After listening to Amm, Ethan couldn’t calm his thoughts.
The existence of Midring players left him with a helplessness he couldn’t quite put into words.
If even players were nothing more than pieces in a game… then what did that make the ones still struggling in the Outer Ring?
But another thought hit him just as fast.
The System had given him a quest.
Which meant New Star wasn’t doomed by default.
At least in the System’s eyes, it was still “completable.”
That eased the weight in his chest—just a little.
He looked up at Silvermoon.
She was holding the Fate Sea Chart, fingertips gliding over the nine circular slots.
“Nine slots…” she murmured. “Can we really do this?”
The Stranger in Shadow lounged back in his chair. “Nine slots, nine shards.”
“Iseralai split the Undersea City into nine just to make things miserable.”
Silvermoon frowned. “But we only have eight max-level players.”
The Stranger in Shadow grinned. “That’s what makes it fun.”
Silvermoon: “…”
Red Falcon let out a quiet sigh. “Expelling the Creator’s power has to be done simultaneously.”
“Otherwise it will flow back. It’s in Faraniel’s notes.”
Silvermoon turned to Amm. “Is it possible… the Dream Twins count as two?”
Amm shook his head. “They share one System. They only count as one.”
Silvermoon: “…”
Amm hesitated, as if he wanted to say something more.
But then the Dream Twins’ envoy suddenly stood up.
“I know where the Blood-Red Nun is hiding!”
As the words fell, his body began to fade—like smoke being erased.
“Wait!” Silvermoon rose quickly.
Too late. The envoy was already gone.
Silence filled the independent space.
Ethan stared at the now-empty seat, tension tightening in his chest.
It was the afternoon of November 14. Cycle 17’s second-to-last day.
New Star’s magma crisis still wasn’t solved.
And the Blood-Red Nun had suddenly started moving.
Silvermoon looked at Ethan. “I’m going to New Star.”
Ethan nodded. “So am I.”
Amm let out a small breath.
He knew how dangerous the Blood-Red Nun was.
The Dream Twins had been worn down by her for a long time. If Silvermoon went alone, she could easily end up at a disadvantage.
But Ethan was different.
His Divinity Fusion points were a full hundred higher than anyone else’s.
Among max-level players in the Outer Ring, Ethan was almost certainly the strongest.
…
New Star, Zone 1 Sanctuary—the church.
The sun hung high. The air felt hot enough to catch fire.
Outside the church, the protective dome was spiderwebbed with fine cracks.
Clearly, this world’s apocalypse was right on the edge.
The moment Ethan and Silvermoon arrived, the Dream Twins stumbled out from deep within the church.
Their envoy’s body was covered in tiny cuts.
Each wound was deep, but thin as a hair—like he’d been carved by countless little knives riding on the wind.
Silvermoon immediately moved to heal him.
But when her light fell, the wounds only sealed for the briefest moment… then split open again.
Worse, pus and blood began to ooze out.
Silvermoon’s expression changed. “Is this… a curse?”
The Dream Twins’ envoy gritted his teeth. “Not a curse.”
“It’s the Blood-Red Nun’s ability.”
Ethan frowned. Staring at the wounds, he realized ordinary healing wouldn’t cut it.
He thought for a beat, then said to Silvermoon, “Can you build an independent space here?”
Silvermoon blinked. “An independent space?”
Ethan nodded. “Inside it, the Seven Gods’ power will stabilize.”
“I can weave healing into the wind.”
Silvermoon drew a breath. “Alright.”
She raised her hand.
An independent space unfolded.
In an instant, the inside of the church transformed.
A lush green forest sprang up around them. Cool water streamed past their feet.
A breeze brushed their faces, carrying the scent of leaves and grass.
The Dream Twins’ envoy’s complexion improved at once.
Ethan closed his eyes and reached out.
The wind began to spiral.
And within it was a thread of healing.
Under the wind’s touch, the tiny wounds started to mend—slowly, but surely.
The envoy exhaled, long and shaky. “That’s better.”
Silvermoon looked at Ethan, expression complicated.
She knew why he could do it.
Because he had that extra hundred Divinity Fusion points.
Only then did the envoy steady himself and say quietly:
“The reason the Blood-Red Nun moved so suddenly…”
“is because Greed Wolf has come to New Star.”