Exhilarating and deeply ominous affairs aside, Laude felt quite exhausted after everything at Windell Temple. At Alnus's recommendation, Laude took the rest of the day off and tried to understand what had occurred. Not that it particularly helped. No matter how hard he contemplated what happened, he had been unable to make any sense of it.

To whom did the booming voice within that thunderstorm belong to? And what about the other voice? The one that whispered to him to find an answer to its bizarre questions? And that gigantic finger, what was that all about?

What virtue is there in a starless sky?

Without Us to light your way, will you be able to traverse the darkness that awaits you?

These two questions lingered in Laude's mind as he absentmindedly tossed and turned in bed. Despite his best efforts to get some much-needed sleep, he couldn't stop thinking about those two questions. Neither question suggested anything even remotely good about the imminent future...

A starless sky.

Didn't take much thought for Laude to figure out what that expression meant. It was the inevitable end that awaited Oseo once the final star in the night sky disappeared. What Laude didn't understand, though, was what "virtue" had anything to do with the Departing Prophecy.

It's odd... From what I understand, the Heavens care not for virtuous. Morals, ethics, and integrity are human concepts. The Heavens care not for good and evil. They only care for... well, whatever they care for.

Real strange, too, since the Lords of Hell seem to care a great deal about virtue. I mean, they punish people for the sins they've committed in life! But then again, Hell and Heaven are two completely separate entities. Doesn't make sense to lump them together just because they're not part of the Land of the Living...

In any case, Laude felt it a fruitless endeavor to continue pondering the questions. He was beginning to feel his eyes grow heavy, and before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.

Truth be told, it was something Laude needed greatly. Sleep was the only thing Laude still required, despite his inhuman tendencies. Were it not for his need to rest, Laude might've truly gone completely insane years ago. The concept of not requiring to eat, drink, breathe, or even sleep was so far removed from the general human experience that it would have eventually broken most people...

Alas, it was not meant to be. Laude would not be destined to get any form of rest this night...

It happened an hour past midnight when the moon had still been relatively high above the night sky, and not a soul stirred within the dormitory that Laude resided in. A strange incident occurred, and the two ivory-colored moons above Oseo briefly turned a shade of deep blue for the briefest of moments.

And then, a shooting star streaked across the night sky, leaving a wake of shimmering light, like an aurora.

Had any cultivator noticed what had just happened, they would've felt their blood run cold in terror and prayed to the Heavens. Contrary to what mortals believed, the realm of Hell did not exist ten-thousand miles beneath the ground in some terrifying subterranean inferno filled with howling screams and demons.

One only had to look up on a clear night to see the place where all departed souls were destined to go — the Greater Moon, Symballa and the Lesser Moon, Kalipso...

A writhing mass of translucent tendrils quietly slithered through the protective ward enveloping the mountains White Dew Society was situated upon effortlessly. Although a little lost at first, the creature eventually found a path to the mountain-sanctuaries and began to search for what it had come for.

It scoured every nook and cranny as it silently explored the Society an hour or so until it finally stumbled onto an old dormitory with a strange aura emanating from it. And it was there that it finally found... the prey it'd been hunting.

Laude was abruptly stirred awake when he found himself struggling to breathe. His unfocused eyes darted around his dim room as he wildly struggled to remove whatever had been strangling him until... he remembered that he didn't need to breathe.

Nevertheless, Laude's immortality wasn't flawless. Just because Laude couldn't die didn't mean he couldn't feel the nauseating pain of his throat being crushed. If anything, the entire situation was made worse because of his inability to die. Had Laude not been an undying freak, he would've gone unconscious long ago and mercifully died from asphyxiation.

Had Laude not been desperately clawing and tugging at whatever had been coiled around his neck, he would have probably wet himself in terror. His entire bed was positively swarming with a tangled mess of opaque, slimy tendrils. Whatever grabbed Laude looked like something that had crawled out of a particularly twisted nightmare.

Nevertheless, the strange beast was ultimately repelled by an equally unexpected development. In a stunning turn of events, the measly plum branch that Laude obtained suddenly moved by itself and flew straight into one of his hands. The instant that it landed in his hand, the plum branch shot out frenzied bursts of lightning that struck the amorphous creature, repelling it.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The unknown creature let out a small shriek of pain as it recoiled in fear and scuttled away from Laude.

HOLY SHIT, what in the blue FUCK is that thing?!! A-Am I dreaming this shit up? No, no... The pain feels way too real to be a goddamned dream.

Even as Laude coughed and wheezed like a dying animal, trying his best to recover from that harrowing experience, he kept his plum branch steadily pointed at the disgusting creature. For whatever reason, the plum branch had come to his aid and saved his life. He had thousands of questions, but he set them aside for the moment. The only thing that mattered to Laude right now was that the creature rightfully feared the branch.

When Laude pointed his plum branch at it menacingly, the creature made a pitiful gurgling sound in fear and curled up in a compact ball near one of the corners of Laude's room. Somehow, it actually made Laude feel bad for it, but he quickly recovered and kept a stern scowl plastered on his face.

What the hell am I doing, pitying the thing that just tried to kill me?! Get it together, Laude! Clever little shit...! It's just acting like that to get my guard down! I can't let this dangerous thing escape in the dead of night! It's a threat to everyone! I need to kill it NOW before it flees!

...And just when Laude was about to get zappy with his plum branch again, a calm voice called out to Laude and said, "Please, Mr. Tellstar, forgive my little friend. She meant you no harm, despite what happened, I assure you. Can you please lower, uh... that stick of yours? I simply wish to talk. Nothing more."

Laude warily scanned his dim room and slowly said, "...Who are you? Why won't you reveal yourself, friend, if you truly mean no harm? The stick will remain pointed at your... thing until you show yourself."

As if in response to Laude's demands, the creature began to wriggle, elongate, and morph until it took on the appearance of a stoic young man with bushy eyebrows. He was an elegant-looking fella; the ceremonial robe and headdress he was wearing gave him an aura of authority as if he was a young lord or princeling. It made Laude wonder if he was someone powerful...

The young man calmly smiled and said, "Apologies for the wait, Mr. Tellstar. I was conversing with my supervisor for advice on how to handle this situation. And again, I am deeply sorry for the traumatic experience you went through. That should not have happened. You see, my partner — Blublu — is still very young, and this is her first time performing an extraction. She really didn't mean to hurt you. It was supposed to be painless, but something went wrong..."

Blublu...? That thing has NO right to have a name as cute as that! Wait... what? It was supposed to be "painless"?! What the FUCK?!

"What do you mean by 'painless'?" said Laude as he glared at the young man. "Are you... an assassin? You still haven't told me who you are, by the way. Isn't it rude that you somehow know my name, and I still don't know yours?"

The young man thoughtfully cocked his head in confusion before he said, "My name? I've... never been asked that question. I guess you can call me Interceptor Eighty-eight if you want."

Laude raised an eyebrow and said, "That's not a name, dude. All you did was mash a random word and number together. Real names are like 'Steven,' 'Billy,' and 'Angela.' Interceptor is not a real person's name..."

"Then... you can call me Steven Billy Ange—" said the young man before he was abruptly interrupted by Laude.

Laude felt a headache coming on, and he said, "You know what, I'm just going to call you Steven from now on. Just Steven, okay?"

Steven nodded appreciatively as he softly muttered his name again and again. He seemed pretty satisfied with his new name, enough that he almost got sidetracked contemplating the sound of his name until Laude interrupted him yet again.

"Oh, that's right. I apologize," said Steven before he continued, "I am an Interception Officer, 3rd Class, stationed at Observation Post Eighty-eight. I am currently employed by the Ministry of Lost Souls at the Grand Court of Symballa. Is that a sufficient introduction, Mr. Tellstar?"

........? ...Hello? Mom? Dad? This is Laude speaking. I need an adult right now... because I don't know what the fuck is going on right now. Am I being pranked?

When Steven saw the absent-minded gaze in Laude's eyes, he pulled a small notepad out of his robe and said, "You are Laude Albert Tellstar, correct? Son of Romudo Tellstar and Celestine Tellstar? Your residence address is, uh, the village of Haalo? Have I gotten anything wrong, by chance? I would be delighted to make any corrections to your form if needed."

Laude stared at Steven with a bewildered expression and said, "How the hell do you all of that?! You some kinda stalker? And what is the Ministry of Lost Souls? You've only given me more questions, goddammit!"

"It says right here that you died on the 4th of Nabello, 839th Year of the Fifth Era? Died of a stray lightning bolt? And then you were buried next day, yes?" said Steven as he checked his records. "You were supposed to appear at the Grand Court to be judged by the Lords of Hell exactly one year, seven months, three days, four hours, and twenty-three minutes ago."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I must inform you that are already dead. We don't know how it happened, but a mishap occurred. You are in violation of Section 3, Paragraph 28— illegally remaining in the Land of the Living past the term of expiration. By Court Decree, it is a felony infraction, but if you cooperate with me, I think I can at least help you get rid you the fine..."

Although Laude didn't completely understand who Steven was and why he was here, he picked up enough keywords to piece together a rough idea. He knew who the Lords of Hell were and what their jobs were. He also knew a bit about the twin moons and their significance when it came to the topic of the afterlife. That was enough for Laude to guess who Steven was...

"Are you some kind of... bureaucrat for the afterlife? I don't know what this Grand Court is, but I do know that the Lords of Hell are responsible for judging souls after people die. That, and the fact that the twin moons are the Domain of Hell."

Steven appeared mildly surprised when he Laude's explanation and said, "How... do you know that? Wait, let me double-check... No, it's as I remembered— it says here your final occupation was that of a farmer. The designation tag states you died a mortal. How did you come across such esoteric knowledge? How odd. Secrets like that are typically beyond the privy of mortals... "

"Well, it's a strange story..." said Laude, chuckling awkwardly before a sudden epiphany hit him.

Hold up... If this guy is an official from Hell, he might be able to help me find my soul! If anyone might be able to fix me, it'll probably be the head honchos of Hell... This is my golden ticket out of this damned mess!

Laude immediately cozied up to Steven and said, "Steven, ol' buddy of mine, I've got a story I need to tell you. And boy, once you hear it, you'll understand why I need your help. But for now, why don't you take a seat? Let me get a pot of tea for you..."