When Cheng Shi uttered those words, he had already taken his first step of surrender toward Fate.
Fixed Destiny had finally, at the last possible mont, beco "true Fixed Destiny."
"No!!!"
Qin Xin and Big Cat pulled back in anguished fury and charged toward Cheng Shi simultaneously, trying to drag him back. But endless howling winds surged from the Void, threaded with the prismatic light of the Origin, forming a towering wall that blocked them both.
War's blood-fire roared. Prosperity shrieked with bitter hatred. But it was all too late.
At this mont, Fate resembled that mad Truth — the one who had obsessively pursued the Origin's experints. Back on the Land of Hope, Truth had used this very thod to shut Deceit out behind a wall of absolute knowledge.
As Cheng Shi drew closer to Fate step by step, as the world's hope drifted further from the world, a god finally could no longer sit still.
A Divine Pillar suddenly tore through the Void winds and planted itself before Cheng Shi. It halted his advance, lashing irritably at everything around it, and demanded of the Outer God Fate, who stood high above:
"His departure — will it bring the universe's destruction — the end of all Life?"
Fate's cold gaze swept over the Divine Pillar. His voice was ice:
"Birth, I know you care only about drawing close to the Origin and creating life. You have never concerned yourself with the affairs of this universe. Blocking Fixed Destiny's path now is nothing more than wanting to know whether the will of Birth can continue.
But regardless of the outco, you cannot stop
— nor can you hold back Fixed Destiny."
Upon hearing this, the Divine Pillar grew even more agitated. Yet the surrounding Void winds pressed in, step by step, locking the fearso Pillar in place.
Birth, immobilized and silenced by the restraints, could only listen as Fate continued in a voice devoid of joy or sorrow:
"I explain this much only because you never once hindered Fixed Destiny, and also to prove that I have no need to deceive you.
Fixed Destiny is the sole chance for this universe — for countless universes. Only by fulfilling the Origin's will can you ever hope to live as true gods.
And right now, with the experint unsolved, you and I are nothing more than variables."
The staggering impact of this worldview still had not been digested by the assembled gods. They fell into silence once more. anwhile, Cheng Shi let out a bitter laugh, stepped around the motionless Divine Pillar, and continued walking toward Fate.
As he walked, he gradually raised his head and began surveying his surroundings, gazing at every mortal and god present.
The atmosphere turned surreal. The Clown was supposed to be the "star" on this "red carpet," yet he walked like a passing bystander, carefully studying the expression of every "audience mber" in the stands.
His gaze was layered with complexity. He instinctively skipped over Big Cat — whose eyes were splitting with rage — and Qin Xin — whose eyes wept blood. He glanced past Death, whose green orbital flas had gone dim. He swept over the Iron Law of Order, whose pages trembled and humd in frozen stillness...
Decay decayed in silence. mory morized in silence. The Wrath of Abomination, Herobos — beings who before mortals were normally either volatile or loftily enigmatic — now cowered in a corner, not daring to make a sound.
Before the Origin's aura billowing through the space, they were simply too small.
Though many gods were absent, with that single glance, Cheng Shi felt as if he had seen through the entire universe.
This was simply what the world was. Every person, every god, pursued their own will, warring endlessly, never stopping.
Only when they discovered that all their conflicts were futile — that the final answer rested upon a single mortal — did they realize that gods were not truly gods.
They could not accept this reality. Their only thought was: if Fixed Destiny truly was the answer, then let this experint that had ground the gods' dignity to dust be turned and forgotten as quickly as possible.
But was that page really so easy to turn?
Cheng Shi was not sure. His steps were heavy, as though dragging invisible shackles. He staggered forward until at last he stood before Fate. He lifted his head and stared into those Stellar Eyes that had given him shelter countless tis before, and his vision blurred.
He hallucinated his Benefactor, Deceit, possessing those sa srizing spirals and stars that should have been brilliant. But now, like these extinguished constellations, He would never shine again...
A lump rose in Cheng Shi's throat, but he made no sound.
He clenched his fists. He gritted his teeth. He forced the despair back down his throat. He looked the Outer God Fate in the eye and asked a question the old Cheng Shi would never have asked.
"If sacrificing
alone will end everything — will it?"
In that mont, the spirals in the Outer God's eyes froze.
He gazed down at His follower, and for the first ti, His expression was not as certain as when He had addressed the gods.
Cheng Shi sensed the Outer God Fate's uncertainty as well. But he did not step back, nor did he run. Instead, he planted himself before Fate, baring his neck to the blade:
"If the Clown taking the stage is the final act of this farewell performance, then let the Void depart alongside Fixed Destiny... and let the curtain fall.
We are too tired. It's ti to close our eyes and rest."
Fixed Destiny seed to have fully accepted his fate — and even Fate Himself was moved by this.
But not everyone surrendered simply because Cheng Shi had. Sparks may die — but the torch burns on!
Qin Xin, the founder of the Torchbearers, had devoted everything to preserving a sliver of hope for the world. Now that hope was gone and the road ahead was dark — he no longer needed to think for the world. It was ti to think for his friend.
Cheng Shi did not want to leave this place — because the people he cared about were here!
If that was so — if death awaited no matter where they went — then why not die together beneath this starry sky, buried in the world they held dear?
And so Qin Xin moved!
The Void winds blocked his approach, but they could not erase his voice. In the heartbeat before that boundless power of Fate consud Cheng Shi, Qin Xin roared:
"I, Qin Xin — the sole Proxy of War in this era — petition the Pact of Gods to inherit the Divine Na of War!"
When a true god had fallen or was imprisoned beyond freedom, its Envoy had the right to inherit that god's Authority. Qin Xin had already received the recognition of War's Authority. All he was missing from the Divine Throne was the "legitimization."
In that mont, every mortal and divine gaze was drawn to the Torchbearer once more. Even those silent Scales began to gleam again, starlight streaming across their surface. The Pact of Gods took effect according to law. Justice Himself nodded and approved the petition for War's succession.
Witnessing a new god's coronation at such a delicate juncture, every mortal and deity felt a storm of emotions.
None suffered more than Herobos...
After the fall of Oblivion, He too could have succeeded to the Divine Throne through this very thod. But before the succession could proceed, a pending agenda item at the Assembly of Gods Convention regarding His right to inherit the Authority had been indefinitely postponed.
Justice's rigidity would not allow the rules to bypass any unresolved matter. And so Herobos was stuck in limbo — neither ascending nor descending.
With the pending item in place, He could not ascend to the throne; but without that item, Oblivion would never have fallen in the first place...
It was a deadlock with no resolution, trapping Herobos in perpetual tornt.
But Qin Xin had no such obstacles. Justice likely guessed what Qin Xin intended to do, and so He streamlined every procedure, placing the vacant Divine Na directly upon Qin Xin's head.
And the instant Qin Xin ascended as a god, his heterochromatic eyes — one blazing fire, one weeping blood — snapped wide open. He fixed them on Cheng Shi, now nearly engulfed by Fate, and howled:
"By the na of War, I appoint the mortal Cheng Shi as my Envoy!
By the Pact above — let all gods bear witness!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)