'George III intended to advance to Sequence 0, Black Emperor, on the day of his speech.'
This news left the members of the Tarot Club stunned.
Although they already knew that reaching the end of a Beyonder pathway meant becoming a god, actually hearing that someone intended to become a god still filled them with excitement and shock. More importantly, despite George III having made such thorough preparations, he had still failed.
"Why did George III's advancement to Black Emperor fail?" Audrey asked the question she most wanted answered.
"Because Mr. Fool did not agree." The World gazed fervently at Mr. Fool and bowed his body toward him to show his respect.
And the Stars too!
Fors shouted inwardly, but she didn't dare directly bring up matters concerning the Stars in front of Mr. Fool.
Klein saw through her thoughts and calmly added, "On this matter, the Stars and I shared the same will."
The Stars? The organization of the Stars that had been causing such an uproar in Backlund recently?
Mr. Fool actually knew this mysterious existence? And he had even silently completed a collaboration with the other party!
George III wanted to become a god. The six remaining true gods had no objections and chose to tacitly allow it, but Mr. Fool disagreed, and so did the Stars.
Therefore, George III's path to advancement had failed, and he had fallen as well. This was the most straightforward impression Alger and the others had.
After her shock subsided, Audrey couldn't help thinking about Mr. Hastur, who had behaved somewhat unusually that day.
Could Mr. Hastur be a believer of the Stars?
She had always felt that Mr. Hastur was very mysterious. Perhaps the organization of the Stars that had recently risen in Backlund was also being orchestrated by Mr. Hastur from behind the scenes.
The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed. If Mr. Hastur was a believer of the Stars, while she was a believer of The Fool, then in a sense, wouldn't that be equivalent to her cooperating with Mr. Hastur?
The corners of Audrey's lips curved slightly upward. Her gaze swept across the members of the Tarot Club before quietly settling on Miss Magician.
She noticed that there was no shock in Miss Magician's eyes. Instead, she seemed to be hiding something, afraid that others would discover what was on her mind.
Did Miss Magician already know about George III beforehand? Last time, she had also revealed information concerning the fall of the God of Combat.
But Miss Magician didn't look like some important figure at all.
Suspicious. Very suspicious. Perhaps she had even met her before.
Audrey merely observed Miss Magician out of the corner of her eye without alerting her.
Only after everyone had buried their shock deep within their hearts did she pay The World 500 pounds for the information.
Originally, she had wanted to give a little more, but recently she needed to purchase the Beyonder ingredients for Sequence 6 Hypnotist, so she had to be more frugal.
500 pounds!
Fors' eyes widened. Then, with a complicated expression, she glanced at The World and silently said nothing.
"Acceptable." Klein was very satisfied with this payment.
Especially since these 500 pounds had come out of Miss Magician's pocket, making his sense of accomplishment even greater.
Last time, pound note after pound note had grown wings and flown toward Miss Magician. Now, they had all flown back.
Next, Audrey brought up the Beyonder ingredients she needed. In the end, Alger and The World accepted the task. Derrick also said that he would help search for them, but he had no need for something like pounds, so he allowed Audrey to owe him for the time being.
After resolving her most important matter, Audrey casually brought up another topic. "Which Beyonder pathway is relatively skilled at divining a person's future?"
"Sequence 9 Seer," Alger naturally answered.
"Then what level would a Beyonder need to reach to easily divine all the rises and falls of a person's fate throughout their entire life?" Audrey was very concerned about the prophecy that had circulated within the Loen royal family.
"They would probably need to be at least a Sequence 4 demigod," Alger answered with some uncertainty.
Derrick added, "Beyonders of the Fate pathway are also very skilled at seeing through the fate of a person's entire life. I once heard the Chief mention that there is a Beyonder Sequence in the Fate pathway called Prophet, but I don't know exactly which Sequence it is."
Hearing this, Audrey already had a certain understanding. The person who had secretly prophesied her future must belong to one of these two Beyonder pathways.
After everyone finished their transactions, Derrick began talking about matters concerning the City of Silver again. Their previous expedition had already ended, and after returning to rest and reorganize, they were once again heading to Afternoon Town to explore.
...
In a world untouched by light, only the disorderly flashes of lightning streaking across the sky could bring a trace of illumination to the world. Even though this tiny amount of light was insignificant to those living on the ground, it was one of the few rays of hope in their lives that allowed them to keep going.
Afternoon Town was located near the Giant King's Court. The darkness here was perilous, and it had once swallowed an unknown number of exploration team members from the City of Silver.
After finishing this week's Tarot Gathering, Derrick awoke beside the bonfire and subconsciously tightened his grip on the Hurricane Axe in his hand.
The heavy and icy sensation allowed Derrick's tense mood to relax.
Whenever he attended the Tarot Gathering while outside the City of Silver, he was always afraid that when he woke up, the world before him would suddenly collapse like a dream, or that it would be filled with endless darkness, leaving him unable to see even the slightest bit of light ever again.
Derrick gripped the handle of the Hurricane Axe with his right hand while gently stroking the surface of the axe with his left. His unfocused eyes stared at the clusters of flames rising from the bonfire before him.
The focus in his eyes gradually gathered within the flames, and only then did he recover from the shock of what he had learned at today's Tarot Gathering.
An existence capable of advancing to godhood had fallen under the wills of Mr. Fool and the Stars. The outside world was truly terrifying.
Even the Chief, the strongest person in the City of Silver, probably wouldn't count as a particularly powerful Beyonder if placed in the outside world.
Besides his shock, Derrick also developed curiosity, reverence, and admiration toward the Stars.
How wonderful would it be if the radiance of the Stars could also descend upon the City of Silver?
He desperately wanted to see with his own eyes what a brilliant starry sky truly looked like.
Instead of only imagining it by looking at illustrations in books.
Pfft!
A faint sound rang out, immediately followed by the sound of something being dragged away.
Derrick immediately snapped out of his contemplation. He stood up, tightly gripped the Hurricane Axe, and assumed a combat stance with a vigilant expression, staring in the direction from which the sound had come.
"Something's happening!"
"Watch out for the monsters hiding in the darkness!"
"Light! We need enough light!"
The anxious voices of the team members sounded from around him. Another person had just been dragged away by a monster lurking in the darkness.
After a while, rustling sounds once again came from within the darkness.
Derrick identified the direction of the sound and repeatedly swung the Hurricane Axe toward it. Several bolts of lightning shot forth, illuminating that corner of the area.
The dazzling lightning caused the monster lurking in the darkness to let out a frightened cry before rapidly retreating into an even darker area.
With this bit of time, the Chief, Colin Iliad arrived with the others, and the area finally became temporarily safe.
Colin swept his gaze over the bloodstains remaining beside the bonfire before solemnly looking in the direction of the Giant King's Court. This place was merely Afternoon Town, located on the outskirts of the Giant King's Court.
Yet the monsters in the darkness here were already beginning to lose their fear of bonfires. The deeper they ventured, the more dangerous it would undoubtedly become.
But if they didn't try, they would never find a path out of this world. They would never see the sea or the starry sky.
Without revealing anything, he glanced at Derrick, who remained fully vigilant, before gathering everyone together and having them form small teams that could support one another as they had during their previous expeditions, preventing the monsters in the darkness from launching another surprise attack.
Colin walked at the very front of the group. Pure and sacred dawn light radiated from his body, resembling the first ray of sunlight cast upon the earth at sunrise. The surrounding area immediately became as bright as dawn.
The monsters that feared the light of dawn fled one after another, retreating into the distance. Their densely packed numbers resembled a black tide.
"Let's go. Keep moving forward."
Carrying the almost domain-like light of dawn with him, Colin led Derrick and the others deeper inside. Before long, they arrived near a half-collapsed church.
The church had originally possessed a tall tower. Its overall architecture consisted of classical stone columns and masonry arches, giving it a heavy and gloomy appearance.
They passed through the ruined entrance, which was large enough for giants to walk through, and entered the prayer hall. The statue that had once been worshiped here had already been destroyed, making it impossible to tell which deity it had depicted. However, the candles on the altar had been lit by an unknown person and were shining all alone.
In front of the altar was a figure dressed in a simple white robe. He was prostrated on the ground, quietly praying.
"He's not one of ours."
"Judging by his clothing, he doesn't look like a resident from around the City of Silver either. Could he be nothing more than an illusion like before? Or is he a monster in disguise, trying to take the opportunity to ambush us?"
"Let's be careful so we don't disturb him."
Colin's expression became especially solemn. In a place like this, the more unusual something was, the more likely it was to contain danger.
Derrick followed within the group, staring at the figure in front of the altar. For some reason, he felt that the person's clothing greatly resembled what Mr. Hanged Man and Miss Justice had described.
In an environment like the City of Silver, there were no proper, presentable clothes. Unless it was an important sacrificial festival, no one would ever wear such a conspicuous white robe.
In a world of darkness, dressing like this would easily attract the attention of monsters.
It was equivalent to telling the monsters in the darkness, "I'm right here. Come eat me."
Anyone capable of surviving in this world would never make such a basic mistake.
Could this person also have come in from the outside world?
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T/N: Bonus chapter for reaching 50 power stones...