Chapter 449: The Black Emperor

Chapter 449: The Black Emperor

Beneath the chaotic, disordered starry sky, the once absolute domain of the Fallen Mother Goddess was now besieged by a series of disturbances.

The Primordial Hunger charged forward, devouring everything in its path. The Supernova Dominatorcould only launch planets from afar, creating fireworks within its domain.

The power of the Child of Chaos tore at everything, plunging all into disorder, nearly confusing even its own lucid mind.

The Higher Dimensional Observer, the most elusive thief, seemed to be secretly searching for something.

The Mother Tree of Desire , already at odds with the Fallen Mother Goddess, seized the opportunity to frantically usurp the authority of the Crimson Moon while its attention was divided.

After eons of standing tall in the cosmos, this was the first time the Fallen Mother Goddess had been targeted simultaneously by so many Outer Gods and Great Old Ones, making it wary of the stars and the stellar council it had convened.

It had been less than three years since the stars awakened and manifested their divinity, not even enough time for a nap, yet they had amassed such formidable power.

Truly terrifying.

These were just the minor annoyances. More crucially, its control over Mr. Door and Roselle was gradually weakening.

Especially Mr. Door, who was inherently more resistant to corruption than Roselle. His consciousness was slowly awakening, showing signs of breaking free from the corruption.

If the stars helped him resolve the corruption, it would be much harder for the Fallen Mother Goddess to infiltrate the real world with its power.

Because Mr. Door's authority encompassed the concept of all "doors," and the primordial barrier to the real world was essentially a closed great door.

It needed Mr. Door's authority to further advance its power into the real world.

Thus, between Mr. Door and Roselle, it chose to focus on corrupting Mr. Door.

As the Fallen Mother Goddess made its decision, Roselle in the Black Emperor's tomb gradually regained consciousness. The tentacles entwining his limbs retreated to the depths of the sea under the Black Emperor's imposing presence.

"The Fallen Mother Goddess's power has suddenly weakened significantly. Perhaps I could... No, I can't leave here!" Roselle's brief joy quickly gave way to rationality.

Though he appeared to have full control of his body now, he was certain that the Fallen Mother Goddess's consciousness still lurked deep within him, and the corruption from the stars persisted.

Freedom was only temporary.

The struggle against corruption was eternal.

Roselle returned to the Black Emperor's throne, sitting dejectedly with his head bowed, staring at his hands. After a long moment, he spoke in a low voice: "I want to see my daughter. Can you grant me this small wish?"

"You can pray to the stars. The greater your devotion, the greater the blessing," the Stellar Vessel replied calmly.

"Never mind then," Roselle grinned. "I dare not owe too much. I won't be able to repay it, and I don't want my Bernadette to have to repay this favor for me."

"Oh, I forgot, you're from the stars. You probably don't understand what a favor means."

"I'll just quietly enjoy this moment of clarity alone."

The fallen Black Emperor, now sitting on his throne, chose to spend this time in calm rationality...

"How could I possibly just sit here and wait for doom!"

"I have to make at least one attempt!"

"Such an opportunity is hard to come by!"

Roselle stood up from his throne, the air of loneliness and dejection instantly dissipating.

In its place was the passionate vigor and energy of his youth.

"Stars, what protection can you still offer me?" Roselle's gaze fixed directly on the starry sky above.

Amidst the brilliant stars, a massive ancient palace appeared, with a vague, blurry figure visible inside—mysterious, powerful, and awe-inspiring.

"You have three minutes of freedom left," Hastur, seated in the Stellar Hall, finally spoke to Roselle.

"What's the price?"

"This is a free blessing."

Hastur didn't mention the latter half of the sentence: This was a favor between fellow countrymen.

Roselle still bore the Fallen Mother Goddess's corruption, and to completely remove it would require his ascension to Sequence 0.

Therefore, many things couldn't be revealed to Roselle, as that would be tantamount to exposing Hastur's weaknesses to the Fallen Mother Goddess.

"Alright, I'll trust you this once."

Without hesitation, Roselle reached into the void, rummaging around before pulling out a Sequence 1 Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic and uniqueness.

He immediately devoured the characteristic and uniqueness without a second thought, as the power of the Black Emperor gradually returned to his body.

When George III had perished, Roselle had secretly attracted one of the Sequence 1 Filicide Prince's non-human characteristics and uniqueness, hiding it away. But he had restrained himself from consuming this power.

At that time, his body was still dominated by the Fallen Mother Goddess, and he dared not consume this power for fear of intensifying her corruption of the real world.

The Fallen Mother Goddess knew of his little scheme but deliberately didn't expose it, intending for him to consume this power of his own accord, thinking himself clever.

Now was the perfect opportunity.

Hastur also possessed a Sequence 1 Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic that Roselle needed, but he had no intention of giving it to him.

This Filicide Prince characteristic could also help him advance to Sequence 1.

As for Roselle's current thoughts, he understood them completely.

Roselle wanted to take advantage of the Fallen Mother Goddess's inability to influence him, reclaim the Black Emperor's throne, and use the Black Emperor's resurrection ability to cleanse himself of the Fallen Mother Goddess's corruption.

This was a path he had once considered but failed to complete.

When Roselle initially ascended to become the Black Emperor, he deliberately allowed himself to be assassinated, planning to cleanse the Fallen Mother Goddess's corruption through his subsequent resurrection.

However, when it came time for his resurrection, he discovered that while the madness brought by the non-human characteristics had been completely eliminated, the Fallen Mother Goddess's corruption persisted.

If he dared to resurrect, the Fallen Mother Goddess would directly reincarnate within him, completely possessing his body.

So he could only remain in the Black Emperor's tomb, living in a state between life and death.

Now, under the protection of the stars, with the Fallen Mother Goddess powerless to influence him, and in possession of a Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic and uniqueness, Roselle intended to try this path again.

In the Stellar Hall, Hastur withdrew the power helping Mr. Door awaken, converting it entirely into purifying energy imbued with the Sun's authority and stellar power. He infused this energy into Roselle's body in the form of starlight.

This helped Roselle maximize the elimination and suppression of the Fallen Mother Goddess's corruption.

As the Black Emperor's aura grew stronger within Roselle, the Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic carefully preserved in the Loen royal family's secret vault in Backlund broke free from their control, flying swiftly towards Roselle.

Meanwhile, another Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic was firmly suppressed by the Stellar Hall, unable to escape.

The entire Black Emperor's tomb began to shake as Roselle's aura intensified.

However, just as the Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic from the Loen royal family arrived at the tomb, and Roselle was about to successfully resurrect as the Black Emperor, he suddenly halted the process.

Although the Fallen Mother Goddess's corruption had been severely suppressed, it still lingered within him like a soul poison, impossible to completely eradicate.

The power of the stars' protection could only weaken it, not thoroughly eliminate it.

As long as the Fallen Mother Goddess's roots remained within him, they would eventually grow into a towering tree once more.

"It seems this path will never be viable."

Roselle's face showed no particular disappointment; he merely paused briefly before returning to normal.

"This is enough."

Roselle smiled, automatically separating the Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic and uniqueness from his body. They transformed into two twisted black orbs of light, floating alongside the Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic that had flown in from Backlund.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the Black Emperor's uniqueness was a black crown with a pigeon egg-sized gem embedded in its center.

"Take them. This can help you nurture a new Black Emperor," Roselle said, waving his right hand to send these items to the Stellar Vessel.

During his attempted resurrection, he had learned that the final Filicide Prince's non-human characteristic was in the possession of the stars. Combined with the two Filicide Prince's non-human characteristics and uniqueness before him, all the materials needed for ascending to Black Emperor were now complete.

A new Black Emperor could be born by performing the corresponding ritual.

Roselle smiled and said, "The sea is vast. If possible, establishing a pirate kingdom wouldn't be bad."

Hastur understood Roselle's thoughts. He hoped to let Bernadette establish a kingdom for pirates, thereby performing the corresponding ritual to ascend to Black Emperor.

A father ultimately cares for his daughter, wishing for her to have enough power to live freely.

Without becoming a god, one remains a mere pawn, never truly free.

However, Roselle had handed this choice to Hastur, or more accurately, to the stars.

Presumably, during his attempted resurrection as the Black Emperor, he had learned that his daughter Bernadette was already a believer of the stars.

Since this connection couldn't be severed, he decided to make his daughter more powerful.

"You should leave now."

Roselle urged, then walked to the Black Emperor's throne and sat down. He tried several poses, unsatisfied with each.

Finally, he retrieved a black broad-bladed greatsword, resting both hands on either side of the hilt, planting the blade in front of the throne. He straightened his back and gazed straight ahead.

Satisfied with his posture, Roselle used his remaining power to completely petrify and seal his body, connecting it to the Black Emperor's throne, becoming a cold statue.

After this purification by the stars and the Black Emperor's resurrection ritual, he could once again resist the Fallen Mother Goddess's corruption with a clear mind.

Just as he had in his initial entanglement with the Fallen Mother Goddess.

"Does anyone remember which chapter I listed the pathways of the stars?"