Roselle, a transmigrator who was chuunibyou yet never lacking in responsibility. Although he had done plenty of romantic and absurd things in his youth, in the end, he still chose to seal himself in stone here alone, silently standing guard like a monument.
The Vessel of Stars and Primordial Hunger left the island, which had already undergone changes due to Roselle's brief awakening.
The Black Emperor's twisted and chaotic rules enveloped the surroundings of the island, forming a black abyssal barrier like an impassable chasm, protecting the peace of this place.
At the same time, it also prevented pirates who came in pursuit of treasure from contributing their meager flesh and blood to the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
"Tonight really was interesting." Primordial Hunger chuckled. "Stars, I'm going to fill my stomach first."
The Vessel of Stars merely nodded indifferently. Primordial Hunger suddenly stomped across the surface of the sea, achieving the miraculous effect of overwhelming force, and soon disappeared from sight.
The Vessel of Stars quietly watched for a while before looking up at the unobstructed starry sky. The stars were shining, and the starlight they scattered down was also sheltering every believer of the Stars.
Through this series of upheavals tonight, the Mother Goddess of Depravity had gained no advantage. Instead, her control over Roselle had weakened.
Mr. Door's consciousness had also begun to grow active. For the coming period, Her influence over the real world would decrease considerably.
"You are a believer of the Stars?" While the Vessel of Stars was pondering, a submarine surfaced from the water not far away. It was Bernadette, who had returned alone to these waters.
"The Stars are my faith."
The Vessel of Stars spoke calmly. Glancing at Bernadette, who had relaxed her vigilance slightly, it lightly pointed with a finger and projected before her the scene of Roselle regaining his clarity inside the Black Emperor mausoleum.
Bernadette stared at it in a daze. Sorrow welled up in her eyes as glimmers of tears appeared, yet they never fell.
When she heard, "The sea is so vast. If possible, establishing a pirate kingdom wouldn't be bad either," she seemed to have found a new goal in life, and her gaze once again became bright and resolute.
Among pirates, she was already known as the Queen Mystic. If she truly raised her banner and called for followers, establishing a pirate kingdom and becoming a queen would not be too difficult.
Especially now, when all the major pirate crews had suffered heavy losses due to tonight's upheaval. This was precisely the best opportunity for her to gather forces under her banner.
Her relationship with the Church of Storms was fairly good, while the Loen Kingdom was preoccupied with its war against the Feysac Empire. All the necessary conditions were already in place.
The only thing she needed to worry about was the danger and madness she would face in the future when switching to a non-neighboring pathway.
But if her father could do it, then so could she!
"Once you establish a kingdom belonging to pirates, these will be your congratulatory gifts."
"I understand. I will offer the Stars my most sincere devotion."
"Nast, the King of the Five Seas, would make a good ally."
Originally, this had been a contingency Hastur had prepared in case he might advance to Black Emperor in the future. But now that he had switched to the Stars Pathway, he would let Bernadette take his place and finish walking the Black Emperor Pathway.
"Then my father..."
"The Stars are always watching over everything." Leaving behind those words, the Vessel of Stars opened a portal and disappeared.
On the sea, still stained with blood, only Bernadette and her ship remained.
When Bernadette departed as the sun was about to rise, Klein, in the distant waters, had only just left the space above the gray fog.
During the great upheaval tonight, he had merely watched from afar without taking part.
As for Roselle, his fellow transmigrator and senior, although Klein wanted to help, Roselle's predicament was far beyond anything the current him could resolve.
Fortunately, the light of the Stars had shone especially brightly tonight, dispersing the corruption from the depths of the cosmos.
While observing from afar above the gray fog, the entire crimson moon had seemed as though it were about to revive from deathly silence, emanating terrifying fluctuations that even he didn't dare look directly at.
The successive upheavals on that island had caused the entire sea to churn violently. Fortunately, in the end, the aura of the Black Emperor had become exceptionally intense. This indicated that Roselle's current situation was still fairly good and that he hadn't truly been pushed to the brink.
"Being a war correspondent for once isn't easy either."
Klein sighed and rubbed his sore, swollen brow with his right hand. He still had to hold the Tarot Gathering tomorrow. Fortunately, this time he roughly understood what had happened, so he wouldn't embarrass himself again.
"A new day has begun."
The blazing sun, which had been stifled all night, finally rose from the depths of the sea. Its brilliant golden light dispersed the chill and darkness belonging to the previous night.
...
On the Black Emperor, Nast, the King of the Five Seas, was having people deliver food, water, and medical supplies to the Hope beside them.
Last night, he had received instructions from the Stars to come to these waters and wait. He hadn't gone to join the commotion surrounding Roselle's final mausoleum.
At around two or three in the morning, a spatial portal had suddenly appeared near the Black Emperor. On the other side of the portal was another stretch of sea, except a horrifying battle was taking place there.
Black tentacles that blotted out the sky, a sea dyed crimson with blood, blood-red tentacles stretching up from the depths of the ocean.
And the crimson moon reflected upon the sea.
A terrifying aura permeated the surroundings. After some time had passed, a ship finally sailed slowly through from the other side and entered these waters.
The Hope, a ship neither particularly large nor small. All the ordinary sailors aboard had exploded into bloody masses of flesh.
As for the remaining survivors, every one of them was covered in blood, their faces pale, looking utterly miserable yet fortunate to have escaped with their lives.
Following the instructions of the Stars, Nast began providing assistance to the Hope.
After finishing everything, he waited until dawn before personally boarding the Hope to await the Stars' next instructions.
Inside a room, Audrey, Fors, and Xio were discussing what to do next. As for Susie, she was already lying motionless on the floor.
"If I'm not mistaken, the fleet helping us should belong to Nast, the King of the Five Seas. That flagship is the Black Emperor." Xio trembled slightly as she spoke the name of Nast, the King of the Five Seas.
This pirate king's bounty was even higher than that of the Undying King Agalito.
"Why would he help us?"
"It's probably because of Her Excellency the Sage."
Faced with Audrey's question, neither Xio nor Fors was certain.
"Her Excellency the Sage?"
"The Queen Mystic."
After hearing this, Audrey gave Fors a deep look.
Miss Fors, and you still dare say you're not Miss Magician?
"How is Mr. Hastur doing?"
"I don't know. He hasn't responded this entire time."
"Could it be..." Before Xio could finish speaking, she hurriedly smacked her own mouth several times for speaking such ominous words.
Knock, knock, knock.
There was a knock on the door. Audrey and the others immediately became vigilant. Even Susie, who was lying on the floor and relying on sleep to recover from her injuries, slightly twitched her ears.
"It's me."
Hastur's voice came from outside the door, causing Audrey and the other two to breathe sighs of relief. Xio stepped forward and opened the door.
Seeing Hastur alive and energetic, with his clothes clean and tidy, her eyes nearly turned red.
Out here on the sea, Mr. Hastur was the one they truly relied upon!
Hastur entered the room, looked around at them, and asked, "Are all of you okay?"
"We're alright. Susie's condition is more serious." Worry appeared on Audrey's face.
Hastur came to Susie's side and crouched down. He placed a hand on her head, and a strand of energy filled with the sun's purification circulated through Susie's body.
Susie quickly opened her eyes, looking much more energetic than before.
"Susie!" Audrey happily stroked Susie's head before looking toward Hastur. "Mr. Hastur, Susie is alright now, isn't she?"
"She'll be fine after getting some more rest."
Hastur stayed in the room and chatted with Audrey and the others for a while. Before long, Nast arrived on the bow deck of the Hope.
Hastur brought along Xio, who wanted to join in on the excitement, and headed toward the bow. Audrey remained in the room to take care of Susie. As for Fors, she was simply too lazy to move.
'So that's Nast, the King of the Five Seas. He really does have an imposing build.'
Xio curiously followed beside Hastur, secretly sneaking a few glances at the pirate king.
"You did very well with this matter."
Hastur's calm tone caused Xio's eyes to widen considerably.
This was the King of the Five Seas! Yet Mr. Hastur was actually speaking to him with the attitude of someone in a superior position?
"You're also a believer of the Stars?" Nast frowned slightly.
He had never met this young person before. He had only ever encountered two believers of the Stars. One was Bernadette, and the other was that mysterious existence who had forced him to surrender.
"I am a Favored One of the Stars."
"A Favored One?"
Surprise appeared in Nast's eyes, while Xio inwardly sighed in realization.
So Mr. Hastur was actually a Favored One of the Stars. No wonder he was completely different from her and Fors.
It turned out that he was a divinely favored individual beloved by the Stars, far more important than ordinary believers like them.
"You don't need to doubt it. The Stars are watching over everything."
"I'm not doubting you. I'm merely curious."
Nast hurriedly made it clear that he had no such thoughts. As far as he knew, even Bernadette was only an ordinary believer.
Just as he thought of Bernadette, the surrounding space suddenly rippled. A pea vine took root and sprouted on the deck, signifying that Bernadette had also arrived here.
"Greetings, Her Excellency the Sage." Xio enthusiastically bowed in greeting.
This was a powerful backer!
"Favored One of the Stars?" Bernadette merely repeated the words once, looking at him with a slightly peculiar gaze. "You really are quite special."
Hastur smiled. "I became a believer and Favored One of the Stars earlier than any of you."
From the very beginning of the Stars' birth, he had been the representative of the Stars and the Stars' one and only Favored One.