The world outside was undergoing countless cycles of collapse and reconstruction — a process that might continue for a very long ti. anwhile, the gods "imprisoned" by [Truth] in that confined space were far from idle, launching a second ga of their own.
After [Truth]'s self-destruction, [Justice] manifested imdiately. That booming voice of divine order drowned out the cacophony of the apocalypse, once again drawing the gods into a brilliant, orderly starry sky.
The gods sat facing one another, with seven seats empty — [Prosperity], [Corruption], [Decay], [Truth], [War], [Folly], and [Ti] were all absent.
The remaining nine would serve as today's voters in the Assembly of Gods Convention. And today's agenda was simple: how to distribute [Truth]'s Authority!
Even as the universe endured its apocalypse, [Justice] carried out the Convention's protocols with ticulous precision, as if the world's destruction had nothing to do with Him.
And in truth, the Convention had only been drafted to protect divine authority from being lost — it said nothing about preserving the universe from disintegration. So in this mont, [Justice] may have obstructed the gods from "saving the world," yet He remained perfectly within the bounds of "order."
The Scales representing the universe's ultimate fairness first glanced at the Iron Law occupying [Order]'s seat, then spoke in a resonant hum:
"[Truth] destroyed His own Divine Throne, leaving behind His Authority and issuing a Final Oracle, which states:
Truth lies in the pursuit, in the accumulation, in the mastery. Therefore, I forbid the gods from dividing My Authority among themselves. Instead, all Authority shall be bestowed upon a single god. Those willing to inherit My Authority shall attend this assembly, and the one who receives a majority vote shall claim it.
This Assembly of Gods Convention is hereby convened. Please begin your vote."
The mont He finished speaking, one god imdiately cast a vote.
A star blazed to life above [Birth]'s head, and that massive Divine Pillar lashed against the starry sky as She cried out impatiently:
"Hurry—
Child—"
Evidently, soone was eager to clock out and pick up her child.
But wherever work existed, so did frustrations. Overti was the norm, and no one was permitted to leave until the eting concluded.
The gods regarded [Birth] with varying expressions. This was clearly not the ti when voting for oneself could yield any advantage. [Truth]'s Final Oracle stipulated that the candidate needed a majority — there were nine voters present, aning at least five votes were required.
Securing five votes was extraordinarily difficult. For the gods in attendance, it was no different from personally handing [Truth]'s Authority to soone else. So things were far from that simple.
Before the gods had even deliberated, voting for oneself was nothing but a waste of ti — utterly pointless. Everyone present was exasperated by [Birth]'s impatience.
You couldn't say She didn't want the Authority — She had shown up, after all.
But you couldn't say She truly wanted it either — She clearly didn't care about strategy.
Fortunately, everyone had long since grown accustod to this "big sister's" attitude. Her approach to everything was simple: show up, participate, and never leave a seat empty. Beyond that, She couldn't care less — as steady as an invariable in [Truth]'s experint.
But the other gods had far more on their minds.
[Deceit] took in every glance exchanged among the gods, then shot a sidelong look at the frowning, stone-faced sibling beside Him and grinned:
"Oh my, worried about your follower, are we?
What good is worrying? A mortal can't attend the Assembly of Gods Convention."
His words dripped with passive-aggressive innuendo. Everyone who heard them knew He was hinting at sothing.
After all, [Deceit] was the one who had brought the Clown to the last Convention assembly — so this was less a taunt and more a deliberate opening.
But [Fate]'s eyes rely flickered, and He said nothing.
In truth, His concern extended beyond just His follower — He was worried about the world itself.
The Fixed Destiny had not yet reached its true culmination. The world should not be destroyed here. Yet He was shackled by the Convention, genuinely lacking the power to break a Final Oracle. So rather than causing a scene, it was better to vote obediently, conclude the eting quickly, send [Justice] on His way, and then go save the universe.
However, certain gods clearly had no intention of ending this Convention so swiftly. Seeing [Fate] give no reaction, [Deceit] rolled His eyes, pondered for a mont, and then called out to [Justice] with a sly grin:
"Old fossil, I have a question before we vote."
[Justice] was the only god who would never preemptively silence [Deceit] just because He anticipated mischief — after all, He represented the Convention.
"Speak freely."
[Deceit]'s eyes curved upward in a smile: "[Truth] only stipulated terms for His Authority before dying, but made no ntion of His voting rights. So I'd like to ask — how should the two voting rights in His possession be distributed?"
Indeed, [Truth] had held two voting rights — one His own, and one inherited from [Prosperity].
Those two votes had been instruntal in preparing for this experint, and now they were ownerless.
[Deceit]'s question imdiately piqued every god present. After all, those were two extra votes — two votes that could prove decisive at critical junctures.
The gods all waited for [Justice]'s response, but before He could reply, [Deceit] spoke again.
"I recall that one of those voting rights belonged to [Prosperity], correct?
Since the god who took that voting right has now fallen, and [Prosperity] currently has an acting Proxy — then by the principle of fairness, shouldn't that voting right be returned to [Prosperity]?"
The instant He finished, a dissenting voice rang out.
"I object!"
[Oblivion] cast a spectral gaze toward [Deceit], then glanced at [Fate] before snorting coldly:
"Don't think others are blind to the relationship between that so-called Proxy and your [Void] faction. Handing a voting right to a mortal — only you, [Deceit], could dream up sothing like that. How is this any different from giving you an extra vote? You might as well take [Truth]'s Authority while you're at it."
[Deceit] arched an eyebrow and grinned:
"I'm not particularly fond of bookworms, but since we're already here — sure, why not?
When do I get it? Right now?"
"...?"
'Can you seriously not tell the difference between sincerity and sarcasm?'
[Oblivion] let out another cold snort and looked away.
Regardless of whether [Deceit] had caught the aning, [Death] certainly had.
After a mont of deliberation, a tuft of green fla suddenly ignited in His hollow eye sockets, and He addressed the assembly:
"Even if... Frazor... has no... voting rights... She is... still a mber... of [Life].
She has... the right... to attend... this Convention... as an observer. [Justice]... did you... ask Her... whether She... wishes... to attend?"
[Justice] fell silent for a mont. In His view, a Proxy was not a true deity — her status still classified her as mortal. Even if she possessed a Container, not even Envoys had ever attended as observers. Did a mortal holding a Container truly qualify?
The complication was that the Convention had no explicit provision on this matter, so everything had to be negotiated. [Justice] turned His gaze to the assembled gods and began soliciting their opinions.
As long as [Prosperity]'s Proxy held no voting rights and would not influence the disposition of [Truth]'s Authority, the other gods had no real objections. More importantly, [Deceit] had already spoken up; it looked as though He was courting [Death]'s vote. If they refused [Death] face now, and He ended up swayed to the other side... that would be far too disadvantageous.
And so the gods remained silent.
[Oblivion] knew He could not reject a seemingly "reasonable" request, so He held His tongue as well.
Just like that, with the gods' tacit consent, [Justice] pulled Frazor into the assembly.
In the very next second, nine pairs of divine eyes and one set of Scales watched as a softly snoring, sleeping bear materialized in [Prosperity]'s seat.
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