"I've laid bare my will before you. Does this sincerity et your standards?"
It certainly did. Though many questions remained unanswered, Cheng Shi had to admit that the Fla of Hope was the first deity to so openly reveal their will to him.
Combined with the dual identity of "ally of Deceit" and "protector of the Torchbearers," Cheng Shi had already begun treating the Fla of Hope as a new ally of the Fear Faction.
And of course he was. In a sense, fearing Fixed Destiny was the sa as fearing Origin.
So Cheng Shi smiled again and asked, "Then what's your plan?"
The Candle Man shook his head and waved his hands, chuckling softly:
"No, no, no—this isn't a Q&A session."
"I've stated my purpose. Now it's your turn to show so sincerity and explain why you're here."
"Otherwise, I can't confirm whether my choice was the right one."
Though the words sounded sowhat scrutinizing, the bright glow in the Fla of Hope's eye sockets told Cheng Shi he'd already confird his choice long ago.
Still, the question genuinely stumped Cheng Shi, because his arrival here hadn't been entirely voluntary.
It had started when the Fun God, without any warning, swapped him for Dragon King inside That Dream My Nightmare. Then, while trying to decipher the Fun God's intentions—and refusing to leave empty-handed—he'd pushed deeper and deeper into the labyrinth until he found the mory Junkyard, where the Fla of Hope detected him and pulled him out of the Dreamless Mirror.
If he had to pinpoint a reason beyond Deceit's external push, the rest was probably driven by desire and greed.
But saying that out loud would be mortifyingly embarrassing.
Here was a Servant God, talking to him face-to-face about "hope, rebellion, and passing the torch," and he was supposed to respond with "Are there any treasures here?" How would that make him look?
'Does my reputation even matter anymore?'
'I can't exactly let myself sink so low that I end up sitting at the sa table as those unlucky bastards, can I?'
So Cheng Shi paused, sifted through his many unresolved questions, and picked the one with the most gravitas to serve as his "purpose."
His expression turned solemn as he declared:
"I ca seeking an answer."
"I asked Deceit for guidance, and He sent
here. So I've been wondering—could you, Fla of Hope, be my answer?"
The Candle Man was visibly intrigued by Cheng Shi's air of mystery. His flas swayed across his entire body as he tilted his head and asked curiously:
"What answer?"
Cheng Shi drew a deep breath and decided to be genuinely honest for once.
He could sense that the Fla of Hope's will was authentic, which ant the other party's convictions were remarkably similar to his own. They were both mbers of the smallest minority, both "overreaching beyond their station." By that logic, they were natural allies.
Since that was the case, he would trade sincerity for an answer.
"I want to know how to escape this universal experint—and how to break free from the Creator's control in the Real Universe!"
"..."
Upon hearing this, the Candle Man showed none of the shock, terror, admiration, or agreent Cheng Shi had expected. Instead, he murmured to himself in confusion:
"'Creator' I can understand—that probably refers to Him."
"But what do 'universal experint' and 'Real Universe' an?"
"You see this Faith Ga as an experint?"
"And the Real Universe—is that so mortal term for a particular stretch of the starry sky?"
"I don't think I've ever heard any of the Torchbearers use that kind of language..."
"?"
From that single remark, Cheng Shi realized the Fla of Hope knew nothing about the other slice universes beyond this one. His vision was still confined to the starry sky overhead!
'That's strange. The Fun God's every move clearly aid to bring
face-to-face with the Fla of Hope. But if he doesn't even know about these things, what's the point of eting him?'
'A Servant God of Fate who hasn't even grasped the bigger picture probably can't offer
any relevant "advice."'
'Wait—hold on!'
Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened. A sudden thought struck him: 'Could the Fun God have thrown
here because He wants
to reveal the truth to the Fla of Hope?'
'What?'
'He wants a clown—soone who's been traumatized by the Real Universe's bloody cessation and scarlet mockery—to deliver fresh "despair" to this Servant God of Fate who's still quietly protecting the Torchbearers in his little corner? To tell him that his so-called "burning at the margins" isn't nearly marginal enough—that on the scale of the Real Universe, he's nothing at all?!'
'Have so decency, my Lord.'
'Even if You wanted to tear off this bloody bandage for him, why not do it Yourself?'
'When Ti reset the world, You could have simply preserved the Fla of Hope's mories. What possible benefit is there in making
the villain?'
Cheng Shi frowned. He didn't see how resetting the Fla of Hope's mories could serve as a valid excuse for engineering their eting. Given the Fla of Hope's convictions, the mont he learned the truth about the universe, he would inevitably join the Fear Faction. They were natural allies—no contrived introduction was necessary.
Moreover, preserving mories through Ti's thods could be done silently and seamlessly—far more efficient than having Cheng Shi deliver the revelation personally. The Fun God had absolutely no reason to orchestrate sothing so convoluted and pointless.
And yet He had. Why?
Unless...
Cheng Shi's eyes turned razor-sharp as he looked at the Candle Man before him, his mind racing at full throttle.
Unless this Servant God of Fate had never witnessed the Real Universe at all. When the world collapsed, he hadn't noticed the sky falling!
But how could a Servant God fail to perceive the world's collapse?
There seed to be only one answer:
He had been deceived!
The Fun God had used an illusion to trick him, making him believe nothing had happened!
So even after the world was reset and so deities retained their mories, the Fla of Hope would never retain any—because he had never witnessed those events firsthand!
Yet this only deepened the mystery. The Fla of Hope's very will was about finding life in the face of death. Letting him know about the Real Universe would hardly be inappropriate—in fact, it might even unite the Fear Faction further. So why would the Fun God deceive his own ally?
'To prevent fear from becoming despair?'
That didn't seem right either, because without despair there could be no Fla of Hope. His faith was rooted in exactly that. He wouldn't cease to exist just because of despair.
As he himself had said, only when the fla of hope grew large enough to beco a wildfire would he potentially cease to be. So even if only a single person remained on the path of rebellion, he would appear and shelter that last spark.
If that wasn't the reason, then what was?
Cheng Shi pondered for a long ti—so long that even the Candle Man realized the earlier question had touched upon sothing critically important. Just as he was about to ask what Cheng Shi was thinking, Cheng Shi jolted, and a hypothesis so incredible that even he could scarcely believe it surfaced in his mind.
The illusion the Fun God had woven prevented the Fla of Hope from seeing the Creator and the Real Universe. Viewed from another angle, what He had done could be interpreted not as deception, but as... concealnt.
He didn't want the Fla of Hope to see Origin!
Or, more boldly—regardless of whether Origin was truly omniscient—the Fun God equally didn't want Him to see the Fla of Hope!
Cheng Shi's eyes went wide. He thought he had finally glimpsed the Fun God's reasoning.
He was trying to tell Cheng Shi that the significance behind the Fla of Hope was quite possibly far greater than anything he had imagined!
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