Headquarters of the Rose School of Thought.
In the dense forest stood a gigantic black tree; its vines stretched in all directions, completely covering the mountain.
On the trunk were countless fruit-like human faces. At this moment, they all opened their eyes, gazes rising upward, filled with eagerness and longing, staring at the crown of the tree.
There, at some unknown time, a platinum-colored star had appeared.
It was the size of a house, radiating a silvery-white light. Wherever the light touched the black tree, it spurred its growth.
Sunlight is the best nourishment for plants.
Around the black tree knelt circles of devout believers. They bowed in worship, offering their faith and lives to the existence before them.
That night, a divine oracle descended. At the same time, a star streaked across the night sky and, unnoticed by anyone, came to hang upon the crown of the black tree.
Their God told them this was a star of life, bringing fertility, but also a star of war and slaughter.
It was as if, overnight, they suddenly had two gods.
As the believers prayed with devotion, space in the distance quivered slightly. The Abomination Suah appeared, dragging a broken, battered body.
He looked miserable. His right arm was severed, the wound charred, with thick black ichor flowing down like blood. Crimson eyes on his body burst open one after another.
Maggots swarmed at the broken arm, licking at the wound, as though stitching the limb back together.
Leaving a trail of black ichor, Suah came before the black tree. Vines wrapped tightly around him, pulling him to the middle of the trunk.
From the crown, the platinum star's radiance shone down, enveloping Suah.
His body began to grow rapidly. With each rhythmic breath, flesh writhed at the stump, and soon a new arm had grown.
He opened his eyes and glanced at the star, as if looking at a sun. The blinding brilliance forced him to look away quickly and remain still.
When night gave way to day, when the first rays of sunlight broke through the sky.
The platinum star hanging on the black tree shone brightly, greedily absorbing the light of the orange sun above.
Suah could not clearly see what was happening, but he could sense it, the sun in the sky was weakening, while the platinum star before him was growing stronger.
It was preparing to become the next sun to hang in the skies.
Suah closed his eyes, letting the silver-white radiance nurture his body.
The sun in the sky fosters all life. He too, was a part of that life.
…
Republic of Intis.
Today, above the headquarters of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, every cloud was swept away, leaving only a dazzling golden sun pouring endless light below.
Sunlight passed through stained glass, splitting into rainbow hues that fell upon a golden crown.
The crown was inlaid with many gems, the largest being a colorless, transparent one.
Though without color, it could hold all the colors of light.
Beneath the golden crown stood an old man robed in splendid finery. White and gold threads embroidered tiny suns along the hem and collar of his robe.
His hair was golden, the same as the sun.
He was the Pope of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun.
At the steps behind him stood six devout archbishops.
Except for those bound to guard far-off cathedrals, every other archbishop had arrived the day after receiving his command.
This was the place where one could hear the voice of God.
"My brothers, I have received the oracle. God says, for those filthy, decayed cult of evil gods, we shall burn them with holy flame and pierce their hearts with our swords."
"And for those who dare usurp the authority of God, death shall be their rightful end."
"God has shown us the way, the enemy lies on the Southern Continent, in that land of chaos and disorder."
"Go now, with God's blessing and your devotion. Destroy every foe, and bring Him victory!"
The Pope's voice rose higher and higher, stirring the golden crown's power into beams of light, bathing the six archbishops in divine grace.
"Praise the Sun!"
After the six archbishops departed, the Pope ascended the steps. He reached out, lifted the golden crown, and placed it upon his head.
Golden light surged around him. In that holy brilliance, the aged Pope grew young again. Wrinkles faded, his face became full and youthful.
When the glow finally dimmed, the old Pope was gone.
Standing in his place was a kind-faced, well-proportioned young man in his early twenties.
He was dressed in a white robe, barefoot, with the holy crown on his head turned into a golden ribbon, wrapping around his flamboyant, dazzling blond hair.
"Praise the sun."
With a word of praise, He stepped out of the main hall, leaving behind the sacred temple He had guarded for decades.
…
Backlund.
At night, Hastur sat at his desk, flipping through the business activity plan regarding the factory's follow-up that Manager Harley had sent.
Picking up a pen, he made some corrections to unreasonable parts and added some of his own small suggestions.
After finishing, he handed the plan to Butler Neil, telling him to send someone to deliver it to Manager Harley.
Around eleven-thirty, after bathing, Hastur went to bed to rest.
He first made a round of inspection at the Hall of Stars, but found nothing unusual, so he left.
When he entered his dreams, the wind chime hanging in the study swayed slightly.
In the dream, Will suddenly appeared.
"Uroboros has already come to Backlund. If you have nothing important to do, don't wander around anymore. Though He's not very smart, He doesn't like to talk when working, nor does He bother with reasoning with people. If you run into Him face to face, you'll be in trouble."
Hastur exclaimed, "How could He have come to Backlund?"
"Because the aura of fate here is too strong. He must have sensed something unusual about fate here and came specially."
"Can you lead Him away?"
"It'll take some time, that's why I came to warn you to be careful for the time being."
"Alright."
Hastur nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Is there any way to conceal the fate here? Otherwise, beings connected to fate will keep coming, and I'll always run into them."
One Bernadette was already troublesome enough, now another Snake of Mercury, and he couldn't leave Backlund. This life was truly unbearable.
"The method lies within yourself."
"Within myself?"
"Don't underestimate yourself."
After saying this, Will took a couple of steps, hesitated, then added in a low voice, "Don't have anyone send ice cream in the near future. Once that dumb snake leaves Backlund, remember to make it up to me double."
"Alright."
After receiving Hastur's promise, Will waved his hand and disappeared from Hastur's dream.
With Will's interruption, Hastur no longer felt sleepy.
He returned to the Hall of Stars and summoned the third Chain of Order.
Will had said the solution was within him. Hastur wondered if it had something to do with the Chains of Order.
Perhaps he could set a new rule to avoid interference from fate.
But last time, he had already set a rule related to fate. To set another fate-related rule, wouldn't that be too wasteful?
Thinking it over, Hastur summoned the Chain of Order with the fate rule he had previously established.
He wanted to see if he could modify the existing rule. If so, he could save the third Chain of Order for later.
When he expressed this intent, the Chain of Order trembled slightly, and an understanding rose from deep within him.
The general meaning was: the main part was fixed; only slight additions or deletions could be made, not a complete overturn.
"Only slight additions or deletions… that should be enough."
Hastur thought for a moment and added a line to the end of the original passage.
The Beloved of Fate can always avoid coincidences and accidents drawn by fate.
Such a statement should help him avoid his fate intersecting with others'.
Thus, he could more easily avoid existences like Bernadette and Uroboros.
After the modified rule took shape, Hastur felt nothing unusual.
He dismissed the Chain of Order and turned his gaze to the third, which had yet to be used.
He had originally wanted to save it for emergencies, but now it seemed he needed new abilities to protect himself.
When he had created the first rule, it was like a general guideline.
The second rule was about fate, giving him some control over the path of fate.
So what should the third Chain of Order govern?
The Beyonder pathway of the Evernight Goddess?
Her authority of secrecy, whether for protecting himself or scheming against enemies, was extremely useful.
Back then, in the Salvation Rose plan, the Evernight Goddess had relied on this authority of secrecy to become the second key figure.
Even the Ancient Sun God had difficulty peering into such authority.
But how should a rule involving secrecy be established? Hastur fell into deep thought.