Night. The Hall of Stars.
Hastur sat at the head, extending four Chains of Order that respectively connected the Son of Chaos, the Mother Tree of Desire, the Supernova Dominator, and the High-Dimensional Overseer.
The Son of Chaos noticed that the High-Dimensional Overseer, seated below him, didn't say a single word and acted as if he didn't exist.
But inwardly, he was thinking, luckily, he had shamelessly switched seats back then. Otherwise, that position would have been his now.
Just imagining himself sitting alone across from the High-Dimensional Overseer, like the Mother Tree of Desire, and the Supernova Dominator made him feel both relieved and lingering fear.
Now that his seat was above the High-Dimensional Overseer, his previously gloomy mood improved quite a bit.
The Mother Tree of Desire and the Supernova Dominator were somewhat surprised by the Overseer's arrival. Their gazes even deliberately swept past him and landed on the Son of Chaos.
But today, the Son of Chaos remained silent throughout, showing no excitement at the Overseer's arrival. Normally, he would have been arrogant and spirited.
Had they fallen out?
The Mother Tree of Desire and the Supernova Dominator exchanged a glance, saying nothing for the moment.
Hastur also remained silent, quietly observing this scene that resembled a battlefield of tension.
"So, none of you welcome my arrival? After all, we've been neighbors in the starry sky for thousands upon thousands of years."
The High-Dimensional Overseer spoke with a smile, then looked at the Son of Chaos, whose emotions were complicated.
"Weren't you always hoping I'd ascend to the Hall of Stars and help you counter the alliance between the Mother Tree of Desire and the Supernova Dominator?"
"Heh, I wouldn't dare to hold such hopes anymore." The Son of Chaos's undisguised sarcasm amused Hastur, who was watching the drama unfold.
Tsk, the love-hate entanglements among Outer Gods...
The High-Dimensional Overseer replied calmly, "One should still have wishes. Maybe one day they'll come true."
"You think I'd believe you?"
"You will."
The firm answer made the Son of Chaos pause in surprise, but he quickly sneered. "I won't suffer the same loss twice!"
"You've done that before."
"..." The Son of Chaos suppressed his anger and said irritably, "Did you come to the Hall of Stars just to dredge up old grievances?"
The Overseer replied lightly, "I won't deny that it's one of my purposes."
"..." The Son of Chaos's expression darkened completely. He no longer wanted to engage, having already understood the terrible personality of this incarnation.
The High-Dimensional Overseer's main body and its incarnations were not the same. Each incarnation possessed a vivid, independent personality.
Even if an incarnation cursed the main body, it was perfectly normal.
This incarnation clearly didn't inherit the main body's personality.
Seeing the Son of Chaos fall silent, Hastur, the Mother Tree of Desire, and the Supernova Dominator all felt a bit unsatisfied.
"Hmph!" The Son of Chaos noticed their gazes and snorted heavily in dissatisfaction.
The Overseer laughed. "How interesting, this is the charm of the Stars Assembly."
Hastur had begun to understand the Overseer's personality. His stance was clearly closer to the Son of Chaos's. If likened to a game, the two were teammates.
But the Son of Chaos was the kind who was bad yet loved to play, while the Overseer was a highly skilled player. Facing such a drag of a teammate, he couldn't help but mock and ridicule him, even taking pleasure in his embarrassment.
Hastur found this dynamic quite fitting.
Seeing the Son of Chaos no longer speaking, the Overseer turned to the Mother Tree of Desire.
"Your followers are almost all dead, yet you don't seem to care at all."
"They are necessary sacrifices," she replied calmly.
"Oh, I see. Even that foolish son you painstakingly gave birth to can be sacrificed at any time. Truly worthy of the Mother Tree of Desire."
"What are you talking about?" She sensed something off.
"Sacrifice. Dying for one's mother, quite a heroic way to go."
"Are you spreading alarmist nonsense?"
"Do I need to?" The Overseer leaned back slightly, his posture subtly shifting toward the Son of Chaos's side.
"What did you see?" her tone grew heavy.
"Nothing much. Just that the Church of the Seven Gods has already locked onto your foolish son."
"?!" Her expression changed slightly. The only truly usable follower she had now was the faction led by the Abomination Suah. Others could be sacrificed freely, but not Suah, for now.
A Sequence 1 could accomplish many things in the real world. After all, the highest Sequence within the Church of the Seven Gods was only Sequence 2, unless a god descended.
"Don't underestimate your opponents. If you're willing to send down part of your power, you might still have a chance to alter fate."
Leaving her deep in thought, the Overseer turned to the Supernova Dominator. After a light exclamation, he said: "Your eggs were shattered, how do you still have the mood to attend this gathering?"
"That was merely a minor episode," the Dominator replied calmly.
"Oh, to lose your eggs and still be so indifferent, truly worthy of the Supernova Dominator."
"Hahaha!"
The one laughing heartily was the Son of Chaos. He understood the Overseer's extreme sarcasm.
But the Mother Tree of Desire and the Supernova Dominator, who had long dwelled deep in the cosmos, likely didn't grasp the double meaning.
"If you intend to mock me this way, there's no need to waste your effort or time." The Dominator might not understand the layered implication, but he could understand the Son of Chaos's noisy, mocking laughter.
"Indeed. I've underestimated you before." The Overseer withdrew his gaze and gave the Son of Chaos a look.
The meaning was clear: I'm not targeting you specifically, I'm targeting all Outer Gods equally.
The Son of Chaos let out a soft scoff and said nothing.
The Overseer then looked toward Hastur, sighed, and withdrew his gaze again.
With the Overseer setting the tone of the meeting, the Mother Tree of Desire and the Supernova Dominator began discussing how to resolve the crisis facing the Abomination Suah.
Divine descent, and a double descent at that.
If things were truly as urgent as the Overseer claimed, they would have to send down part of their power to help Suah resist the possible descent of gods from the Church of the Seven.
Across from them, within the Overseer's smooth mirror-like surface, the figure seemed to narrow its eyes slightly, like a little fox that had just successfully stolen a chicken.
The Overseer, clearly in a chatty mood, kept trying to talk to the Son of Chaos, but the latter ignored him.
Eventually, the Overseer's gaze fell on Hastur again, only to shift away quickly.
After reaching a plan, the Mother Tree of Desire and the Supernova Dominator looked at the Overseer once more.
"Thank you for the reminder this time," said the Mother Tree of Desire.
The Overseer snorted lightly without responding.
"You've been lingering over the seas, what exactly are you plotting?" the Supernova Dominator asked.
"If it's a scheme, why would I tell you? How foolish. Even those curly-haired baboons know to smile when begging for food."
The Overseer replied disdainfully, then looked at the Mother Tree of Desire.
"If you don't want your intelligence lowered, stay away from him. Stupidity is contagious."
She glanced at the Son of Chaos. "You need to consider that more than I do."
"True… sigh, how troublesome." The Overseer sighed, looking mentally exhausted.
"..." The Son of Chaos, who had been caught in the crossfire for no reason, almost lost control, but seeing the Overseer's teasing gaze, he swallowed his words.
This gave Hastur, who had been quietly enjoying the spectacle, immense satisfaction.
Even the Son of Chaos had moments of frustration, how rare.
Then again, the Son of Chaos didn't seem to get along with anyone. Even his supposed allies took every chance to mock him.
Ah, the price of poor relationships...
….
At sea, aboard the Dawn.
As soon as the Son of Chaos returned to the Magical Wishing Lamp, he began ranting furiously, occasionally cursing the Mother Tree of Desire and the Supernova Dominator, but mostly the High-Dimensional Overseer.
That bastard had definitely done it on purpose, keeping him trapped and taking pleasure in his misery.
The angrier he became, the more enjoyment the Overseer gained.
That's why, in the Hall of Stars, he had suppressed the urge to curse, to avoid letting the Overseer see his helpless rage.
As the Son of Chaos vented inside, the Magical Wishing Lamp flickered continuously.
Inside the room, Bernadette, who had been ignoring him, finally spoke coldly: "If you don't calm down, I'll throw you into the deepest trench of the sea so you'll never have a chance to come out again."
"Hmph!" A disdainful snort came from the lamp, but the Son of Chaos did quiet down, and the Magical Wishing Lamp returned to normal.
"What kind of stimulation did he receive?" Bernadette was unusually curious. It was the first time she had seen the Son of Chaos so furiously helpless.
It was probably related to that uncrowned king.
After thinking for a moment, Bernadette decided to report the current situation to the Stars, and ask a few questions along the way.