These words sounded rather profound. Hastur had once heard from Caius that within the Yellow-Robed Monks there was a famous song. They firmly believed that chanting it could please the deity.
Some also said it wasn't a simple song at all, but a script written by the King in Yellow, a prophecy involving the future.
Madam Lisa's behavior today, along with what she said, clearly showed that she regarded the content of that song as a prophecy. Combining it with recent events, she had placed himself and the vessel for the god's descent into that song.
Twin suns, one of light and one of darkness. She saw Hastur as the light, and the vessel as the darkness.
If interpreted this way, it did seem to make sense, and was even quite accurate.
But this same prophecy could also be applied to the Eternal Blazing Sun and the Supernova Dominator.
The twin suns sinking into the lake, their long shadows falling… wasn't that exactly what was happening now?
Hastur still remembered the latter half of the song:
"When souls no longer sing, when tears no longer flow,
O Lord of the starry sea in the distant cosmos,
O formless, indescribable being of chaos,
He shall descend amidst the expectations of countless believers!"
By that logic, unless the universe itself perished, the King in Yellow would never descend.
"Believer Caius greets His Holiness the Pope!" Caius hurriedly bowed as well. He firmly believed in this interpretation.
Moreover, elevating Hastur to the position of Pope had always been the stance of their faction.
Hastur merely glanced at them, neither agreeing nor refusing. He was seriously considering something else.
The King in Yellow's pathway: Sequence 3, Stealing Fate, Sequence 2, Divine Revelation, Sequence 1, Pope.
He had taken over the original owner's body and lived on under his identity, wasn't that a form of stealing fate?
He controlled the Hall of Stars and possessed the ability of divine revelation, able to deliver oracles and guide believers, didn't that fulfill the requirements of Sequence 2?
If he were to become the Pope of the Yellow-Robed Monks, would that complete the acting requirements of Sequence 1?
Hastur couldn't help but think of Klein in the later stages, how he controlled Sefirah Castle, how the Mysteries left arrangements on him, and how his advancement sped up because he had already been acting as higher sequences in advance, making the potions digest instantly.
This made Hastur immediately more alert. Whether his guess was correct or not, when he reached Sequence 4 and could advance into adjacent pathways, he must not choose the King in Yellow pathway.
Perhaps this was the biggest trap the King in Yellow had left for him.
Seeing that Hastur remained silent, Madam Lisa and Caius instinctively lowered their heads even further, their hearts filled with greater reverence.
"Pope?" A playful expression gradually appeared on Hastur's face.
"Just because you acknowledge me, I become the Pope? That would make the title far too cheap."
Madam Lisa and Caius trembled slightly and hurriedly explained, "No, our recognition means nothing. You are the Pope acknowledged by the deity. Only the deity has the right to crown you."
"Heh. Have you received another oracle?"
"…" That slightly mocking remark left Madam Lisa silent. Her voice turned dry. "The deity gave me only one oracle. Since then, there has been no further revelation, nor any message."
"Tell me about your first encounter with the deity," Hastur said, interested. Perhaps he could learn something about the King in Yellow.
Madam Lisa fell silent for a while, then straightened her posture, a faint smile appearing on her face. "Of course. That was the greatest honor of my life… perhaps my luck was completely used up at that moment."
"The story goes back a long time. At that time, I was still a carefree young girl…"
Hastur listened quietly as she recounted a distant past in a calm, almost relieved tone.
Unexpectedly, her first encounter with the deity did not occur around the time of the original's birth, but over a hundred and sixty years ago.
The timeline roughly coincided with when Roselle transformed the Intis Republic into an empire and declared himself Caesar.
According to history, Roselle proclaimed himself Caesar in 1192, and in 1194 discovered a new sea route, reopening the passage between the northern and southern continents and ushering in the age of colonization.
Madam Lisa was from the Kingdom of Loen. She came from a wealthy family and lived as a sheltered noble lady, unaware of the changes in the outside world, somewhat similar to Audrey.
At eighteen, she already had a fiancé, a naval officer of good appearance and background. They were well-matched and had no objections to this arranged marriage.
If life had continued like that, she would have married, had children, managed the household, and lived the standard life of a noble lady.
But fate seemed to favor her at a certain moment.
Before her fiancé was called to the southern continent to compete for colonial wealth, she accidentally discovered, in a book titled "The Yellow Book," a spell for creating a gate of space-time.
Out of curiosity, and because mysticism was flourishing at the time, with many believing such books contained real magical power, she tried it.
Whether it was luck, or because the King in Yellow had already noticed her the moment she saw the book, she successfully completed the spell.
That very night, in her dream, she met the deity recorded in "The Yellow Book", the King in Yellow.
She wasn't afraid. Instead, she felt delighted by this change.
Through her conversation with the deity, she learned the future fates of everyone around her, including her fiancé, who would soon die in a storm.
Three months later, news of his death came from the sea.
Only then did she truly understand fate, that in the seemingly unknowable future, every living being already had a fixed script.
Her fiancé was like that. Her parents were the same. Her father died in bed during an affair, and her mother lost her life in an accidental fall into water.
She asked the deity about her own fate.
The deity told her she would live alone and die of old age at eighty-two.
At the same time, it told her she had a chance to change fate.
The deity needed a devout believer, and she had been chosen. She had no objections.
After she became a truly devout believer, the deity left, its whereabouts unknown.
She tried many methods but could no longer contact it. She understood that its gaze had moved on to more interesting matters.
To spread the faith, she used the deity's song as a foundation to write books for preaching, eventually becoming a pioneer who led others forward.
Until Hastur appeared, the one she called the Child of Destiny, someone who carried too many threads of fate.
Hastur asked, "Do you remember what happened when I was born?"
"When I first saw you, you had already been born for more than a year."
"How did you notice the fate surrounding me?"
"I followed the guidance of fate… and naturally came to see you, before you had even learned to walk."
At this point, Hastur asked about the golden box. Madam Lisa said she didn't know what was inside, but it was certainly related to the deity she worshipped.
This was fate's revelation to her, and she believed it without doubt.
Within the Yellow-Robed Monks, some had tried to open the golden box, but without exception, they suffered backlash from fate and died under its unpredictability.
After many deaths, those who wished to claim the box gave up the idea, fearing it like a tiger.
Finally, Hastur asked about Madam Lisa's sequence.
She was also Sequence 3, Stealing Fate. Her potion had been fully digested. As long as she received another divine revelation, she could advance to Sequence 2.
The reason Cardiff had risked everything to bring about the deity's descent was to attract its attention, gain revelation, and advance, but he had taken the wrong path.
…
"I'll be leaving for a while." That night, Sharon stepped out of the mirror, her gaze directed toward the distant south.
Hastur frowned. "The southern continent is very dangerous right now. It's not suitable to go. I hope you'll think carefully."
Sharon simply looked at him, her expression calm. "I'm not planning to go to the southern continent."
"Then where?" She briefly explained her reason for leaving.
Within Southville, there were also members of the Temperance faction. She needed to consolidate that force, especially after learning her teacher was still alive.
"When are you leaving?"
"Now."
"…." Hastur sighed. Just like Sharon, only telling him at the very last moment.
"I'll take care of myself." She cut him off before he could speak. Standing by the window with her back to him, she said, "You too."
"Meow." Ariella walked to the window, watching Sharon disappear through the mirror. It tilted its head in confusion and pawed at the smooth glass.
Hastur quietly returned to his desk, took out 008 sealed inside a pen case, and also brought out a blank sheet of paper.
He had no intention of writing a diary, if anyone ever saw it, that would be social death.
A simple truth proven by Roselle's legendary life.