Just as Hastur was debating whether to grit his teeth and pay in gold pounds or find an excuse to refuse, Bernadette directly gifted him the Sequence 6 "Baron of Corruption" potion formula for free.
"As fellow followers of the Sovereign of the Stars', consider this my investment in you."
At this, Hastur generously thought that the "big niece" could actually be quite adorable at times.
He put away the potion formula, sent Bernadette off, and owed her a favor, not too big, but not too small either.
Still feels like a bit of a loss though. Hastur slowly finished enjoying his meal, then went to pay the bill.
Instead of immediately taking a carriage home, he wandered the area, familiarizing himself with the terrain so that retreat would be easier when the time came.
By the time he finished circling around and had mapped out a rough action route in his mind, it was already past three in the afternoon.
He found a restaurant to enjoy a cup of afternoon tea, then even stopped by a law office before finally wrapping up his day's activities.
The harvest was naturally considerable, he had gotten the Sequence 6 "Baron of Corruption" formula for free. Even if he didn't need it, it was still a token of goodwill from Bernadette, so he accepted it.
Back at his desk, Hastur took out paper and pen, sketched a simple map of the terrain, and marked out his action route.
Once he was sure there were no omissions, he burned the paper and began pondering how to obtain the Black Emperor card.
First of all, he definitely could not go in person. He had to act in his spiritual body state.
That way, no matter what happened, he always had a fallback, he could return to the Hall of Stars, ensuring he would never be captured.
Secondly, he had to avoid the Beyonder individuals guarding the Roselle Memorial Exhibition and sneak inside undetected.
Klein had used a diversion, setting fire to a house to draw attention.
Perhaps he could rely on certain rules to prevent those Beyonders from noticing him. With the help of the Authority of Secrecy, the feasibility was high.
If he could distort their vision so that they simply could not see him,
Then maybe he could even walk right past them, openly.
And then would come the critical moment of stealing the Black Emperor card.
Once he took that bookmark, it would surely trigger defensive measures and draw the attention of the Beyonders.
Could he set rules to prevent the defenses from activating? He wasn't sure.
If he could indeed stop them, then he might be able to take the Black Emperor card and leave the memorial without anyone noticing.
Hastur thought further and brought out his two Beyonder items.
One was a bell that could amplify the effects of rules. The other was the War Emblem.
He had already asked Sharon to help identify the War Emblem and now knew its uses.
It had three main Beyonder effects:
It could form a full suit of war armor over the body, providing strong defense.
It could materialize a two-handed great sword of immense power.
It could generate a blood-red vortex nearby, like a war domain, which would strip away blood and vitality from anything that entered it.
According to Sharon's estimate, if wielded by someone skilled in combat, this sealed artifact could exert the power of a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact.
But powerful sealed artifacts naturally carried terrifying side effects.
Two points in particular required caution:
① If worn for more than ten minutes, it would continuously drain the wearer's blood. If not removed quickly, it would eventually suck them dry.
② Its overwhelming bloody aura would erode rationality. Prolonged use would gradually corrode the wearer's mind until they became nothing but a slaughter-driven monster.
All in all, it was an extremely powerful Beyonder item, very suitable for battle.
But it didn't quite suit him. As a noble, he rarely risked himself, let alone fought in brutal combat.
Even Sharon felt that the War Emblem was wasted in his hands.
"Better to practice my spiritual body state first." Hastur gathered his wandering thoughts, shut the study door tightly, and closed the windows.
Then, after calming his mind, he tried to let his spiritual body separate from his flesh.
That light, floating sensation, as if he might drift away, enveloped him.
Hastur floated onto the desk, wrapped the War Emblem in his form, and suddenly felt burning hot, as though flames spread across his body.
The lightness turned heavy, like wearing a suit of armor.
He tested floating around the study, then tried sinking into the ceiling, passing straight into a third-floor room.
The room was unoccupied and uncluttered, wide and empty.
He flew out through the door, sped back and forth down the third-floor corridor, feeling out the speed of his spiritual body.
But when he neared the room containing the golden box, he stopped abruptly. Instinct told him it was better not to approach in this state.
So he turned around, went back to the initial room, descended through the floor into the second-floor study, and saw his physical body.
His spirit flew over, dropped the War Emblem, then merged back into his flesh.
A faint burning lingered, likely the War Emblem's effect not fully dissipated.
His spirituality wasn't drained much. With a short rest, he'd recover.
Controlling the spiritual body wasn't a problem. The real issue was testing whether his rules combined with the Authority of Secrecy could truly fool those Beyonders' detection.
But in his house, there were only Butler Neil and other ordinary people. Fooling them would prove nothing.
"Looks like I'll need Maric or Sharon's help."
…
The next day, just as Hastur was about to head out, his neighbor, Count Richard, came visiting.
After some small talk, Hastur invited him to sit and served him a cup of marquis red tea.
Looking slightly embarrassed, Count Richard said, "I came today mainly to learn a bit about mystical knowledge related to dreams."
Another so-called god in his dreams… Count Richard, how are you not alarmed in the slightest by something like this?
Hastur no longer wanted to mock the count's absurdity. If every night a so-called god manifested in his dreams to meddle with him, he would do everything possible to banish it, not obediently let it boss him around.
Hastur thought for a moment, then decided to exaggerate the danger. Only then might Count Richard understand that the value of life lay in keeping far away from gods.
"Count Richard, have you ever heard the story of the Dream Demon?"
"No."
"Good, then I'll tell you."
Hastur chuckled. He was making it up on the spot, no way Richard would have heard of it.
"Long, long ago, there was a man who often dreamed. In his dreams, there was a kind, benevolent figure who patiently taught him how to handle everything."
"With that figure's help, his life improved steadily. He made great wealth, married a wife, and had a beloved son."
"Just when the man was most grateful, the kind, benevolent figure demanded its price."
"First, his wife died in childbirth with their second child, mother and baby both lost. Then his first son. Finally himself. The whole family perished, none spared."
"And that figure? It simply left his dreams and went to the next unlucky chosen one. Then another series of tragedies began."
Hastur thought he had made the point clear enough. If Count Richard still remained hopeless, then all he could do was wish him "good fortune."
But Richard showed great interest in this Dream Demon story, without noticing that his own symptoms resembled those of the victims.
Hastur sighed and advised him to eat and drink well in the coming days, then wished him well.
After some thought, Count Richard asked, "You said 'long, long ago.' When exactly was that?"
"…" Hastur gave him a long look, confirmed he wasn't joking, and didn't even bother to sigh.
They chatted idly for another hour. Before leaving, Richard warmly invited Hastur to a gathering at his home in a few days.
To this, Hastur only smiled and said, "If I have the time."
"Baron Campbell, I've always felt there's a special bond between us."
"I feel the same."
After seeing the count off, Butler Neil approached holding a luxurious-looking invitation.
"My lord, five days from now, Duke Negan will host a grand ball at his residence in the Empress Borough."
Seated on the sofa, Hastur casually accepted the card and asked with curiosity, "Will many nobles attend?"
"Many. Almost every noble of note is on the guest list."
"I see, then it truly is a grand event." Hastur smiled as he played with the invitation, his heart already guessing.
If nothing went wrong, Qilangos should attempt to assassinate Duke Negan at this very ball. In the end, Audrey's timely vigilance would expose him, causing the attempt to fail.
"Looks like before the ball, I need to meet Miss Audrey and discuss Qilangos with her." Hastur still felt it better to handle this matter with Audrey.
If he informed Greg alone, suspicion might fall on him. Better to let Audrey take the credit.
She would gain the public bounty, while he would secure Duke Negan's political help.
"After Audrey exposes Qilangos, I'll immediately inform Greg, that way I can achieve exactly the outcome I want."
Hastur pondered a while and felt this plan was workable.
In fact, he even had to thank Qilangos for boosting his favorability.
Qilangos really was a good man.