Upon a vast continent, countless lives were dying one after another. Clearly, this was the tail end of the Life Epoch — [Death]'s will spreading like wildfire.
The images were fragnted, scenes shifting at breakneck pace, making it hard to find a focal point. After several rapid flashbacks, Cheng Shi saw that amid this wave of death — where lives fell like grass — so beings finally gave birth to fear.
They refused to relinquish their lives too early and embrace [Death]'s cold will. And so they began attempting to break free from the endless "cycle" of Birth to Prosperity to Death. This clearly defied the era's mainstream, but the fearful ones argued cleverly, trying to absolve themselves of guilt.
They insisted their faith wasn't wavering — that life held more aningful things to do. Yet they didn't actually do anything aningful. They simply did everything possible to flee from death, then spent their elongated lifespans indulging their fears and satisfying their personal desires.
Thus — [Corruption] began to fester.
Before long, this decadent wind swept across the continent. [Death]'s will, too, walked toward its own "death" before the next epoch could arrive.
Desire flowed like water, a hundred rivers rging into one. The universe's cravings converged into an ocean, carving horrifying chasms across the continent, tearing the entire world to pieces.
Nothing could fill those chasms — nothing but desire itself.
But life that knew only indulgence was destined not to endure. Before long, the continent ground to a halt, even regressed. The world began to rot.
When desire shrouded the land and life lost aning, fear swept through once more. And once again, a minority awakened first. They reignited the flas of the previous epoch, pored over the traces of ages past, and finally — upon the abandoned earth — found evidence that the gods existed.
They were convinced that if faith could reconverge, the gods would lead life out of the mire.
More and more beings began calling out to the gods. But the gods offered no response.
Lost and directionless, the beings could only continue to beg — continue to crave rcy. Gradually, a tide of supplication swept the continent. Though it extinguished the flas of desire, it dragged the entire continent into another kind of trap.
All beings wailed without cease. Lives competed to out-suffer one another, each convinced that only by being more wretched than the rest could they earn the gods' gaze.
And so — [Decay] began its anthem.
But diminishing lives and withering masses still failed to win divine compassion. As the continent slowly rotted, the convictions of the previous generations were overturned yet again.
A new ideology erged. The vanguard believed that life's excessive encroachnt upon the world had brought divine punishnt. The current state of affairs was the gods clearing away the "gangrenous flesh."
If they only accelerated the process — annihilated every aningless life — the gods would surely restart the world and bring about new birth.
With that, [Oblivion]'s song finally rang out.
Afterward, the continent grew emptier and emptier. The images in mory grew ever more fragnted. The entire epoch — no, the entire era — sank into an eternal, lifeless oblivion, subrging completely into darkness.
The images shattered. Silence invaded. And at that mont — the familiar sensation returned!
Just as before, when he'd heard it in [Birth]'s mory — Origin appeared again. Even though it was rely a replicated voice, every god who'd been pressing the attack stopped short, standing in reverent reception, none daring to overstep.
In this mont, Cheng Shi finally understood what [Oblivion] was plotting. He'd used this thod to freeze the gods in place, buying ti for His "grand endeavor" of annihilating the universe!
Origin's voice was just as "terrifying" as before. When it rose, the very stars resonated. When it paused, the galaxy flickered between light and dark. Invisible words seed to linger in one's vision, but the mont you focused, they dissolved at the edges of hearing. It wasn't stirring. It wasn't grand. Yet when you heard it, you felt as though you'd been lifted out of the universe — gazing down upon countless worlds, just as He did.
He spoke:
"This is [Corruption] — overture of descent, the desire of life.
This is [Decay] — crescendo of descent, the tragedy of all beings.
This is [Oblivion] — finale of descent, the silence of the world.
All that is thought becos desire — thus, [Corruption].
All that is done brings suffering — hence, [Decay].
All that is sought goes unt — therefore, [Oblivion]...
The three of [Descent] — all lies herein."
As the voice faded, thunderbolts crashed through Cheng Shi's mind, leaving it blank. Hong Lin, hearing Origin's voice for the first ti, lost all composure — frozen in place.
The gods held their positions, expressions varying. But [Oblivion] suddenly seed to reach an epiphany. He ceased His annihilation of the universe and burst into wild laughter high above the void:
"All that is sought goes unt — therefore, Oblivion! So that's it! That's what it was! Did you hear?! This is the true aning of Oblivion! What you've taken is nothing more than a throne shackled in chains! I am the true Oblivion in His eyes! He showed
the path long ago — and I was too foolish all these ages to realize I'd been walking the wrong road! But now I've turned back! Without first annihilating the self, how can one embrace rebirth?! I will await you all... in the reborn world!"
Before the gods could react, the reconstructed mory shattered to pieces. Every shred of [Oblivion]'s power saturating the void reversed course, pouring inward — back into [Oblivion] Himself.
He seed to have understood sothing. He abandoned the annihilation of the universe and chose instead to annihilate Himself!
Yes — this [Oblivion] power was not being recalled. It was an attack!
Under the gods' stunned gazes, [Oblivion] smiled with pure release:
"I've won! This ti — I'm closer to Him than any of you!"
BOOM—
Every trace of [Oblivion]'s power across the universe detonated at a single point. All that force of world-ending destruction collapsed into those eyes — eyes that no longer existed.
The disintegration of [Existence] halted abruptly. The scene fell into sudden, total silence.
Another god had fallen. And this ti, it had been driven — with a mortal's own hand pushing it along — to its end.
In that mont, the speechless Herobos recalled sothing Cheng Shi had said when persuading Him: "Without casting everything aside, where is rebirth?"
At the ti, He'd assud it was just another lie from Cheng Shi — an excuse to manipulate Him into compliance.
But now...
Had this [Deceit] follower truly glimpsed Origin's will and used it as bait to lay an open sche — one that left His Benefactor no choice but to draw closer to Origin?
Otherwise, why would a true god choose self-annihilation when He still had a fighting chance, when He hadn't been cornered into absolute desperation?
[Void] had only wanted the throne — not His life!
But if the Benefactor really had drawn closer to Him through this... then what about himself?
For an instant, Herobos stared at Cheng Shi with a kind of dread, as if seeing a preview of his own future path.
Cheng Shi had no ti to deal with Him. No matter how stunning [Oblivion]'s self-annihilation had been, it was only good news for Cheng Shi. Having witnessed more than one god's demise, his recovery was swift. His eyes shot imdiately to [Justice (Order)], and he spoke with feeling:
"[Oblivion] has relinquished His throne — and His very life. Does this petition still hold aning?"
"Upholding fairness is aning in itself."
The Flowing Light Scales showed neither joy nor sorrow, still radiating the breath of [Order].
"The universe operates by its own logic. That is [Order].
I execute the Convention's rules and will not allow external influence to compromise fairness. [Corruption]'s will has not been confird. Therefore, this petition is...
Postponed indefinitely."
The words fell. And Herobos's world collapsed.
[Void]'s goal had always originated from Cheng Shi, and Cheng Shi's objective had been to eliminate the enormous threat that was [Oblivion].
Now that [Oblivion] was gone, whether what remained — Herobos — could actually inherit the throne was...
Well, [Void] had done everything it could. Herobos had seen it with his own eyes. If [Justice (Order)] wouldn't budge, there was nothing more to be done. The Convention couldn't be defied.
Cheng Shi looked at Herobos with an awkward expression, shooting Him the most apologetic look he could muster.
Herobos's mind went blank for an instant. The mont awareness returned, He wanted to curse. But after a beat of thought, He held it in.
From every conceivable angle, He was in no position to bla [Void] — especially today, after losing His Benefactor's protection.
An absurd farce concluded in an even more absurd fashion. There were many winners. But the one left hurt seed to be... Herobos alone — who had lost both His Benefactor and the throne.
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