[Justice (Order)] departed. In past assemblies, He would always see every god off before leaving last.
But today, He apparently didn't want to lay eyes on certain people or gods.
The gods exchanged glances — expressions varying — and left one by one. Before departing, [Death]'s boss looked toward Cheng Shi and gave an approving nod:
"Cheng — Shi — you did — well!"
With that, a torrent of white bone swallowed the boss and vanished into the sky.
Cheng Shi blinked. 'Boss, your timing for complints could use work. Herobos is standing right beside
— can He really handle hearing that?'
He could not!
He absolutely could not handle it!
But what He couldn't handle, He had to stomach anyway.
Herobos wasn't stupid. He knew that as long as the throne hadn't fallen into His hands, at least on the surface, in the gods' eyes, [Void] was still His "backing."
There was no way He would push away His only lifeline. So with tactful awareness, He "thanked" [Deceit] before departing the void ahead of the others.
He knew [Void]'s camp would likely hold a "post-ga analysis" next — and it was a discussion in which He had no standing to participate.
What Cheng Shi hadn't expected, though, was that before leaving, Herobos pressed sothing into his hand — a constantly collapsing and reforming hourglass.
When Cheng Shi saw it, his mind went blank.
'A container?!'
'[Oblivion]'s container?!'
'What's going on? I practically swindled your Benefactor into nonexistence, and you're thanking
for it?!'
He didn't know his Benefactor had also struck a deal with Herobos, so the gesture made no sense. But as he weighed the [Oblivion] container in his palm, Cheng Shi's estimation of Herobos rose a notch.
To make such a calculated sacrifice when stripped of all favor and stuck in a losing position — that spoke volus about Herobos's ambition.
Whatever His underlying motives were, whether surrendering the container was His own idea or not, it proved He could read the room and knew what best served His current predicant.
Sure enough — there were no fools among the divine. They were simply more fanatical about faith than ordinary beings... and more twisted.
After Herobos left, Cheng Shi visibly relaxed. Hong Lin exhaled too, settling wearily in the void and taking a deep breath:
"When [Oblivion] fell, I was sure Herobos would go berserk and try to take you down with Him... nearly gave
a heart attack."
Warmth flooded Cheng Shi's chest. He knew Big Cat had been guarding his back the entire ti since [Oblivion] had left His seat.
"So how's it feel attending the Assembly of Gods Convention for the third ti?"
He'd ant it as a lighthearted quip to ease the mood. But Hong Lin shuddered violently, shaking her head hard:
"Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
If I hadn't seen you here, I wouldn't have opened my eyes even on pain of death.
But it's also eerie — every ti one convenes, another god falls. At this rate, there won't be many more conventions to hold..."
"..."
Hearing that, Cheng Shi looked up at the two Benefactors who still hadn't left. His expression was sothing to behold.
'Sis, you really don't hold back, do you? Did you maybe check whether those two above our heads are still here before you said that?'
'Saying that in front of them is basically the sa as cursing them to die.'
Hong Lin seed to realize her blunder. Her face changed, she shoved Cheng Shi forward, shifted into a spotted leopard, and bolted.
Leaving Cheng Shi standing alone, caught in the crossfire of two Benefactors' gazes. Awkward beyond asure.
Though [Void]'s camp had technically "won big" at this Assembly — eliminating [Oblivion], who had been targeting the sacrifice — these two [Void] sovereigns had been at each other's throats when proceedings were cut short!
Clearly, neither was happy about the other's relationship with [Corruption]. Even after the petition concluded, the two were still locked in a cold stare.
[Deceit]'s eyes tilted upward, mirth intact:
"Everyone's gone ho. Why are you still loitering? What cos next is my celebration ti with my follower — we won a small victory for [Void], you know. You're kind of in the way, sis."
[Fate]'s cold eyes swept like wind, colorless and expressionless:
"For cutting away one wrong path from Fixed Destiny's road, I'll overlook your antics today.
But the Sin of Desirelessness — I must take Him with ."
[Deceit] glanced at Drasilco, who stood in place with a mild smile, showing no urge to leave. Then He turned back to His sibling and scoffed:
"He's [Corruption]'s follower. What right do you have to take Him?"
"The right that I see the aura of Fixed Destiny on Him."
"Tsk. What a convenient excuse.
Next ti I find sothing interesting, I'll use the sa line. As long as I see entertainnt value in sothing, it should be mine. Sound fair?
Actually that works out great. By that logic, the entire universe belongs to ."
"..."
[Fate]'s eyes narrowed to razor slits, His voice glacial: "You want to fight?"
"Tsk—
I think the one looking for a fight is you. If we're doing this, let's do it. Quit wasting ti!"
With that, two pairs of star-bright eyes collided. The void churned. Nothingness rose. Endless black wrapped their internal [Void] war in a cocoon of silence, letting not a single sound or shape escape.
Outsiders might think [Void] was putting on another act. Only those involved knew the truth: [Deceit] had deliberately drawn [Fate] away, buying ti for the others to leave.
Yet Drasilco made no move to go. He stood in the void, facing Cheng Shi across the distance, grinning brightly.
He looked Cheng Shi up and down with evident satisfaction:
"A rich scent of desire — my favorite flavor. You're not bad. Far more pleasing to the eye than that [mory] follower."
"!!!"
That single sentence told Cheng Shi that Drasilco wasn't rely similar to the Dragon King in voice. There was definitely a connection between them.
Linking that to what the Dragon King had said about the "Black Dragon King" leaving the mirror, and the dense [Corruption] aura within "That Dream My Nightmare" — a bolt of inspiration hit, spawning a bold theory.
'Could Drasilco be the Black Dragon King?!'
'Wait—'
'The "nightmare" within That Dream My Nightmare — was it Him all along?!'
'A [Corruption] Envoy sealed inside [mory]'s creation?'
'So [mory] had moved against [Corruption] after all?'
'Just like [Ti], He'd imprisoned one of [Corruption]'s followers?'
'No — wait!'
Judging by [mory]'s reaction to Drasilco at the Assembly, He clearly hadn't known about this. Which ant the one who'd "imprisoned" Drasilco wasn't [mory] — it was soone else!
Not only that — this person had done it without [mory] ever finding out!
'How absurd. Who could tamper with [mory]'s own creation while fooling [mory] Himself?'
Thinking it through, there seed to be only one answer...
Cheng Shi's expression shifted as everything clicked into place.
'The Fun God!'
'It could only be Him!'
Only this Benefactor — who could create backdoors for him inside That Dream My Nightmare, who wielded the authorities of deception and disguise as [Void]'s sovereign — could use such an exquisite thod to "hide" a [Corruption] Envoy inside His rival's mirror.
And the reason it was so exquisite was that the Fun God must have leveraged the fact that Aph Ros's desire had corrupted the Mirror of Delusion, causing it to fracture. He'd used the [Corruption] aura originating from Aph Ros to cleverly mask Drasilco's own [Corruption] aura, then wielded His inconceivable authority of deception to fool [mory].
Only this explanation accounted for why He was so familiar with That Dream My Nightmare, and why [mory] couldn't even recall whether Drasilco was still alive.
Because what lay hidden within That Dream My Nightmare was the mory Dump — the refuse heap of mories [mory] deed unworthy of retrieval, the redundant and aningless scraps He'd discarded after surveying the entire universe!
He would never look there. So the Fun God had hidden Drasilco there!
'What a masterful blind spot!'
If you wanted to hide sothing, was there anywhere less conspicuous than your rival's trash bin?
Worthy of the Fun God indeed. But this also implied sothing important: the Fun God's probe of [Corruption] might have begun far earlier than anyone imagined!
He'd been laying the groundwork for ages — and only now had He played this card.
Realizing all of this, Cheng Shi drew a deep breath and addressed Drasilco with grave seriousness:
"What exactly is the deal you struck with my Benefactor?"
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