He only wondered how Chief Reid had fared. Perhaps Chief Reid was no more…
-------------------------
After Hastur returned home, Butler Neil came to report who had visited him in the past few days.
Hearing that Chief Reid had personally come this morning, and even brought his child to find him, Hastur couldn't help but feel a chill.
Fortunately, the previous night he suddenly sensed something was wrong, chose to return to Glaint's house, and rested there for the night. He only came back after Bernadette and the others had finished their actions.
If he had come back last night, wouldn't he have met Chief Reid?
At that meeting, Reid would probably have asked him to name his child, and he would inevitably have encountered the Higher Dimensional Overseer.
Luckily, he truly was the favored of fate, narrowly escaping another disaster.
Besides Chief Reid, Maric had also come looking for him, probably wanting to talk about what had happened while they were away.
And Count Richard had also visited, most likely once again about the god from his dreams.
After learning all this, Hastur went back to his study, took out a book of occult knowledge, and tried to break down and weave the incantation of the Sovereign of the Stars into it.
If anyone really came looking for him because of his help with Fors, this book could serve as a relatively reasonable explanation.
A safer backup plan.
Looking at the time, it was already late.
Hastur went to bathe, then had a late-night meal, and finally returned to his bedroom to rest.
As soon as he lay down, he entered the Hall of Stars.
The first thing he did was to find the star where the Higher-Dimensional Overseer resided. Apart from the cocoon of light that remained unchanged, the infant once connected by that thread of silk had vanished, replaced by a pair of eyes forged like white crystal.
Those eyes hid in the chaotic depths of space-time, overlooking the whole land from above.
Like an observer, watching everything that could be watched.
That must be the Beyonder item formed after the infant's death, right?
Truly befitting of the Higher-Dimensional Overseer, the Beyonder item left behind after its death was a pair of eyes, perfectly fitting its role.
Hastur observed for a while longer before retracting his gaze, his expression growing grave.
Though unclear about the extent of their sight, it was certain that at least the size of Backlund was within their vision.
Perhaps the entire Northern Continent, even the Southern Continent as well, lay within it's range.
Facing the possibility of the Overseer's gaze, he needed to establish authority over Secrecy as soon as possible, to hide himself and prevent the Overseer from discovering his peculiarities.
To more quickly draft rules involving Secrecy's authority, Hastur decided to act cleanly and decisively.
A pen formed in his right hand, and he began writing on a sheet of manifested paper:
"He will conceal all information about himself!"
"No existence can spy upon his being!"
"All of him is unknown!"
"All of him is unobservable!"
"He is the ghost hidden behind the curtain!"
"Walking in the world, no being can perceive his true identity."
"He is… the Nameless One walking this world!"
In one breath he wrote down all the descriptive statements he thought related to Secrecy's authority.
Hastur stopped his pen, reread from the beginning, and his eyes fell upon the last sentence.
He is… the Nameless One! This was his truest thought at that moment.
It fit Secrecy, while preventing others from truly understanding him. It matched perfectly with the definition of the Nameless One.
Because "Nameless" means: beyond words, so complex and subtle that it cannot be described.
"The Nameless One… Hastur… the King in Yellow…"
Hastur furrowed his brows. Though his intention wasn't this, everything seemed to circle back to the same origin.
"Is this the fate most suited for me?" He muttered, his face carrying a trace of helplessness.
Even if he erased that final line, all the previous statements already pointed toward the Nameless One.
And self-deception would be useless, it would only expose his lack of confidence.
"If it cannot be avoided, then accept it. Accept your fate, and face it!" From deep within his heart, a voice seemed to counsel him.
"No… I must overcome it!" Hastur steeled himself. Rather than deceiving himself, it was better to confront fate, and then defeat it!
Even if it ended like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, at least he would have raised his arms against it.
He closed his eyes in thought for a moment, then summoned the third Chain of Order.
"Under the gaze of the stars, Hastur Campbell, traveler from another world, last heir of the Campbell family. He will conceal all information about himself! All of him is unknown! All of him is unobservable! He is the ghost hidden behind the curtain! He is the Nameless One who walks the world! This rule is just and reasonable, unchangeable by any external factor."
As this rule was branded onto the Chain of Order, the Hall of Stars trembled faintly. Starlight converged and merged into the chain.
As the light grew more brilliant, the chain itself gradually faded, dimmed, until it could no longer be seen.
Only the starlight still flickered, but the chain was invisible to the eye.
Hastur slowly closed his eyes. The chain was clearly still in place, yet once his eyes opened, he could no longer sense its existence.
If he weren't the master of the Hall of Stars, even with his eyes closed, he could not have sensed it.
Because it had become truly hidden. It could no longer be spied upon.
It was both the Chain of Order, and the Chain of Secrecy.
The entire atmosphere of the Hall of Stars shifted.
Before, Hastur could clearly sense the auras here: the aura of the stars, of destiny, of rules…
But now, he could sense nothing, as if empty, yet containing everything.
Had he drafted this rule before the Son of Chaos, the Mother Tree of Desire, and the Supernova Dominator came to the Hall of Stars, they would have gained no information here.
They could only guess it had something to do with the power of the stars, never confirm it.
Hastur quietly felt the changes.
After a while, the third Chain of Order silently merged into his body, leaving no sign, as if nothing had happened.
With past experience, Hastur guessed that even in the real world, his body would show no change.
For the third chain did not bring alteration, but concealment, hiding all.
Of course, the Chain of Order could only exert its true authority in the Hall of Stars.
In the real world, since he was still only at Sequence 7, if a true god descended before him, his concealment would be useless.
But against a gaze cast down from the starry sky, would his secrets remain hidden? Just like the pair of eyes left by the Higher-Dimensional Overseer, could he now block their sight?
Perhaps they would see nothing. Or perhaps only receive false information.
The Nameless One, indescribable, unobservable, unknowable.
In the study, the wind chime at the window let out a crisp sound, the string of paper cranes swaying lightly.
On the crane that had once carried the words "Come quickly," a new line appeared: "What happened to you?"
Will, lying in bed and about to sleep, had wanted to speak with Hastur through dreams about today's events.
Yet suddenly he found that he could no longer sense Hastur's presence through the paper cranes, nor enter his dream.
Based on the past two days, he didn't think Hastur had come to harm. This situation likely meant something had changed within Hastur.
A change that allowed him to block perception… the Authority of Secrecy?
Will's eyelid twitched, remembering Hastur also seemed to possess Beyonder powers of the Fate pathway.
These young people were truly terrifying.
With a sigh, he pulled up his blanket, turned to the side, and went back to sleep.
Now, only if Hastur contacted him through the cranes and guided him could he enter his dream.
…
The Hall of Stars.
After drafting the new rule, Hastur did not leave.
He was waiting, for Fors to recite the incantation written on the paper.
Around 11:30, an illusory point of light appeared under the starry dome.
With her current strength, Fors was far from becoming a complete star in the Hall of Stars.
She was merely a tiny, insignificant point of light, something that could be snuffed out with the press of a finger.
In the shabby house she shared with Xio, Fors, pale-faced, held onto the bedframe, barely standing, and tremblingly recited the words of hope from the paper:
"Master of Chaos and Order."
"Origin of all rules of the starry sky."
"The One who aligns the stars in place!"
When she stumbled through the ancient Hermes incantation, after a few seconds of silence, the ceiling suddenly burst into a starry sky!
The stars twinkled, pouring down a brilliant, gentle light.
The shining starlight was confined only within this room, as if at this moment the stars favored her alone.