When Hastur returned to the basement of Mr. A's house, Mr. A was still in the room, praying before the statue of the True Creator, waiting for the Lord to assign him a new task.
Hastur didn't disturb him. He entered the basement and lay back down inside the coffin.
His consciousness dispersed, returning to the Hall of Stars.
This descent of divinity lasted only about two hours. Hastur did not suffer the severe aftereffects he had experienced the first time; instead, he still had the energy to reflect on what had happened tonight.
With the disturbance he had caused within the Yellow-Robed Monks organization, the situation would definitely shift, and his own safety had gained a certain level of assurance.
Now, what he needed to do was to gain as much control over the Yellow-Robed Monks as possible. In the future, matters that were inconvenient for him to handle personally could be left to them.
But he needed to wait a few days, until Lady Lisa finished reorganizing the internal atmosphere of the organization, before making his next appearance.
After thinking this through, Hastur closed his eyes and, by peering into fate, tried to extract the complete Beyonder Pathway of the King in Yellow from Cardiff.
The process went smoothly. Aside from Sequence 0, which remained unknown, Hastur had already figured out the various sequences of this pathway.
Sequence 9: Gambler
Sequence 8: Chanting Priest
Sequence 7: Playwright
Sequence 6: Exorcist
Sequence 5: Winner
Sequence 4: Priest
Sequence 3: Fate Stealer
Sequence 2: Divine Revelation
Sequence 1: Pope
Cardiff tonight was Sequence 3, Fate Stealer. In the end, he hid within Hastur's fate, attempting to steal and assimilate it, replacing him entirely, that was the Beyonder ability of this sequence.
It was somewhat similar to Amon's ability, but Amon's method of stealing fate relied more on deception and concealment; at his core, he remained himself.
Cardiff's Fate Stealing, however, was true replacement, essentially becoming an entirely different person.
Once successful, whether in fate or soul, it would be nearly impossible for others to detect the change.
Unfortunately for him, the fate he tried to steal was already contested by the True Creator and the King in Yellow, with the Hall of Stars also backing him in the shadows.
As merely a Sequence 3, he was nothing more than cannon fodder in such a situation, with no qualification to compete.
"Priest, Fate Stealer, Divine Revelation, Pope…"
Hastur carefully considered the connections between these four sequences, focusing especially on Sequence 2: Divine Revelation.
Divine Revelation… the Hall of Stars also granted him an authority with the same term.
Could this really just be a coincidence?
"Why does it feel like the King in Yellow's pathway involves quite a few other pathways?"
Heh, a patchwork creation.
Hastur let out a faint, contemptuous smile, quietly mocking the King in Yellow.
…
Early the next morning, Hastur woke up a little after six, even disturbing Ariella, who was still groggily asleep in her little blanket.
"Meow?" Ariella covered her eyes with her fluffy front paws, turned over, and let out a soft yawn, presenting her back to Hastur.
"Why aren't you as energetic as yesterday?" Hastur teased her lightly, then left the room for a walk under her resentful gaze.
Located in the countryside outskirts, the morning air here was fresh, far better than Backlund.
It wasn't until after eight that Hastur leisurely strolled back on purpose.
Having already learned about the internal upheaval in the organization, Caius couldn't help but shiver when he saw Hastur returning from outside the castle.
Although the message delivered overnight didn't mention Hastur, but rather another mysterious young man, he couldn't help comparing the two in his mind.
In the end, he arrived at one conclusion: the more youthful and handsome a person looked, the less simple they were.
Hastur smiled and greeted him, "Mr. Caius, my new steward, good morning."
Caius trembled slightly and replied nervously, "Good morning, my lord. Your breakfast is ready."
"No rush." Hastur pointed to the road leading from the castle to the town. "A proper road needs to be built there."
"I'll arrange it immediately."
"Mm, and the main roads leading to the plantations should also be repaired and widened."
Hastur then offered several suggestions regarding road construction, for instance, paving entirely with stone would be too wasteful and time-consuming, so a mix of gravel and soil could be used instead.
He also emphasized the need for drainage ditches on both sides of the road to prevent serious water accumulation during rainy days, which would otherwise turn the road into mud.
Caius listened carefully. When he started struggling to remember everything, he quickly had someone bring paper and pen to take notes by hand.
Such diligence pleased Hastur. He patted Caius on the shoulder and said, "Loyal and hardworking subordinates are often the easiest to promote and reuse."
Caius unconsciously straightened his back, filled with motivation.
By the time Hastur finished breakfast, Caius had already prepared a preliminary draft, including road planning, personnel allocation, estimated completion time, and so on.
Tsk, employees with something to look forward to really work efficiently.
Hastur took the draft, offered a few suggestions, and then let Caius handle the rest.
The draft made no mention of funding requirements, and Caius didn't bring it up either. Hastur simply pretended not to notice.
As a Sequence 5 Winner of this pathway, Caius surely wasn't short on money, this was also a good chance to observe the financial situation of the Yellow-Robed Monks.
Returning to his room, Hastur signaled to Sharon in the mirror that she could come out. There was no longer any need for her to hide inside.
"Is everything resolved?" Sharon asked, perceptive enough to infer the situation from his behavior.
"Mm, no problems for now. This was originally my castle, and it still is."
Sharon didn't ask how he had solved the predicament. She simply nodded.
She then picked up Ariella and went to the window, admiring the scenery outside. Suddenly, she asked, "Is my New Year gift ready?"
"Tonight, after dinner, you'll be able to see the gift I've prepared."
…
After eight in the evening, Hastur and Sharon stayed in the room, while Ariella guarded the door unhappily, waving her sharp little claws to keep anyone from approaching.
"The characteristic of the messenger-summoning ritual is that you pray to yourself, drawing power from your own spirituality without needing a deity."
"First, select herbs and essential oils corresponding to the domain, this is no different from standard ritual magic, but you only need one candle symbolizing yourself…"
"Next is the incantation, divided into three parts. The first part is 'I,' which can be spoken in Ancient Hermes, Jotun, Dragon, or Elvish. The second part is 'I summon in my own name,' which can switch to Hermes. The third part is a detailed description of the summoned entity…"
Since explaining everything aloud would be too much, Sharon wrote it all down for Hastur to read.
After reading it a couple of times and confirming it matched his own mystical knowledge, Hastur began preparing the ritual to summon the messenger.
After arranging the herbs and essential oils, he thought the most pleasing offering to himself would be glittering gold pounds, if Sharon weren't present, he might have tried using them as ritual materials.
He calmed himself before chanting in Ancient Hermes:
"I!
I summon in my own name:
A spirit wandering in illusion, a friendly creature that can be commanded, Reinette Tinekerr."
To precisely summon Sharon's teacher, Hastur had to rely on a direct descriptive phrase to lock onto Reinette Tinekerr.
At the same time, he worried that his own uniqueness might attract overly terrifying beings, so he chose to proceed cautiously.
As he finished speaking, Hastur instinctively glanced at Sharon. Her usually calm face now showed shock, her eyes fixed on him with tension, confusion, and anticipation.
Her hands, hanging by her skirt, clenched into fists, her body trembling slightly.
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind rose, the candle flames turning eerie green as the surroundings grew cold and sinister.
The flames flickered violently, swelling to the size of a human head, as the wind in the room intensified.
A semi-transparent head slowly emerged, as if breaking through some invisible membrane.
With smooth pale-golden hair, blood-red eyes, and striking features.
When the head fully emerged, Sharon stood frozen, staring without blinking at that familiar face.
Reinette Tinekerr wore a complex, elegant yet somber black dress, her lowered hands holding four identical heads, each with golden hair, red eyes, and the same beautiful features.
"Is… it… you… who summoned… me?" The four heads spoke one after another.
As soon as she finished, she noticed Sharon standing nearby. All four heads turned in unison and said, "Sharon… why… are… you… here?"
"Teacher, I've missed-"
Sharon stepped forward, visibly emotional, about to express her longing, but when she noticed Hastur watching her from the corner of his eye, she quickly regained her usual calm and composure.
"I think I should go calm Ariella before she explodes."
Hastur tactfully left the room. Before leaving, he cast one more glance at Sharon's rather interesting expression.
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T/N: Sorry guys was busy with something. Doing a mass release, look forward to it.