Cheng Shi didn't die.
Though his mortal shell had been reduced to rotten flesh and bleached bone, he hadn't actually perished.
But what saved him wasn't the still-active Gravekeeper's [Death] talent. It was the real... [Death]!
When [Decay]'s furious tide swallowed Cheng Shi and prepared to convert him into a [Decay] creature, [Death] had gently moved a finger, adding a lethal ingredient to that boundless rage—the ingredient of death itself.
So Cheng Shi died.
But in His hands, death was rely the beginning of new life.
So Cheng Shi lived again—reborn beside that great Gentleman's Bone Throne, in the form of a skull.
Staring at the familiar colossal cranium before him, Cheng Shi's two hollow eye sockets stung, and he nearly wept aloud.
'Finally!'
'A God I actually know!'
'I'm ho! No wait—I'm at the office!'
'But from this mont on, the office IS my ho!'
'I love work! I love [Death]! Praise [Death]!!'
The massive skull atop the Bone Throne observed the little skull at its feet, watching the light in its sockets flicker and flash. After a mont's silence, it flicked the small skull away—down the white-bone stairs—tumbling it into the heap of endlessly bouncing skulls.
For so reason, ever since seeing Cheng Shi, He'd felt an Inexplicable noisiness around Him. Even though Cheng Shi hadn't spoken a word, there was an irritating buzz reminiscent of having [Deceit] nearby.
Cheng Shi was bewildered by the rough toss. He looked up at the Gentleman, wondering if his silence had been taken as insolence. So he scrambled out from the pile of little skulls, hooked his chin over the white-bone stairs, and began clacking his jaw against the ground in a show of deepest piety, offering his most heartfelt thanks and praise:
"Please allow —your most loyal employee, Cheng Shi—to convey my most devout greetings to the great God of [Death], supre sovereign of the Hall of White Bones.
It has been too long. I have missed you dearly.
Esteed Gentleman, might you spare one minute to hear
report on the, uh, stor—performance... of your devoted bone servant Le Le'er, who has been toiling tirelessly on your behalf?"
Le Le'er's na visibly gave the massive skull pause. A flicker of strange green light passed through its eye sockets, but it didn't take the bait. Instead, it spoke offhandedly:
"That, bitch's, mother, the [Prosperity Mother], has, also, run into, problems.
She, will beco, just as, Misfortunate, as, Le Le'er."
'Huh?'
The mont he heard "bitch," Cheng Shi tossed every last shred of fear and confusion out the window. He shot to his feet, eyes blazing with the excitent of divine gossip!
'It's tea ti! Nobody's stopping !'
But when [Prosperity]'s na followed, that gossip fire quietly extinguished. Composure and calm returned to his mind.
Cheng Shi's heart clenched. He thought of Cheng Dashi's machinations, and after a mont's hesitation, probed cautiously:
"What exactly... happened between [Prosperity] and [Decay]..."
The colossal skull glanced down at Cheng Shi and grunted:
"The conflict, was started, by you.
You, don't, know?"
"What? I genuinely have no clue—I wasn't even thinking about any of this. I just wanted to clear the trial." Cheng Shi denied it without hesitation.
The massive skull watched him play dumb, the green flas in its sockets flickering twice. It said nothing more.
But monts later, as though struck by so thought, it sighed. From those abyss-deep eye sockets, two beams of pale green light shot out. The light of [Death] swirled above the Fishbone Hall, instantly forming a green luminous screen that projected everything happening in the Canopy Sea above the Sighing Forest.
'!!!'
'Is this... a projection?!'
'What?'
'I'm actually watching a projection hand-cast by [Death] Himself!'
'Got to admit—making a projector look like a skull head is a fresh angle for marketing. I wonder if—oh right, the world's already gone. What's the point of selling anything.'
After a jumble of stray thoughts, Cheng Shi quickly looked up at the green screen. There, he spotted a familiar figure.
[Chaos]!
That ever-shifting, ever-morphing silhouette of entropy was now hovering at the far end of the Canopy Sea, facing off against a... codex?
'What?'
He was confronting a codex!
Cheng Shi's eyes went wide with shocked suspicion, because he recognized the codex's design. Its cover bore the most common—and yet most uncommon—emblem of the Grand Tribunal!
At the center of the emblem were a crossed lance and great shield, surrounded by two bands of judicial text forming an X.
It was common because nearly every Grand Tribunal asset bore this symbol. But it was uncommon because when this emblem appeared on a codex's cover, it could only an one thing: this was the one and only Iron Law, the to said to have been bestowed by [Order] Himself!
[Order]!
That was [Order]?!
Cheng Shi had always assud that Gods like [Order] and [Truth]—who ruled the surface world—would look more like humanity's conception of the divine: mysterious and majestic. He never imagined [Order] would be a book.
'If He's a book... then what's [Truth]?'
'Also a book?'
'Well, that would explain why the surface [Civilization] was destroyed by the Underworld's [Chaos]. They had too many books.'
"..."
After another barrage of random thoughts, Cheng Shi watched the two sides remain locked in a stalemate without moving. Finally, curiosity got the better of him:
"Is that... [Order]?"
"He, is not, [Order]. He is, the [Iron Law]."
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted violently. He repeated instinctively:
"The [Iron Law]? Isn't that the constitution [Order] gave to the Grand Tribunal?
How..."
"Ancient, history. You need not, know.
You, only need, to understand, that He, is not, the real, [Order]."
"Then where's the real [Order]?"
The massive skull fell silent at that. Only after a pause did it speak again: "I, also, am not sure, of His, condition."
'Sothing happened to [Order]!'
'His own law replaced Him?'
'What? That's front-page news!'
"Then the [Order] avatar in the trials... is that also the [Iron Law]?"
"Your, questions, are, too many.
That, is, [Fear (Order)]."
'Fear?'
'Whose fear?'
'[Order]'s fear?'
Cheng Shi was stunned—but instantly everything clicked. No wonder that chair had been so terrified of him breaking order. So it was [Order]'s fear?
That ant [Order] really was in trouble. Had He lost a God War and been shattered?
Cheng Shi's mind imdiately leapt to the current situation. He ventured another quiet question:
"Esteed Gentleman, does this... count as a new God War beginning?"
"Yes."
!!!
That single syllable set Cheng Shi's alarm and excitent ablaze. So Cheng Dashi had orchestrated a God War!
But who was his target?! Or rather—what outco was he trying to achieve through a God War?
Torn between tension and bewildernt, Cheng Shi's expression shifted constantly. The Gentleman on the Bone Throne watched the play of emotions across his face, pondered for a mont, and then disclosed so divine history that no player should ever know.
"The [Prosperity Mother], has always, championed, universal flourishing.
Ti and again, She has, tried to convince, Us, to embrace, flourishing, to beco one, with Her.
Herazur, Her eldest son, agreed. And so, He, vanished.
Frazor, Her eldest daughter, agreed. And then, She, also, vanished."
"Vanished?"
The great skull was visibly displeased at being interrupted. Cheng Shi flinched and imdiately clamped his mouth shut.
But He still offered a brief explanation.
"They, were, Assimilated, by Their own, mother.
rged, with Her. Beca, a part, of the, [Prosperity Mother]."
!!!
Hearing this, Cheng Shi's gaze went razor-sharp.
'Assimilated, Assimilated... She's one of the True Gods—after rging with Her, how could She possibly tolerate other Wills existing within Her?'
'What a nice word—Assimilation. Call it what it really is: devouring!'
Sure enough, every one of his guesses had been correct. She really was plundering others, using Them as fertilizer to nourish Herself!
So those countless branches, veins, and bits of flesh and organs on that colossal tree were all... remnants of those She'd absorbed?
'How many people had She consud?!'
'Or rather—how many Gods?'
Cheng Shi jolted, terror flooding through him as a bone-deep chill enveloped his entire being.
The great skull sensed his dread, mildly surprised.
"You, seem to, already, know, about, these things?"
Cheng Shi didn't dare hide it: "Yes. I guessed so of it."
"Oh? How, did you, guess?"
"Just now, [Prosperity] summoned
and invited
to beco one with Her!"
Hearing this, shock briefly flickered through the great skull's sockets. He nodded, his tone turning strange:
"Interesting. You, are likely, the first, human, that the, [Prosperity Mother], has ever, attempted to, Assimilate."
'What?!'
Before Cheng Shi's jaw could hit the floor, the great skull continued:
"Do not, be so, surprised. Not just, any life, can catch, Her eye, and be, Assimilated.
The [Prosperity Mother], is very, selective. That She, invited you, ans, you are, an exceptional, match, for Her Will.
A walker, of [Void], matching, [Prosperity]'s, Will.
Do your, two, Benefactors, know?"
'Huh?!'
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