Before them stretched a fantastical, brilliant starry sky. Unlike the Abyss they had seen before, it was neither corrupted nor harsh. Instead, it possessed an almost unimaginable beauty.
This was a void, with a sizable island of land suspended within it. Many forms of life existed there.
Flowers, plants, trees, birds, beasts, and even all sorts of Beyonder Creatures. Judging by these, this place should have been an isolated Gensokyo, not the deepest layer of the Abyss.
"This place is very much like the Astral World," Amanises said softly, gazing at the fantastical starry sky.
The Astral World looked much the same now. The stars seemed almost unreal, with all kinds of Authorities, abilities, and concepts intertwined within it, either taking the form of stars or coalescing into nebulae.
"There's a Star."
Suddenly, Lilith caught sight of a Star gradually brightening in the Astral World.
Truman looked straight at it. In an instant, countless thoughts flashed uncontrollably through his mind.
"Above the Sequence," "the stars," "Great Old Ones"...
In his eyes, the brightening Star suddenly erupted. As those thoughts flashed through Truman's mind, it seized that instant and formed a mysterious connection with him.
Whatever was spoken would be known.
There were some things Truman understood perfectly well, but never deliberately investigated. Under the protection of the Book of Dreams, he would not be seen. But this time was different.
He had thought of that knowledge while facing the Star.
At that moment, the entire Abyss changed. The boundary between light and darkness blurred, replaced by a blood-red, illusory mist.
It did not become real, because a tangible force blocked it, leaving it able to corrupt Truman only through the connection it had established with him.
Almost simultaneously, the Ancient Sun God, who normally sat praying beneath a gigantic cross,