The next day, at the Sheriff's Office.
The moment Joey stepped into the office, he heard a noisy commotion, a jumble of footsteps, and Vade Wisker's distinctive, resonant voice. Everything suggested that something serious had happened.
"Captain, what happened?"
Wade shook his head silently, then said gravely:
"Charles has launched a coup. The Rebel Army has already breached the east gate. We have to go reinforce them."
Senegal was currently ruled by Emperor Daniel II Eng. Charles was the second prince.
Joey asked in confusion, "Has the situation really gotten that bad?"
Even personnel from the outer-city Sheriff's Office were being mobilized?
What about the Imperial Knights?
The Legion Council of Elders?
And all those high-sequence Transcendents?
"There's no time to explain. Grab your equipment and come with me." Wade directed the security officers' preparations for battle.
West District 9, Inner City guard post.
Joey Clive saw the inner city for the first time. It was not as magnificent or exquisite as he had imagined. Instead, it possessed a weighty, unadorned sense of history. Its blue bricks and glazed roof tiles seemed to speak of the craftsmanship of a bygone age.
A month had passed since Charles launched his coup. The rebels had breached the east gate and occupied half the Imperial Capital. They and the Royal Legion led by Eng each held their own territory, settling into a brief ceasefire.
Joey was now a city-defense soldier in the Imperial Knights. After finishing a day of patrols, he was mentally exhausted.
The war had come out of nowhere. Even now, no one knew what had actually happened.
Daniel Eng had occupied the throne for sixty years. Though he had no outstanding accomplishments to his name, he had committed no grave mistakes either. Charles's coup had come without warning.
Under the order of succession, Charles might have been the second prince, but only the Eldest Princess stood above him. Even without a coup, the throne would still have passed to him.
A sudden fog had swept across all of Senegal, seemingly concealing everything. No one knew when the war would end or when the fog would clear.
Because of the grueling patrol duties, soldiers received a corresponding period of rest after working for a day.
During twenty-four hours of uninterrupted patrols in that environment, their nerves were constantly stretched taut. Even staying alert was difficult. That was why Transcendents were needed.
Reports from the front said the fog was responsible for the ceasefire. Something unknown seemed to lurk within it, and soldiers on both sides had suffered attacks of varying severity.
The rest quarters.
Joey pushed open the door and heard cursing from inside.
"That bastard Charles! Couldn't he just sit tight and wait for the old emperor to die? Why stage a coup? I'm working myself to death!"
Another voice soon joined the complaints:
"Exactly! Old Eng's already seventy. He doesn't have many years left."
"Damn it, is it time to change shifts again? Joey, time flies."
Joey nodded, dragged his exhausted body over, and fell backward onto a bed. "I agree with both of you, but don't expect me to cover your shifts."
The two men left the rest quarters, still cursing.
Joey closed his eyes, but he did not sleep. Instead, he projected his consciousness into the Round Table Hall Above the Gray Fog.
Helena Rose was now a fully qualified imperial Sheriff. In her office, case files awaiting her attention were piled high before her.
As the last direct descendant of the Rothschild family, she knew exactly what she wanted. Only by climbing higher would she gain a chance at revenge, and that required accomplishments.
Helena reached out and leafed through a document. It was a prohibition issued by the Imperial High Councillor.
"The Prey Constellation will return to Fomalhaut in the coming days. Unexpected changes in magnetic fields may occur at that time. Any traces of an Evil God Sect must be reported promptly."
The Prey Constellation was its official public designation. Among high-sequence Transcendents, it had another name: the Color Out of Space. It was an indescribable being from the depths of the stars. Whenever a Seven-Star Alignment occurred, it would leave Fomalhaut and begin wandering aimlessly. No one knew when it would return, but one thing was certain: whenever it did, some incredible change would occur, either externally or within itself.
A hundred years had passed since the last recorded appearance of the Color Out of Space. That time, it had claimed countless lives.
The five o'clock bell rang. Helena suddenly sensed something, rose, and left the Sheriff's Office for her lodgings. She shut the doors and windows, then lay quietly on her bed.
An invisible, formless energy suddenly passed through her body, like a pair of hands brushing gently over her soul. As red light flashed across her eyes, Helena appeared in the Round Table Hall, seated upright in her rabbit chair.
More than half a year had passed since her last visit. Now that she was here again, the same nervous unease remained.
She silently stood, lowered her head, and bowed toward the highest seat at the head of the table. "Good evening, Mr. Hermit."
"Mm." As a divine being, Joey had to maintain an image befitting his status at all times.
After receiving his response, Helena began studying the other seats around the table with curiosity.
"What are you looking at?" Joey asked coldly.
Ever since Helena Rose had accidentally entered this place last time, she had spent half a year secretly investigating information about the gray fog, hoping to discover this being's identity.
Though she had found no useful clues, her investigation had indirectly confirmed certain things.
This being was not an evil god in the conventional sense. He was very likely one of the Ancient Gods who had awakened from a slumber dating back to the first epoch.
According to Isamott's recorded history, the ancient gods had been sympathetic to humanity. They had once fought evil gods to help humans, ultimately sealing those evil gods underground.
Since he was not an evil god, she did not need to worry about her heart being corrupted or her mind bewitched.
If she could become his favored one, her chances of revenge might improve.
"Honorable Mr. Hermit, am I the only person you have summoned?"
With twelve chairs here, there ought to be more than one person. Or were people summoned individually?
"Could certain beings detect this kind of summoning?"
After all, she was now in Ishlandon, Isamott's capital. There were not only high-sequence Transcendents here, but churches too. Angels might even descend.
Last time, she had been in a secluded church. Things were different now. If the churches discovered her, she would undoubtedly be branded a heretic.
How would I know whether anyone could detect it? I'm just a weak little Sequence 9 myself, and my sequence doesn't even have any offensive power. Still, if this place can block even the Endless Sea's maddening whispers, keeping out a few high-sequence Beyonders should be fine.
"The situation you describe will not occur."
"But certain supernatural items possess unusual effects."
Helena remembered the strange stone passed down through her family for generations. It was also what had drawn her here.
Joey seemed to think of the same issue. He frowned in thought for a moment, then spoke slowly:
"Are there many such objects?"
If those things were mass-produced, wouldn't anyone be able to locate this place? Forget true gods-even an Angel of sufficiently high status could swallow me whole.
Helena shook her head. Without concealing anything, she told him all her family's secrets, then added, "No second stone has been found in Isamott."
A divine being was omniscient and omnipotent, perceiving everything. One must never attempt concealment or lies in his presence. Such was the teaching expressed in prayers concerning the gods.
Miss Rabbit seems rather reserved.
Joey sat at the head of the table, quietly watching Helena below.
A temple with only two people was indeed rather empty. To maintain his lofty status, he could only speak as little as possible. But the drawback was obvious: he could not obtain information about the outside world.
Looks like I'll have to try adding some members, Joey thought, looking at the other eleven chairs.
This space seemed to change with Joey's thoughts. The moment the idea arose, the previously motionless gray fog suddenly began to writhe and churn.
Upon the Sky-Piercing Pillar above the Endless Sea, a pale golden thread drifted and spiraled along its surface.
Meanwhile, far away in Las Vegas, aboard a ship laden with corpses on the rolling sea, Clyde Phoenix stood drenched in blood. Thick black slime covered his body, and he clutched a sharply angular triangular stone.
He was the pirate ship's first mate. Half a year ago, he had been nothing more than a dockworker unloading cargo along the coast, until someone abducted him onto this pirate vessel.
Half a day earlier, the ship had sailed into a bank of fog. Within it, they had discovered an island covered in gold, silver, and treasures. Naturally, they had plundered it clean.
After they left the island, people aboard the ship began dying inexplicably. Now, only a handful could still move.
Clyde found that he was in much better condition than the others. He could not help tightening his grip on the strange stone, pinning his hopes of survival on this object he had obtained from the island.
Wails and screams rang endlessly in his ears. Clyde felt something unknown draining the strength from his body.
Suddenly, golden light appeared before his eyes. By the time his vision returned, he was already inside an ancient-looking hall.
"Where is this?" Clyde's first impression was that he had died.
Helena was stunned. Another figure had abruptly appeared in the Round Table Hall, where she had previously been the only guest. His face was indistinct, but from his faint silhouette, she could tell he was a man.
He seemed nearly two meters tall. Judging from the outline of his clothing, he was not dressed in Isamott's style.
Where is this? I'd like to ask that myself.
Helena involuntarily turned her gaze toward the gray fog suspended over the highest seat.
Clyde soon discovered that he had no physical body. His current condition resembled that of a spirit. He stood within a towering, solemn hall, with a blurred figure two meters in front of him.
He remembered the tales about the sea told in Las Vegas. According to legend, an evil god active since the first epoch dwelled in the depths of the ocean. It used all manner of tricks to lure fishermen and capture their souls.
Could this be my soul...? he thought in terror.
But on second thought, dying this way was not such a bad choice. He had witnessed every agonizing detail of the deaths of those crew members infected by that unknown virus. Compared with them, at least he felt no physical pain now.
Judging by the silhouette, the person opposite him was a woman. Her clothing and hair color suggested that she did not live in Las Vegas.
As a pirate at sea, he had long since prepared himself to die at any moment. Once his initial confusion and panic passed, he became considerably calmer.
Meanwhile, Joey withdrew his gaze from the sea.
He studied the newcomer below with curiosity. He had merely wanted to try it, never expecting that he really could pull someone in.
Joey also discovered something else: those threads required a medium to draw someone in-something like the stones.
Clyde's question had reminded him that it was time to give the Round Table Hall a name.
The Tarot Club, the Secret Order, or perhaps the Aurora Order!
While Joey agonized over the name, Helena began curiously studying the new member.
"Hello!" She offered a courteous bow.
After the greeting, she lifted her gaze slightly. Seeing that the being above showed no reaction, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The sudden voice startled Clyde. He looked around before fixing his gaze on the figure opposite him who had spoken.
"Hello, lady from Isamott."
Helena was not surprised that he could guess where she came from. After all, she could roughly discern his origins too.
Precisely because of that, her awe of the being at the head of the table deepened.
Isamott and Las Vegas were extremely far apart. Yet he could bring two people together across the boundless ocean.
Among all the deities she knew of, only one possessed such an ability, and that being was clearly not the one before her.
That deity could even contend with the Seven Gods. In other words, this newly awakened being might possess power on par with theirs.
She dared not imagine how powerful he would become once he had fully recovered.
"We are fortunate souls favored by a great being. Welcome."
A great being? Fortunate souls? Clyde thought blankly.
"Madam, who is this great being you speak of?"
Helena turned toward the endless gray fog and bowed deeply.
"Mr. Hermit, please permit me to recite your honorific name."
Hermit? Clyde frowned, searching his memories. He had no information about such a being. Could he be a deity, or perhaps an Angel?
Unlike Helena on her first visit, he was a genuine Transcendent.
A Sequence 9 Deep One, he possessed the ability to breathe underwater and see clearly there. His eyes had supernatural powers.
Following Helena's gaze, he raised his head. There was only a mass of gray fog blocking his vision.
Is that being up there? Curiosity was something everyone possessed.
He quietly activated his ability, and a glimmer of golden light suddenly flashed through his eyes.
Joey quickly noticed the disturbance. A cold smile crept across his lips.
The gray fog blocking the Endless Sea parted slightly. Maddening whispers immediately seeped through, meeting Clyde's probing gaze head-on.
A heart-rending scream instantly rang through the Round Table Hall.
Clyde clutched his eyes and rolled across the floor in agony.
Only after a long while, accompanied by a cold snort, did his suffering cease.
"Hmph!"
Helena trembled all over. This was the first time she had witnessed his power.
Do not look directly upon a god. Do not speak his name.
Clyde dropped to his knees in terror.
"Please forgive my ignorant offense."