Late at night, everything was silent.
Fors, who had been pretending to sleep, carefully got up. After confirming that Hugh was already resting, she returned to her room, closed the doors and windows, and began to pray.
"Master of Chaos and Order."
"Origin of all the laws beneath the starry sky."
"The one who aligns the stars."
...
After more than ten minutes, the ceiling was once again lit up by a river of stars, within which countless points of light shimmered brilliantly.
Every time she saw this starry expanse, Fors couldn't help but marvel at its beauty. That was where the stars truly resided, how breathtaking it was.
So this must be the divine realm described in myth.
"What is it?"
A calm voice descended. Fors collected her wandering thoughts and began reporting everything regarding the Fool and the supposed Follower of the Stars.
In the Hall of Stars, Hastur, who had been somewhat drowsy, instantly became alert when he heard about the appearance of a "Follower of the Stars."
After all, he only had two believers in total, Bernadette, who was still far away on the Southern Continent, and Fors, the only Follower of the Stars in all of Backlund.
The so-called believer the Night Watchers were chasing was clearly fake, most likely some Beyonder trying to take advantage of the chaos.
"That's a trap. Ignore it."
After a brief thought, Hastur decided to give Fors a bit of a reminder so she wouldn't stumble into trouble by accident.
"Regarding the Fool, does the Sovereign have any new instruction?"
Hastur pondered his own circumstances and said mildly, "You may try praying in the dead of night."
"I shall follow the guidance of the Stars!"
Hastur cut off the connection with Fors and withdrew the starry expanse.
He thought it might be necessary to remind Fors not to always pray so late at night, she could perfectly well do it earlier, say, around eleven.
But when he remembered that the stars shone brightest at midnight, he gave up on correcting her.
He only hoped that once Fors became a member of the Tarot Club, she would refrain from disturbing him so often at such late hours and instead disturb Mr Fool.
Being abruptly woken up when one is sleeping soundly was truly unbearable. Let the Fool experience that feeling more often instead.
Unable to fall asleep after Fors's interruption, Hastur shifted his gaze toward the star representing the High-Dimensional Overlooker.
In recent days, the Overlooker had been strolling leisurely along the coast. Except for occasionally using Their temporal powers to hasten the journey, They behaved no differently from an ordinary person.
At the moment, They seemed to have reached a port, squatting at the seaside and admiring the fishing boats sailing under the moonlight, each one forming faint dots of light across the sea.
Could it be that the High-Dimensional Overlooker wanted to go to sea?
Hastur rather hoped They would. The sea was vast, far from Backlund, and he could also enjoy the scenery through Them.
After glancing at this incarnation of the Overlooker, Hastur shifted his gaze to another tiny speck of light, the pair of crystalline white eyes still hanging in the sky, gleaming like gems embedded in deep space.
He thought to himself that it would be better if the Lord of Storms noticed them and struck them down with thunder, rather than letting them hang there all the time.
Just as he had that thought, black clouds, thick as ink, gathered near the crystalline eyes.
Within the clouds, lightning crackled and flashed, with violet bolts slithering like giant serpents peeking out to observe.
That was definitely not a natural phenomenon!
Could it be that the Lord of Storms had truly noticed the crystalline eyes?
Excited and wide awake, Hastur zoomed in his perspective to better witness the ferocity of the coming storm.
If only he had some popcorn, this would be the perfect viewing experience.
Sensing danger, the crystalline eyes tried to transform into a beam of light and flee, but a dark curtain fell, sealing off the surrounding space.
The long-gathering lightning finally unleashed its might, a pure white flash illuminating the entire night sky.
It was lightning condensed to its utmost limit!
Boom!
A deep rumble resounded across the entire region, startling many from their sleep.
The crystalline eyes were severely damaged. Their once flawless surface was now covered in countless cracks, yet they hadn't completely shattered.
Borrowing the force of the thunder, they turned into a falling meteor, plummeting toward the earth, leaving behind a blazing white scar across the sky.
"Tsk, the Lord of Storms clearly had this planned in advance."
Hastur was delighted. He had always hated those eyes hanging up there, watching everything.
Even if they weren't completely destroyed, their power must have greatly diminished.
"It seems that the direction they fell is toward the Intis Republic."
He was surprised. The Overlooker's incarnation wasn't there, it was at the port of Entermar in the Loen Kingdom.
Was that simply due to loss of control during the fall, or was there another reason behind it?
When the meteor finally disappeared from view, Hastur looked back at the Overlooker's incarnation.
They didn't react, just lifted Their head briefly, then continued watching the fishing boats out at sea.
They didn't care at all? Did those crystalline eyes mean nothing to Them?
Hastur watched for a while longer and found the Overlooker perfectly calm, indifferent to everything that had just happened.
Perhaps, to Them, it was merely an interesting sight, nothing more.
Hastur would have preferred even a slight reaction to this complete indifference.
People who could remain utterly indifferent to everything either possessed immense inner strength, or had completely given up on caring about anything.
Surely the High-Dimensional Overlooker wasn't the latter… right?
Hastur froze for a moment, expression growing strange.
From the moment the Overlooker descended to now, through all that had happened, the crystalline eyes being struck down by the Lord of Storms, They had never truly shown any concern.
Unlike the Son of Chaos who flew into rage, or the Supernova Dominator who issued fierce warnings, or the unpredictable Mother Tree of Desire.
"Don't tell me the High-Dimensional Overlooker is really just… a super-sized salted fish?"
Hastur tried to imagine what Fors would do if she ever became as powerful as an Outer God...and strangely, that image overlapped quite well with the Overlooker's current state.
"If that's true, wouldn't that be wonderful…"
After pondering a bit longer, Hastur stopped trying to guess the Overlooker's thoughts and turned instead to the Lord of Storms' strike earlier.
From beginning to end, the attack had taken only a few breaths, clearly premeditated.
But why was he allowed to witness it?
Was it mere coincidence, or something else?
He hadn't just started wishing tonight for the Lord of Storms to smite those eyes, it was pure chance that he happened to see it happen.
"Maybe I'm overthinking it. Knowing the Lord of Storms' temperament, He probably just wasn't ready before."
After mulling it over a bit longer, Hastur finally left the Hall of Stars.
...
In the hospital, Will sat on his bed, propped against a pillow, deftly folding white sheets of paper into one crane after another.
His left leg was wrapped in bandages, and a kind nurse had even tied a little bow on it.
The surgery had gone well, he didn't die, and his leg had been saved. With just half a month of rest, he could be discharged.
"My fate has truly changed. That feeling keeps getting stronger. My destiny has finally reached Backlund."
"Should I find a way to connect my fate with his, or just let things happen naturally?"
"Fate is unpredictable. If I force it too much, won't it twist the path entirely?"
Will thought to himself while folding cranes.
A moment later, a young doctor with gold-rimmed glasses entered.
Will looked up and smiled brightly.
Dr. Allen, the doctor in charge of his surgery.
Originally, Will had planned that after his failed surgery, he would be reborn as Dr. Allen's son.
But now that the surgery had succeeded, that possible fate was gone, he had changed it.
After checking his vitals, Dr. Allen said happily, "Will, you look great! Your recovery is going very well. You'll be out of here healthy in no time."
"Thank you for your concern, Dr. Allen."
Will thought for a moment and added, "Dr. Allen, your luck must be really good. You'll surely have a smart and filial son."
Dr. Allen blinked in surprise. "Will, how did you know I'm going to be a father soon?" He didn't recall mentioning it.
Will smiled sweetly. "The nurse told me."
Dr. Allen chuckled, bent down, and patted Will's head. "If my child turns out as well-behaved and cute as you, I'd be very happy."
"Here, Dr. Allen, this is my blessing." Will handed him one of the paper cranes.
"Thank you, Will." Dr. Allen pocketed the crane and left the ward under Will's gaze.