Chapter 410: Chapter 410: Time Reset Talisman
Chapter 410: Time Reset Talisman
Backlund.
The news of Leonard Augustus' death quickly reached the desk of the new King Covington II from Southwell County.
King Covington II was furious and declared that those responsible for his brother's murder would pay the price. He entrusted the matter to be handled jointly by the three major churches.
Soon, this news spread throughout the upper echelons of the Ruen Kingdom.
Even Audrey, who had been staying out of the public eye recently, heard the various rumors circulating outside.
The most widely spread version involved Hastur, claiming that he had secretly killed two successive Dukes of Southwell to seize all power in the county.
This version seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and quickly spread like wildfire among the Ruen nobility.
"Susie, I need you to handle something."
In her room, after some thought, Audrey decided to send her most capable assistant, Susie, to investigate the truth.
"Woof!" Susie stood up energetically, looking as if she had everything under control.
"Recently, there have been many rumors in Backlund unfavorable to Mr. Hastur. I want you to ask Fors and Hugh to help investigate who is secretly spreading these messages."
"Also, from now on, try to follow Earl Hall every day to listen for any information about Mr. Hastur, and then report back to me."
Audrey paused for a moment to give Susie time to process the information, then continued to add some important details to note.
After arranging Susie's tasks, Audrey also pondered how she could help Mr. Hastur, who was far away in Southwell County.
She wasn't sure if Mr. Hastur was involved in the deaths of the two Dukes of Southwell, but given the current situation in Backlund, someone was definitely stirring the pot behind the scenes.
She wanted to help Mr. Hastur identify these individuals.
"I must write a letter to remind Mr. Hastur, letting him know that someone in Backlund is targeting him."
Audrey quickly wrote a letter and sent someone to deliver it to Southwell County.
Earl Hall noticed this small action but did not stop her. Instead, he invited Audrey to his study and informed her of some deeper information.
The new King Covington II, bolstered by his victories on the Fusac Empire battlefield, was gradually accumulating prestige, even vaguely surpassing George III.
With external wars won, he naturally wanted to eliminate some disobedient nobles at home. Hastur, who was sent to guard Southwell County, was one of them. Even the Hall and Negan families were within the scope of suppression, though not as obviously.
Emperor Roselle once said, "Every new king brings new nobles."
The new king would naturally promote some emerging nobles and sweep some stubborn old nobles into the dustbin.
Audrey listened quietly, then summarized the key information and wrote another letter to Mr. Hastur.
This was also what Earl Hall hoped for.
At a royal meeting, King Covington II sat on the throne, coldly scanning the important royal members, creating a somewhat oppressive atmosphere.
"The matter of Southwell County will be handled by the three major churches. A prince, my own brother, died mysteriously in Southwell County, and someone must be held accountable."
"Some old folks in Backlund should also step down. There needs to be a transition between the old and the new."
"Negan family, Hall family, Ebb family, Frank, Deaton..."
Covington II slowly recited the names of each family.
News of another victory against the Fusac Empire on the front lines further boosted his prestige, making it the best time to act against the old nobles.
"Isn't this too big a step all at once?" Some royal members worried about causing internal chaos.
"What right do they have to cause chaos? Noble titles are just fragile glass under the barrel of a musket."
"I'm worried about the economic aspect. The Hall and Negan families are deeply rooted in commerce. Pushing them too hard might easily provoke their resistance."
After much discussion, Covington II dismissed everyone, sitting alone on the throne.
Before sitting in this position, the throne was scorching hot, but once he sat down, it was cold, bone-chillingly cold.
"Sacrificing my brother just to deal with a young earl, is it worth it?"
"It's worth it." Covington II's expression instantly turned cold. "Anyone who might overthrow the Augustus family's rule should be nipped in the bud!"
Back then, the mysterious Zaratul had prophesied the future of three people to him.
First was Gretel Negan, then Audrey Hall, and finally Hastur Campbell. The prophecy stated that the one who would overthrow the Augustus rule over Ruen was Hastur Campbell.
He had repeatedly asked Zaratul how the young earl would overthrow the Augustus family but received no answer.
Zaratul had not appeared since. According to the Secret Order, he had gone mad again, and this time it was worse than ever.
He couldn't know the specifics, but he vaguely felt that Zaratul's abnormality was related to the three prophecies.
This made him even more certain that Hastur Campbell must be eliminated!
At St. Samuel's Cathedral, Leonard received another mission to investigate Southwell County but refused.
This time, the cathedral did not force him and respected his decision, sending others to investigate.
Back in his room, Leonard began asking the old man for his opinion on the matter.
"Very good."
That was all the old man said to him.
No matter how much he asked, he received no further response.
Leonard finally sighed, "Hastur, why do you always cause so much trouble?"
Although he had no evidence, he firmly believed that Hastur was definitely involved in the deaths of the two Dukes of Southwell.
When someone is always associated with trouble, it means they are a big trouble themselves.
...
Hastur, who was on many people's minds, had already found his spiritual home. The Hall of Stars was now his spiritual home.
Since coming into this world and entering the Hall of Stars, he had always looked to it with hope. When encountering problems, the first thing he thought of was the Hall of Stars, and it was the place he felt most connected to.
This was where he placed his soul, his only place of spiritual purity.
However, he had never truly entered the Hall of Stars. He had only entered through dreams and spiritual means.
His body remained outside the Hall of Stars; in other words, his body and mind had not fully integrated with it.
He needed to truly enter the Hall of Stars and then consume the Lost One potion to truly advance.
Once the puzzle was solved, things became much easier.
Entering the Hall of Stars wasn't difficult, but he had to be careful with various security measures to avoid being detected as the embodiment of the stars.
He had many followers of the stars, but only a few he could truly trust.
Although Gregary performed well, he still couldn't fully trust her.
The Yellow-robed Monks were the same; they might suddenly betray him due to the appearance of the King in Yellow.
The Star Vessel was good, but during the breakthrough, he couldn't control it, and its existence might attract the True Creator's attention at some point.
It seemed he would have to trouble Sharon in the end.
Before that, Hastur followed Will's method to make Time Worms from Amon into Time Talismans, totaling ten, which took him a lot of effort and time.
The Time Talismans he made were somewhat different from the Yesterday Reenactment Talismans made with Klein.
The Yesterday Reenactment Talismans were mainly useful for beings like Will, the Messenger, and Leonard's grandfather, who had been severely injured, allowing them to temporarily regain their peak strength.
The Time Talismans he made, also known as Time Reset Talismans, had different effects.
When used against an enemy, they could reset any time-related state on them, such as nullifying any temporary enhancements they had applied to themselves or resetting the existence time of their organs and even their lifespan.
Of course, the actual effect wasn't that extreme, but it did have the ability to reduce lifespan.
When used on oneself, it could reset time states, with a wide range of applications.
For example, it could reset the negative effects of using a sealed artifact or reset the cooldown of an ability that could only be used once every few days, effectively giving an extra use.
In simple terms, it was a zero-cooldown rune.
Hastur estimated that even if Amon himself made Time Talismans from his own Time Worms, they wouldn't have such extreme effects.
Resetting was the authority of the Sequence 0 of the Star Path, belonging only to the Return of the stars.
There might be other effects he hadn't fully discovered yet.
After making the Time Talismans, Hastur began considering how to distribute them.
He decided to send two to Sharon and one to Aisala.
He originally planned to send two Time Talismans to Audrey and Susie, but using these might attract Amon's attention, so he decided not to involve Audrey for now.
Moreover, sending things from Southwell County to Backlund wasn't safe.
As for Will, Hastur planned to give him two Time Worms directly, as he might have other uses for them.
After making all the preparations, Hastur began selecting the right time and place. To ensure no accidents, he gave the Messenger two Time Talismans to help keep an eye on things.
As for Lady Lisa and the Yellow-robed Monks, they were arranged on the outermost perimeter.
The closest to him were Sharon and Aisala.
Of course, everything appeared normal on the surface, and only Sharon vaguely knew he was preparing for advancement.
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