Lord of Mysteries: The Color of the Stars

"I'd love to."

Julian looked directly into Haynes Vancent's eyes without flinching.

To be honest, the word "listen" gave Julian a bit of a headache, because it naturally reminded him of the potion name "Listener" from the Sequence 8 of the "Mystic" pathway.

Those of extraordinary ability in this sequence will easily hear whispers from high-ranking individuals in the "Mystic" pathway, including the voice of the "True Creator."

But if Julian chooses to proceed with his plan, he will have to accept Hainas's information output, which will inevitably involve some risks.

Fortunately, Julian is not only tainted by the "Colors of the Stars," but he is also a favorite of Amanisis, the "Goddess of the Night."

If the Aurora Society really did use some method to expose him to the corruption of the "True Creator," the Goddess will most likely step in to protect him.

Of course, Julian did not place all his bets on the goddess's morality. Even if we take a step back, the "starlight" contamination on him is also an invisible deterrent.

Currently, Julian and "Starry Night" are in a state of limited balance, but if the goddess chooses to allow Julian to be corrupted by the "True Creator," Julian will inevitably go mad and lose control.

At that time, there is a high probability that "Starry Night" will go berserk. It should be noted that "Tide Restaurant" is located in a densely populated civilian residential area. Therefore, a large number of civilians will inevitably die due to Julian's loss of control. In the worst case, at least half of the Tingen parish may be dragged down.

Even if he didn't lose control, Julian had a way to trigger the "Starry Night" to go berserk through a specific prayer, which was one of the many forbidden knowledge the original owner had acquired before his death.

Therefore, Julian was not worried about the goddess withdrawing her protection, because it was neither worthwhile nor necessary.

In this way, even if the people in the "Aurora Society" try to corrupt him, they will most likely fail.

After all, the Kingdom of Rune is the center of faith of the "Goddess of Night". The power that the "True Creator", who is far away in the "Forsaken Land" and is sealed and isolated, can project here is relatively limited, and is certainly not as great as that of the Goddess.

Having figured out these objective realities, Julian became emboldened.

While ensuring his safety, he was also very curious about what methods the "Aurora Club" planned to use to brainwash him and what tricks they could come up with.

After hearing Julian's response, Vancent smiled slightly, and then said:

"It seems that we may indeed become like-minded people, which is something to celebrate."

"In fact, I had expected this a long time ago. Do you know why?"

"Because the path that God pointed out for me was foreseen by Julian, this must be considered a spiritual resonance."

He raised his glass:

"Then, ladies and gentlemen, let us first drink our wine."

"Cheers!"

Julian glanced at the wine, which showed no unusual color, and then drank it all in one gulp.

After he put down his glass, Hainas nodded in satisfaction and then said:

"Julian, as I said before, according to the creation myth, the omnipotent first creator created this world and transformed it into living beings, nature, planets, and the universe."

"The Church of the True God also uses this statement, except that they interpret those gods as the organs of the original creator, thereby giving them sufficient specialness and legitimacy to rule the world compared to the vast majority of living beings."

"But don't you think there's a logical flaw in this argument?"

"A logical flaw?"

Julian frowned, and asked in a curious tone:

"To be honest, I haven't thought about this issue."

"Most people haven't thought about this, which is not surprising, and it doesn't matter."

With a persuasive and guiding manner, Hainas continued to explain:

"If the original Creator is infinite, supreme, and transcendent, then He should encompass all things, without any limitations or distinctions between the special and the non-special."

"But you can see that all the deities in the church today have fixed symbols, which means that the areas they govern are limited to those that are great, bright, right, and obvious."

"And most people, and even most of the world, seem to be excluded from their divine authority—which is clearly inconsistent with the true meaning of creation myths."

"We are the underlying color of creation, the shadow of so-called 'light,' and the 99 percent that constitutes the foundation of the world."

"In fact, not only those gods, but every person, every animal, every plant, even the tiniest speck of dust, possesses the divinity of the 'original creator'."

"Most people are simply unaware that they possess this divinity—but that's alright, because once we become aware of it, we will eventually be on the right track to regaining our divinity."

What Hainas was saying at this moment was the core theoretical basis of the "Aurora Society's" belief in the "True Creator".

It must be said that after nearly a century of refinement, this theoretical framework, which was originally just similar to animism, has become complete. It has not only achieved basic logical consistency, but is also completely self-consistent.

By drawing an analogy between the limitations of deities and the infinity of the "original" state, the omnipotence of the true God is denied, while emphasizing that ordinary people also possess divinity. In a sense, this can be considered a trend of faith liberation.

However, compared to true religious liberation, the ultimate goal of the "Aurora Society" is to bring ordinary people who question the true God's faith onto the path of believing in the "true Creator".

He paused briefly, then looked at Julian:

Do you understand what I've just said?

Julian nodded:

"I understand."

"I must say, this is a very interesting and refreshing theory."

"It's just that I've never delved into the subtext of creation myths before, so I lack knowledge in this area."

"It's okay."

Hainas nodded in satisfaction:

"As I just said, everyone has divinity within them, but we lack the means to perceive it."

"But I have a way to make you feel all of this... Julian, give me your hand."

Upon hearing this, the other members of the "Aurora Club" looked at Julian with encouraging and expectant eyes.

Judging from this situation... they must have mastered some kind of ritual magic or sealing artifact that can influence people with the "true creator"?

Julian raised an eyebrow, but fortunately he had taken precautions beforehand, so he wasn't too afraid at this moment.

He kept silently reciting the name of the "Goddess of the Night" in his heart, asking for protection while reducing the frequency of the recitation, thus slightly loosening the restrictions on "Starry Night".

The buzzing of "Starry Night" faintly echoed in his ears once again, forming an invisible buffer barrier that could block out some of the whispers.

With the help of this barrier, Julian can reduce the influence of the "true creator's" ramblings, and combined with the goddess's protection, this forms a double insurance.

On the other hand, if things go wrong, Julian will immediately release the "Starlight" and let it kill all the cultists, including Lanius.

After making ample preparations, he extended his right hand to Hainas and clasped it with the other's slightly cold right hand.

Just as Julian had predicted, the shadow beneath his feet suddenly came to life and began to silently meander and coil upwards along his calves.

At the same time, Julian also heard a great deal of dense, unintelligible whispers.

The whispers seemed to come from the shadows beneath his feet, filled with chaos and madness, and even listening to them for just a second gave Julian a splitting headache.

Fortunately, he had prepared in advance, and Julian did not actually go mad.

He even had the energy to slightly tilt his head and carefully discern the meaning in the murmured words.

It was a strange expression, a mixture of roots from giants, dragons, ancient Hermes, and Russian, and Julian heard in it hatred, accusation, despair, turmoil, and an impulse to corrupt everything.

"It seems... there's still a sliver of pity for me?"

"Is the 'true Creator' taking pity on me?"

This strange feeling that appeared out of nowhere made Julian pause for a moment.

But before he could glean any further information, "Starry Night" suddenly became extremely agitated.

As if finding the ramblings of the "True Creator" too noisy, "Starry Night" emitted an extremely intense, dissatisfied buzzing sound before Julian could stop it.

In that instant, the ramblings of the "true creator" almost completely drowned out.

At the same time, the vibrant colors that had been surrounding Julian suddenly expanded, crossed the dining table, and rushed towards Hynas Vancent and Lanius!