Hill had no particular opinion on Aislin's struggle, nor was he surprised by her near-mad gamble... In the Multiverse, humans—and even most gods—struggled desperately just to survive.
Even the powerful Lord of Hell, Asmodeus, had nearly become something to be destroyed by others.
His descent into Hell had been the only path he could find that allowed him to survive without betraying his principles or groveling before anyone.
No matter what means someone used to stay alive, even if Hill neither approved nor understood, he would not despise them.
From the moment the seeds of fantasy had been planted, the Multiverse had determined everyone's involuntary fate.
That included Hill and his Telashir.
Though the existence of the World Tree allowed them to live somewhat more comfortably, hadn't Telashir also nearly reached its end?
Even if William and the God of Space-Time had made the world flourish brilliantly, if one day they encountered an incomparably powerful, utterly irrational enemy who did not care about the World Tree's retaliation, no one would be able to do anything.
All the gods and powerful beings in the Multiverse had a touch of madness within them, born from that future which could never be certain.
Of course, there was no need to become a great god like Ao. If a mage could reach Elminster's heights, then even if the world he lived in was destroyed for some reason, he would still have a path to survival.
The Starry Sky was still free.
But even though he had never dealt with that powerful old mage, Hill did not believe Elminster would truly abandon Toril.
If Elminster could truly be that cold and heartless, he could never have gained Simbul's love and the respect of most mages on Toril.
Those selfish beings who utterly disregarded their own