Chapter 135: Opening Starlight
Being swallowed by a giant bat wasn't the worst thing that happened to Lea, the inside was actually quite comfortable.
There was a guest room in here, where she sat almost motionless. Since Lea, at this point, is driven by sheer willpower in the literal sense, her body only needed the mental power of others to exist.
She was not alone; there was a sleeping, half-naked, muscular old man here. Lea felt she should know who he was, but she could recall nothing about him.
When entering his mind, she found that he was essentially empty. In a state of suspended sleep, there was nothing to read.
"Who is he?", Lea asked.
"Dunno, I just picked him up from the forest.", Qaeidat shrugged, "Anyway, Mard Awalan here is going to have fun with him~!!"
"Nn!!", the slime protested.
So... this slime is also a Star God... Lea thought. It didn't take her much thinking.
"Oh, do you want to revive your body?", Qaeidat suddenly asked.
"You... can do that?", Lea asked, slightly standing up.
"Not me, but her!!", she raised the slime up, adding a bit of a glowing halo effect for the slime.
"Mm!!", it let out a cute cry.
It looked utterly ridiculous.
Lea wanted to take off her mask, to rub her face, but no, she didn't go through with that thought.
"Introducing~ Mard Awalan the Plague Garden, the Ninth Harbinger of Life, and Mother of Life!! The friendliest Star God you can have!!", the Steam Bat speaks like a true salesman, "If you make her sad, be sure to get your ass kicked by... I don't know, more than half of the universe?"
Harbinger of Life? Mother of Life? What exactly is going on?
Lea remembered one of the books in the library, titled 'Harbingers of Life'... what are they?
"What is a Harbinger of Life?", Lea asked, feeling a slight mental recoil from that question alone.
Was the protection running out? Was Mystery still affecting this world?
"It's just one of the many Factions in the universe, consisting of those who are... well, I want to say pro-life, but we have the literal personification of Death in our group, right~?", the Merchant played with The Plague Garden, jiggling its body around.
"Nm...", it grumbled.
This is... very strange. Lea felt very uncomfortable right now.
After a bit of silence, Qaeidat coughed, "Ehem... do you want to get your body back or not?"
Her body is at the bottom of the sea with the fishes. Does she want a rotting, eaten body back? She does admit that the Goddess of Fortune is cool despite her small stature. But Lea wasn't confident in pulling that zombie look off.
"I'm fine with this body.", Lea looked at her hand made of Cursed Constructs, peeled back to reveal a seemingly normal hand.
Her mind remembered the biological blueprints, with Ideation helping stabilize her subconsciousness. It is definitely a lot riskier, but hey, she only needs to stay in a crowded area to sustain herself.
"Oh well.", the Merchant shrugged, "Well, since you are now an up-and-coming big shot, let's make a business deal."
The Golden Scale of Equivalent Exchange appeared behind her. She held her hand out.
"I am Qaeidat Dhahabia the Golden Order, the Great Old One who is the closest to the True Price. I will promote your name and legend, so you can claim your throne as a god of this world."
"What do you want in exchange for it?", Lea asked, hesitating to shake that hand.
"30% increase in tax revenue when your followers inevitably set up a church in Lacrosa. That doesn't include the land rent. And the right to freely use your image.", that was the deal.
"What does using my 'image' freely mean?", Lea narrowed her eyes, even though she was still wearing her mask.
"When the time comes, Lacrosa would paint you as its ally, simple as that!!", The Golden Order smiled, inching her hand a little closer.
Truthfully, Lea doesn't care much about how Lacrosa sees her. But if she bears the image as an Evil God... that would be troublesome.
Being on the good side of a Great Old One is always a plus. Lea doesn't understand much about the cosmology of this universe, and learning more hurts her. But that title carries power.
"Fine...", she shook the Merchant's hand, "I, Lea Darkwill the Faceless Twilight, agree to this deal."
"With the Scale of Eqitam as our witness, I pronounce this deal is official~!"
The golden scale glowed, pressing its radiance forward— then it vanished. The deal between The Golden Order and the Faceless was made.
Letting go, Lea asked, "So how should I start promoting myself?"
After all, she needed her title as the Faceless Twilight to be known far and wide.
After a bit of thinking, Qaeidat suggested, "You could start with the land where all stories are written."
Lea immediately recognized what the Merchant was talking about.
The independent region of the Renlou Empire, Genghu, exists in the Southwest of the empire.
But it has a more commonly used title.
"Empire's Edge," Qaeidat said with a knowing smile, "where the law ends, and legend begins."
She gestured dramatically, as if painting the scene in the air, "A land where swords speak louder than emperors, where wandering heroes write their tales in blood and honor. The frontier where the empire's steps stopped and forgotten, where justice is what you can claim with blade and will."
The Merchant's eyes gleamed, "It's where the desperate become legends, where the righteous become myths, and where every sunset promises either death or glory. A place where your story is written not by birth, but by the strength of your conviction and the sharpness of your steel."
"The edge of the largest empire.", she finished, "Where all roads lead to either transcendence or oblivion."
Lea felt something stir, not quite hope, but... interest.
"You don't need to stay there for long, just one day, one day to show yourself..."
A place where strength mattered more than birthright. Where legends were made, not inherited.
A perfect place for the birth of a demon hunting down the wicked, leaving all slumber in her wake.
=0=0=
"GIVE IT BACK!!!"
Dawn tried to lunge forward, but she was held down by her own people. Currently, she is in a state of disarray, trying to get back the last piece of her nation's hero.
In a cold white room of metal, what was supposed to be a lounge was now wrecked by the princess trying to activate her powers. Standing in front of the Church of Progress was Kahelzar, holding the burning crimson lantern. She was smiling, that gentle and merciful smile.
It was because the Shepherd of After had stolen the Divine Throne of Connection, Auger's Divine Throne, when she was performing the funeral rite.
What is a Shepherd of After? The title for Heralds of a Star God. Those who guide souls to the afterlife by performing funeral rites.
But all roles need job security.
A Shepherd of After usually takes the soul of the dead as payment, but sometimes, something even more precious comes that they cannot resist.
"I am Kahelzar, nice to meet you.", the Shepherd spoke.
"Like I give a shit about you!!", Dawn growled back.
Yet Kahelzar was still gentle, her half-face smiling.
"It was merely my payment for the funeral rite. It isn't every day I get something to...", her mouth twitched a bit, "Further enhance my gamble."
"Gamble...?", that stopped Dawn momentarily. She felt that calm and gentle mask of the Shepherd was cracking.
Kahelzar nodded, "Mhmn, I'm a gambler by heart. I wasn't sure that I would be able to handle two Divine Domains, but that thrill between life and death..."
It was irresistible for her—
"Here.", Charlotte came in, threw a smartphone to the gambler, "Play with it."
"Oh...", Kahelzar caught the phone, "A gacha game..."
The little wielder of two Divine Domains was distracted.
"Okay, so here is the rundown of the things to come.", with a snap of her finger, the Argent Monarch created a throne, sitting down right in front of them.
There are high-ranking members of the Church of Progress and Device V here. Both not knowing what to make of the person who plunged the world into madness and mysticism.
"The Stellar Express is coming next year at the earliest. With the train, several Star Gods will come here.", she looked at her phone.
Solafant raised their hand, "My Lady, may I ask what The Stellar Express is?"
"It's a Mobile Star, meaning that the Star God called The Stellar Express can move freely throughout the universe without a drop of loss."
Some of the people here experienced a slight headache, proving that Mystery hasn't truly gone. Charlotte knew but didn't speak up. Dawn was about to calculate the logic of how a star can move freely. But the Monarch continued.
"There are at least twenty Star Gods and a dozen Heralds coming to this world, on top of the previously hidden Star Gods. The most notable ones are The Still Fantasy - Gallery of Infinity's Leader, The Wild Dance and The Black Sayer - both from the Council of Entropy, don't worry they are absolute clowns, The Crystaline Spread - from Equinox Rollers, The Void Enigma of the Elemental Lords. Oh, and special guest from the Seven Wayfarers of the Abyss."
"Damn, that was a mouthful. You wouldn't even understand half of what I said.", Charlotte complained, "Anyway, you should do some politics or something to unite all nations."
"Like some sort of United Nations?", Solafant said.
Charlotte snapped her finger, "Yeah."
By this point, Dawn had calmed down a bit. She still glared at the distracted Kahelzar.
"I heard what the Ego of the World said already... so, how strong are these Star Gods?", she asked.
"That is up for you to find out~", Charlotte gave a shrug, then stood up from her throne, "I hold no love for this world, but I'll help out if I find something interesting."
She signaled to Kahelzar to follow; the Shepherd didn't look away from the screen and followed behind.
Leaving the natives to their own devices.
"Hah...", Dawn massaged the bridge of her nose, "We will talk about this later when we get home."
"Yes, Saintess!", her people replied.
There is still the matter of The Faceless Twilight, wearing Lea's face. For why a Star God was using her face... Dawn needs to question the "Outsider".
Luckily, she knows where The Faceless Twilight lives.
=0=0=
What is destiny? They are unchangeable moments in the present. Yet once a path of Destiny is taken, all other paths are cut off.
What is fate? It is the far destination where all roads lead to, something vague yet describable. Yet it can be offset by the will of those treading forward.
Inevitable yet everchanging.
Everchanging but inevitable.
In darkness, all Jim could see were the countless red and blue threads, snapping and forming. Fates are constantly being broken and changing. Destinies connecting all of creation together.
He was still running, running so fast that light could not catch up to him.
This was the speed boost the Domain of Motion gave him.
And also the Ritual to his Sixth Step, to run beyond light itself, and to see the Trailblazer beyond Light and Darkness.
And he could see it...
A golden-furred beast running just far ahead of him. Its infinite eyes with cross-shaped pupils in black and white darts around, looking at certain threads.
The next Step, he felt himself accelerating further.
Sixth Step.
And the Divine Domain of Motion gave him the ritual to step onto the Seventh Step.
Be acknowledged by the Celestial Embodiment of Fate and Destiny, the Cosmic Law that is Motion.
So he has to run, to catch up to Tachyon.
To make the very concept of Speed acknowledge him...