Today, Birth was being remarkably "sensible."
"Sensible" might sound a touch disrespectful. "Pragmatic" was perhaps more fitting.
Before the Folly motion had even begun, He swayed the Divine Pillar, suppressing His temper, and spoke in a low rumble:
"My voting rights — I can give you.
But my Authority—"
"Hu Xuan."
In that mont, Cheng Shi had all but guessed Birth's thoughts. He answered with a smile: "I won't plunder your Authority, nor will I interfere with your Divine Throne, because the Sage is my friend.
She deserves all of it — on the condition that she actually possesses all of it."
Birth wasn't surprised by Cheng Shi's words. A drama in which the entire Universe quietly drifted toward Void was unfolding. Every god was searching for an exit. Birth was, by far, the most dignified of them so far.
He knew that as long as His child, the Eternal Sun, could inherit everything, that was enough.
The Divine Pillar nodded and silently surrendered His voting rights.
Justice's aura grew ever more chaotic, yet He could do nothing to stop it.
Everyone had expected the eldest of the Life path — the one who valued "emotion" most — to hand His voting rights to the only sibling god from the old era still present: Death. Instead, He gave them to the new sibling god — Prosperity.
The reason was simple. Though Death was closer to Void than Prosperity, Prosperity was closer to Fixed Destiny than Death.
Birth was wise. He understood that in an era of Void, Void's Will perated everything — one had to draw near. But He understood even better that Fixed Destiny might be where the future truly lay.
For Birth to endure forever, He had to approach Void — and then go further still, approaching Fixed Destiny.
And so, Cheng Shi obtained his ninth vote.
This vote was pivotal. It ant that from this point on, even if the Fear Faction's gods disagreed with his proposals, it no longer mattered.
The "Fixed Destiny Faction" had locked in the votes!
Birth, Prosperity, Corruption, Decay, Order, Truth, War, Chaos, mory — with these nine votes in hand, the Assembly of Gods Convention could no longer be called the Assembly of Gods Convention. It should have been called Cheng Shi's Autocratic Assembly.
The Pact had lost its original aning, reduced entirely to Yu Xi's tool.
And the very first thing Cheng Shi did with that tool in hand was propose sothing that made every deity's jaw drop:
"Void...
has been absent for far too long. At the tail end of the era, He hides and skulks, failing in His duty to set an example. As one who walks the path of Void, and as the sole follower of Void's two sovereigns, I believe Void has an obligation to guide the Universe toward its true ending.
Therefore, I propose: reclaim Void's voting rights and distribute them among the gods.
In any motion where the majority prevails, that majority represents the era's will. Void follows the era — and thus automatically concurs, adding two additional votes.
Should Void return, we will then discuss whether to restore the corresponding rights.
Who is in favor? Who objects?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
In favor: nine. Opposed: zero. Every other vote was an abstention.
In truth, abstaining or not no longer mattered. Once the ayes reached nine, the motion passed automatically — and even added two more votes on top.
The entire starry sky fell silent.
Who could have imagined that the first thing Yu Xi did upon "seizing power" was to strip Void's voice at the Assembly of Gods Convention?
With this done, even if Deceit returned from the Real Universe, every move He made within the Universe would require Yu Xi's approval. Otherwise, He might not be able to push a single plan through.
The ambition Cheng Shi had painstakingly served — elevating friends to godhood just to stack the board — was finally laid bare for all to see!
He was afraid!
He was truly afraid.
He was afraid that a despair like the False Curtain Call would co again, and he would once more be powerless against it.
From the mont War's Final Oracle shattered his identity as Fixed Destiny during the False Curtain Call, Cheng Shi had understood a truth: in this world, only the Pact could save him.
And that was the relentless driving force behind his step-by-step seizure of the Assembly, one vote at a ti!
If Deceit returned and found an answer for the Universe? Fine. Cheng Shi would naturally guide the gods to a unanimous vote and speed-run the ending.
But if Deceit tried to pull another False Curtain Call — another Great Deceptive Lie... sorry, but Your lies are worthless before the Pact.
'I can even strip everything from You without Your consent, using the votes in my hands.'
And the absurd part? Deceit would still have to cast a vote of approval, because it was the era's will — no, Yu Xi's will.
"..."
Death fell silent. He had long anticipated this day. He simply hadn't expected it this soon — earlier even than He'd foreseen.
The massive skull's face betrayed neither anger nor relief. It was hard to describe His mood. At any rate, it was no longer the delight He'd shown upon receiving the tribute.
Cheng Shi had "bought" Him with an offering — then stripped the Fear Faction of its two most crucial votes.
Good news: at least Death's own voting rights, along with those of Silence and Ti, had not been taken.
Bad news: those rights were as good as useless now.
The Fixed Destiny who had been sheltered by the Fear Faction throughout the entire ga had finally, at the era's end, risen above the gods — becoming the one who could shelter himself.
Yes — he wasn't even a god. Yet he could now manipulate the Divine Thrones and Authorities of all sixteen true gods.
Most terrifying of all, even though his friends had beco gods and possessed supre Authority to look down upon the Universe, they still willingly followed a mortal's arrangents.
How absurd. How very Yu Xi...
In the instant the motion passed, a preposterous thought even flickered through Death's mind: 'If Deceit returns from the Real Universe, could He reconquer the Assembly?'
'Perhaps?'
But Death was not Deceit. He Himself couldn't envision how.
At last, Cheng Shi exhaled deeply.
Facing that unseen future, facing that answer whose reason remained unknown — he finally possessed the confidence of an entire world.
"Dismissed. Enjoy your Divine Thrones. This is likely the last calm before the storm.
I still have words for Justice, so I won't see you off."
Cheng Shi waved a hand. The new gods departed at his word.
Silence lingered for a long mont, then drifted into the infinite depths of Void. Death fixed Cheng Shi with a complex gaze, and ultimately, with one long sigh, dissolved into a torrent of white bone and swept away.
Birth departed as well. He needed to teach His child how to thread together the labels of life, so that beneath a new starry sky, they might offer tribute to the greatest Origin.
Only Cheng Shi and Justice remained.
The starry sky was fading — a sign that Justice, too, was withdrawing. Yet the tilting Scales trembled more and more violently, as if restraining so irrepressible force, refusing to leave.
He didn't seem as distant from Cheng Shi as He'd been during the Assembly. And it appeared He had sothing to say.
Cheng Shi bowed his head in thought for a long while, then slowly looked up at the imbalanced Scales before him and asked a single question:
"Why help ?"
The radiance on the Flowing Light Scales dimd, and a relieved sigh echoed out:
"I wasn't helping you. I was helping Myself.
I am about to fall.
After all these years, I am finally freed.
Had He not departed first, I would not have dared to leave either.
Thankfully, it is all coming to an end.
Cheng Shi...
Are you prepared to replace
and beco the Pact's new Proxy?"
"!!??"
...
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