But [Justice (Order)] was, after all, the embodint of [Order]. He had to ensure every step of the process was fair according to the rules.
He continued:
"While the Sin of Desirelessness' proxy vote may be deed valid in principle, the type of vote cast cannot be considered effective until it is confird to represent [Corruption]'s true will. This is to prevent an Envoy from conspiring with third parties during a true god's absence to usurp the god's rights.
My purpose is to ensure all procedures are fair and correct. Thus, further deliberation is required."
This was so pointed it was practically accusing [Void] of cheating. But the argunt was genuinely fair, leaving Cheng Shi unable to find any grounds for rebuttal.
'[Justice (Order)] is truly troubleso...' He was both the sword [Void] wielded and the shield defending against [Void] — a paradox made manifest. It was maddening.
Just as Cheng Shi was racking his brains for a way around this obstacle, [Deceit] — who had been happily watching the show — finally spoke. He said with a cheerful grin:
"Simple enough, old fossil. Just go to the Sea of Desire and ask around."
'Is that even a reasonable suggestion?'
The Scales fell silent. Clearly, He was only responsible for raising procedural objections. As for how to confirm — that wasn't His concern. At most, He'd simply postpone the petition indefinitely, which was at least favorable for [Oblivion].
Of course, [Justice (Order)] didn't lean toward favoring anyone. He answered only to the Convention and to order.
Seeing this, the rancor in [Oblivion]'s eyes faded slightly. He sneered at [Deceit]:
"It seems [Void] will have to make a personal trip to the Sea of Desire to verify! But since [Void] is a supporter of the petition, you can't go alone — a god from the opposing side must be present as witness. I don't have ti to waste on such entanglents, and I suspect the Iron Law of [Order] won't agree to risk the Sea of Desire either. In that case — the petition is postponed indefinitely. You've still lost!!"
Indeed, with every avenue of victory being dismantled one after another, even Herobos — the principal in question — was sinking into despair.
He never imagined [Void] could have made so many preparations for this petition. But He'd imagined even less that despite all those preparations, He was still losing...
'But I was doing this for Your own good, my Benefactor!'
Herobos cast a complicated look at His Benefactor, only to find that [Oblivion] hadn't once looked His way. The god simply stared at [Deceit] and Cheng Shi with those dark, shadowed eyes, sneering endlessly, dripping with contempt.
It would be a lie to say Herobos wasn't panicking. Everyone knew what happened to an Envoy who betrayed their Benefactor. Furthermore, once His value to [Void] evaporated, would they waste resources on a chess piece that could no longer be moved?
The bewildered Herobos grew fearful. He knew all too well that between gods there was no sentint — only interest. He looked at Cheng Shi, still wracking his brain at the forefront, and realized that this mortal — who hadn't even beco an Envoy yet — was the one in this entire assembly who most wanted Him to win.
After all, their interests were deeply bound together.
Silence settled once more. The petition seed to have reached its bitter end. When no one spoke for a long while, [Justice (Order)] prepared to announce an indefinite postponent. But at that mont, Cheng Shi stepped forward again!
His eyes burned with the desire to win. He couldn't afford to wait that long. He couldn't accept [Oblivion]'s continued hunt resuming after the petition closed. He wanted to strip [Oblivion] of everything right here, right now — to free himself from living in constant dread.
With a grave expression, he raised his hand toward [Justice (Order)] and called out:
"Lord [Justice (Order)], this matter is far from over.
And you need not descend into the Sea of Desire to determine [Corruption]'s inclination!
There is another way to let everyone here know what's truly in Drasilco's heart. I believe the esteed true gods have likely already thought of it — they simply find it inconvenient to say. So let
be the fool who tears through the paper screen.
He turned to face [mory], who still hadn't left His seat, and spoke with heartfelt sincerity:
"Great God of [mory], the follower of [Ti] — Cheng Shi — requests that You peruse the relevant past. Search the history beside the Sea of Desire for the pearl of mory pertaining to this petition. Through the wonder of [Existence], tell the assembled gods that Drasilco has not lied — that the vote of agreent he cast was not his own choice, but the will of the true god standing behind him."
The mont the words landed, the entire chamber was stunned.
Cheng Shi had indeed devised a clever solution. Through His authority, [mory] could extract mories from Drasilco without approaching the Sea of Desire directly. While the thod carried so contamination risk, it was far simpler than personally entering the Sea to verify.
More crucially, [mory] had abstained — He wasn't aligned with [Void] or [Oblivion]. He was relatively "impartial."
But the problem lay precisely in that "relatively."
Everyone knew [mory] was [Deceit]'s rival, perpetually opposing every proposal [Deceit] supported. That He hadn't voted against this ti already indicated He'd been influenced by soone, tilting Him toward [Void]'s cause.
So could such an influenced god truly be fair?
Even if He learned sothing from Drasilco's mories, might He — swayed by prior influence — again choose in [Void]'s favor?
He wouldn't even need to fabricate anything, because Cheng Shi had left Him plenty of room!
Look at what Cheng Shi had said. He didn't claim Drasilco's vote represented [Corruption]'s will. He said the vote represented the will of "the true god behind him."
As for whether that true god was [Corruption] or [Deceit]... that was irrelevant.
What mattered was whether [mory] would answer Cheng Shi's question based solely on its literal phrasing. If [mory] saw [Deceit] in Drasilco's mories... would He answer with a "yes" rather than naming [Deceit]?!
This was yet another gamble!
Only this ti, though Cheng Shi had set the table, the chips on it depended on whether [Deceit] could secure [mory]'s cooperation in this one specific regard.
The instant Cheng Shi's words faded, [Deceit] and [mory] exchanged an extraordinarily "tacit" glance across the chamber. Their eyes t — one pair fraught with complexity, the other gleaming with its usual mirth.
No one knew what would happen next. Drasilco blinked in surprise but didn't refuse the proposal. He bowed respectfully toward [mory], his posture clearly showing he feared no mory-probing whatsoever.
The gods noted this detail. The pressure shifted — not onto [mory], but back onto [Oblivion].
And by a stroke of cruelest timing, [Oblivion] had caught that exchange of glances between [Deceit] and [mory]. In that instant, the "understanding" between those two rivals beca the last straw that broke the cal's back. [Oblivion] — the god at the center of this entire petition — completely fell apart.
He suddenly erupted into wild, almost manic laughter.
"Now I understand! You — you — you — all of you want
to surrender this throne! Is that it?! What's the point of keeping up this charade?! When you cast that abstention instead of voting against — you were already setting up the stage for this very mont, weren't you?! [mory]! I never thought even you would grovel before [Void]! What, because this is their era, they're automatically the masters?! Why can't it be us?! I see it now — every last one of you in this era is [Void]'s lapdog! And I'm not! So this era no longer has a place for !"
[Oblivion] cursed every god present in a single breath. Then, with a sneer of absolute derision:
"An era like this is truly aningless. Why not embrace oblivion with ..."
"!!!"
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