The more they oppose, the more it shows that I am doing the right thing

Dawn, Farol, Astral First Church.

From atop the hill, An Su gazed at it, his perception allowing him to see far into the distance.

The decor of the Astro Church differed from other churches, which mostly used baptized shining stones as flooring, walls engraved with murals, and stained glass windows three men high, while its dome was lined with gold foil-covered sacred yew wood, housing a deity statue at the center.

In contrast, the decoration in the Astro Church was much simpler, with monochromatic navy blue glass covering the walls and an entirely transparent dome that allowed one to see the starry sky above. The flowing starlight blurred the boundaries between the inside and outside of the church, and instead of a central deity statue, there was a huge star atlas.

The full name of the Celestial Church was the Church of the Stars and Nether, with churches established both in Farol and the Avad Church Nation.

The magicians of the Celestial Church were known as 'Stargazers,' who were the purest scholars and the only neutral group among all religious organizations.

The Stargazing Mages didn't participate in any religious conflicts or political wars. In their philosophy, all human struggles were mundane, while their focus was on the stars; their job was simple, observing the night sky day and night, and registering discovered 'stars' into the Stargazing Atlas.

The observed coordinates were then provided to both sides of the Church, allowing the Esoteric and Orthodox sects to explore or conquer.

In short, monitoring the movement of stars was the most important task of a Stargazer.

And in the early hours of today, when the stars were about to disperse—

The Stargazers detected a trajectory of movement beyond ordinary comprehension. A streak that shouldn't have appeared in the nearly realistic star map suddenly emerged, moving across the sky at an unimaginable speed. But it wasn't merely moving in circles; with each orbit, it drew closer to the mortal realm, as if climbing a spiral staircase toward fate, making the Stargazers realize that this star was approaching the current world in the form of a spiral staircase!

The closer it got, the more they could observe which star it belonged to—

It was the second fragment of the series from the Era of Chaos that the Astro Church had been searching for.

But this time, it wasn't them who found it,

Rather, the star had actively come to them.

If the Nether World were to come into contact with the mortal realm, the resulting consequences would be unbearable.

Even the so-called Demigods would be unable to resist.

And now, that world had drawn so close that it could be observed with the naked eye.

The magicians of the Celestial Church issued a warning to the city hall immediately, but to their astonishment, Milton took no preventive measures; neither evacuating the citizens nor organizing shelters.

On the contrary, they instead increased the frequency of patrols by the Judge and the Knight Order and intensified the martial law. All articles about this celestial anomaly published in the newspaper were taken down and sealed, all gatherings and recreational activities were cancelled, and the curfew was extended, requiring all residents to stay at home, while the city hall claimed that the Imperial Capital was at peace, declaring it a strategic military exercise.

Ansu could understand the intentions of the city hall.

The Chaotic Star had drawn so near that even Ansu could deduce that the speed and chaos of its fall were related, and with so many scholars and Demigods in Milton, these adults could naturally deduce this truth themselves.

The more chaotic the Empire became, the faster the chaos would fall.

Therefore, for the nobles and officials, the most effective method was to hide the truth from the public, fabricate peace to prevent mass panic, and thoroughly ignite chaos. Thus, it was understandable that they didn't organize shelters but instead had the guards lock the people in their homes.

This measure could only treat the symptoms, definitely not the root cause.

It could only delay the time of the fall.

Ansu knew that the more hidden and suppressed the chaos was, the greater the eventual outbreak would be.

But for Milton, merely treating the symptoms and delaying time was already enough.

From the first glimpse of dawn to now, less than fifteen minutes had passed, and Ansu had already seen three Alchemical Carriages drive past Maria River, leaving the Upper City District through the city gates and heading towards the distant wilderness. The gears of the carriages crushed the early winter frost, and the Alchemical Horses, bearing 'Earl' and 'Marquis' crests, expelled thick smoke from the demon cores, mingling with the industrial haze that loomed over the Lower City District, indistinguishable from each other.

There was even a carriage, engraved with the pattern of the Golden Kite Flower, which seemed to be from a branch of the Milton Royal Family.

These respected adults needed time to leave Farol—the central point of the fall, hence the media was ordered to fabricate peace, and the guards were instructed to lock the ignorant populace in their homes, which was all understandable. For the Empire, the safety of these distinguished individuals was more important as only they could command Farol to overcome this crisis—though they were not in Farol.

So all this was reasonable.

It was understandable.

"Young Master An Su, we should head back to the border now."

The mercenary army from the border embassy had found An Su and the maid from the hillside, these Morning Star Knights clad in white armor with shoulder patches bearing the navy blue crest of dawn and the stars. The leading knight dismounted from her giant alchemical steed, a high-tier female knight named Agni, who had once been the knight captain of the border Church but had left the church after a certain incident and was recruited by the Chenxing family.