Perradat knew Nol planned to move the Lost Tower away. She thought there would be a follow-up plan after moving the Tower, but the quest ended up being simply completed—Star Stealer Sol knew about the Lost Tower's situation, and with his caution, he definitely wouldn't set such an easily exploitable loophole.
Nol must have used other means.
Nol looked at the empty black land in front of him and the neighbors who were huddled together, unsure of what to do next. "Are you sure you want me to explain now?"
Perradat nodded. "I've already notified my people, but opening the passage still requires preparation. I don't intend to use guiding as a threat. I'm just curious."
Hearing this, Nol retracted his dragon horns and wings. "Just having everyone leave the Tower, or completely destroying the Lost Tower, indeed wouldn't be considered as completing the quest. Enbillick must have known this, which is why he dared to designate the Lost Tower as a dungeon."
When designing dungeons initially, he of course considered various Player exploits.
Luring bosses to strange places or forcefully destroying the map were the most common tricks Players used.
Perradat: "Then how…"
"Because Star Stealer Sol only knows the outcome, not the underlying rules." Nol rubbed his nose. "After the quest starts, the kill targets within the dungeon are marked. After that, the system judges the quest's status through a simple rule—'within the dungeon boundary' of the 'quest area', whether these marks exist."
In other words, even if Players forcibly destroy the quest building, the system can determine the location of the "quest area" through records. As long as Players can't drag the monsters out of the dungeon boundary, they have to fight the monsters honestly.
And the "dungeon boundary" only disappeared after the quest was completed, leaving not so many loopholes for Players to exploit.
Perradat looked confused.
Nol extended a finger and drew a blue light sphere in the air. He then drew a golden cross in the center of the light sphere. Next to the golden cross, hundreds of silver-white light dots floated.
"Assume this layer of blue light is the dungeon boundary, the golden cross is the quest area, and the white dots are the kill targets. This is a normal situation for an area kill quest—"
In Nol's hand, the white dots in the light sphere disappeared one by one. In the center of the sphere, only the golden cross quietly rotated.
"The problem is, Star Stealer Sol designated the 'quest area' as the Lost Tower. The Lost Tower itself is an unopened stronghold, and we didn't consider its compatibility with dungeon missions, so its movements are unrestricted."
"Just now, I asked you to conceal my magical fluctuations, allowing me to remotely change its geographical coordinates."
Nol moved his finger, and the golden cross flew out of the light sphere. Inside the blue light sphere, only the hundreds of light dots reignited.
"I know all this, but shouldn't this be considered a quest error?" Perradat furrowed her brows.
As soon as she finished speaking, her eyes suddenly widened. "Could it be—"
Nol lifted the light sphere. "Some quests have the potential to change and merge. So my design was 'within the dungeon boundary' of the 'quest area', not 'within a specific dungeon."
Saying that, he poked the golden cross that left the blue light sphere.
"The boundary itself is just a membrane. The inside and outside are relative. The moment the Lost Tower crossed the boundary, the system judged the space to become the side where the 'Lost Tower' was."
Even if "the other side" was "the entire world excluding the original dungeon space".
This way, the neighbors and the Lost Tower were perfectly isolated, belonging to "outside the boundary". The system couldn't find the marks in the space where the Lost Tower was, so it judged according to the rules as "quest completed".
Perradat gasped.
"That guy doesn't understand the basic rules, nor does he understand the thought process of setting rules. It's fine to copy, but daring to change quest elements inevitably leads to loopholes."
Nol crushed the blue light sphere, his tone carrying a bit of professional dissatisfaction.
"Having suffered such a huge loss, he definitely won't dare next time."
Teest yawned. "This time he has exposed quite a bit."
Nol hummed, his initially lifted mood slowly deflating.
When Star Stealer Sol possessed the Duke, his reversion needed time to prepare. And he could only revert to a specific time point of the Duke, taking over consciousness to "reload".
Enbillick, however, was different.
Not long ago, that guy used "reversion" to escape right in front of them—
This meant that in battle, Star Stealer Sol could instantly revert, covering his own consciousness time and time again. If the battle turns disadvantageous, he could physically travel through time and disappear on the spot.
Simply put, Star Stealer Sol could save and load during a battle, and if he couldn't win, he could abandon the save and start over.
Right, they once used Star Stealer Sol's "Time Reversal" potion to go back in time. At that time, Teest just shrank but could still run around everywhere; his consciousness didn't descend into Young Teest.
If the potion had such an effect, it wasn't strange for Star Stealer Sol himself to have this ability.
What a troublesome power.
Let alone the information asymmetry brought by reversion, this guy could just revert and escape if he sees the situation turning bad. Nol couldn't figure out how to kill him for the moment.
This headache almost overshadowed the joy of new information obtained.
Nol sighed deeply, leaning towards Teest beside him. His knight seemed to never worry about enemies. At this moment, the face of the Mad Monk only showed the excitement of victory.
Seeing that face that was hard to tell if it was happy or smug, Nol's accumulating melancholy dissipated in an instant.
Well, there will always be a way, Nol thought.
Perradat's reinforcements hadn't arrived yet, and without the Tower, the neighbors were visibly confused. It would be best for him to talk to a few of Paradise's higher-ups first to stabilize the situation…
Before Nol could move, Teest's arms reached out from behind him, wrapping around his shoulders and neck.
"Where's your letter opener?" Teest deliberately didn't use telepathy, whispering in his ear, "Just relying on magic to reduce levels, the deterrence is quite limited. Dragons can achieve similar effects. I think, selecting a few deeply sinful individuals to pulverize would make the situation more interesting."
"Your neighbors believe in your kindness and purity, but I know you have a little bit of evil in you… Even if you really can't bring yourself to do it, you would consider accidents and take them out as a precaution. I've been watching you."
Nol felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
The Mad Monk was still the same Mad Monk. This guy really noticed.
Since he was discovered, Nol didn't intend to fob him off with lies. "I just—"
"Let me guess, you must have given it to that old fox, Painter." Teest's embrace tightened. "To 'balance us out', right?"
"..." Sometimes this guy was really terrifying. Nol choked. "How did you know?"
"Because that old fox keeps going in and out of the Lost Tower, relaxed as if it's his own home." Teest said softly, "That guy wouldn't trust anyone easily, not even his own God."
Nol: "Sorry, Teest."
"Even if I opposed, you would still have given it away, wouldn't you?" Teest's voice grew softer. "Just like with that deadly sword."
"Yes." Nol admitted frankly.
It was something he had to do, even though he knew Teest preferred to keep dangerous elements tightly in his grasp. With the great battle approaching, instead of using absolute power to suppress, he hoped the beings of Tahe would follow him without any reservations.
"My God, you're even more wicked than I thought." Teest expressed his grievances. "This makes me feel very insecure. You need to explain this matter thoroughly, make amends, and protect me by your side."
He knew it!
Nol fumbled with Teest's arm. Feeling insecure? Who was it that gleamed with excitement after beating up Star Stealer Sol just now?
But indeed, this was the Mad Monk version of "I don't mind". If it had been Teest when they first met, he definitely wouldn't have been so… accommodating.
"I understand." Nol bowed his head and kissed Teest's wrist. "In the upcoming battles, I will advance and retreat with you."
Their series of actions clearly went beyond the "close friends" category.
Curious glances from the neighbors came from all directions, and Nol obediently let his knight embrace him. There was no choice. Teest was just short of carving "grievance" on his forehead. Let others think what they may.
"Right, Perradat… Perradat?"
Just as Nol raised his gaze, he stiffened for a moment. Perradat, with her four blue eyes, was nowhere to be seen, leaving only Lilith with a nuanced look at them.
"Ah, the God of Fate has gone back." Lilith's curious gaze swept over the two. "She said her people would be here soon, and she didn't want to continue watching you two… uh, flirt."
She shrugged, lightly tapping the ground with the tip of her tail.
"Hehe." Kando chuckled dryly in Nol's pocket.
Not far away, magical fluctuations became more distinct. Nol, dragging his Teest-branded cloak, took a few steps forward.
Before them was nothing but deep red sky, pitch-black soil, and a gray sea, resembling a roughly modeled basic scene that hadn't yet been decorated with buildings. Staring too long instilled an inexplicable fear.
He had moved the Lost Tower according to the coordinates given by Perradat, yet now he could see no protrusions. The ground was like a swamp, without even large stones.
Nol could feel the power of the "land" under his feet, which was Perradat's lifeless body.
Could it be that the Lost Tower was swallowed underground? Or…
Suddenly, the air vibrated.
The view in front of everyone split in the middle, pushing aside countless wrinkles to both sides. It was like a giant curtain being drawn, revealing the scene behind—
It was a small town.
The architectural style of the town vastly differed from that of the Tahe continent, looking more like strangely shaped ant hills. The building materials were black tinged with gray, mixed with protruding suspicious tendrils, probably built from materials found on this land.
In the center of the town stood a relatively regular, completely symmetrical twisted building.
If the world's largest cathedral was cast in black wax and then the model melted, you might get something similar.
The air was filled with a faint bitter scent as well as an elegant aromatic fragrance.
In front of Nol, about a dozen shadowy figures gradually revealed themselves. The newcomers wore pitch-black cloaks, their faces hidden in darkness, with several burning black candles on their shoulders and heads. Their movements left the orange-red candle flames undisturbed.
The twisted candle drips seeped into the cloaks, almost blending with the fabric. At first glance, it seemed as if these people were burning themselves.
These people bowed deeply, silently splitting into two rows. A larger figure approached slowly, emerging from the mist, becoming clearer as it neared.
Nol stood still. Teest naturally released his shoulder, and subtly adopted a defensive stance.
They both sensed it. The other side used some unfamiliar power—not the invisibility magic known to Nol. It was softer, finer, more like Perradat's "concealment" power.
Within less than five meters, the approaching large figure stopped. It—or rather, "she"—revealed herself completely to those from Tahe.
She was a plump, middle-aged lady.
Her skin was snow-white, dressed in a black gown with soft wavy pleats. A ring of candle heads burned on her wide-brimmed hat, interspersed with pale beautiful flowers. Countless black candle drips hung from the brim, connected by fine black veils.
The black veil covered the lady's features, revealing only her brightly painted red lips.
This lady moved with utmost grace, emitting a pleasant fragrance, like an exceptionally rich cream cake. However, what was most eye-catching wasn't the lady herself but what she held in her arms—
It was a large bunch of white flowers, wrapped somewhat strangely, like a misshapen swaddle. In the center of the bouquet, the flowers clustered around an unusually beautiful girl's head.
Her neck was obscured by the flowers, revealing only her face. Her golden hair, like molten gold, spilled over the flowers, cascading down like the finest satin. The girl's blue eyes slowly moved, looking at Nol in front of her.
"Welcome to Fate's Poet Society."
She said, her voice was even more ethereal and divine than Lilith's.
"This is our first formal meeting, Mr. Nol, Mr. Teest."
"I am the God of Fate, Perradat."
The author has something to say:
Surprise, Perradat's head is really Perradat's head.