Whether War's fire had gone out was anyone's guess, but the green flas in Death's eyes were about to.
Rewinding a bit — back to the mont An Mingyu had been transford by Cheng Shi into a "Gongyang Jiao" and sent back to the Fishbone Hall.
When that enormous skull sat high upon the Bone Throne and watched a ghastly white skeleton plumt from the torrent of white bones before it, He imdiately sensed that trouble had arrived.
Regardless of whether the Screaming Servant bore that off-the-books employee's praise, the re fact that it appeared ant there would inevitably be a "demand" following the praise.
This was an employee who enjoyed "bossing around" his boss.
Still, He did genuinely appreciate Cheng Shi — particularly the man's efficiency and his understanding of divine will. The problem was that sotis admiration wasn't necessarily a good thing; it could invite trouble instead.
After the two Void gods had co knocking one after another, He'd grown sowhat "afraid" to summon Cheng Shi. He dreaded His two Benefactors using Cheng Shi as a "dagger" to slice open His pocket and help themselves to whatever was inside.
So after the last confrontation with Deceit, He'd prepared to give Cheng Shi the cold shoulder for a while.
He hadn't expected that even without summoning Cheng Shi, Cheng Shi would co chasing after Him. What was even more unexpected was that this Screaming Servant tumbling down hadn't even brought a word of "praise" — it opened its mouth and the very first word was "Save !"
The flas in the enormous skull's eyes surged violently. The entire atmosphere of the Fishbone Hall froze in an instant. It appeared He was angry.
Of course, the anger wasn't about the missing praise — it was because He sensed a power on this Screaming Servant's body that had no business being here!
The power of the Origin!
This dead skeleton was tainted with the Origin's power, and that power was clashing with His own. The violent collision of divine forces had trapped this corpse in a state between life and death.
From the players' perspective, An Mingyu was thoroughly dead after Cheng Shi's finishing blow — reduced to bare bones. But from a god's perspective, that wasn't the case at all.
The death inflicted by the Origin was pulling the Blind One's "existence" toward so unknown realm beyond the universe. Yet as the ultimate destination of all death within the universe, Death's power was simultaneously trying to pull everything about her back to the Fishbone Hall.
It was this tug-of-war over the dominion of death that had placed An Mingyu in a most peculiar state.
What was even more peculiar was that Destiny's power was acting as a buffer between the two, preventing His follower from shattering into oblivion amid the collision of divine forces.
This was no ordinary phenonon. So when the enormous skull witnessed this scene, He knew exactly who had sent this corpse before His eyes.
It certainly wasn't Cheng Shi. No matter how much that employee understood about the Origin, he could never have devised a thod to ensnare Death's power in a tangle with the Origin's force.
This was utterly beyond mortal comprehension. And the beings capable of engineering such a "sche" — thinking it through, there were only a select few.
Truth advocated fusion. Folly was keen on experints. They both had motive, but Their targets had never been Death, so they could be tentatively ruled out.
Oblivion regarded Himself as His own enemy — He might well cause trouble. But the problem was that He loved "annihilation," not "sches," so He too could be eliminated.
But speaking of "sches"... there existed one being — no, one Void — who both "advocated" fusion and was "keen on" experints. One whose whims changed with His mood and never held steady. Whether He deigned to notice sothing depended entirely on how much "fun" was hidden within it.
And most conveniently of all, He also happened to be that off-the-books employee's Benefactor!
So... it had to be Him!
There could be no other god!
And so Death erupted in fury. He soared above the hall and unleashed a roar that shook the universe and trembled the world.
"Deceit!
What — do — you — think — you're — doing?!"
The words had barely faded when a pair of eyes — woven from starlight and spirals — opened within the enormous skull's... eye sockets.
Yes. Eye sockets.
His appearance was so perfectly placed that the "bare" skull was instantly adorned with a pair of huge, glamorous eyes.
"Oh my, oh my — let
see who's being so inconsiderate, screaming and shouting while soone's trying to rest?"
This ti Death's fury was too imnse. He did not "indulge" Deceit's "playfulness." With a slight narrowing of His gaze, green flas fierce enough to burn through the Void erupted, engulfing His entire skull in a seamless blaze and instantly incinerating every trace of Void around Him.
Deceit was burned to death.
Just kidding.
His figure quietly fractured and dissolved into the fire, but soon another pair of stellar eyes opened across from Death, their corners upturned in a grin:
"Hee hee~
Easy now, old bones. At your age, if you throw out your back, Life will only have one god left. Imagine how lonely He'd be."
The enormous skull didn't deign to acknowledge the Fun God. The green flas in His eyes blazed fierce and hot. A single glance and the sky-spanning fire ignited the winds of Void, trapping the "pitiful" Deceit in the midst of the Void, unable to move.
Those eyes, seeing the old bones still hale and hearty, had been about to crack another joke. But when He spotted a massive scythe materializing atop the skull, radiating the boundless aura of Death, the spirals swirling in His eyes briefly stuttered.
A flash of gravity crossed His gaze, though on the surface He maintained His grin:
"Going all out, are we, old bones?"
"You — deliberately — contaminated — My — divine — power — entangling — it — with — the — Origin's — force.
What — is — your — purpose?!
Deceit — you — had — best — explain — yourself — clearly."
"Genuinely angry?" Those eyes blinked with an air of innocence. "I had no idea what happened. I simply caught a whiff of Destiny's aura and ca to take a look — how was I supposed to know I'd stumble into your epileptic fit?
Hee~ Oh, sorry, sigh~
What rotten luck."
"..." The green flas in the enormous skull's eyes blazed even brighter. "Incorrigible.
I — had — no — intention — of — involving — Myself.
Whether — you — worship — or — fear — it — is — rely — your — own — choice.
You — have — tested —
— ti — and — again.
Do — you — truly — believe — My — Authority — cannot — bring — death — to — a — god?!"
"Of course it can, of course it can — why else do you think you were brought into the Convention?"
The spirals in those eyes began spinning again, faster and faster, as He giggled:
"That old fossil Order said it well — the Convention cannot be violated. Old bones, as long as I don't go the way of the Prosperity Mother, even if you swing that scythe of yours — cobbled together from who knows how many shards of Divinity — you still can't kill .
But credit where it's due — Life really was crude. If the Divinity from Their fallen had ended up in Truth's hands, He might have crafted sothing far more interesting. In your hands, it's rather wasted.
A scythe...
In human terms, your aesthetic sensibilities are a bit outdated."
"..."
The enormous skull fell silent.
Infuriating as Deceit was, He spoke the truth.
Even if Death could wield the scythe to reap Deceit's life, under the Convention's protection, Death's divine power would uncontrollably "resurrect" the other party.
This was the advantage of the Convention — ensuring no divine Authority was ever truly lost. And of course, it was also the cost.
This was precisely why the gods couldn't stand Deceit — He loved causing trouble and picking fights, yet you simply couldn't kill Him.
No one could endure that kind of incessant noise. That was why Death usually resorted to fleeing as far as possible to avoid Deceit. But today, His fury was beyond asure — because Deceit's actions had all but crossed His bottom line. And that bottom line was...
Dragging Him into another entanglent with the Origin.
Indeed — Death did not want any connection to the Origin!
The clue was visible in An Mingyu's death itself. Deaths caused by the Origin pulled the deceased life toward a direction outside the universe. Those who died this way effectively departed from Death's dominion over death, drifting beyond the reach of His Authority.
After all, death had always been the greatest offering to Death — the purest form of devotion. But if even death itself no longer belonged to Death, then what kind of god would He — the one who bore Death's divine na and wielded Death's Authority — beco?
That was why Death had always sought to prevent such situations. Fortunately, for all life within the universe, the Origin was inconceivably distant. Even if, on rare occasions, so being died from learning the Origin's divine na, He needed only to let that solitary "death" follow its unknown guidance and dissipate.
But this ti was different. An Mingyu's death had been steered by certain "individuals" into a direct connection with Him — the one who governed Death within the universe. And so, the forces of Death and the Origin beca entangled.
The Origin had created everything. Not even the gods could defy it. Though on the surface every god "worshipped" the Origin, who could say how many of Them harbored ulterior thoughts?
Deceit was one — and on the surface, the only one. And He was looking for a second.
"Hee~
Old bones, your Death aura has sealed off the Void inside and out. Perfect — why don't we take this opportunity to be candid with each other today?
The instant your fury ignited, you should have known you'd exposed yourself.
You're afraid of the Origin too, aren't you?"
"The — Origin — bestowed — upon —
— My — divine — na — and — granted —
— My — Authority. I — naturally — hold — reverence.
Reverence — naturally — includes — fear."
"No, no, no — I notice your technique for muddling concepts is remarkably similar to mine. Seems you've learned quite a few tricks from My Authority.
But you know full well that's not the kind of 'fear' I'm talking about.
Fine. Since that's how you want to play it, let
rephrase the question.
You could have reclaid your Death power with a simple flick of the wrist and let that player dissipate toward the Origin's realm. So why didn't you?
Don't tell
it was for so clown's sake — ha, a clown's face doesn't carry that much weight.
And don't tell
it was out of respect for Destiny — His reputation isn't worth much with you.
I'm guessing...
You probably just couldn't bear to watch yourself 'lose' to the Origin. You couldn't stand seeing a death contaminated with your power slip beyond your control.
My, my — your obsession runs deep.
It seems so people's rebellious phase cos in old age."
"..."
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