"Of course. It is my duty."
Julian offered no objections. Instead, he agreed at once while quickly reviewing the entire affair in his mind.
After all, the persona he was maintaining was that of a Beyonder who had been partially corrupted by the True Creator and become His believer. He should therefore show no resistance to any mission that benefited this Sequence 0 true god of the Hanged Man pathway.
"Very good. You are indeed a wise gentleman."
Hanass Vincent smiled in relief. He invited everyone to begin eating, then explained some details about the Aurora Order to Julian, carefully outlining the precautions he should take while monitoring the Nighthawks.
Julian ate and nodded repeatedly, as though he really had taken in every word.
Of course, he would not actually tell the Aurora Order about the Nighthawks' movements or intelligence. He merely needed to maintain good relations with the Aurora Order for the time being.
Judging by the two earlier incidents-the Colour Out of Space killing the Secret Order's Clown and preventing the power from the Underworld from destroying Gavin Kennedy's soul, and Julian surviving an encounter with a mid-sequence member of the Twilight Hermit Order who possessed a Sequence 6 Sealed Artifact-the Colour Out of Space seemed capable of resisting 0-08's influence to some extent, throwing Ince Zangwill's "arrangements" into difficulty.
Although Julian did not know how the Colour Out of Space achieved this, nor whether it had anything to do with His inherent characteristics, it did offer him a possible way out.
His original plan had been to use the Scholar's Legacy to corrupt individual members of the Aurora Order, then use them to obstruct the final implementation of the "plan to birth an evil god's offspring."
Even if Megose was most likely already pregnant with the evil god's offspring and her condition could no longer be reversed, that did not mean Julian was helpless.
This was the fundamental reason Julian had agreed to attend this gathering. What he had not expected, however, was that Megose's "fiancé," Lanevus, would also be attending the banquet.
On closer consideration, it made perfect sense-after all, the Aurora Order wanted to use his connection to the Hermits of Fate to expose Julian's true identity. Yet this played right into Julian's hands.
As one of the mystical fathers of the evil god's offspring, Lanevus had far more influence over the infant than anyone else-with the exception of the True Creator, of course.
With Megose and the evil god's offspring serving as a bridge, Lanevus had a certain mystical connection to the True Creator. This also seemed to be the fundamental reason that the true god of the Hanged Man pathway could implant divinity within him.
At this thought, Julian suddenly began to understand why he had managed to digest so much of the Four-Color Seer potion earlier.
When I corrupted Lanevus, the True Creator was also affected in some way whose significance remains unclear. That should also explain His abnormal reaction in the latter half of His whispers.
He Himself symbolizes the self of shadows and degeneration, while the Forsaken Land of the Gods contains remnants of the Evernight Goddess's divine power, which also corresponds to profound darkness in a mystical sense.
So the second acting principle for the Four-Color Seer potion should be, "Not only must I see more colors than ordinary people, I must also consciously use those colors and guide them to illuminate the darkness, thereby achieving certain goals of my own"?
The more Julian thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
On the other hand, although this round of potion digestion had come from exploiting the True Creator's status, it was similar to the previous occasion: because the Colour Out of Space had participated, the extent of the digestion had once again been diluted.
Fortunately, even so, Julian was already very close to fully digesting the Four-Color Seer potion. He estimated that once he worked out the third acting principle, he should be able to digest it completely.
It looks like I'll have to find ways to minimize the Colour Out of Space's involvement when I digest potions from now on.
Otherwise, my digestion is bound to be slower than other people's. That's manageable at low sequences, but what am I going to do once I reach the mid-sequences?
The thought left Julian rather worried.
The meal lasted about two hours. During that time, with Lanevus cooperating, Julian also managed to draw quite a bit of information from Sirius Arapis and Zane Blackwood about the Aurora Order and their superior, the Oracle Mr. Z.
At nearly nine o'clock, Julian boarded the carriage home and headed toward the University District.
Before leaving, Julian had passed Lanevus information about several ritual spells, instructing him to perform them at suitable times and frequently recite the Colour Out of Space's name to strengthen his connection to this mysterious mythical creature.
"Phew... finally home."
Only after closing the door and locking it securely did Julian let out a long sigh of relief.
Although tonight's banquet had been fraught with danger, Julian had managed to survive it. Not only had he achieved his objective, he had also digested a substantial portion of his potion.
He washed up briefly, then took out the candles, coarse salt, essential oils, and other supplies left over from last time and began praying to the Evernight Goddess, Amanises, at his makeshift altar.
Although Julian had enjoyed the Evernight Goddess's protection throughout the banquet, there were still some discrepancies between what each of them understood and the information they possessed. In particular, Julian had no idea what it meant when the True Creator's mad ravings suddenly turned into coherent speech, and that uncertainty worried him.
On the other hand, although the Goddess had taken the stance of an observer throughout the affair, Julian had not sought Her opinion before contacting the Aurora Order.
Considering the Evernight Goddess's and the Angel of Imagination Adam's deep involvement in the situation in Tingen City, he believed he needed to recount the entire affair and see whether the Goddess would grant him any revelation, so he could avoid getting caught up in unnecessary trouble.
This step was crucial. Even if the Goddess gave Julian no guidance at all, he could still glean something of Her attitude from it, rather than remain completely uncertain about the situation.
"Evernight Goddess, higher than the starry sky and more enduring than eternity, Lady of Crimson, Mother of Concealment, Empress of Calamity and Fear, Lord of Slumber and Silence!
"I ask for Your attention. I ask that You grant revelation to Your bewildered favored one..."
Just as Julian began recounting
his experiences and doubts, the flames of the dark black and crimson candles on the altar stirred without a breeze, flickering gently.
The sealed room began to darken, and Julian felt silence and peace descend upon his heart.
"Julian Albrecht."
In a daze, Julian suddenly heard a hazy yet steady female voice in his mind!