Cheng Shi's words were dangerous.
Even the gods didn't dare approach [Corruption] lightly. The mont the tides of the Sea of Desire began to surge, not a single being in the universe was unafraid.
What they feared wasn't [Corruption] itself — it was their own desires, uncontrollable, unstoppable, inescapable.
As Cheng Shi had said, all beings had desires. But once such desire was amplified without limit, even if the intent behind it was good, the outco rarely was.
Gods took root in faith. The Sea of Desire fed on want. When the water rose, the roots rotted; when the water receded, the roots withered.
Without the Sea of Desire's influence, roots grew naturally. But drawing too close would flood the soil of faith with desire, transforming it into a new Sea of Desire. That was precisely why the gods kept their distance from [Corruption].
No deity would allow their followers to approach [Corruption]. So the instant Cheng Shi spoke those words, [Deceit] gave a cold laugh and looked at the Clown with sothing like bitter disappointnt:
"In any gamble, there are wins and losses.
If one could only win and never lose, why would [Deceit] need to exist at all?
I valued you so highly, yet you would betray my will over so aningless [Oblivion] throne — going so far as to approach [Corruption] with your own body...
Pathetic!
A clown through and through — good for nothing but making people laugh.
It seems I misjudged you just this once. Very well. Since you're so obstinate, let all of today's spectacle serve as the clown's final curtain call.
[Void] has no need to borrow [Descent]'s hands for legitimacy — much less in the Era of [Void]!
To distance yourself from [Void] in this era — you will pay for that choice.
By my authority as sovereign of [Void], I sentence you — a laughingstock of a traitor — to imdiate death."
With that, those eyes turned cold in an instant. The perpetually upturned corners dropped for once, and from above, countless icy gales of the void descended, sweeping directly toward Cheng Shi.
He actually intended to execute His own follower right here!
The entire chamber was shocked.
[Justice (Order)] said nothing, patiently waiting. [Oblivion] sneered, content to watch the infighting. [mory] lowered His gaze, quietly recording. [Prosperity]... couldn't sit still.
Hong Lin — who had opened her eyes only once this entire Assembly — heard [Deceit] disavow Cheng Shi entirely and sentence him to death. She instantly roared, transford into a bear spirit, and lunged toward Cheng Shi.
She knew she couldn't stop [Deceit]. But she could at least block the void's howling gales — even if only for one second, it would be one more second her friend lived!
She had always said she would protect her friends. She had always lived by that conviction.
But this ti, she failed.
She had barely cleared the top of [Death]'s skull when the tip of that colossal Scythe hooked her in midair — like an angler reeling in a fish that had taken the bait. No matter how hard she thrashed, she couldn't advance an inch.
"Let
go! I need to save him! Let go of !!"
She roared furiously at [Death]'s boss, but the enormous skull rely intoned:
"Easy now."
And at that very mont — while this sideshow played out — a pair of eyes suddenly appeared above Cheng Shi's head. Those star-points swirling in frenzied spirals looked toward His sibling god, His voice frigid as a descending abyss, each word carved in ice:
"The manifestation of [Void] does not get to speak for [Void].
If all things are destined to return to nothingness, then why shouldn't [Corruption] be allowed to draw near [Void]?!"
"?"
[Deceit] laughed in true fury. He jabbed a finger at His incomprehensible sibling and snapped:
"He doesn't know what [Corruption] is — fine. But do you not know either?!
Where is the [Fate] who never deigned to even glance at [Corruption]?!
Just to protect him — a mortal — you would break your own principles and approach [Corruption]?!
[Fate], I think you've truly lost your mind!
The sacrifice for [Void] doesn't have to be him!"
[Fate]'s gaze grew ever colder. The terrifying aura of nothingness perated nearly the entire chamber. The gods once again caught the scent of Misfortune, and in an instant transford from idle spectators into frowning, watchful "combatants on standby."
They had to guard against [Fate] dragging the universe into Misfortune once more.
[Fate] glanced coldly at [Deceit] and responded with just six words:
"Fixed Destiny. It must be him."
"Looks like we're fighting whether we like it or not?" [Deceit] scoffed. "Good. Just in ti to crush this traitor completely. Once he loses four votes for breaking the rules, no amount of sucking up to [Corruption] will save his chances!"
With that, [Deceit] moved to attack. But at that instant, [Fate] suddenly withdrew — channeling every last drop of His remaining "Change" authority, using His own "desire" for Fixed Destiny to trigger a response from the distant depths of the Sea of Desire.
In the next mont, every god's expression shifted — because the unmistakable sound of the Sea of Desire's tides was now echoing clearly through the brilliant starry sky!
[Corruption] had answered.
Monstrous waves surged. Water churned in whirlpools. The surface of that sea — representing every desire in the universe — began to rise.
"Damn..."
Even Cheng Shi was stunned.
He'd considered the possibility that [Corruption] might respond, but he'd never imagined the response would look like this!
'I wanted your vote, not the entire Sea of Desire flooding the Assembly of Gods Convention!'
He whipped around to stare at his Benefactor — not [Fate], but [Deceit] — only to find the Fun God's eye twitching violently.
Clearly, He hadn't anticipated His sibling going this far off the deep end either.
In truth, when Cheng Shi had heard the Fun God sentence him to death, he'd imdiately realized his Benefactor was bluffing again. Personally killing a traitor might make sense, but it made for lousy entertainnt.
Don't forget — He was [Deceit], the Fun God. If there was one god in the entire universe who could tolerate betrayal, it was Him and no one else. So why would He publicly execute a "traitor"?
Especially when this "traitor" was a Clown.
Until the last drop of cody had been wrung from the Clown, He would never let the act end — much less allow the Clown to go work as a proper employee at so old bag of bones' outfit.
It was precisely because [Death]'s boss had seen through this that He'd stopped Hong Lin from her "heroic charge."
But if [Death] could see through it, surely [Fate] — a fellow [Void] sovereign — could too?
Of course He could. He'd seen through everything long ago. He was simply seizing the opportunity.
He'd been unable to probe [Corruption] on His own, so He used this mont to test His sibling [Deceit] — to discover exactly what sort of twisted alliance [Deceit] had ford with [Corruption].
If [Deceit] had truly found [Corruption], then under [Deceit]'s diation, the current Sea of Desire crisis wouldn't be a crisis at all.
If [Deceit] was bluffing and hadn't found [Corruption] either, then it ant the "assimilation" route was a dead end — and this Assembly would inevitably end in [Void]'s defeat.
And since [Void] would have lost anyway, giving the gods a taste of suffering was only "fair."
No matter the outco, [Fate] ca out ahead. So He'd deliberately amplified His emotions, triggering the Sea of Desire's eruption, and under the gods' noses, within [Deceit]'s sche to shift bla, He quietly won a round.
[Deceit] was genuinely laughing in anger.
He had indeed been planning to shift the bla.
Letting His follower shout at [Corruption] — if [Corruption] simply voted "yes," wouldn't that confirm He was in bed with [Corruption]?
That couldn't go public yet. So He'd devised a plan: let [Fate] take the fall. Amid the quarrel, pin [Corruption]'s agreent on [Fate].
After all, His sibling only knew how to fight. When anyone ca asking questions, they could go have a fight with Him. Problem solved.
That way, [Fate]'s combat urges were satisfied, and [Deceit]'s hands stayed clean. What was not to love?
But He hadn't expected [Fate] to go this big — clearly determined to ruin His day, insisting on making things difficult.
Of course, whether any of this was performative showmanship for the benefit of His follower was anyone's guess.
But it didn't matter too much. Priority one was getting the vote count settled. As for the consequences of the Sea of Desire flooding the Assembly... who cared? It was bound to be entertaining.
So [Deceit] blinked — and while the gods' attention was split by the rising tide, He made His quiet little move within the chamber.
Monts later, as the Sea of Desire continued to climb, a voice suddenly rang out from [Corruption]'s empty seat in the brilliant starry sky.
"I agree."
"!!!"
Every mortal and god in attendance turned in astonishnt — and saw a figure who had been missing for far too long appear once more before the gods' eyes.
Cheng Shi was stunned too. He didn't recognize the hunched man wrapped in black robes, but that voice — he knew it all too well.
"How can it be...
Dragon King?!?"
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