Under the chaotic and disorderly starry sky, the absolute dominion that originally belonged to the Mother Goddess of Depravity was being disturbed today by one visitor after another knocking at its door.
The power of Primordial Hunger charged straight in head-on, swallowing whatever it encountered, while the Supernova Dominator merely pushed planets toward it from afar, setting off fireworks within the kingdom where it resided.
The power of the Son of Chaos tore at everything from all directions, dragging everything into a state of chaos and disorder. Even Her lucid reason nearly descended into chaos along with it.
The High-Dimensional Overseer was the thief best at hiding, seemingly sneaking around in search of something.
The Mother Tree of Desire, who had always been hostile toward Her, was the most jubilant of them all. Seizing the moment when Her attention was divided and She had no strength to spare, it frantically seized the authorities belonging to the Crimson Moon.
But for the Mother Goddess of Depravity,
After standing in the starry sky for such a long time, this was the first time She had ever been targeted by so many Great Old Ones at once. This made Her wary of the Stars and the Gathering of the Stars He convened.
It had not even been three years since the Stars awakened and first displayed miracles. That wasn't even enough time for a nap, yet He had already gathered such a tremendous force.
It was truly terrifying. And these were merely the ones holding Her back. More importantly, Her control over Mr. Door and Roselle was gradually weakening.
Mr. Door in particular had always been more difficult to corrupt than Roselle. Now, His consciousness was gradually awakening, and there were even signs that He was breaking free from Her corruption.
Once the Stars helped Him resolve the corruption, it would become extremely difficult for Her to infiltrate the real world with Her power.
That was because Mr. Door's authority encompassed every concept of a "door," while the Original Barrier, to the real world, was itself a tightly shut door.
She needed Mr. Door's authority to allow Her power to penetrate even further into the real world.
Therefore, between Mr. Door and Roselle, She chose to focus Her efforts on corrupting Mr. Door.
Once the Mother Goddess of Depravity made Her decision, Roselle, who was inside the Black Emperor's mausoleum, gradually regained his clear consciousness. The tentacles wrapped around his limbs also retreated into the depths of the sea under the majesty of the Black Emperor.
"The Mother Goddess of Depravity's power has suddenly weakened considerably. Perhaps I can... No, I can't leave this place!"
After a brief moment of joy, Roselle quickly regained his rationality.
Although he now appeared to have completely regained control of his body, he was certain that the consciousness of the Mother Goddess of Depravity was still hidden deep within him. The corruption originating from the starry sky still remained.
Freedom was only temporary. The struggle against corruption was eternal.
Roselle returned to the Black Emperor's throne and sat there despondently. He lowered his head and stared at his hands. Only after a long while did he lower his voice and say, "I want to see my daughter. Can you fulfill this small wish of mine?"
"You may pray to the Stars. The more devout you are, the greater the boon you shall receive," the Vessel of the Stars said indifferently.
"Forget it, then." Roselle grinned. "I don't dare owe too much. I might never be able to repay it, and I don't want my Bernadette to repay this favor in my place."
"Oh, I forgot. You come from the starry sky, so you probably don't understand what human favors are."
"I'll just quietly enjoy this moment of lucidity by myself."
The fallen Black Emperor sat upon his throne, choosing to spend this moment in a calm and rational manner...
"How could I possibly just sit here and wait for death!"
"I've got to give it a shot no matter what!"
"It's not easy to get an opportunity like this!"
Roselle rose from the throne, and the lonely, desolate aura surrounding him instantly vanished.
In its place was the same hot-blooded drive and vitality he had possessed in his youth.
"Stars, what other protection can You provide me?" Roselle stared directly at the starry sky above his head.
Amid the dazzling Stars stood a gigantic, ancient palace. Within it, a vague and illusory figure could faintly be seen, mysterious and powerful, inspiring awe in all who beheld it.
"You have three more minutes of freedom." Hastur, seated within the Hall of Stars, finally spoke to Roselle.
"What price do I need to pay?"
"This is a free boon."
It was a favor between two fellow transmigrators. Hastur didn't say the latter half aloud.
Roselle was still corrupted by the Mother Goddess of Depravity. To completely cleanse him, Hastur would need to wait until He advanced to Sequence 0.
Therefore, there were many things Roselle couldn't be allowed to know. Telling him would be equivalent to revealing Hastur's weaknesses to the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
"Fine. I'll trust you this once."
Roselle no longer hesitated. He reached into the void and groped around for a moment before pulling out a Sequence 1 Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic and the Uniqueness.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately devoured the Beyonder characteristic and the Uniqueness. The power belonging to the Black Emperor gradually returned to his body.
Back when George III perished, one of the Sequence 1 Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristics and the Uniqueness had been secretly attracted over and hidden away by Roselle. However, he had restrained his desire to devour this power.
At that time, his body was still primarily controlled by the Mother Goddess of Depravity, so he didn't dare devour this power, lest it further intensify the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption of the real world.
The Mother Goddess of Depravity likewise knew of his little scheme, but She had deliberately refrained from exposing it. Her purpose was precisely to let him think himself clever and willingly devour this power.
Now was the perfect opportunity.
Hastur also possessed one of the Sequence 1 Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristics that Roselle needed, but he had no intention of giving it to Roselle.
This Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic could likewise help him advance to Sequence 1.
As for what Roselle was thinking at this moment, he understood it perfectly.
Roselle wanted to take advantage of the moment when the Mother Goddess of Depravity was unable to influence him to ascend the Black Emperor's throne once more. By relying on the Black Emperor's characteristic of resurrection, he intended to wash away the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption.
This was a path he had attempted before, only to discover that it couldn't be traversed.
Back when Roselle advanced to Black Emperor, he had deliberately allowed himself to be assassinated, planning to cleanse the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption through his subsequent resurrection.
But when the time came for him to resurrect, he discovered that although the madness caused by the Beyonder characteristics had been completely purged, the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption still remained.
As long as he dared to resurrect, the Mother Goddess of Depravity would directly be reborn within his body and completely take it over.
Thus, he could only remain inside the Black Emperor's mausoleum, living in a state between life and death.
Now, under the protection of the Stars, with the Mother Goddess of Depravity unable to influence him, and while possessing one Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic and the Uniqueness, Roselle intended to try walking this path once again.
Within the Hall of Stars, Hastur withdrew the power he had been using to help Mr. Door awaken and converted all of it into purifying energy composed of the Sun authority mixed with the power of the Stars, pouring it into Roselle's body in the form of starlight.
It helped him cleanse and suppress the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption to the greatest extent possible.
As the aura of the Black Emperor emanating from Roselle grew increasingly intense, the Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic carefully stored within the Loen royal family's secret treasury in distant Backlund broke free from the Loen royal family's control and rapidly flew toward Roselle.
As for the remaining Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic, it was firmly suppressed by the Hall of Stars and couldn't break free to fly away.
The entire Black Emperor's mausoleum began to tremble restlessly as Roselle's aura continued to strengthen.
However, when the Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic from the Loen royal family flew into the mausoleum and Roselle was on the verge of successfully resurrecting as the Black Emperor, he suddenly stopped the resurrection process.
Although the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption had been thoroughly suppressed, remnants of it still lingered within him. Like a poison embedded in his soul, there was no way to escape it.
The protection granted by the Stars could only weaken it. It couldn't completely eradicate it.
As long as the Mother Goddess of Depravity's roots remained planted within his body, sooner or later, they would once again grow into a towering tree.
"Looks like this path will never work."
There wasn't much disappointment on Roselle's face. After being momentarily dazed, he quickly returned to normal.
"This is enough."
Roselle smiled and voluntarily separated the Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic and the Uniqueness from his body. They transformed into two masses of pitch-black, distorted light and floated side by side in midair with the Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic that had flown over from Backlund.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that the Black Emperor's Uniqueness was a black crown with a gemstone the size of a pigeon egg embedded in its center.
"Take them. These can allow you to cultivate a new Black Emperor." Roselle lightly waved his right hand, sending the objects before him toward the Vessel of Stars.
During the resurrection process just now, he had already learned that the final Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristic was in the hands of the Stars. Combined with the two Prince of Abolition Beyonder characteristics and the Uniqueness before him, all the Beyonder materials required to advance to Black Emperor were now assembled.
As long as the corresponding ritual was performed, a new Black Emperor could be born.
Roselle smiled broadly. "The sea is vast. If possible, establishing a pirate kingdom wouldn't be a bad idea."
Hastur understood what Roselle had in mind. He hoped Bernadette could establish a kingdom belonging to pirates and thereby perform the corresponding ritual to advance to Black Emperor.
As a father, he ultimately still cherished his daughter and hoped she could possess enough power to live freely as she wished.
Without becoming a god, one would ultimately remain nothing more than a chess piece, forever without true freedom.
However, Roselle handed this choice over to Hastur. More precisely, he handed it over to the Stars.
Presumably, during the Black Emperor resurrection process just now, he had learned that his daughter Bernadette had already become a believer of the Stars.
Since she couldn't break free from this connection, then he might as well let his daughter become stronger.
"You should leave now."
Roselle urged them before walking back to the Black Emperor's throne and sitting down. He tried several different poses in succession but wasn't satisfied with any of them.
Finally, he brought out a black, broad-bladed greatsword and placed both hands on either side of its hilt, resting the blade against the ground before the throne. His back was straight, and his gaze looked directly ahead.
After finding a pose he was satisfied with, Roselle used the power he still had remaining to completely petrify and seal his body, linking it together with the entire Black Emperor's throne and becoming a cold statue.
After undergoing this purification by the Stars and the baptism of the Black Emperor's resurrection, he could once again resist the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption while maintaining a clear mind.
Just as he had when his entanglement with the Mother Goddess of Depravity first began.