The moment Lady White in the Drowned Ghost Tavern declared the card game had begun, Stella, Old Mr. Charato, Mr. Mortis, "Father," and Katerin Schwartz all raised their heads and looked upward from various places across Fatumonst Island.
Though nothing had visibly changed about them, they could all sense the presence of the other four players in this game. Their gazes passed straight through the void above them, allowing them to see the card players holding Hand Cards around the tavern's round table, as well as Lady White.
They were incomparably tiny, like objects standing among the wineglasses, plates, and clutter atop the round table. Meanwhile, the card players studying their hands were so enormous, like puppeteers controlling puppets and holding their future destinies in their grasp.
The tavern's noise and shifting light were merely background. At this moment, the candidates finally truly felt that they were actors on a stage. Each of them looked toward the card player they could sense was holding their fate, and every face showed astonishment:
"What's going on? Wasn't it supposed to be one-to-one?"
Of course, the card players in the tavern could not see these Protagonist Candidates, so Shade had no way of knowing what expression Stella wore.
At the Seer Association's base in the city and the Misfortune Order's base Outside the City, the Prophets and cultists who sensed the Seventh Act had begun immediately brought out the methods they had prepared long ago, without revealing them to any of their allies:
"The Seventh Act has finally begun. Charato, for this world and the Association's future plans, you must obtain the position of Fate Chosen One—Relic · Substitute Life Card!"
"Destiny must ultimately return to Destiny. For this moment, the Order has prepared for five hundred years—Relic · Tear of Rebirth!"
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