Outside Puning Harbor, the investigators from the Churches of the three gods, who had been waiting in the outer area, originally thought today would be another day without any results.
Unexpectedly, they personally witnessed Hastur Campbell leaving Puning Harbor.
Their spirits lifted, and they hurriedly surrounded him, wanting to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Unfortunately, after following him for a while, they completely lost track of Hastur and never saw even his shadow again.
"There's no need to doubt it anymore. Hastur Campbell is definitely a powerful Beyonder. Judging from the Beyonder abilities he just displayed, he is very likely a Beyonder of the Apprentice pathway, quite possibly a Sequence 5 Traveler."
"It's truly hard to imagine. He's clearly so young, yet he's already reached this level."
"There will always be some people who are favored by fate. Unlike us, who are merely here to make up the numbers."
After the investigators sighed with emotion for a while, they sent this latest information back to Backlund and waited for further instructions.
Before their message could even reach Backlund, Hastur had already arrived there.
Among those fragmented memories, Backlund, the City of Hope, was the starting point of his life, the place where everything began.
His appearance did not attract anyone else's attention. It was only when he followed the location in his memories back to his own home and saw Butler Neil that he finally recovered a few memories related to this place.
"Lord Earl, you... why did you suddenly come back?" Butler Neil first exclaimed in surprise, then quickly looked around and lowered his voice. "Lord Earl, you shouldn't have returned alone. This place is far too dangerous for you. You should hurry and leave Backlund!"
"Why?" Hastur asked calmly. This was his home. Why did he need to leave his own home?
"The royal family has already sent word that they intend to charge you with treason."
Butler Neil lowered his voice to the bare minimum while leading Hastur to a relatively secluded study on the second floor, preventing too many people from discovering that his Earl had returned to Backlund.
"Treason?"
A trace of confusion appeared in Hastur's eyes. Why did he feel no sense of belonging toward this country at all?
He did not even have the slightest memory related to it.
"Yes. Recently, rumors have been spreading throughout Backlund that you were responsible for the deaths of the previous and current Dukes of Southville."
Butler Neil spoke earnestly and once again urged Hastur to leave Backlund as soon as possible and find somewhere to hide, lest the Loen royal family discover him.
Hastur merely stood there quietly. After seriously recalling for a moment, he nodded.
"I killed them."
He remembered that the deaths of two Dukes of Southville were indeed related to him. As for what their names were or why he had killed them, he could no longer remember.
"...Ah!"
Butler Neil was completely stunned. His hands and feet turned cold as he stared in disbelief at the young Earl before him.
Hastur said nothing more. His gaze swept around the study before he left, walked along the second-floor corridor, and entered the bedroom where he had once lived, quietly staying there alone for a while.
Before long, a commotion of footsteps sounded near the entrance of the house. Police informants stationed around the residence had spotted traces of Hastur's return and immediately dispatched a large number of officers to arrest the criminal responsible for the deaths of two Dukes of Southville.
By the time they stormed into the house and searched everywhere, however, they could not find any trace of Hastur.
Butler Neil, who had already recovered from his earlier shock, secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they had failed to find the Earl. He was about to step forward to deal with the matter when he was directly taken to the police station for questioning.
Inside the police station, although Butler Neil's hair had already turned white and his face showed his age, he remained neither servile nor overbearing while answering questions, completely ignoring the officers' threatening words.
"I'll say it again. I have not seen Hastur Campbell today, nor do I know where he has gone." Butler Neil repeated what he had said earlier.
"Heh, do you think our people are blind? Besides, the other maids have already confessed. Today, just a short while ago, the criminal named Hastur briefly appeared here." The officer responsible for the interrogation slammed the table heavily. The loud bangs, combined with the dim surroundings, were quite intimidating.
Butler Neil slightly raised his eyelids. "They saw him. That doesn't mean I did. Surely my own eyes wouldn't deceive me."
"Old bastard, looks like you don't want to live anymore."
Butler Neil merely smiled. "Remaining faithful to one's post is a virtue. I am simply walking the correct path."
As long as Hastur Campbell had not dismissed him, he remained the butler of the Campbell family.
Just as the interrogating officer was about to say something else, a small meteor descended vertically from the sky and smashed directly into the police station, causing an enormous explosion.
When the smoke and dust dispersed, Butler Neil had already disappeared from the devastated police station.
In the outskirts, Hastur put Butler Neil down and softly said, "From now on, you are free."
It took Butler Neil a long time to recover from the shock. Hearing Hastur's words, he merely coughed lightly, smiled, and shook his head.
"Lord Earl, you already paid me next year's salary in advance. Even if you want to dismiss me, you'll have to wait until after next year."
"There's no need for that."
Butler Neil did not continue discussing the matter. He merely warned Hastur that he absolutely had to be wary of the Augustus family of the Loen royal family.
Recently, quite a few old aristocratic families in Backlund had suffered unjust treatment. Persecution sanctioned by the Loen royal family had ruined their families and destroyed their lives, after which they were replaced by newly risen nobles.
"Lord Earl, you must take good care of yourself."
Leaving behind those final words, Butler Neil departed.
"The Augustus family..."
Hastur frowned slightly. He really disliked this family.
After waiting quietly for a while, Hastur did not continue walking across this land. Instead, he returned to the Hall of Stars.
When his gaze once again fell upon Backlund, it naturally turned toward the royal palace where the Augustus family resided.
Destroy it. It's a bit of an eyesore.
Hastur slightly raised his head and looked toward the starry sky. Aside from countless planets, there were also innumerable meteors there.
He only needed to exert the slightest pull to make those meteors break through the atmosphere and descend as divine punishment.
Because the starry sky was his divine kingdom.
...
December 26th.
With the new year fast approaching, an extraordinary phenomenon appeared in the sky late at night. Meteors descended from the heavens and struck the Loen royal palace with perfect accuracy. The vast and magnificent palace complex was completely reduced to devastated ruins, with countless meteor craters left across the ground.
What was even more astonishing was that the ordinary residents living near the royal palace were completely unaffected. They even slept especially soundly that night. Many only learned after waking the next morning that a meteor shower had fallen the previous night.
The residents of Backlund called that night's meteor shower the Night of the Stars' Wrath.
It was said that the gods were dissatisfied with the Loen royal family's recent actions and had deliberately sent down divine punishment.
The rumor grew increasingly widespread until Jevington II was eventually forced to step forward and express his repentance to the gods regarding the matter.
Unfortunately, the gods did not accept his repentance. Instead, they hurled another highly insulting flaming meteor at him, destroying the platform from which he was delivering his speech.
This incident undoubtedly confirmed all sorts of rumors and speculation, severely damaging the dignity of the Loen royal family. Jevington II's prestige plummeted, and the positive image he had accumulated through victory in the war completely collapsed.
"Useless!"
"What divine punishment?! This was clearly done by someone!"
"Is there no one from the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the Church of Storms, or the Church of Steam and Machinery willing to step forward and deal with this matter?"
Inside the study of a newly constructed temporary royal palace, Jevington II was flying into a rage.
A meteor shower descending from the skies? This was clearly someone using their own Beyonder abilities while acting in the name of divine will!
Within the mystical world, quite a few Sequence 2 Angels were capable of accomplishing something like this.
For example, Sequence 2 Calamity of the Storm pathway, Sequence 2 Catastrophe of the Demoness pathway, Sequence 2 Miracle Invoker of the Seer pathway, and so on.
According to the speculation of the Augustus family's Beyonders, these incidents were very likely the work of a Calamity from the Storm pathway.
However, the Church of Storms firmly denied the matter, insisting that it had absolutely nothing to do with their church.
The Augustus family refused to accept their explanation.
Backlund was a place watched over by the gods. To unleash a catastrophe of such magnitude over Backlund without being noticed by the three gods watching over the city was simply impossible.
Otherwise, Backlund would have long since been destroyed by high-Sequence Beyonders.
Yet the catastrophe had still descended.
This meant that the matter might have been tacitly permitted by the three gods. At the very least, the Lord of Storms definitely knew about it.
After the incident, the Churches of the three gods showed no intention of actively dealing with the matter and instead repeatedly stalled and shirked responsibility.
This further reinforced the suspicions of the Augustus family members.
But without a true god backing them, they did not dare directly question the three true gods and could only silently swallow their anger.
Because once they fell out with the Churches of the three gods, not only would the Augustus family's rule over the Loen Kingdom be shaken, but the war against the Feysac Empire would also undergo a fundamental reversal.
In order to calm the situation, Jevington II became much quieter and simultaneously slowed down his policies targeting certain old aristocratic families.
...
Above the gray fog, although Klein was overseas, he still learned about the recent events in Backlund through his own information channels.
There was still some time before the Tarot Club gathering began, and he was currently considering how he should answer questions regarding Backlund later.
For something like this, he had to prepare beforehand. Only by having a plan in mind could he properly handle all the possible questions the Tarot Club members might ask.
The Day of the Stars' Wrath... Why does this feel like the Stars' handiwork?
Maybe I should just blame everything that's happened recently in Backlund on the Stars. After all, He's so mysterious and unfathomable that anything He does would seem possible.
Klein pondered seriously for a long while. Then, when the time arrived, he summoned the Tarot Club members to attend the gathering.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
Audrey naturally greeted all the Tarot Club members. Her vibrant voice was like a ray of sunlight tearing through a gloomy sky, making everyone's mood involuntarily become lighter and more cheerful.