Hastur turned his gaze toward the fairly handsome Marionettist.
"I'll give you a choice. Do you die first, or does this marionette of yours die first?"
"Let me die first." Painful struggle flashed through the man's eyes. His voice was hoarse and did not sound normal, more like someone whose throat had been ruined by poison.
"Tell me the story between you and this marionette. Satisfy my curiosity, and I'll grant your wish."
"Story? Heh... it really is quite a story."
The man's eyes were filled with mockery. He glanced at the Witch of Pleasure bound on the floor, remained silent for a moment, then slowly began telling his story.
His real name was Roger Dolin.
At the age of eighteen, he became a Seer, and at twenty-five, he advanced to Sequence 7 Magician. He was also a member of the Machinery Hivemind of the Church of Steam and Machinery, with a bright future ahead of him.
It was at that age that he met Miss Emma. The very first time he saw her, he decided that she was the life partner he had always wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
After his relentless pursuit, he finally got his wish and entered the halls of marriage with her.
A few years later, they even had an adorable son.
Everything had been so beautiful. But beautiful things existed to be destroyed.
His wife had hidden herself too well in everyday life. Even he had failed to notice that she was actually a Beyonder, and a member of the Demoness Sect at that!
When she advanced to Witch of Pleasure, Roger happened to be away for an extended mission, and she was unable to control her desire for pleasure.
Perhaps she had never tried to restrain that desire in the first place. Her debauched private life and infidelity made Roger feel betrayed.
After his repeated attempts to persuade her failed, he advanced to Marionettist and turned her into a marionette.
His one and only marionette. A marionette that belonged exclusively to him.
After that, he left the Church of Steam and Machinery as well, becoming an unaffiliated Beyonder and beginning a wandering life.
This time, he happened to be found by one of the Duke of Southville's confidants. Faced with an enormous reward, he accepted tonight's mission.
Assassin was the initial Sequence of the Demoness pathway. In his opinion, Beyonders of the Demoness pathway did not need to rely on seduction or pleasure to kill their targets.
An assassin only needed to be skilled at assassination. Unfortunately, he had misjudged his opponent tonight.
Not only had his marionette been captured instantly, but even he himself had been taken down.
After hearing his story, Hastur raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue.
Turning the wife he had once loved into a marionette... What a pathological possessiveness.
"Can you bury my remains together with hers?" After a painful internal struggle, Roger Dolin still made this final request, looking deeply affectionate.
Just as Hastur was about to agree, the Witch of Pleasure marionette that had been bound by the chains of stars suddenly trembled slightly.
Was she happy? Had the two of them really shared such a loving relationship as husband and wife?
Hastur felt somewhat surprised. After thinking for a moment, he used the Beyonder abilities of the Darkness pathway to enter the memories inside the Witch of Pleasure's mind.
There, he saw a somewhat different version of the story.
Miss Emma really was a member of the Demoness Sect. Before marrying Roger, she had already been a Sequence 7 Witch.
From the very beginning, she had never liked Roger.
It was only because she could not withstand his relentless pressure and threats that she ultimately married him.
As for the fact that she was a Witch of the Demoness Sect, Roger had already known about it before their marriage.
He had even used that fact to threaten to report her to the Church, forcing her into submission.
After they married, Roger, as a member of the Machinery Hivemind, was frequently away on missions and often did not return home for years at a time.
As a member of the Demoness Sect who had successfully advanced to Sequence 6 Witch of Pleasure, it was naturally impossible for Emma to preserve her chastity for Roger.
Pleasure in bed was the best medicine for Demonesses to avoid madness.
Later, Roger returned from a mission. Because he had been too eager when advancing to Sequence 5 Marionettist, his emotional state was unstable, alternating between madness and violent rage.
When Roger saw her lying in someone else's bed, all of his suppressed emotions erupted.
She was no match for him and was cruelly turned into a marionette by Roger, forced to remain by his side and constantly driven around like a slave.
Emma's memories also mentioned one other detail. The child between her and Roger had actually been a baby girl.
But Emma had followed the traditions of the Demoness Sect and sent the baby girl away to be raised by someone else, then conveniently stole a baby boy and brought him back for Roger to raise as his son.
Having fully satisfied his desire for gossip, Hastur withdrew from the memories of the Witch of Pleasure and looked at Roger with eyes full of mockery.
"You... what did you see in her memories?" Roger panicked, his voice becoming much louder.
"Aren't you a Seer? Didn't you ever seriously divine your own situation?"
Hastur could not be bothered to listen to his response. He simply had the members of the Yellow-robed Monks take him away and cleanly dispose of him.
In a sense, he had also completed the achievement of "divining and getting beaten" tonight.
As for the Demoness marionette, Hastur likewise had the Yellow-robed Monks deal with it.
The entire room instantly became much quieter.
Tonight, besides obtaining the Beyonder characteristics of a Sequence 4 Earl of the Fallen and a Marionettist, he had also acquired three Beyonder items.
One came from the Earl of the Fallen, while the other two came from Roger.
After Hastur figured out the abilities and negative effects of all three Beyonder items, he kept only the one that belonged to the same pathway as himself.
It was a black ring threaded with crimson patterns.
At the top of the ring, a black rose bloomed.
It was called the Oath of the Rose.
It had three Beyonder abilities.
The first was Budding Bloom.
In an instant, it could cause a gigantic black rose to blossom, wrapping any enemy who failed to evade in time within its petals. A series of negative effects such as disorder, distortion, and corruption would devour the enemy in moments.
The second was Perception Enhancement.
It could effectively increase the wearer's perceptive abilities by roughly one third.
The third was Oath Binding.
The wearer could choose one person and form an oath with them based on a certain range of rules. The exact contents of the oath could be freely drafted.
The Oath of the Rose had two negative effects.
The first was Flowers Have Thorns.
Every time one of the Oath of the Rose's abilities was used, tiny thorns sharp enough to pierce the skin of the wearer's finger would grow inside the ring.
With every additional use, the densely packed thorns would grow longer and stab deeper into the flesh of the finger.
If its use was not restrained and it was activated recklessly, the entire finger could eventually be completely pierced through.
Worse still, the piercing carried a corruptive infection that made the wounds difficult to heal.
The second was Destruction of Oaths.
Oaths, contracts, and promises existed in order to be broken.
Once an oath was formed, the participants would constantly develop an involuntary desire to perform actions that violated it.
Once the oath was broken, they would suffer punishment for violating the rules.
It was roughly equivalent to being afflicted with several layers of debuffs, for example, complete physical weakness, becoming inexplicably entangled in bad luck, being struck by lightning while walking down the street, or having various parts of the body undergo mutations.
Although the negative effects were rather severe, its abilities were equally outstanding. It was also convenient to carry and easy to activate at critical moments.
The only inconvenient part was that wearing the Oath of the Rose on one's finger made it very easy for others to recognize.
That Earl of the Fallen had most likely come from Backlund. The Duke of Southville should not have had a Beyonder expert of this level under him.
After all, getting a demigod to serve someone was not such a simple matter.
The next morning, just as dawn arrived, the Duke of Southville, who had anxiously waited through the entire night, sent someone to investigate Hastur's condition.
The person he sent saw Hastur walk out of his room completely unharmed, even leisurely enjoying a cup of hot morning tea.
After receiving the report, the Duke of Southville furiously swept the books on his desk onto the floor in his study.
As for the two useless fools who had confidently promised that everything would be handled properly, they had realized something was wrong and attempted to flee.
He had already sent people to chop them into pieces and throw them into the sea to feed the fish. He did not care whether those two lived or died.
What he cared about was the person he had secretly sent out as well. That person had been specially dispatched by his father to stay at his side and protect him, preventing him from suddenly dying for inexplicable reasons.
Now, that man had vanished for an entire night without returning or sending back any message.
The chances were that things had gone very badly for him.
"Heh, Earl Campbell. You really are capable."
The Duke of Southville muttered through clenched teeth, a trace of determination flashing through his eyes.
He walked to the desk, took out paper and pen, and began writing a letter that he intended to send back to Backlund explaining what had happened.
Before he could finish writing it, Hastur had someone deliver a message to him.
"Thank you, Your Grace, for your warm hospitality last night. It allowed me to spend a wonderful evening. I also hope that every night from now on, Your Grace can sleep peacefully and enjoy pleasant dreams."
The Duke of Southville was so furious that he nearly ground his teeth to pieces, but he still had someone send a reply to Hastur.
"The road of life is still very long. I hope Earl Campbell enjoys a smooth journey, free from illness and suffering, and forever distant from misfortune and calamity!"
By the time Hastur received the Duke's wonderful blessing, he was already shopping for gifts in the stores along the nearby streets.
Since he had come all the way out here, he might as well bring some things back.
Otherwise, that little fellow Ariella would start meowing nonstop again.
...
After returning to Puning Harbor, Hastur handed full responsibility for dealing with the Duke of Southville over to Caius.
He gave Caius only one instruction. By the time he returned from Backlund, he hoped that Southville County would already be peaceful and calm.
After spending two days arranging various matters, Hastur returned to Backlund together with Sharron, Ariella, and Madam Lisa.
He also casually invited Miss Audrey's second older brother.
Hastur had originally assumed Alfred would refuse, but unexpectedly, this time he also chose to return to Backlund with them.
Apparently, Earl Hall was preparing to arrange a marriage for him in Backlund. Out of curiosity, Hastur specifically asked Alfred about his age.
Twenty-six years old. Right in the prime of a man's youth.
What Hastur thought about, however, was something else.
Audrey had only just turned eighteen and reached adulthood during last year's New Year celebrations.
In other words, there was an eight-year age gap between the two siblings.
That age difference... Earl Hall really had been quite vigorous even in his later years.
-------------------------
T/N: Crossed 50 powerstones, here is your one bonus chapter...