From the reactions of Caius and the others just now, it was clear that they held great respect for him. Although this respect might not come directly from him personally, it likely stemmed from some symbolic meaning tied to his existence.
He had long pondered the relationship between himself and that King in Yellow. There were no more than two possibilities.
The first possibility was that he was some special existence arranged by the King in Yellow, meant to serve as a vessel for His resurrection, similar to the relationship between the Celestial Worthy and Klein.
The second possibility was that he was merely a small chess piece in the script written by the King in Yellow, who was observing him from the starry sky.
However, these possibilities seemed to have undergone some unknown change due to the presence of the Hall of Stars.
The power of the stars suppressed the arrangements left on him by the King in Yellow, allowing him to maintain clear rationality rather than becoming someone else's substitute and meeting an immediate end.
Hastur had already thought through these speculations many times before, but he had never been able to confirm them.
For the current situation, they were also a bit too far removed.
After briefly considering them, Hastur began thinking about more practical solutions.
Direct confrontation was definitely impossible. Even if he and Sharon joined forces, they could barely handle a Sequence 4 demigod. But the butler and Madam Lisa from earlier were impossible to gauge.
However, their status was definitely above Caius. According to the basic rule of the Beyonder world, where strength determined status, those two were at least Sequence 4.
In addition, there were Caius and five others. The difference in combat power was rather significant.
The second method would be to bring in external help to break the situation, such as Will or that offspring of the evil god.
During this period he hadn't entered the Hall of Stars, so he didn't know how things were going on Mr. A's side.
The third method was simply to go with the flow. Since he couldn't escape in the short term, he might as well join them. With his own special nature, he might even end up becoming their Pope.
From the current situation, the third method seemed the most suitable.
"Could this have been their intention all along?"
"Making me open the golden box was simply to confirm my uniqueness?"
"Seizing the faith left behind by the King in Yellow would also be a good form of counterattack."
Hastur slowly analyzed the feasibility in his mind while Ariella lay quietly beneath his arm.
When the sun had completely set, a knock sounded on the door. Hastur sat upright on the bed, let out a light breath, and placed an elegant, proper smile on his face.
He stood up and walked to the mirror on the table, murmuring to himself,
"Relax. This isn't a big matter. Perhaps they don't have any ill intentions toward me."
"Meow." Ariella jumped over, wanting Hastur to bring it along, but it was still left behind in the room.
After opening the door, Hastur followed Caius downstairs to prepare for dinner.
The dining room on the first floor had a flat, elongated oval dining table with eleven seats.
Hastur naturally sat in the seat at the very top. In front of him, the knife, fork, spoon, and other utensils had already been arranged.
Next, the maids began bringing in dishes one after another.
These people were all ordinary individuals. The maid he had seen earlier was not among them.
Aside from Caius, no one else appeared.
"Seems like they're not in a hurry."
Hastur silently enjoyed the dinner. Although the food here was far inferior in delicacy and taste compared to Backlund, it still tasted quite decent, above the passing line.
"The taste is quite good."
After Hastur gave his evaluation, Caius, who stood beside him, smiled and said, "Your approval is our greatest honor."
Once dinner was finished, Caius had the maids clean up and leave.
He knew that the young noble before him had questions to ask.
Hastur casually rested his right hand on the table, lightly tapping the surface with his index finger.
"Can I still trust you?"
Whether it was an illusion or not, Caius suddenly felt that the Hastur seated at the head of the table resembled a god. An invisible pressure seemed to emanate from him.
It inspired fear from the depths of one's heart.
Caius composed himself and respectfully said, "Our lies were never intended to harm you."
Hastur did not comment on that statement. Instead, he calmly asked, "Do you have a Pope?"
"The position of Pope has always remained vacant. It awaits a suitable person to ascend the steps and receive the worship of all believers."
"If I joined you, could I become your Pope?"
"We follow the footsteps of the divine. Only one who can hear divine revelation may become the Pope."
"Has your god ever issued a divine revelation?"
"No."
"Then how are you certain of His existence?"
Caius fell silent for a moment, yet he remained calm and unhurried as he replied, "Ever since we stepped onto this Beyonder pathway, He has always guided us forward from ahead."
"What do you call Him?"
This was an extremely disrespectful question, but Hastur very much wanted to know the answer.
Caius lowered his head. His body trembled slightly, and fanatic devotion shone in his eyes as he spoke in a low, hoarse voice:
"The Lord of the Star Sea in the distant cosmos, the indescribable one of chaotic formlessness. He is the Planner of Fate. The script He writes will inevitably be performed. He is the King in Yellow who plays among the mortal world. The shadow He left behind is the direction we shall follow forever!"
The Lord of the Star Sea in the distant cosmos.
The indescribable one of chaotic formlessness.
The Planner of Fate.
Hastur silently repeated these three honorific titles several times in his mind, attempting to find something special about the King in Yellow.
But he gained little. He was already familiar with the titles "Lord of the Star Sea" and "Indescribable One."
What truly caught his attention was the title "Planner of Fate."
Will had once mentioned that the Yellow Robed monks were very skilled at dealing with 008.
From that statement, it seemed the authority of the King in Yellow involved both the Fate pathway and the Spectator pathway.
More precisely, it was the combination of two Beyonder pathways.
Hastur glanced at Caius, who was both excited and agitated, and did not continue asking him questions.
A fanatic believer could not provide correct answers.
…
At a little past ten at night, Hastur was already lying on that large bed. No one came to disturb him. His authority here truly resembled that of a lord, he could do whatever he wished.
If not for the golden box that still lay horizontally in the center of the first-floor hall, constantly reminding him that this place was closely connected to the Yellow Robed monks.
He didn't feel that anything was particularly wrong. Caius and the others never deliberately avoided him during their conversations or work, and they always maintained respect toward him.
Only after setting several rules in the room to prevent being spied upon did he fall asleep and head toward the Hall of Stars.
Hall of Stars.
Hastur swept his gaze across the stars but still did not discover the star belonging to the King in Yellow.
He could only withdraw his gaze and look toward the star of the True Creator, locating the light point that belonged to Mr. A.
In the image within that point of light, Mr. A had already moved to a new location and was currently kneeling before a statue, praying continuously.
Hastur directly used divine revelation and entered his dream, learning about all of Mr. A's experiences during this time.
After seeing that Mr. A had perfectly completed his task, he thought for a moment and decided to give Mr. A a "well done" evaluation as encouragement for his hard work.
When Mr. A once again arrived in the familiar dream of the sea, with the sacred mountain opposite him, he knew that the Lord's gaze was once again watching him.
His body prostrated itself upon the surface of the sea, welcoming the Lord's inspection.
"You… are very good." The divine revelation entered his ears like a demonic whisper, stirring a massive wave within his mind.
The dream shattered.
Mr. A still lay prostrated on the ground, his shoulders trembling slightly as his entire body shook uncontrollably.
Very good. You… are very good.
This was recognition from the Lord!
Mr. A's excitement was beyond words. He could feel his violently beating heart almost about to fly out of his chest.
Using all his strength, he restrained the twitching and writhing expression on his face. In the end, he suppressed the urge to burst into laughter, leaving only a faint smile hanging on the corners of his slightly raised lips.
He had never heard of any other believer receiving praise from the Lord.
Even Lord Ouroboros would probably find it difficult to receive such praise from the Lord.
In the basement that had been completely sealed by massive stones, the dark world suddenly brightened.
Above the coffin floated a patch of starry sky.
The stars shone brilliantly, dispelling the dark and lightless world.
Four chains of starlight, resembling tentacles, extended from the depths of that starry sky and tightly wrapped around the four corners of the coffin that carried the power of the evil god's offspring.
Under the baptism of the power of the stars, the aura of the stars in that place gradually grew stronger, continuously expelling and purifying all other forces.
The originally dark black coffin slowly shed its color, turning translucent.
When the starlight above dissipated and departed, everything returned to silence once again.
…
Hall of Stars.
Hastur held his forehead with one hand. His spiritual power was nearly exhausted, and waves of intense pain were spreading through his mind.
"Two more nights will be needed before I can completely transform the offspring of the evil god into a follower of the stars. However, the consciousness that was originally supposed to be born within it seems to have been erased during the purification just now."
Hastur carefully recalled every detail of what had just happened.
Using Mr. A as a point of connection, he had reached the basement and used the power of the Hall of Stars to carry out the baptism.
He purified the consciousness that might have belonged to the True Creator within that body, leaving only pure energy behind.
During the process, because the newly born consciousness was inclined toward the True Creator, it was naturally erased by the baptism of the stars.
"That's not bad either. Leaving only an empty shell without any consciousness… just like the vessel used for the descent of the Goddess of Evernight. That body will become the vessel for the descent of the stars."
After thinking it over for a while, Hastur concluded that it was indeed feasible. Then he left the Hall of Stars and lay down on the bed, falling into a deep sleep.