"Is he afraid of running into me here?"
"He seems to know that just strolling around gives a high chance of encountering me in Backlund."
"It looks like this young baron is not as simple as he appears."
Bernadette speculated silently, continuing to follow behind him.
This time, her mood was much lighter.
When Hastur was about to take a carriage and leave, Bernadette suddenly appeared inside the carriage, sitting opposite him.
'I really shouldn't have held onto false hope!'
Seeing Bernadette appear suddenly, Hastur was startled, already regretting having gone out today.
But he couldn't possibly stay cooped up at home forever…
"Respected lady, we meet again." Hastur smiled first and greeted her.
"You should still remember what I said last time."
Bernadette's calm gaze fixed on Hastur, making him uneasy.
Hastur asked in surprise: "My lady, you really didn't come here deliberately looking for me?"
"What do you think?"
"Fate truly is mysterious. It seems we are destined to meet."
"Just the word 'fate' cannot explain this situation."
"But that's already the most likely explanation I can think of."
Hastur gave a wry smile, looking as if he truly knew nothing.
Bernadette calmly looked at him, "Don't you yourself know that once you step outside, it's very easy to run into me?"
Hastur tried to explain: "I just didn't want to cause unnecessary misunderstandings."
"When you were buying those trinkets, I was following behind you the whole time. The clothing shop you visited, the restaurant you passed, those were all places I had just left."
"…" For a moment, Hastur couldn't think of a proper explanation.
He suspected that his fate had become increasingly intertwined with Bernadette's, likely due to his two previous exchanges with her while using the identity of the Sovereign of the Stars.
The fate between him and Bernadette had already reached the point where it could no longer be avoided, they were bound to encounter each other.
Bernadette's lips curved into a faint smile, "So it seems you also know the reason."
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T/N: Master of the Stars -> Sovereign of the Stars