"The Sovereign of Chaos and Order."
"The Origin of All Rules in the Cosmos."
"The Reset and Restart That Guides All Things."
"The One Who Returns the Stars to Their Positions!"
With a divine expression on his face, the Vessel of Stars recited the honorific name belonging to the Stars.
Compared to the previous three-line honorific name, the honorific name of the Stars now had an additional line: "The Reset and Restart That Guides All Things."
This was a new change that had appeared in the Hall of Stars when Hastur switched to the Stars Pathway and advanced to Sequence 4, Lost One.
Reset and restart fit the description of the authority of the Stars very well. This was also where the name of the Time Reset Charm in his hand came from.
At present, however, he could only trigger the authority of reset and restart through the Time Reset Charm.
In the future, it would be necessary to catch some more of Amon's avatars and use the Worms of Time on them to make more Time Reset Charms.
Roselle, who had briefly regained control of his body, had originally been very resistant to reciting the honorific name of such an unfamiliar deity. Who knew what terrifying changes might happen?
But the consciousness of the Mother Goddess of Depravity that had been suppressed was gradually making a comeback, making him understand that he did not have much time left to remain rational.
Since the other party had been able to contact Bernadette and gain her trust, he could only take the gamble!
Standing before the Black Emperor's throne, he looked up at the starry sky and prayed solemnly in ancient Hermes:
"The Sovereign of Chaos and Order."
"The Origin of All Rules in the Cosmos."
"The Reset and Restart That Guides All Things."
"The One Who Returns the Stars to Their Positions!"
"I hope to borrow Your mighty power to free myself from the corruption of the Mother Goddess of Depravity and return to my lucid, untainted self."
Roselle recited the matter he wished to pray for. The Mother Goddess of Depravity within him sensed that something was wrong and began to frantically counterattack.
"Ah…" Roselle let out a pained groan. His entire body bent forward, knees buckling, and both hands pressed tightly against the Black Emperor's throne so that he would not completely collapse to his knees.
He felt as though his entire body was about to be torn in half. After merely lowering his head for a glance, he could clearly see the cracks across his body growing wider and wider. Within them, a crimson moon had already taken shape and was about to be born from his belly.
At that moment, the Vessel of Stars pressed another Time Reset Charm onto his body, helping him temporarily resist the erosion of the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption.
At the same time, the starry sky above the Black Emperor's mausoleum grew even more dazzling. Stars lit up one after another, as if countless suns were rising.
The radiance belonging to the Stars descended and enveloped Roselle's body. This was the blessing of the Stars, and also a form of purification.
"Mother Goddess of Depravity, I sure as hell don't want to give birth to your child!"
Roselle roared. His cracked body began to gradually heal, trying to completely seal the crimson moon inside him.
But at that moment, the Mother Goddess of Depravity also revealed a terrifying aura. The entire roof of the Black Emperor's mausoleum exploded apart. Amid flying rubble, the light of the crimson moon poured inside like a flood of blood.
With the sky no longer concealed, there was now only the radiance of the crimson moon.
The power of the Stars was still blocked outside.
This signified that in tonight's struggle over the crimson moon, among the Earth Mother, the Mother Tree of Desire, and the Mother Goddess of Depravity, the Mother Goddess of Depravity had already gained an overwhelming advantage.
The crimson moon hanging full in the sky granted the Mother Goddess of Depravity even more terrifying authority.
Roselle's limbs were wrapped by blood-red tentacles and lifted into the air. The scene resembled a sweet offering presented to the crimson moon.
"Primordial Hunger, you've watched enough of the show, haven't you?" The Vessel of Stars reminded him.
Primordial Hunger laughed awkwardly, reached out to rub his belly, opened his mouth wide, and sucked fiercely.
He actually intercepted out of thin air the power that the crimson moon in the sky was pouring into Roselle.
This prevented the crimson moon above from continuing to provide power to the small crimson moon within Roselle that was on the verge of being born.
The radiance of the Stars shone once again. Roselle, who had been tormented until he was about to lose consciousness, briefly regained clarity. After seeing his current situation, he cursed, "So giving birth is actually this damn terrifying."
His consciousness only remained for a short while before once again being replaced by the consciousness of the Mother Goddess of Depravity. From the crimson moon within Roselle emerged a bloody, mangled face.
The Mother Goddess of Depravity.
"Primordial Hunger, Stars… Stars!"
The Mother Goddess of Depravity, who had originally intended to greet them, suddenly noticed that something was wrong.
Her entire face immediately withdrew again.
Within the Hall of Stars, when Roselle, the Black Emperor, prayed to the Stars, the power that was generated was roughly comparable to the power that had once stirred the Hall of Stars when Gregrace prayed.
However, Hastur did not use all of that power on Roselle.
Instead, he took another approach.
He directly located the point of light symbolizing Mr. Door and attempted to separate Mr. Door from the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
He had wanted to try this for a long time. It was only that his own strength had always been insufficient to accomplish it.
Tonight, borrowing the opportunity created by Roselle's prayer, when the power of the Hall of Stars itself awakened, he used fate as a blade and forcibly severed the connection between Mr. Door and the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
He used the authority of the Sun to weaken the Mother Goddess of Depravity's power and purify the corruption, allowing the consciousness belonging to Mr. Door to awaken.
Then, through the authority of Darkness, he fought the Mother Goddess of Depravity for control over the crimson moon.
At the same time, he also used the Hall of Stars' authority of Return to draw the powers of the Mother Tree of Desire, the Supernova Dominator, the High-Dimensional Overseer, the Son of Chaos, and Primordial Hunger toward the region of the cosmos occupied by the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
By borrowing their power and authorities, he severely weakened the Mother Goddess of Depravity's influence over the real world.
Unfortunately, his own strength was still too low.
Relying solely on the Hall of Stars awakening by itself placed major limitations on how much of the authority of Return he could wield.
Otherwise, in that previous instant, he could have directly drawn the true bodies of Mother Tree of Desire and the Supernova Dominator into the region of the cosmos occupied by the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
That would have been a true gang beating.
Still, right now, the area of the cosmos occupied by the Mother Goddess of Depravity should be quite lively.
…
In the cosmos, at the crack in the original barrier, the Evernight Goddess stood within the Earth Mother's flourishing divine kingdom, looking evenly at the crimson moon.
Tonight, when the Mother Goddess of Depravity attempted to occupy the crimson moon, this symbol of authority, the Earth Mother, who possessed the Moon Uniqueness, and the Mother Tree of Desire naturally refused to accept it.
During the chaotic battle among the three, however, it was the suddenly strengthened Mother Goddess of Depravity who held the absolute advantage.
The Earth Mother had even nearly been affected and eroded by corruption.
It was only because the Evernight Goddess lent a hand at the critical moment that the Earth Mother managed to pass through the crisis without serious danger.
Even so, the Earth Mother's condition was still not very good.
At this moment, the crimson moon being occupied by the Mother Goddess of Depravity was in itself a form of devouring Her authority.
If the Mother Tree of Desire had not also been present, the Earth Mother alone would have been completely incapable of contending with tonight's Mother Goddess of Depravity.
But now, the situation seemed to have changed somewhat.
The aura of the Mother Goddess of Depravity was weakening, and Her control over the crimson moon had begun to waver.
Combined with the Mother Tree of Desire launching a frenzied counterattack, the Mother Goddess of Depravity was gradually losing control over the Moon authority.
What attracted the most attention was that deep within the region of the cosmos shrouded in darkness, depravity, and death, all sorts of terrifying fluctuations of aura were erupting.
That area should originally have been the Mother Goddess of Depravity's territory. Yet several uninvited guests had now arrived there.
Among the auras that felt relatively familiar were the Mother Tree of Desire, the Supernova Dominator, and Primordial Hunger.
As for the other two auras, they were concealed more deeply and could not be clearly perceived for the moment.
What surprised Her even more was that they were currently besieging the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
Although the Great Old Ones in the cosmos often fought and killed one another, aside from certain particularly insane existences, the others would generally keep matters under a certain degree of control.
Most of them tacitly agreed that their life-and-death struggles would only truly begin when the apocalypse arrived.
Ordinary disputes were merely minor episodes. But tonight, the situation seemed different.
First, the radiance of the Stars had shone brightly. Then abnormal fluctuations of aura appeared throughout the cosmos.
Great Old Ones who had originally been separated by vast distances instantly arrived in the Mother Goddess of Depravity's territory.
And then they began ganging up on the Mother Goddess of Depravity…
"How lively." The voluptuous and gentle Earth Mother Lilith slowly walked over, stepping upon blooming ears of wheat, accompanied by herbs, flowers, and springs, while supporting herself with a dark brown wooden staff.
"Not resting?"
"One night won't make a difference."
Lilith came to the Evernight Goddess's side and gazed at the chaotic, dark region of the cosmos in the distance, her expression unreadable.
"Are the Stars and the Mother Goddess of Depravity mortal enemies?"
From Her perception, everything that had happened tonight had been caused by the conflict between the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the Stars.
The two of Them also seemed to have clashed before. Because of Their hostility, the entire cosmos was gradually dividing into two camps.
At present, it seemed that the Stars had more allies on Their side.
It was just that the Stars were far too mysterious.
In a direct confrontation, They seemed to be somewhat inferior to the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
Of course, that was only what had been revealed so far. Perhaps the Stars were merely hiding Their true strength.
Or perhaps Their condition really was extremely poor.
"For us, this is a good thing," the Evernight Goddess said calmly. "You should also completely accommodate the Moon Uniqueness as soon as possible. Otherwise, your situation will only become more dangerous."
"And you? You still don't plan to begin accommodating the Uniqueness of the Warrior Pathway?"
"Wait a little longer."
"Are you worried about the Stars' stance?"
"No. The war has not truly begun yet."
After the Evernight Goddess and the Earth Mother briefly chatted, they both turned their attention toward the distant region of the cosmos where the conflict was erupting.
Aside from the two of Them, the remaining four true gods stationed at the crack in the original barrier were also watching curiously.
Far too much information had been revealed tonight.
The hostility between the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the Stars. The preliminary formation of two great factions among the Great Old Ones.
Such a situation in the cosmos was bound to influence how the future apocalypse unfolded. It would also affect their attitude toward the Stars.
The God of Steam and Machinery stood silently within His divine kingdom.
At this moment, His thoughts were somewhat unsettled. He had always paid close attention to matters concerning Roselle.
He had likewise learned the news that Roselle's final mausoleum had appeared on the sea and had turned His gaze toward it.
But after discovering the aura of the Stars, He withdrew His attention again.
After all, He had once been an enemy of the Stars.
Now, seeing the Stars and the Mother Goddess of Depravity opposing and struggling against each other tonight made Him wonder whether He had once again made the wrong choice back then.