"Are you sure Star Stealer Sol has no other tricks up his sleeve?" Perradat asked with suspicion. "This time, finding out the issue with his wife was our good luck. Who knows if that guy has planted other bombs elsewhere…"
"There's no such thing as a 100% perfect plan," Nol said.
It was as unrealistic as writing a program without any bugs on the first try. The problem was, Star Stealer Sol was also searching for the Lost Tower. They didn't have the luxury of time to prepare leisurely.
Once prepared, they must act decisively.
Now, Nol still couldn't, like Star Stealer Sol, stimulate the system to issue major quests to Players, putting them in a passive position—Star Stealer Sol wasn't stupid. In two hundred years, that guy must have taken control of the permissions related to quests first.
Once Star Stealer Sol took the lead, the situation would only worsen.
"I have to emphasize again. If you're going to fight now, I can only offer 'concealment'. This matter concerns myself. I cannot make predictions," Perradat said with a sigh. "What exactly do you plan to do?"
"Our avatars are hidden with Mrs. Avra. Enbillick is monitored by Painter. Eugene is tracking Painter, which is equivalent to half the combat power."
Teest nonchalantly laid back down on the bed, wrapping his arms around Nol's waist. "Our target won't get lost, leaving only the method of killing Enbillick."
Things had circled back to the Mad Monk's favorite territory—planning a murder.
To kill Star Stealer Sol's avatar, tightly control Avra, and ensure the adversary hadn't hidden their will in Avra. And during the period when the opponent was recreating an avatar, kill Star Stealer Sol's true body.
If Nol wanted to minimize casualties, this was the safest way.
Nol stroked Teest's hair, revealing a somewhat wicked smile. "No, we're going to watch the moon tonight."
Teest looked up in confusion, and Nol kissed his nose.
"You two, please control yourselves," Perradat said with a subtle tone. "I'm still here. Let's clear things up first."
"Our best move is to kill the true body first," Nol said.
Perradat choked. "…What?!"
"Painter has made contact with Enbillick and Avra. No matter if Star Stealer Sol is sure of Painter's allegiance, it will assume we are paying attention to the 'Enbillick' avatar."
Nol focused on his calculations as if he had never left the war.
"Aiming for the avatar first is the safest method. After all, if an ambush on the true body fails, we will be at a complete disadvantage. Star Stealer Sol's current war preparations are definitely centered on 'protecting the avatar'."
"It's not that simple. Star Stealer Sol has the ability to rewind time." Perradat pulled at her hair. "You know, if you fail against the true body, we're doomed."
Teest remained silent throughout the conversation.
After a dozen seconds, he buried his face in Nol's stomach, letting out a muffled laugh. "You really are wicked."
"Thanks to someone's good teaching." Nol patted Teest's back.
Perradat: "..."
Perradat: "Mind explaining?"
Feeling left out, her hands itched. If it weren't for the fact that she truly couldn't beat these two, she'd be tempted to throw a few punches.
"Let's watch the moon first." Nol smiled. "It's more peaceful to speak after investigating thoroughly—if there are no surprises, we'll go to battle in the next few days."
"What?!?!" Are these two really okay?! Perradat choked.
Well, at this point, even the God of Fate had to accept fate.
At night, the Lost Tower was still lively.
The monsters of Paradise launched their hospitality skills in their bloodline, taking care of the meal supply for Fate's Poet Society, with both sides getting along harmoniously.
Since exposing his core position, to avoid unnecessary troubles, Nol rarely went to the cafeteria for meals. His dinner was mainly provided by Teest, and even though they were now quite strong, his dining table would still feature a plate of bizarre monster dishes.
Tonight's was some deep-sea creature. God knew when Teest went to catch it. It looked like a semi-transparent green jelly with unpleasant, bright orange spots. Teest poured some jam over it, trying to disguise it as a dessert.
Nol scooped a spoonful without changing his expression and put it in his mouth.
His tongue felt numb and tingly. The texture was like mucus, with a weirdly sweet and fishy scent. Confirming the attributes successfully, he pushed the plate away and scooped another spoonful of normal stew.
Habit was a scary thing. Nol had almost gotten used to such bizarre dinners. If something strange didn't appear, he'd feel somewhat empty inside.
"…Actually, I'm curious. Why do you still want to be involved in this?" Nol chewed on the soft stew as he casually asked. "You said you wanted the truth at the beginning, and now you have it. You know, I would never force you into battle."
"Thanks to you, I've become a bit too strong," Teest casually replied. "I don't like the so-called peaceful life, but messing with those cult higher-ups feels almost like squashing ants—it's super boring, I'm serious."
"But if I started targeting other innocent powerhouses, I'm sure you wouldn't be happy."
"Is that the only reason?" Nol poked a piece of meat and casually fed it to Teest.
"Probably." Teest bit the fork and mumbled his answer unclearly.
Nol just smiled.
"Tonight is just for scouting the terrain. Don't do anything unnecessary." He lowered his gaze, casually changing the subject.
"You know, I'm always well-behaved." Teest also responded with a smile.
Actually, he wasn't clear about what "watching the moon" meant. He could only vaguely guess Nol's intentions.
If they destroy Star Stealer Sol's avatar and "backup body" first, then attack the true body, Star Stealer Sol in its true form, cornered, would definitely struggle fiercely.
But supposed they assassinate the true body first, Star Stealer Sol would think it still has a way out—prey often wouldn't fight too desperately when it believes it has an escape route.
Sure enough, the notorious Mad Monk knew this. But after investigating the two major religions for so long, he still subconsciously treated Star Stealer Sol as a "god".
Not so much Nol. Nol viewed "Star Stealer Sol" as prey that needed to be hunted, an existence that would never be above himself. He never saw it as a god.
How fascinating.
Teest cut a perfectly cooked steak and couldn't help but stuff the most beautiful piece into Nol's mouth.
In the center of the dining table, the vase of blue roses bloomed magnificently.
This was the border of the world. Paradise wouldn't specifically purchase blue roses. So where did they come from? There was only one answer and Teest liked that answer.
The Endless Sea was pitch black at midnight, and the sky was also dark blue, leaving only the stars in the sky. Both of them had the ability to see in the dark, but it didn't dispel the shadows that are everywhere.
Nol took Teest's hand and stepped onto the sea surface. The water splashed apart, revealing the back of a huge whale.
Carrying the two on its back, the giant beast roared towards the depths of the darkness.
In the sky, four moons hung high. The whale swiftly broke through the sea surface, and those four moons still followed them like shadows.
Star Stealer Sol must be watching, searching for the location of the Lost Tower.
Teest turned his head to look at Nol—with Perradat's skill of concealment, combined with his own [God's Forsaken], they seemed to melt into the night, leaving not even a trace of breath. Nol looked up at the starry sky he once feared.
"Since coming here, I've always wondered, why are there four moons?"
Nol stretched out his hand towards the sky, spreading his fingers. The four moons were caught between them.
"According to the design of the three Demon Kings, their worlds all have only one moon, Tahe included…"
"I'm quite used to it, having seen it from childhood." Teest stood beside him, sniffing the faintly fishy sea breeze. "The Temple of Life and the Eternal Church even devised a whole set of explanations."
"Lynn investigated those ruins. I remember she said, each time a world falls, the next world will have one more moon—more precisely, one more of Star Stealer Sol's eyeballs."
He still remembered the sight of Star Stealer Sol's eyeballs moving around, peeping at the earth.
"No, it's one more hole." Nol shook his head.
Teest scratched his face. "A hole? I wasn't as powerful as you back then. I didn't see it very clearly."
In the familiar sea breeze, Nol directly transferred the image of that moment into Teest's mind.
When they defeated the ancient Demon King, the change in the four moons was very subtle. It was as if something was moved away, and then those four eyeballs were attached. But the change was too fast, and with the oppressive presence of Star Stealer Sol being too strong at that time, Nol wasn't sure if his judgment was correct.
"So we're going to look at the moon," Nol said solemnly.
Only then did Teest realize that the whale had stopped in the very center of the sea, slowly sinking. Nearby were lifeless, strange icebergs. And as Nol pressed his hand into the sea, transparent ice quickly formed under their feet.
At this moment, the two seemed to stand on a pale island, surrounded by endless void and darkness. Teest knew they were in the vast Endless Sea, truly deserving the title "border of the world".
As the whale departed, the last sign of life nearby disappeared.
The night grew darker, silence pervaded, and time seemed to lose its meaning. If not for Nol's warmth beside him, Teest might even wondered for a second if he was still alive.
Their target emitted a faint glow directly above their heads.
Nol caught his gaze and pointed to the sky.
"Do you know?" Teest politely extends a hand. "You're quite romantically mad."
Their fingers interlocked. A breeze picked up, and Nol unfolded his wings—not the regular dragon wings, but elegant and tarrying divine wings with bizarre eyes at the joints, in shades of blue and red.
The two shot straight towards the sky.
Teest, not satisfied with being carried, had his golden threads softly wrapped around and then unraveled, forming a fleeting support in the air as if someone painted stepping stones for him with golden ink.
The icebergs turned into tiny white dots, and the clouds were left behind. The temperature dropped, so the golden threads of condensed flame wrapped around them. The air thinned, so Nol occasionally leaned forward to give a kiss full of fresh breath.
Maintaining minimal magic, they reached their destination.
"Ha." Teest laughed. "Although I'm not sure what 'normal' is, I guess this isn't it."
"Indeed." Nol extended his hand, touching "the sky".
The outer layer of Tahe wasn't an atmosphere, but a rough, cold shell. The shell itself didn't show any sign of life, emitting a not very strong magical fluctuation, with stars and night perfectly replicated on it.
"The sky" had been false from the beginning.
'No wonder the starry sky of Tahe didn't differ much from the game settings,' Nol thought. Even if Star Stealer Sol stitched him up with millions of divine corpses, it couldn't replicate an entire universe. That would be absurd.
The world was like a giant egg. Land, sea, sky, all maintained by the "Creator's setting".
Once Star Stealer Sol completely dominated this world, it could change everything without concern—such as breaking the shell to reveal the starry sky, officially birthing this world. Nol couldn't estimate how thick the "shell" enveloping the atmosphere was at the moment. He only knew that, not far away, four "moons" protrude significantly.
Those were the gaps in the shell, traces of Star Stealer Sol's invasions into the world.
The "moons'" surface texture resembled that of snakeskin shedding, covered with a layer of murky yellow hard film. The two could vaguely see the objects beyond the film—
Four pieces of grayish-red, moist flesh, with malformed crimson pupils rapidly moving on them, as if trying to squeeze through the shell to this side.
"Found you."
Nol murmured and decisively gave them the middle finger.