The mont Cheng Shi's vision plunged into total darkness, he was, in truth, sowhat uneasy.
This was his first ti using the Sinner's Regret. He wasn't entirely certain what effects this Servant God relic would produce, or what kind of "punishnt" it would inflict upon the imprisoned sinners. He only trusted that his friend wouldn't have given him sothing harmful, which was why he'd resolved to take the leap.
When his consciousness returned and he felt his limbs could still move, he knew in that instant that his friend was indeed trustworthy.
At the very least, this truly wasn't a [Birth] instrunt designed to execute sinners. He'd rely been imprisoned— trapped in a darkness as vast and empty as the Void itself.
What's more, within that darkness he could hear faint, sibilant ravings. The voice ca in disjointed rasps, grating and ugly, sounding at once like confession and like lantation. The cadence lurched between frantic urgency and bitter fury, the syllables obscure and the words impossible to parse. A single sentence was enough to make one's skull feel like it might split open.
Cheng Shi's heart jolted. He imdiately tried to cast a Calming Spell on himself.
But he failed.
Because he discovered he'd been stripped of all his powers. Neither [Deceit]'s nor [Fate]'s abilities responded.
His stomach dropped. He hurriedly checked his personal storage, and when he found he could still extract items from it, he exhaled a deep sigh of relief.
'Good. Supplies are sufficient. At least I won't starve in the short term.'
Cheng Shi smiled wryly. He tried pulling a magic lamp from storage to illuminate his surroundings, but once it was in his hand, he realized this space could never be lit.
Because he wasn't floating in actual Void. It was more like he'd sunk into a quagmire made of darkness— impossibly viscous, enveloping him completely from every direction. He couldn't even see his own limbs.
He could feel their existence, certainly. But in this environnt, every movent required overcoming infinite resistance, and no matter how he struggled, his body could not shift from this tiny pocket of space.
After several attempts, a thought struck him: he felt as though he'd beco a thoroughly swaddled... fetus.
'So this is Go Lis's Grudge?'
'Have I been turned into a "stillborn" like those Uma Sinners?'
'This viscous darkness can't possibly be... amniotic fluid?'
Cheng Shi's expression turned strange. 'Is this [Birth] of yours... wholeso?'
'What about umbilical cords? There aren't going to be umbilical cords, are there?'
He patted his stomach and, after a long examination, confird nothing bizarre had sprouted from his body. Then he retrieved the Umbilical Shackles that Hu Xuan had given him from his storage and slowly turned them over in his hands as he sank into thought.
He seed to be the only person in this space. Beyond being trapped, there appeared to be no additional danger.
It seed the players who'd fallen into Go Lis's Grudge had each been imprisoned separately.
This was good news: it ant he had ample ti to work on escaping.
But it was also bad news, because it ant Cheng Shi had lost all ability to observe the others. He couldn't predict how long they'd take to break free.
He never doubted these peak players had the ans to extricate themselves from Go Lis's Grudge— after all, Servant God relics weren't exclusive to him. But he believed it wouldn't happen quickly.
And that gave Cheng Shi an opening.
In his plan, he didn't need to be the first to escape. He just needed to get out before Zhen Xin.
Only then could he guarantee that if he encountered those peak players again after escaping, he'd have ti to prove his identity and reclaim it before Zhen Xin could, completing the restoration of their proper roles!
That way, whether she was a magician or a Master of Trickery, she'd lose every slender advantage she'd built during the diocre Person Society gathering, and silently eat a massive loss by taking the bla for Cheng Shi!
So escaping as fast as possible was the most critical piece of Cheng Shi's substitution plan.
And he had every confidence in his ability to escape.
Because he'd long since prepared a guaranteed thod of extraction. He already knew how to free himself from the Sinner's bonds!
The Servant God relic's description was perfectly clear. There were only two ways to leave Go Lis's Grudge: either be rescued by soone else, or have your faith beco devout once more.
Based on Cheng Shi's rudintary understanding of Go Lis, "faith becoming devout once more" likely ant that those marked as sinners had to beco devout [Birth] followers before Go Lis would willingly release them.
But that condition was nearly impossible to et. Unless soone committed oathbreaking right in front of Go Lis, the trapped could only wait for rescue.
Would those peak players abandon their faith over a non-lethal predicant?
Certainly not.
So calling for outside help was their best answer!
Unfortunately for them, they didn't know the answer. Only Cheng Shi knew it, and he held the key!
The Night Curtain Spring Whistle!
This whistle that could summon the Eternal Sun with a single blow was undeniably the best solution for dispelling Go Lis's Grudge.
When Hu Xuan had given him the artifact, she'd said: if you need sothing, blow the whistle.
And right now was precisely when Cheng Shi had the greatest need. Though this particular need differed from what Hu Xuan had in mind, both concerned [Birth], so surely she'd understand.
So why, after deliberating for so long, hadn't he blown the whistle?
Because... he'd given it away!
Yes— he'd given it away.
The Night Curtain Spring Whistle he'd tossed to Zhen Yi was not a fake. It was genuine— the very one Hu Xuan had personally placed in his hands.
During that earlier standoff, Cheng Shi could have used Sacrifice to Nihility to fabricate a whistle and deceive everyone.
But he knew such a move wouldn't fool Zhen Yi, because Zhen Yi had read his mories and knew he was a clown who possessed the "Sacrifice to Nihility" talent— not so Fate Weaver.
So she'd probably anticipate that he'd forge a fake whistle and toss it over to deflect her demands.
For precisely that reason, Cheng Shi thought one step ahead. Rather than fabricating a forgery, he'd "surrendered" the real whistle.
As for whether it was truly a surrender— that depended on how the other side reacted.
But this ant the whistle that could summon Hu Xuan was now in Zhen Yi's hands. Whether Cheng Shi could escape hinged entirely on whether she blew it— a massive increase in uncertainty. So how had he dared hand over his safety net?
Rember: Cheng "Steady" Shi never took risks without reason.
When he surrendered one safety net, it invariably ant he had at least one more!
And that second safety net was... [Deceit]!
Cheng Shi had prepared ample backup for this "capture peak players" plan. In the very instant Go Lis's Grudge dragged him into the Void, he'd completed a faith switch through contact with his own shadow— transforming from [Fate]'s favored child into one of [Deceit]'s collection.
And as it happened, in the previous ga, Cheng Shi had deceived a follower of [Birth].
Therefore!
What others could only achieve through oathbreaking— that first condition— for him required nothing more than... a single prayer.
And so he struggled to extract his Die of Fate from within his clothes, curled his lips into a smile, and whispered:
"Lie like yesterday, mock today.
"Yesterday I deceived a follower of [Birth]. And so today...
"I am a follower of [Birth]."
The instant those words faded, Go Lis's Grudge lost one blasphemous clown— and gained one suprely devout Offspring Priest.
Faith renewed. Devout once more. The grudge, crumbling...
Freedom— within arm's reach!
Reviews
All reviews (0)