LotM: Surviving as a Marionette

Don retrieved the 'Astrolabe for Stargazing' from the system storage. This mystical item was no longer like before, with only a single lonely crystal planet floating above it.

Three additional stars now floated on the astrolabe.

One was a semi-transparent orb that flickered with mysterious and complex radiance, appearing somewhat grayish-white. Its interior seemed to be filled with transparent worms, twisted together and overlapping into masses.

When observing it, one could seemingly see peculiar theatrical performances—freak shows, stilt walkers, clown acts, magician's tricks, various deformed monsters, and audiences of secret puppets of all kinds. Countless images overlapped and imprinted themselves upon those clustered worms, forming complex symbols evolved from countless pupilless eyes and twisted threads, layered upon layered, extremely three-dimensional.

It represented the 'Theater With Curtains That Never Draw'

Another star was an ominous black color, its surface deathly silent and eerie, as if devoid of any living beings. Yet once one drew close, they could hear something continuously mourning in low voices—vengeful spirits, water ghosts, seemingly countless spiritual bodies hidden within.

Its interior seemed to contain a miniature underworld, brimming with death—a realm of the deceased.

What it represented was Owen, who had recently advanced to Sequence 5 of the Death Pathway: Gatekeeper.

The last star was somewhat dim and ordinary, orbiting around the central crystal planet in a slow rotation.

That belonged to his mother, Lady Boianca's star.

Four stars, each representing one of them.

These stars on the astrolabe were not unchanging either. The other three stars revolved around the central crystal planet, like planets orbiting the central star, with countless semi-transparent fine threads acting like gravitational forces, connecting them to the central crystal planet.

Moreover, it wasn't limited to just Don and others, or sealed artifacts. The stars representing Owen and Lady Boianca were also connected by semi-transparent fine threads.

This symbolized that their fates had overlapping areas, with deep connections and bloodline bonds.

And now...

Don watched as the two stars belonging to himself and Owen swelled up. Both the black star of death and the brilliant, dazzling crystal planet's surfaces were covered with deep black mottled marks. Vaguely, these mottled shadows would exhale some black dust, like highly polluting carcinogenic substances, quietly and slowly deepening the erosion of the stars' interiors.

"The astrolabe can predict a certain future—the fate belonging to the stars."

Don took out his telescope and mosaic glasses.

"If it had been at the beginning, when I observed that the Dark Side of Universe's Blessed would pose a threat to me, I would have at most reported him to the Church."

Compared to handling the Dark Side of Universe's Blessed himself, the Beyonder of the orthodox Churches—those Archbishops—obviously had more experience. Moreover, having the Church's demigods and angels act in groups against a malicious Blessed, plus the Sequence 0 True Gods who might descend behind them at any moment, was much safer than him acting alone, with a much higher success rate.

But coming here and having Owen's fate also inscribed into the astrolabe, Don knew his thinking had been too simple.

Through observing that star of death, he discovered that the source of this danger wasn't just from his own future.

The star representing Owen wasn't displaying 'deathly silence' merely because he was a Sequence 5 Gatekeeper of the Death Pathway.

The fine thread connection between the two of them also showed traces of murky black pollution.

As a Seer, there were multiple ways to interpret fate's revelations, but the fate revelations given by the astrolabe were very intuitive—many things could be interpreted through the changes in the stars themselves.

"Every star, since it exists, will continuously influence the trajectories of other stars. The fluctuations in others' fates will likewise affect my own fate through connections."

"Fate is a very mysterious thing. Even Angels of the Fate Pathway hold her in reverence."

What he observed—the danger from the Dark Side of Universe—partly came from himself coming to the Orkney Highlands to search for and pursue the Dark Side of Universe's Blessed.

Part of it came from Owen, from his blood relative.

This was the danger of death. If the other party remained here, then in fate's revelation, without interference, his future would be to truly become one of the many living beings heading to the underworld, the realm of death.

Adjusting his telescope, when Don looked at the astrolabe, the images he saw were much clearer than before. He saw that Blessed shouting something, with gloomy clouds covering the sky, sinister winds blowing across the Orkney Highlands, blood surging on the earth, and pitch-black cracks splitting from south to north like entrances connecting to the abyss, baring fangs and claws, devouring the flesh and vultures on the ground.

It was like an opened Pandora's Box, containing the Dark Side of Universe that could corrupt even deities.

Tiny humans before it were like babbling infants, without any power to resist, until they were swallowed by the corrupting darkness. Even dead corpses would become indescribable monsters.

Beneath that enormous crack, twisted eyes gazed greedily at the living beings above the earth. The eyeballs grew arms and legs, crawling upward, seemingly trying to climb out from the fissure.

Layer upon layer, one after another, each eyeball sprouted limbs, yet beneath each eyeball seemed to be connected by nerves—blood-red neural threads extending downward continuously, as if trying to pull up something even more terrifying from beneath the abyss.

Was that—

A severed hand?

Massive mosaics layered upon layered, and even though it was a future scene, even with the barrier of mosaic glasses, it made Don break out in a cold sweat.

The Orkney Highlands—this region was truly going to fall into chaos.

This could potentially cause a terrible disaster capable of destroying nations for Loen, for Intis, for Feynapotter.

Don removed his mosaic glasses, rubbed his brow, and stuffed the glasses, telescope, and astrolabe back into the system space.

"The fluctuations of fate are in the next few days. Setting aside the question of whether the Church would believe me, just that scene alone—the entire Orkney Highlands would probably become the first area to be hit by the pollution flood after the abyss opens."

"Mental pollution of that degree, not to mention ordinary people, even mid-sequence Beyonders might fall and become monsters in an instant, completely losing control. The opened crack would very likely connect to the abyss, and might even be..."

The Astral World.

[Host?]

Don rubbed his temples, letting the dangerous premonition that kept jumping due to his spiritual intuition settle down.

"Fortunately, I still have the barrier of mosaic glasses and the astrolabe. If I truly encountered the abyss in the real world, I might lose control and die just by approaching it."

(End of Chapter)