That's right — Cheng Shi had prophesied the Origin!
He was not sure whether this would actually draw the Origin's gaze. After all, during that past Trial of Ti, An Shenxuan had done nothing more than die quietly while peeking at the Origin — it had not ended the Trial, nor had it collapsed the world.
But he knew with absolute certainty that he would die — and in a way no god could prevent!
Death beneath the unbearable terror of the Origin. Death within the divine force of the Creator that even the gods dared not na.
To be honest, when Cheng Shi scread "Origin — show yourself!" — Death truly felt that fear strike at His core.
Cheng Shi was not the sa as An Mingyu. He was the linchpin of Fixed Destiny — quite possibly the sacrifice closest to the Origin's will in the entire universe. No one knew how deep his connection to the Creator ran. If the Origin truly turned His gaze here because of Fixed Destiny's prophecy...
The colossal skull did not dare think further. He even considered sweeping up the Fishbone Hall and fleeing this place entirely.
It was not the first ti He had considered this. Just monts ago, when An Mingyu had used the sa threat, Death had already felt the urge.
Ti rewound slightly.
When An Mingyu revealed her resolve to Death, He was both shocked and furious.
Shocked that His own follower valued her life so little. Furious that she dared try to summon the Origin — the very na He never wished to speak — into His Fishbone Hall.
As a god, Death had ten thousand ways to silence An Mingyu on the spot. But He did not. Instead, after a long silence, He spoke in a low murmur:
"The Outer God — wields — the Creator's — power. I — cannot stop it.
But I — can go — and ask — for this world — one more — sliver — of possibility."
But His response ca a step too late. The long wait had made An Mingyu increasingly anxious. In her eyes at the ti, Zhen Xin had been dragged into the ss and Cheng Shi was on the brink of disaster — the two people who mattered most to her were both facing imminent misfortune. Her only leverage was to use this threat to force Death's hand. So when the silence stretched on without an answer, An Mingyu gritted her teeth and recited the prayer to prophesy the Origin!
Yes — the prophet had already made her prophecy, in the instant before Death responded.
When the colossal skull saw the infinite sorrow and resolve flash through His follower's eyes, He was stunned.
He thought His hall was about to change owners.
But to everyone's surprise, as the Bell Ringer tolled the death knell, the entire hall, top to bottom...
Nothing happened!
An Mingyu had ant to prove her determination with her own death, but the Creator gave no response whatsoever.
Still, her actions had given Death a genuine scare. When He realized that the prophecy of the Origin had not taken effect, sothing new flickered in His gaze toward His follower — sothing like... pity?
An Mingyu also collapsed to the ground, murmuring to herself:
"How can this be...
Have I truly been abandoned by the world?"
At this sight, the green flas within the colossal skull's eye sockets roared to life. He looked at His fallen, weeping Bell Ringer, and sighed deeply:
"For — the sake of — this world — I — will still go — and ask.
You — co with
— beneath my throne — and hear — for yourself — the answer — you seek."
With that, the torrent of white bone swept An Mingyu away — and what followed was the scene where Death interrupted the Outer God Fate.
So now, having detected no imdiate change in the Void, the colossal skull realized that Fixed Destiny's prophecy had also...
Failed?
The rhythm of the green flas in His eye sockets grew peculiar. When He looked at Cheng Shi, there was sothing in His gaze that was hard to define.
Cheng Shi froze.
The louder he had scread "Origin," the more rigid his body beca now.
Prophesying the Origin was supposed to be his final ans of seeking death. How had it co to this?
Had the Origin stopped watching this world?
Or had the Creator long since abandoned it?
As Cheng Shi stood bewildered, An Mingyu beside him whispered, her spirit shattered: "It's useless, Cheng Shi. We've... already been abandoned."
The scene was painfully familiar, reminding Cheng Shi of the ti he had used the Destined Ones as a pretext to rescue the Blind One from beneath Fate's watchful gaze.
Back then, the people were still there. But the god... had already fallen.
Cheng Shi clenched his fists and shook his head violently: "No — I don't believe it! I refuse to believe even dying is this hard!"
He raised the Fun Ring on his hand and swung it at his own jaw — but it was all in vain.
His call had not summoned the Origin. But what was supposed to co had already arrived.
Void winds howled once more. Dark storms not only pinned the old bones to the Bone Throne, but directly swallowed the flicker of lightning, smashing the Clown aside, sending him tumbling through the Void.
The Outer God had arrived!
Fate once again opened those suffocatingly terrifying Stellar Eyes above Fixed Destiny's head.
He gazed down at His follower, who was gritting his teeth and rising to his feet, and spoke in a voice of absolute cold:
"You should feel guilty for his death. He did not need to die — yet your cowardice and your flight cost him his life."
So that Cheng Shi truly was dead...
Cheng Shi froze. Tears stread from his eyes uncontrollably, yet he still clenched his jaw, lifted his head, and fixed an unyielding stare on those eyes:
"Yes — he didn't need to die.
If you hadn't killed him, how would he have died?!
What's the matter — as Fate, you can't even bear a little bla?
So eager to push every sin onto
— is that because you want
to inherit your filthy Divine Na, soaked in the misfortune of all living things?
Bah!
I don't want it!
I have never believed in fate!"
The words had barely faded when another upheaval struck!
A flicker of firelight suddenly appeared within this sealed stretch of Void. When Cheng Shi saw that glow, his pupils contracted and his heart surged with surprise.
He thought Qin Xin was alive — that War had returned. However weak, however small, at least the man still lived.
But a heartbeat later, his smile vanished entirely.
Because the light did not belong to Qin Xin. It was not War. It was the one who had not appeared once since the farewell performance began — the Fla of Hope. The last legacy that this world's Fate had left for the universe!
Even if that legacy was sothing He had once discarded.
The Candle Man descended upside-down, landing between Cheng Shi and Fate. He turned to look at Cheng Shi, eyes brimming with theatrical indignation.
"Just because the villain happens to be the Outer God Fate doesn't an you have to wear your contempt for all things Fate on your face, does it?
I know you don't believe in fate. But I didn't know I was this unwelco in your eyes.
Should I not have co?"
"..."
The Fla of Hope's self-deprecating joke did little to lighten Cheng Shi's burden, but he genuinely felt the warmth that the Fla brought with it.
Just as this Envoy of Fate had always said — He represented hope for the fewest of the few, standing before those with the least reason for hope. Even now, when the entire universe had yielded to the Outer God, He still ca — and placed Himself between Cheng Shi and Fate.
For this, Cheng Shi felt crushing guilt.
Qin Xin was dead. The only Torchbearer left was the Fla of Hope. If the Fla fell now too...
He dared not think about it. He had no strength left to think.
The Fla of Hope saw through Cheng Shi's thoughts and spoke in a voice forged with conviction:
"Don't lose heart. Since the dawn of ti, despair has always been the seedbed of hope.
When despair cos crashing down upon us like a mountain, hope crystallizes from its weight, and resistance grows all the fiercer.
I never imagined I would face a day like this. Fate has fallen — but perhaps because He discarded
long ago, I never felt His passing.
Yet as the last legacy He left this world — as the Change that Fate never wished to foresee — I will protect this world's final spark."
With that, the Fla of Hope blazed brighter and brighter, its fire expanding wider and wider.
But only Cheng Shi, standing closest, could feel the truth — that the fla was growing more and more hollow, its temperature colder and colder...
The Fla of Hope was not releasing so hidden power. He was creating power — for Cheng Shi!
He looked at Cheng Shi and left behind one last ember of optimism.
"You were never the kindling. You are the fla — the light that illuminates this world.
And I, nad Fla of Hope, am in truth the tinder of hope.
Set
alight. Take this radiance. Use this world's last Change to fight for hope — for yourselves, and for the world!"
"No — don't do this..."
Cheng Shi was beside himself. Instinctively, he lunged for the Fla of Hope. He had watched too many people leave him today — he did not want to endure this despair one more ti before his own end.
But the instantaneous detonation of the blaze was beyond saving.
"BOOM—"
His hand was only halfway out when that brilliant, frigid light burst into an sky full of fireworks, illuminating the dark Void — and illuminating the sole mark the Servant God once called the Fla of Hope had left upon this world:
An hourglass — hope as its body, change as its walls, dripping with despair and misfortune.
The Container of Fate!
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