Faced with the Son of Chaos's sudden outburst of anger, Bernadette had long since grown accustomed to it. William I, on the other hand, had a stiff expression for a moment, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
The Son of Chaos's words and behavior were seriously at odds with the image of a Great Old One that he had imagined.
Could it be that when the Mysteries sealed half of the Son of Chaos inside the Magic Wishing Lamp, He had also torn His intelligence in half?
After a brief silence, the Son of Chaos sneered. "A mere Sequence 1 like you dares to look down on me? Today, I'll leave the dead body of yours here. This mausoleum can serve perfectly well as your grave!"
After saying that, the Son of Chaos glanced at Bernadette. "Today, I'll do everything I can to help you deal with this trouble."
Bernadette nodded. A fairy-tale kingdom manifested around her, trapping William I before her, while the Son of Chaos also did His utmost to invoke the status that belonged to Him as a Great Old One.
Even though He was sealed within the Magic Wishing Lamp, at such close range and with Bernadette allowing Him free rein, it was enough to suppress William I, who belonged to the Justiciar pathway.
At the very least, William I could only bring out forty to fifty percent of His full strength.
Regarding George III's advancement to Black Emperor, the Son of Chaos shared the same will as the Stars.
Want to become the Black Emperor? Dream on!
Once George III became the Black Emperor, he would definitely set his sights on the Son of Chaos's Nation of Disorder. Hmph, that was a path to certain death!
With the Son of Chaos's full assistance, Bernadette instead gained the upper hand over the Sequence 1 William I.
She split off an avatar and sent it to destroy George III's mausoleum.
William I's expression changed slightly, but He was powerless to stop her.
Soon, the mausoleum that had consumed an enormous amount of manpower and resources began to collapse with a thunderous roar.
Inside Ruin No. 1 on the outskirts of Backlund, within the majestic, pitch-black secret mausoleum.
The real George III had already donned the black crown and consumed the potion.
His body began transforming toward the Shadow of Order. In a strange state, it expanded and extended, as though he was gradually leaving the earth behind and flying toward the starry sky above.
When he reached midair, he looked down upon the black ocean shrouded in the Shadow of Order below.
The nine mausoleums were nine truly existing islands within that black ocean. Meanwhile, the countless citizens reciting "In the name of Emperor George III" during the moment of silence were like innumerable, densely packed lighthouses, collectively anchoring him as the king of the Loen Kingdom and ruler of the Rorsted Archipelago.
They prevented him from breaking away from reality and becoming part of the chaos or go mad.
During this process, George III's thoughts began to wander as he recalled the various schemes he had carried out along his path to this point.
His heart was filled with pride and ambition.
His ambitions were enormous. To ensure that today's advancement ritual proceeded smoothly, he had borrowed every force he could possibly make use of.
The Demoness Sect, Zaratul of the Secret Order, members of the Twilight Hermit Order, and even Mr. Door, whose involvement was known only to him!
He would become a god. He would become the new Black Emperor!
Now, he was getting closer and closer to that goal.
At that moment, one of the islands formed from a mausoleum suddenly began trembling. Cracks spread across it continuously until it finally shattered within the Shadow of Order.
With the destruction of one mausoleum, the Shadow of Order began expanding and spreading. The other islands were affected and started shaking violently as cracks appeared throughout the entire world.
"Ah!" George III's face twisted as a painful and suppressed roar escaped his mouth.
He felt as though a piece of his soul had been torn away!
The Shadow of Order surged toward him like a tide, seeking to engulf his remaining eight islands before dragging him down from the sky and devouring him completely!
But the starry sky was clearly right before his eyes. He would never give up halfway!
George III forcefully suppressed the agony of his torn soul and focused entirely on digesting the potion he had consumed. Relying on the remaining eight islands and the lighthouses formed by the citizens, he stabilized his condition and pushed with all his strength toward Sequence 0, Black Emperor!
He only needed to hold on for another two or three minutes. Then he would be able to leave the earth behind, reach the starry sky, and become a new deity!
But before much time had passed, George III saw another island within the ocean of the Shadow of Order undergo a sudden change.
That island didn't crack apart. Instead, after violently shaking for a moment, it directly broke free from his control!
Not only did it cease helping to anchor his state, it instead violently crashed toward the other islands!
Damn it! What the hell were those people doing?! How could they allow his mausoleums to be sabotaged one after another?!
Aside from the hidden forces of the royal family, he had also invited helpers from the Demoness Sect, the Secret Order, and the Twilight Hermit Order to defend the mausoleums with all their strength. There should have been absolutely no chance of failure!
"A bunch of useless trash!"
George III was furious yet helpless. At this point, he had no way back and could only continue forward step by step.
...
At Memorial Square, Hastur, who was observing the three-minute moment of silence for George III, sensed the increasingly chaotic atmosphere throughout Backlund and clearly felt the Mentor of Disorder potion within his body being continuously digested.
He glanced at the fake George III, whose body was trembling slightly even as he struggled to maintain himself.
Closing his eyes, Hastur quietly arrived above the Hall of Stars.
With a wave of his hand, scenes of what Bernadette, Madam Lisa, and the others were facing manifested within the Hall of Stars.
With the Son of Chaos's full assistance, Bernadette steadily suppressed her opponent. After successfully destroying one mausoleum, she began shifting the battlefield, drawing the fighting toward another mausoleum.
The aftermath of their battle continuously damaged this new mausoleum.
If someone hadn't been protecting it, Bernadette would have already succeeded in destroying a second mausoleum.
Compared to the commotion caused by Bernadette, things were much quieter on Madam Lisa's side.
In order to deal with George III, Madam Lisa had long since infiltrated the mausoleum. Her ability to steal fate had directly seized the fate of the guardian watching over the mausoleum, allowing her to remain there under his identity.
And now, she was even attempting to steal George III's mausoleum itself! What was more, she had succeeded!
This situation was even more severe than simply destroying the mausoleum.
Through the connection between this mausoleum and George III, Madam Lisa could indirectly affect the other mausoleums and even directly interfere with George III's advancement.
But such an action was far too dangerous and could easily bring disaster upon herself. Madam Lisa chose not to interfere directly. Instead, she used this mausoleum to continuously ram into the others.
The Beyonder pathway left behind by the King in Yellow really was terrifying.
Fortunately, Madam Lisa was only Sequence 2. If she were Sequence 1, she might have even tried to directly steal George III's identity and advance to godhood in his place.
Seeing that things were progressing smoothly on their side, Hastur turned his gaze downward toward Memorial Square. From a lofty position, he scrutinized George III, who was hidden deep within the mausoleum and doing everything he could to advance to Black Emperor.
At this moment, George III's condition was clearly abnormal. The collapse of two mausoleums had severely affected his state. His anchors had become unstable, and his foundations were continuously being destroyed.
The remaining mausoleums were all experiencing varying degrees of shaking and instability.
This time, those secretly targeting George III weren't limited to the Stars and The Fool. There were also spies from the Feysac Empire and members of the Church of the God of Combat.
George III intended to use this opportunity to declare all-out war against the Feysac Empire. In order to gain some breathing room, the Church of the God of Combat could only stake everything on one desperate gamble.
If things dragged on any longer, the Church of the God of Combat would completely fall into the Evernight Goddess's grasp.
Some devout believers of the God of Combat were capable of doing anything for the sake of their faith.
Their strength might not be enough, but they were still capable of creating chaos and drawing the attention of the Loen military and the three Churches.
"I wonder how things are going on Mr. Fool's side."
Hastur murmured before looking toward the stars above his head.
His primary target was Adam. He wanted to see what Adam would do on the day George III attempted to become a god.
But in the scene, Adam was simply staying obediently inside the seaside church, with no intention of going anywhere, as though He didn't care in the slightest whether George III succeeded or failed.
That made sense. To Him, whether George III succeeded or failed wasn't important.
The tide of war was already surging forward. There was no need for Him to secretly fan the flames any further.
If George III fell, the Loen Kingdom would descend into internal turmoil, giving the Feysac Empire a brief opportunity to catch its breath.
If George III succeeded, the Loen Kingdom would declare all-out war against Feysac. Either outcome would spark a war. The only difference was whether it came sooner or later.
If he were Adam, he would probably focus his attention on 0-08.
Unfortunately, Hastur wouldn't hand 0-08 over to Him so easily.
After observing for a while, Hastur looked down at George III and issued a judgment in the name of the Stars:
"George III's attempt to advance to Black Emperor today is destined to fail!"
Hastur didn't remain in the Hall of Stars for long. Carefully keeping track of the three-minute moment of silence, he left the Hall of Stars and returned to the real world.
When the three-minute moment of silence ended, George III on the podium had originally intended to continue speaking, but his body suddenly trembled violently several times.
Under the eyes of everyone present, the stern and old-fashioned Emperor of the Leon Kingdom, George III, exploded with a bang.
His flesh and blood turned into fireworks, spraying into the air in a brilliant and colorful display.