Chapter 497: Lost History

Chapter 497: Lost History

Leaving the Hall of Stars, Hastur stood before the full-length mirror in his bedroom. By the starlight streaming through the window, he could clearly see his reflection, with a small crimson moon nestled in his pupils, adding an air of malevolence to his demeanor.

Hastur stared at his reflection for a moment, blinked, and everything returned to normal.

"There's almost no room left," he muttered to himself, heading to the bathroom for a relaxing bath to alleviate the fatigue of the night.

As he stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, he saw Aisala perched on a large chandelier in the hallway, swaying gently, making the light cast drunken, skewed shadows.

"Not keeping Sharon company tonight?" Hastur asked.

"Meow," Aisala responded, poking its head out from the chandelier, eyes filled with confusion and hesitation.

"You, a greedy cat, have worries too?" Hastur walked over and beckoned. Aisala leapt down from the chandelier, landing precisely on Hastur's shoulder, curling up with its head towards his neck.

"Meow."

"Don't you usually confide in Sharon?" Hastur petted its little head. "Did Sharon hide in the mirror early tonight?"

"Meow," Aisala replied with meaningless meows.

"It's late. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it in the morning." Hastur took Aisala back to his room, letting it stay there for the night.

When Hastur went to bed, Aisala lay in its cat house, still wide awake.

The next morning, Hastur woke to find Aisala gone. He wasn't too concerned, as Aisala loved to wander and might be off causing trouble with the small fish.

After washing up and enjoying breakfast, Hastur noticed Aisala still hadn't appeared. Frowning, he went to Sharon's room, finding only Sharon and no sign of Aisala.

"Looks like something significant happened," Hastur said, standing beside Sharon. "What happened to that little one?"

"She succeeded in her role but doesn't want to advance to Pleasure Witch," Sharon explained succinctly.

"Pleasure Witch... it is tricky and easy to lose oneself."

This was the most prone to corruption sequence in the Witch pathway. Although pleasure wasn't limited to carnal activities, it was the fastest route to role-playing.

Hastur knew few witches, but every Pleasure Witch he knew had succumbed to pleasure, both physically and mentally. For men, this sequence was particularly torturous, watching themselves succumb under other men was sheer agony. Of course, some men might naturally enjoy it.

"Does your faction of restraint have a different view on this sequence?" Hastur asked Sharon.

"Restrain desires; pleasure is also a desire."

"Like you?" Hastur hinted.

"Don't interrupt," Sharon snapped, lightly hitting Hastur's arm, annoyed at his interruption.

"Let me put it this way, and you tell me if I'm right," Hastur continued. "Enjoying pleasure doesn't have to be limited to that act. One can find pleasure in various forms of play."

"Enjoying good food can also bring pleasure."

"Is that what you mean?"

Sharon nodded, agreeing with Hastur's interpretation.

"But have you considered that pleasure and joy are not the same? Otherwise, the Witch Sect wouldn't be in such a mess."

Sharon was silent for a moment before saying, "So, they've all gone astray."

"Pleasure can simply be pure joy."

"The Witch Sect follows this path to better experience the subsequent pain and despair."

Sharon glanced at Hastur, curious about his sudden change in tone.

"For Aisala, pain and despair are the hardest hurdles. It's used to being carefree," Hastur offered his insight. "When you see Aisala, guide it this way. As for the potion needed, it can be gathered within a week."

"What if you had taken the Assassin pathway?" Sharon asked, curious about Hastur's choice of a gender-changing extraordinary path.

Hastur turned to Sharon, his voice heavy, "Do you really want to know?"

Feeling uneasy, Sharon looked at Hastur but remained curious, standing still.

"Come closer, and I'll tell you."

"No," Sharon instinctively refused, stepping back, but Hastur had already wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I would seek you out every day for pleasure role-playing, day and night."

Sharon's face and ears flushed red, and she quickly hid in a nearby mirror, refusing to come out.

"Seems you haven't completely curbed your curiosity," Hastur teased the mirror before leaving the room.

## In a Hidden History of the Fourth Epoch

Zaratul had been in this secret history for nearly two months. It was time to leave and gather information about the outside world.

To avoid being tracked by the stars through his avatars, he had hidden one avatar for emergency resurrection and sent no others out, leaving him ignorant of the outside world.

Remaining blind would lead to being mercilessly eliminated by history.

Emerging from the hidden history, Zaratul left a crucial avatar behind to handle any unexpected events.

In the starry sky of the Fourth Epoch, devoid of stars, he traveled through layers of history to return to the current epoch.

As he neared his return, he sensed a fog of history ahead, obscuring all directions.

This sudden historical fog even baffled him, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

Zaratul paused, carefully observing the fog around him.

Someone wanted him lost in past history!

After a brief observation, Zaratul deduced the fog's purpose.

What puzzled him was who had the confidence to use history against him, considering he was the foremost on the Seer pathway, with Antigonus already mad.

He chuckled coldly, unconcerned by the scene before him.

After some analysis, he identified his position as about fifty years from the present.

With his position unchanged, he needed to advance another fifty years.

Yet advancing fifty years brought him back to his original position.

"Interesting."

Like a scholar facing a complex problem, Zaratul sat down, pondering how to break through the historical fog.

He tried various methods but couldn't escape the fog's range.

"This fog contains a power of confusion. Which pathway does it belong to?"

As an ancient scholar, Zaratul's knowledge was vast. He quickly analyzed the twenty-two extraordinary pathways.

He identified potential pathways with confusion abilities: Audience pathway Sequence 3 Dream Weaver, Fate pathway Sequence 3 Chaos Walker, and Judgment pathway Sequence 3 Chaos Hunter.

All involved chaos, where people easily got lost.

Why all Sequence 3?

Because the fog's power wasn't strong, at most Sequence 2.

Yet this authority temporarily trapped him.

"Perhaps it's not among the twenty-two pathways."

Zaratul speculated, realizing the existing pathways couldn't explain the fog's power.

"From beyond the stars... a subordinate of the stars!"

He identified the source, understanding why the stars hadn't sought him—they had someone waiting here.

Navigating the historical currents to find the right time was challenging, compounded by the fog's barrier.

Even he needed time to solve this puzzle, while guarding against the stars' followers.

Realizing this, Zaratul wasn't in a hurry to break the fog.

Rushing might lead him straight into the stars' grasp.

The situation seemed more like a warning.

As Zaratul mused, the historical sky suddenly lit up with starlight, startling him into a historical fragment.

The sky dimmed again, as if the starlight had been a fluke.

The historical fog surged, covering Zaratul's previous position, slowly flowing backward, as if to trap him in the Fourth Epoch's history.