The New Leader of the Four Pillars of the Stars

"Don't be so quick to refuse." Daidalos took the initiative to yield, stepping around to the other side of the bed. Sonia immediately sat half-upright, pulling Yaxiu tightly into her arms. Felix scoffed softly under her breath, quite disdainful in her heart. The country girl's behavior made it seem as if she was guarding against the foremost beauty beneath the starry sky snatching Yaxiu and leaping straight through the window, but how could Miss Lena possibly— "Tch." Hearing Daidalos's disgruntled click of the tongue at having her plan foiled, Felix nearly fell to her knees. *Touch Seat, where is your dignity?!* "You still don't know why Yaxiu and the others are trapped in the Void Realm and unable to return, do you?" Daidalos said. "It was an accident, yet also an inevitability. As the Observer of the End, Yaxiu's mission is to participate in this long-awaited game of the Four Pillar Gods." "He has already left the Four Pillar Cult," Sonia said coldly. "And your Four Pillar Cult has harmed him far too many times already." "A feeler cannot leave the Four Pillar Cult," Daidalos chuckled. "Have you ever heard of eyes fleeing the body, blood escaping the vessels, direction departing from an arrow, or death betraying life?" "First, let me ask you a question: do you know that the starry sky above our heads is fake?" Seeing the country girl remain silent, the foremost beauty beneath the starry sky showed a hint of surprise. "You actually knew... Impressive. Anyone living in the Starry Kingdom would find it hard to accept that they live beneath a false starry sky without the guidance of the Four Pillar Gods." "On the Time Continent, I learned that the stars concept had been destroyed once," Sonia said. "Then when I returned to reality, I discovered that the stars were shattered... That White Tower built to stabilize the starry sky still stands tall over there right now." "From that moment on, I knew the starry sky was an illusion forged by miracles." "In that case, I won't have to waste my breath rebuilding your worldview," Daidalos said. "First off, this starry sky of ours is a canopy that the Divine Lord of Stars stole from Hell. The entire Starry Kingdom lies beneath this canopy, and no one has ever truly seen the outside world." "As for the stars within the canopy, they are both fake and real. They are fake because they are not genuine celestial bodies, but merely the disguise of a divine miracle; they are real because they actually possess physical substance, rather than being mere nothingness." "And that brings us to the second concept," Daidalos said earnestly. "The canopy of Hell is fundamentally a passage connecting two sides." "Refined by the Divine Lord of Stars, the canopies formed mirrors that reflect one another. He used one canopy as a cage for the Starry Kingdom, and fitted the other canopy inside Ruby Mountain." "Through intricate reflection miracles, projections of the Starry Kingdom's living beings appear inside Ruby Mountain. These projections have even formed a new country. To distinguish it from the Starry Kingdom, we call that place the Nation of Stars." "Just like the Starry Kingdom, the Nation of Stars has a starry sky shimmering with constellations." Sonia gradually processed the meaning, turning her head to glance out the window at the night sky. "Could it be..." "That's right," Daidalos said in a rather romantic way. "If Yaxiu were looking up at the sky right now, you might very well be gazing right into his eyes." "The starry sky of the Starry Kingdom is the Nation of Stars, and the starry sky of the Nation of Stars is the Starry Kingdom." Connected canopies, each serving as the other's stars! Even after witnessing countless grand spectacles, Sonia could not help but feel awed by the sheer ambition of the Divine Lord of Stars. Using two canopies of Hell, excavating Ruby Mountain, and even using an entire real nation as raw material—it had taken thousands of years to achieve such a divine miracle! The country girl's heart sank. She knew that for the Divine Lord of Stars to invest so much effort, his schemes had to be monumental. Though Yaxiu was already a Legendary magician, stepping into the vortex of a Divine Lord would make escape nearly impossible. Just then, Sonia's miracle bracelet vibrated. Looking down, she saw an incoming voice call from Lois. "Yeah, it's me." "...Nothing happened last night." "Right, I didn't come back all night, but..." While Sonia's attention was diverted to the call, Felix saw Daidalos stealthily crawl onto the bed, inching closer and closer to Yaxiu in Sonia's arms. Just as Daidalos was about to grasp Yaxiu's arm, Sonia ended the call. The foremost beauty beneath the starry sky instantly withdrew to her original spot, looking as though nothing had happened. *Touch Seat... could you pay a little heed to your image in my heart?!* Sonia asked, "So after Yaxiu and the others entered Ruby Mountain, they were dragged into the Nation of Stars, which is why they can't log out?" "Exactly," Daidalos confirmed. "Ruby Mountain is currently locked down. Aside from the Starry Kingdom, Legendary magicians from other countries cannot log into the Void Realm at all; and once a Legendary magician of the Starry Kingdom logs into the Void Realm, they will be pulled into the Nation of Stars and unable to leave." The Paw-Extending Sword Saint came to a sudden realization. "No wonder the Legendary magician besieged last night just sat and waited for death—he entered the Nation of Stars and couldn't escape!" "And Decree No. 51! No wonder the order for foreign magicians was to kill without mercy. The Starry Kingdom was never so ruthless toward outsiders before." "Those are all the arrangements of the Divine Lord of Stars," Daidalos said. "Only Starry magicians can enter Ruby Mountain, but outsiders who enter Ruby Mountain through the Starry Kingdom must risk being hunted by the Throne Hall. The hunters are also the prey. Every single arrangement was made so the Divine Lord of Stars could fully control Ruby Mountain." "Connected canopies, thousands of years of scheming—everything was leading up to this moment of sealing Ruby Mountain, for it signifies that the Divine Lord of Stars has finally fulfilled his long-cherished wish: locking the angel inside the cage of stars." "The angel..." Sonia was somewhat perplexed. "The angel seated at the summit of Ruby Mountain?" "Yes, that very one." Daidalos nodded. "I don't know what kind of existence it truly is, nor can I explain its significance. All you need to know is that every Divine Lord, as well as the Four Pillar Gods, desperately craves its death." "Both the Observer of the End and I are feelers used by the Four Pillar Gods to invade the Nation of Stars. We have only one objective—to hunt the angel." Sonia frowned slightly. "Those Legendaries infiltrating the Starry Kingdom..." "They are all hunters sent by other Divine Lords," Daidalos said. "The Throne Hall cannot catch every infiltrator. Foreign Legendaries will inevitably enter the Nation of Stars to participate in this hunt. Whoever kills the angel first will bring limitless benefits to the Divine Lord backing them." Seeing the fluctuating expression on the country girl's face, the foremost beauty beneath the starry sky smiled faintly. "So you understand where the real battlefield is now, don't you?" "If you want to go inside to help Yaxiu, you won't be able to protect his physical body in reality; if you want to protect his body in reality, you can only watch helplessly as he keeps company with death in the Nation of Stars." "But as long as you hand him over to our care—" "Get lost." Facing Sonia's total refusal to budge, Daidalos felt rather deflated. "I've never heard of the Observer of the End having aphrodisiac effects. Why are you so infatuated with him?" Felix nodded repeatedly beside them; she had wanted to ask that for a long time too. "Probably because you want him too," Sonia said offhandedly. "Something even Daidalos desires is simply far too appealing to me." "Right, let's add each other as friends first." Daidalos tapped her bracelet, projecting a floating picture of a cat being bitten by another cat. "Lest we forget later." Sonia saw no harm in it, so she operated her miracle bracelet to open the friends interface— *Whoosh!* In a flash of lightning so swift that even Felix couldn't follow, the foremost beauty beneath the starry sky pounced toward the bed. Yet the Paw-Extending Sword Saint had already retreated to the window, clutching the cult leader in her arms. Clearly, if Daidalos pressed forward any further, Sonia would not hesitate to leap out the window with Yaxiu. After a three-second standoff, Daidalos returned to her spot, and Sonia carried Yaxiu back to the bed, as if nothing had ever happened. "Still, it's not as though you can't help Yaxiu," Daidalos continued, her tone composed. "Since Yaxiu is trapped inside the canopy, all we have to do is tear the canopy to shreds." "Tear the canopy to shreds?" Sonia was startled. "Our canopy and the canopy of the Nation of Stars reflect each other. The benefit is projecting living beings of the Stars into the Nation of Stars, but the downside is... if the Stars' canopy shatters, the canopy of the Nation of Stars cannot be spared either. When the canopy breaks, the cage of stars naturally won't be able to trap Yaxiu." "In other words, as long as we shatter the false starry sky above our heads," Daidalos said in all seriousness, "you can rescue Yaxiu." "Here and now, I extend my most sincere invitation to you, Sonia Servi." "Join the Four Pillar Cult, and let us shatter the starry sky together." Sonia fell silent for a long time. Rather than getting bogged down in minor details, she asked only the most crucial point: "You are the leader of the Four Pillars of the Stars. If I join the Four Pillar Cult, wouldn't I be placing myself under your control? What if you dispatch me on missions to forcibly separate me from Yaxiu—wouldn't that leave you free to do whatever you want with him?" "No." Daidalos shook her head. "I am no longer the leader of the Four Pillars of the Stars." "Then who is?" "Someone inside this very bedroom." Sonia froze, then turned to look at an equally stunned Felix— "Obviously it's the man in your arms," Daidalos said exasperatedly. "The Four Pillar divine oracle commands us to welcome the 'Observer of the End' back to his seat, which means making Yaxiu Heath the leader of the Four Pillars of the Stars!" Sonia frowned. "Doesn't that still amount to you controlling the cult? How could Yaxiu possibly command the Four Pillar Cult in his current state?" Just as the foremost beauty beneath the starry sky was about to speak, she suddenly stared at the country girl, an expression of sudden realization dawning on her face. "So that's what the Four Pillar Gods meant..." "That's right. The 'Observer of the End,' Yaxiu, cannot issue commands right now. Therefore... whoever possesses Yaxiu is the leader of the Four Pillars of the Stars." Felix's eyes widened, her jaw dropping in utter shock. Before her very eyes, the Starry Feeler, "Chaotic Song Maiden" Daidalos, knelt on one knee beside the bed with deep reluctance. Facing the Sword Princess who was hugging the mobile natural disaster, she asked helplessly: "Sonia Servi, are you willing to become the leader of the Four Pillar Cult?"