Not long ago, in the soundproofed servant's quarters.
"Contact the Lost Tower through me? Using the Player system to communicate is indeed hard to trace."
After hearing Teest's brief explanation, Mentor adjusted his glasses. "Actually, I have many questions I want to ask, but I guess this is not a good time for that."
Pope Fischer looked seriously blank. He knew nothing about the name "Perradat" and didn't intend to ask.
Mentor raised his hand, generously displaying the Player communication box. His call was connected in less than two seconds, and Solo responded from the other end, "Mentor?! You finally—"
"The Master of Paradise requests to speak with Perradat," Mentor interrupted directly.
Solo was stunned, not yet able to react, when Lilith squeezed herself into the frame. From the background of the image, it seemed like the group was in a place similar to a cafeteria. Then the screen shook and gradually darkened, leaving only the blue-lit eyes of Perradat visible.
"Ah…" She scratched her head wearily. "Is the situation so urgent that you have to call me by name?"
"We are trapped in Star Stealer Sol's reversion. Nol is confronting Star Stealer Sol, and Ship Island is heading east at high speed," Teest said, staring intently at Perradat's resigned face. "We are rapidly approaching the center of the Endless Sea. What is there?"
"Reversion, how shameless." Perradat clicked her tongue. "Since it's urgent, I won't ask too much. It's me."
"What?" Teest couldn't help but ask again.
"Me. To be precise, my dead body. It floats on the sea surface, with a few fragments close to the Brick Mountains. You call it Desolation Island." Perradat's expression was grim. "Most of my body is still in the central part of the Endless Sea, to deter humans from seeking death. Using Ship Island to crash… Worthy of that despicable guy."
Teest frowned. "Just a collision?"
He was confident in preserving Ship Island itself if it was just a simple collision. Even if not, he and Nol wouldn't perish from crashing into Perradat's remains—they were all False Gods, and physical collisions weren't enough.
Perradat sneered. "Of course not. Before being discovered by Star Stealer Sol, I spent over a hundred years reinforcing self-defense magic. Those magics, fueled by my corpse, attack all comers indiscriminately unless I intentionally disarm them."
"Star Stealer Sol has been searching for my core. I had to use this crude method to keep him at bay. If you hadn't taken out the ancient Demon King, my defenses would have been perfect."
She couldn't help but murmur.
This guy is too familiar with "symbiosis", Teest thought. The appearance of the ancient Demon King on Desolation Island was no coincidence, but someone's method of self-defense—since she was almost dying, getting stepped on by the ancient Demon King was no big deal.
"To summarize, once Ship Island collides with you, the magic you prepared for over a hundred years will activate immediately, turning Ship Island into ash. Not to mention saving others, both Nol and I would be severely injured."
So Star Stealer Sol kept using various tricks to revert again and again.
It probably knew they were up to something. It just didn't care much—as long as Nol and he stayed on the ship, it could watch them clash with Perradat head-on.
It was almost a blatant scheme.
If they discovered its intentions midway, then Star Stealer Sol would revert, making the situation more favorable for it. In fact, it was almost successful.
Since boarding Ship Island, they were distracted by mysteries and incidents. Now, their time was running out. Maybe Star Stealer Sol's time reversion ability would be exhausted, but could they bet on that?
They couldn't afford to give up any reversion.
If there was even one instance where Star Stealer Sol successfully diverted their attention, they would be caught off guard by the "Perradat explosion", allowing Star Stealer Sol to easily benefit.
"Can't the self-defense magic be deactivated?" Although Fischer was uncertain of Perradat's identity, he quickly grasped the situation. "You just said that you could disarm those magics if you wished."
"Why would I do that?" Perradat's voice became unusually cold. "That's the lethal magic array I perfected over a hundred years, and my enemies are surely prepared."
"If I hastily remove the defenses, Star Stealer Sol will invade from another direction for sure. Then, finding my core would be just a matter of time."
Her voice carried an alarming authority.
"Or do you think a 'preliminary cooperation' means 'I am willing to die for you'? Not even bards are that romantic, kid."
As expected, Teest hadn't counted on Perradat playing the "self-sacrifice" card. Even if Nol and he were her last hope, "self-preservation" was her bottom line.
Doing nothing would result in them being severely damaged by the explosion, then becoming the spoils for Star Stealer Sol.
Fleeing immediately or hindering Ship Island's progress meant giving up this chance, allowing Star Stealer Sol to revert time. Having learned from this experience, who knew what more tricks it would come up with next time.
Focusing on defense at the moment of explosion, he and Nol might reduce some damage. If lucky enough, the immortal Mentor might be fished out by a net someday, but everyone else would surely die.
And Star Stealer Sol definitely had backup plans nearby.
This could be considered the most feasible course of action. But Nol wouldn't like this option, and neither would Teest—he didn't care about the lives of others, but he detested the feeling of being led by the nose by Star Stealer Sol.
[Things have gotten complicated.]
Teest immediately telepathically communicated with Nol, throwing the current situation at him in its entirety.
Nol was silent for a full two minutes. […How much time do we have?]
[Based on the information Perradat provided, eleven minutes.]
[Ha, no wonder Star Stealer Sol was so happy when I proposed a fifteen-minute truce without attacks.] Nol's thought was devoid of humor. [We don't even have fifteen minutes left.]
The situation was worse than they had imagined.
"You said that capturing the White Demons was inspired by Teest."
While facing Star Stealer Sol, Nol kept the conversation going. His hands and feet were cold, but he wasn't trembling. Now, without relying on external factors, he could bury all his emotions.
"Yes, he piqued my interest in the White Demons, so I had someone capture one for experiments. They have two lives. What a fascinating race."
Star Stealer Sol admitted readily.
Nol's fingers tightened around the cup handle. "Teest only escaped ten years ago, and you've captured more than forty White Demons. It seems the efficiency of the Eternal Church is quite low."
"Yes, the Temple of Life is more efficient. And it's a big world, with a population of over a billion. White Demons are indeed rare, but not as scarce as you imagine."
The Old Duke continued casually. "If you're trying to probe how many lives I have left, you might as well not bother."
This guy was more verbose than before, even deliberately slowing down his speech rate. Nol grounded his molars.
Forcing Perradat would lead to an alliance breakdown.
Teest and the others couldn't be allowed to die here.
They couldn't drag innocent bystanders down with them.
They couldn't let the reversion happen.
…They couldn't sacrifice themselves.
Right. Now, Star Stealer Sol was the Player. In battle, the situation that save-point Players dread the most was only one—
A bad save.
The save was made too late, the Player had already made the wrong choices, or the battle had reached its end. No matter how many times the game was replayed from that save, failure was inevitable.
For Star Stealer Sol, there was only one possibility of a bad save… a "significant event" occurred that reversion couldn't change, resulting in an irreversible outcome.
But what counted as a "significant event"?
The contract just made with Star Stealer Sol, which was readily agreed to, didn't seem to count as a "significant event"—their False God status alone clearly didn't meet the criteria for a "significant event".
This "significant event" must also be in their favor, directly leading to Star Stealer Sol's failure.
Ten minutes left.
Nol picked up a sugar cube and dropped it into his tea with a plop.
"If you're satisfied with my answers, let's formally discuss our cooperation," the Old Duke said with an increasingly gentle smile in the dim and quiet room.
It was the sincerest smile Nol had ever seen, as if their future and death were utterly unrelated.
Nine minutes left.
"Why aren't you speaking?" Duke Alva raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, you don't look so good. Is the tea not to your liking?"
"White Demons are people, not your lab rats." Nol's tone was icy. "I'm not used to facing someone like you. I need some time to digest the facts."
Don't panic. Don't let this guy sense any urgency or unrest.
"As fellow executioners, Mr. Teest certainly has your care and attention." The Old Duke sighed deeply.
Teest.
Teest is just beyond a wall. Nol's fingers moved as if to grasp something.
Think, as if you're about to die, even if it's for his knight.
They had to make it back alive, then go together to watch the night scene again. Next time, it was Teest's turn to show his abilities. Aside from burning ships, the current Teest should have other ways to adorn the sea…
Eight minutes left.
Wait.
The swiftly moving Ship Island… Perradat's body… Desolation Island…
Teest, with the power of destruction… Himself, with the power of creation…
An unchangeable significant event… A beneficial significant event…
[Teest.]
[Honey?] Teest's thought bounced lightly.
[You and Mentor each help me with something. And, don't consider forcibly taking me away.]
[Ah, you found me out.] Regret was all that was in Teest's response.
[I believe in your power, and I ask you to believe in mine.]
Nol rapidly sorted through his thoughts. [Next…]
...
[Haha, I'll do my best.]
Teest nearly laughed out loud. [Praise your madness. This truly is an idea only the God of Creation would have.]
Nol exhaled and took a sip of his tea, almost choking on it—indeed, he still wasn't used to tea with sugar.
However, now he could afford to stall for time. Nol leisurely poured out his tea, refilled his cup, and took a long breath. "Now we can talk about cooperation."
Star Stealer Sol's eyebrows twitched imperceptibly, his gaze sweeping the floor, seemingly estimating the speed of Ship Island's progress. However, it was all in vain, Nol thought to himself, clearing his throat. "What? Is it your turn to compose yourself?"
"We've made a contract. I can't harm you. I don't know what you're worrying about."
"Please forgive my caution. After all, your followers weren't included in the contract," Star Stealer Sol politely replied.
"You're just possessing a body. Your puppets and avatars weren't included in the contract either, so we're even," Nol said with tension in his voice. "We agreed on fifteen minutes. I don't know what you're stalling for. If you keep beating around the bush, my patience will run out."
"We can set a contract body to body, becoming the new dual gods of Tahe." Star Stealer Sol smiled using the Old Duke's face. "I don't want to push you too hard. We can divide the system's authority. There can be more than just one 'administrator', as long as we have the same level of authority."
"You can become the new God of Life, and I will continue as the Son of Eternity. We will make good neighbors. You don't have to do what you don't want to, and you will have the power to check me."
"What about Teest?" Nol asked impassively.
"Ah, the child you cherish. I won't make things difficult for him—he can become your subordinate god, with just a little restriction. This way, his power won't exceed ours and won't cause unnecessary trouble." Star Stealer Sol's tone was very sincere. "In exchange, I will also have a subordinate god… Purely for the sake of balance, I think you understand."
"A little restriction." Nol struggled to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Like how you 'restricted' the previous Eternal Pope?"
Brainwashing beings with the potential to become gods into one's puppets and then discarding them casually—indeed a firm restriction.
Star Stealer Sol shook his head. "The native creatures grow too fast, and with the ancient Demon King causing trouble now and then, I had no choice. And…"
At this point, the Old Duke stood up. He leaned on the table with both hands, his face getting close to Nol. The light in those pale blue eyes sparked, anticipating destruction at arm's length.
"And that child is very dangerous. You surely understand better than I do."
The Old Duke's wrinkled face twisted into a smile that didn't look like a smile.
"Danger must be dealt with in advance. Don't you think?"
Time was almost up.
The night was still quiet. Neither the sound of a collision nor the bright flash of a magical explosion occurred in front of them. Nol poked a sugar cube with a silver fork and gestured in front of Star Stealer Sol.
"You're right. My Teest is very dangerous." Nol smiled. "Without me watching over him, he'd do some crazy things."
The expression on the Old Duke's face disappeared.
Servant's quarters.
"You guys are crazy—!"
On the other side of the communicator, Perradat lost all elegance. Her scream echoed through the soundproof space. "You two maniacs, I should never have cooperated with you. What are you even doing!!!"
"The Players have acted as instructed. The numbers are absolutely sufficient."
Mentor happily ended the communication. "Many from Hermitage were investigating the 'ancient Demon King' near the Brick Mountains, and the people from the Saints Guild were stationed there for the main quest. Solo and Anakin have decent influence."
Perradat: "Ahhhhhhhh—"
Teest ignored her. His body was tensed and sweat streaked across his cheeks, but his eyes were frighteningly bright. "Not bad. I'm getting more and more handy with it."
Fischer watched Teest excitedly, looking as if he wanted to pray on the spot.
Perradat: "Stop! I told you to stop! Can't you hear? It's so uncomfortable… Urgh… I'm going to puke…"
Her head disappeared from the communication window, replaced by Lynn's face with a subtle expression.
"What did you guys do?" Lynn's voice was dry, and her expression was like that of a house cat that ate something strange.
"Star Stealer Sol wanted to use Ship Island to crash into Perradat's body and blow us up," Teest said.
"I know!" Lynn responded weakly.
"Ship Island drifts very fast," Teest explained emotionally.
"Get to the point…"
"I can also make Perradat drift very fast," Teest happily stated/ "No matter how large her body is, it still counts as a 'corpse'."
Lynn's complexion gradually turned ashen. "You didn't…"
"Mhmm."
On the other side of the Endless Sea, at the edge of the Brick Mountains.
Under the gaze of hundreds of Players, the mysterious Desolation Island was rapidly approaching the shore. For the first time in Tahe history, "rapid continental drift" was witnessed.
A significant event that would be recorded in history occurred.
Reversion couldn't interfere with this event.
"Continue." Inside the room, Nol stabbed the sugar-filled fork into the Old Duke's teacup.
"Why aren't you speaking?"
The author has something to say:
Nol: Speak up. Weren't you quite talkative just now?
Nol: Is it because you don't like it?
Kinky Thoughts:
This marks the end of the arc.