As for whether the existence before him was truly one of the legendary gods, Philip couldn't be certain, but an inexplicable sense of anticipation still arose in his heart.
"Yes. I want to go to Backlund..." Philip still stammered out his wish.
"Backlund..." It sounded like a whisper. Philip suddenly felt the space around him shift. He seemed to see himself leaving the port where he had lived for more than twenty years and flying through a strange, bizarre, and fantastical world.
He could clearly see himself flying, as though he had entered a bubble shimmering with countless colors. The world outside swept rapidly past his eyes, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Am I really going to reach Backlund by following this figure in yellow?
The hope in Philip's heart gradually overwhelmed his fear, and he began to seriously observe everything before him.
This world wasn't like a fairy tale at all. Instead, it was filled with desolation and decay, giving him the same feeling as the abandoned houses at the foot of the mountain near the port, houses that no one had lived in for a very long time.
No, it was far more terrifying and frightening than those abandoned houses.
Just moments ago, a hideous and indescribably terrifying creature had flashed past his eyes. He could only vaguely make out that it was covered in mouths, resembling a bloated cow standing upright, yet its entire body was covered in black hair.
When he turned his head to take another look, the terrifying creature's body had already been torn into pieces, with dark, slick tentacles growing from the severed sections.
Did this mysterious figure do that?
Philip had his suspicions. For a while, he no longer dared to look around until the world before him suddenly changed, at which point he looked ahead again.
Beneath the brilliant starry sky, the crimson moon had already disappeared. Only the stars cast down strands of starlight, illuminating the dark world.
He saw enormous houses like those described in the stories of traveling bards, black chimneys rising from the ground, brilliantly illuminated streets, a late-night station as busy as it was during the day, and even a steam train that didn't require people to provide its power...
Is this Backlund? I've really arrived in this dreamlike metropolis, the city of hopes!
Philip gazed at everything before him in fascination. For a moment, he even forgot about the tattered figure in yellow standing beside him. Only after a long while did he notice that this mysterious figure was also looking at Backlund. However, from that blurry face, Philip couldn't discern the specific emotions in his eyes.
"Thank you for fulfilling my insignificant wish."
Although he was still very afraid, Philip nevertheless gave the other party a solemn bow.
"Your wish has been fulfilled."
"Yes. I've always dreamed of coming to Backlund."
At the mention of this, Philip's eyes instantly lit up.
"You need to pay a certain price for it."
"A price?" Philip froze. Immediately afterward, an icy sense of terror spread from his chest throughout his entire body.
He instinctively stepped backward, afraid that the other party would take his life or his soul.
In the ancient stories he had heard, besides gods who would fulfill people's humble wishes, there were also demons that craved souls and would actively help people fulfill their wishes.
At the moment when you were happiest, they would take your soul. From then on, you would forever be enslaved by the demon, living a life worse than death.
"I want your story."
"Story?"
Philip couldn't fully understand what those words meant, but the tension and fear in his heart eased considerably.
"The story of everything you've experienced."
"Y-You don't have a story of your own?" Philip gathered his courage and asked.
Under the gentle late-night breeze, the tattered yellow robes remained tightly fitted to the figure, not swaying in the slightest despite the wind.
"I do. This is my story."
The indifferent, emotionless voice startled Philip once again, but he could no longer say anything. It was as though the other party had extracted something from his mind, and then the figure disappeared from before him.
"W-Who am I?"
"How did I get here?"
"What am I supposed to do? Am I going somewhere on a journey?"
"Is that city in the distance my hometown?"
Philip furrowed his brows, desperately trying to dig through his completely empty mind for treasures that had already been plundered clean.
He had forgotten many things, including his own name.
The only things he could still remember were certain pieces of common knowledge about the world, such as the fact that stones couldn't be eaten and money could be used to buy things.
After standing there foolishly for a long time, he finally began walking toward the great metropolis not far away.
Upon reaching the city entrance, he suddenly felt timid, but in the end, he still walked inside and wandered along the nearly deserted streets.
He curiously looked at everything around him. It all felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
He continued observing this new world with curiosity and apprehension when a young man suddenly approached him. Raising his head and revealing a nose dotted with freckles, the young man cautiously and mysteriously introduced his business.
"Sir, would you like to buy a book? We have all kinds of books you could never imagine, and they even come with exquisite illustrations."
As the young man spoke, he used his body to block the gazes of others while lifting one side of his trench coat. Sewn into the grayish-white lining were twenty pockets, each containing two or three books.
Most of the book covers depicted naked men and women having sex. Others showed bound female vampires, suspended female elves, and even illustrations of animals with humans.
"I'm not interested in these books. You should find a more suitable buyer for them." Philip politely declined the transaction.
"Sir, don't be in such a hurry. I also have some collector's editions here. They're among the best-selling books recently."
The young man turned around and lifted the other side of his trench coat, revealing another set of pockets similarly stuffed with books.
Philip glanced over them twice before his gaze settled on a book titled Child of the Stars.
What caught his attention wasn't the book's contents but the illustration on its cover. The figure dressed in tattered yellow robes seemed very familiar to him. He felt that he must have known him before.
"How much?" After looking at it for a while, Philip decided to buy the book.
"Five soli. That's definitely a fair price. Elsewhere, this could sell for as much as two pounds."
Philip searched through the pockets on his clothes and pulled out five crumpled one-soli banknotes that still carried a faint smell of the sea.
"Sir, here's your book. Make sure you don't lose it."
The young man accepted the five one-soli notes Philip handed him, pulled the copy of Child of the Stars from his coat pocket, and placed it in Philip's palm.
Philip accepted the book somewhat blankly. Although he had lost all his previous memories, he still knew that five soli was no small sum of money. Why would he spend that much money to buy a single book?
"Sir, may you never lose your way again beneath the guidance of starlight."
After saying this with a smile, the young man hummed a little tune and disappeared into the night.
Philip could vaguely make out the song the young man was singing.
"The curved moon, the round head, the tiny little man, the gleaming long knife, stab and stab at the tiny little man's round head, beneath the gaze of the curved moon..."
Philip stood frozen in place. This song was equally familiar to him, and he couldn't help softly humming along.
"The round moon, the tiny little man, the curved long knife, the gleaming head, stab and stab at the tiny little man's curved long knife, beneath the smile of the round moon..."
After finishing, he froze again.
How did I remember a song like that?
He lowered his head and looked again at the copy of Child of the Stars in his hands. The figure in tattered yellow robes on the cover seemed to slowly emerge from the starlight before coming toward him.
Only after he blinked did he realize that everything he thought he had seen was merely an illusion. He was still standing on the sparsely populated street, and the figure in tattered yellow robes remained part of the book's cover.
...
The sea appeared exceptionally enchanting beneath the sky filled with stars. Strands of starlight descended from the heavens, only to slip back into the sky from the sea.
Aboard the Dawn, Bernadette was gazing toward the distant, ink-black waters.
The Magic Wishing Lamp rested quietly on the table, beside it a marine lantern emitting a dim yellow glow.
"This is definitely a trap, and you're the big fish She wants to hook." The Son of Chaos spoke, then sneered lightly. "There is no such thing as getting lucky against the Mother Goddess of Depravity. There is only death. Don't let your emotions override your reason."
"It's not time yet." Bernadette seemed to be talking to herself, yet also seemed to be saying something to the Son of Chaos.
"If you want to oppose the Mother Goddess of Depravity, it will only be possible once the Stars have recovered to a certain extent. In His current state, He won't directly confront the Mother Goddess of Depravity for you."
"You seem quite afraid of the Mother Goddess of Depravity?" Bernadette seemed to deliberately provoke him.
"Heh, your courage only demonstrates your ignorance." The Son of Chaos wasn't angered by this.
"Your patience has improved considerably compared to before."
This time, the Son of Chaos didn't answer. His patience had been honed little by little in the Hall of Stars.
Supernova Dominator, High-Dimensional Overseer, Primordial Hunger, none of those fellows got along with Him. To the point that He was finding the Mother Tree of Desire increasingly pleasant by comparison.
Bernadette had no interest in continuing the conversation either. She still wanted to find the island where her father was, but not to save him. Instead, she wanted to prevent others from reaching that island and stop the corruption from spreading through those who landed there.
She believed that the Churches of the Six Gods currently had the same idea. As for how to find that island, she already had an idea in mind.
Perhaps she wouldn't even need to actively search for it. Someone would naturally deliver the information she wanted to her.
Before the sky had begun to brighten, Cattleya's spirit world messenger delivered the information she wanted.
"Tsk, someone really can't wait to lure you onto that island. But with such an obvious trick, it seems the Mother Goddess of Depravity truly doesn't have much intelligence left."
Seeing Bernadette begin reading the letter, the Son of Chaos beside her couldn't help but speak mockingly.