High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1513: Chapter 257 The Benevolence of the Outer God

”Who are you?”

”The great Hastur!”

”It is rare for someone to call themselves great.”

”...Hastur.”

”...Where is this place?”

”The land under the gaze of the great Hastur!”

”But you said before this is my Hell?”

”For greedy souls, this is true Hell. For those with steadfast faith, this is merely a wilderness. Only those who lack neither reason nor luck can escape this illusion.”

Zheng Qing stood under the huge Bronze Gate, with the Yellow-clothed Man wearing a white mask standing in front of him, their question and answer session resembling the interaction between a studious scholar and a teaching master.

If it weren’t for the tentacles writhing behind the fog.

The corner of Zheng Qing’s eye caught those writhing shadows, and immediately his eyes stung as if facing the harsh cold wind in winter, causing him to quickly avert his gaze and focus his attention on the entity claiming to be ’Hastur’ in front of him.

To the name ’Hastur,’ Zheng Qing was familiar. Ever since he exploded a descendant of Satoguya at Silent River and subsequently dealt with Nicolas and Tingdalous’s Hunting dog, the young scholarship student painstakingly studied forbidden knowledge about the Deeps of Starry Sky, comprehending many names of the Outer Gods.

Hastur was among them.

He is more widely known as ’The King in Yellow’ and ’The Lord of Starry Sea.’ It is said Cthulhu is his brother, and Shub-Niggurath is his spouse. Mortals who see him inevitably suffer dire consequences, whether madness or death.

Zheng Qing was skeptical of the last point, but he would not disregard it.

He reassured himself slightly by touching the amulets hanging around his waist, feeling the warmth emanating from them, ”This sounds a bit complicated... But are you really Hastur? As far as I know, Prince Hastur belongs to the Starry Sky.”

This statement subtly reminded the other party that the Starry Sky and the Present World are significantly distant, and there are strong magic contracts that obstruct. The Alliance would not allow an Outer God to recklessly manifest in the Present World.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, Zheng Qing immediately regretted them.

Because these were two questions.

As he spoke those words, two gold beans that he held tightly in his palm immediately disappeared. Coupled with the previously lost gemstones, it instantly pained Zheng Qing’s heart.

”I am Hastur, but I am not the great Hastur,” the King in Yellow first corrected the young wizard’s misconception, then added, ”Moreover, this is Dreamland, not the real world, nor Buji Island.”

Beyond the heartache, Zheng Qing also felt a slight epiphany.

’Both is and isn’t’ was by now a very clear argument for wizards—the other party was an incarnation of the great Lord Hastur.

The beings that roam the Deeps of Starry Sky, although they cannot descend to the Present World, does not mean they have no connection with reality. They might have descendants to take care of; they might have worshippers; they might also need to trade magic materials with the Big Wizards on the surface, according to mutual needs.

And the agreements between the wizards and the Starry Sky explicitly restrict their descent.

So, there were incarnations.

Choosing to descend into the present world through projections, incarnations, or even offspring became the most prudent choice for many Outer Gods. The offspring of Satoguya residing at the other end of the Silent River, the Black Mountain Goat younglings that once appeared in the North District of Beta Town, and the figure in yellow robes standing before him, are examples of such choices.

With this sudden revelation, Zheng Qing recalled more about the incarnations of Hastur—that concerning this matter, Zheng Qing had read two completely different accounts in the books.

One account states that Hastur originated from the sea, hence his true form has features of an octopus, being an aquatic creature with large tentacles and his arrival is accompanied by sinister purple light that seems not to belong to this world. His incarnation is known as ’The Distant Reveler,’ a black flying creature covered in wrinkles, possessing sharp claws and tentacles.

In the wizard world, most beings from the depths of the starry sky are considered similarly, though their reliability is questionable.

The other narrative describes Hastur as a benevolent Shepherd God, dressed in tattered clothes, with swift movements yet possessing a grace not of mortals. In this image, he sometimes incarnates as a mysterious saint in a shimmering, tattered green robe, known as the Emerald Lama.

Robe, Lama, and Divine Spirits — synthesizing these elements of faith, Zheng Qing could only think of one thing, Atlas. He highly suspected some mysterious connection between Hastur and Atlas Academy.

But he was not a student of Atlas Academy, nor was he skilled at exploiting relationships.

The young wizard looked up, surveying his surroundings—if this place was truly favored by the great Hastur, what was the reason for dragging him here?

”You mentioned earlier,” he pondered on the number of gemstones and gold beans he had, cautiously glanced at the white soft mask beneath the yellow-clothed man’s hood, and spoke carefully: ”That I can leave Dreamland safely with Zhu Si?”

He emphasized the word ’safely’ heavily.

The incarnation of Hastur did not respond immediately.

He kept his head down, observing Zheng Qing for a long time, causing the warlock to break out in goosebumps and cold sweats on his back, before he finally spoke again: ”If you accept my gift.”

”Gift?” The Warlock repeated the word uneasily.

A gift from the depths of the starry sky is both the most desired and most feared gift among wizards.

The desire stems from the fact that gifts from the depths of the starry sky are extremely valuable, capable of easily transforming an average wizard into a Great Wizard, or even allowing a Great Wizard to break through the legendary bottleneck.

The fear comes from the principle that ’all gifted gifts have their prices secretly marked’. The more one receives, the more one loses—similar to Mendel’s Paradox in transformation laws. Once a wizard accepts power from the starry deep, he pays a price in appearance, form, sanity, or even self.

”Do I have any other choice?” The young wizard asked hopefully, reminding, ”My master is very powerful, even more than ancient wizards!”

A strange laughter emanated from beneath the white soft mask.

”This is a place beyond the law, where even Azathoth, the progenitor of all things, cannot interfere,” said the gentle voice of Hastur’s incarnation. ”Your master may be powerful, but it’s difficult to find this place quickly... and because He is powerful, you should feel more reassured about this gift, right?”

Zheng Qing suddenly felt that the yellow-clothed one made some sense.

If his master could reverse time and space, refine death into life, then perhaps dispelling the corruption from the depths of the starry sky on him should also not be out of the question.

And.

Zheng Qing, catching a glimpse from the corner of his eye of the huge tentacles spreading at the edge of the Mist, encircling him completely, looked at their barely visible rolling and threatening movements, and let out a bitter smile in his heart.

He indeed had no other choice.