Rewinding slightly — before Zangier had opened his eyes.
When Big Cat plumted with devastating force and shattered the ground, exposing the Desire Ravine experint beneath — the corresponding Void above this patch of reality also suffered a collapse.
A pair of eyes, etched with stellar points and spirals, quietly opened amid the destruction. They quickly began observing this stretch of Void, which shimred with the flowing light of stars.
This was the Void, not the starry sky. There should never be this many brilliant stars here. Yet these stars were shifting positions in perfect order, each movent seemingly revealing so cosmic truth.
The eyes observed for a mont, then let out a cold huff:
"Respect the Convention when it suits you, trample it when it doesn't. Heh — is this the truth you've sought for the universe?"
As the scorn faded, those countless stars trembled and converged, linking together in wondrous patterns. Before long, a book radiating Truth's essence ford before the watching eyes.
The Book of Stars.
He appeared with an easy smile: "I expected the other Void would co. I didn't expect you."
The eyes glanced at Him coldly — a tone like glacial winds slicing through a frozen abyss:
"He wouldn't deign to deal with you. And He would never tell you the answer you want. Your calculations have failed.
But I have a piece of business I'd like to conduct. So call Him out. I know you have a connection."
"There is only
here. On the road to seeking Truth, there has only ever been . I'm afraid I don't know who you're referring to."
The eyes grew colder still, the tone sharpening into pure derision:
"Do you truly think yourself the omniscient Truth?
Without His consent, your followers could never have been taken from His Collection Hall. At the last Assembly of Gods, you two were probably already scheming this. So — summon Him. I won't say it again."
The words fell. Truth chuckled softly. And mory... manifested.
Two ancient stars dissolved before the two deities. Those fragile bodies crumbled to dust, carried away by ti's current — yet reappeared from nothingness monts later. Only now, their weathering was unworn, their gravity unbound. Instead, they shimred faintly with cerulean light, as though returned to the instant of their birth.
mory opened His eyes. Within His pupils was written the entire history of those two star-bodies' interconnected past.
"We et again, Fate."
Fate cast mory a cold, sidelong glance — neither joy nor sorrow in His gaze:
"Spare the pleasantries. This ti, I ca..."
He briefly peered through the infinite Void at His follower — trapped in crisis below — then closed His eyes again and continued:
"...to propose a trade."
mory said nothing. He seed to be studying the history of those two ancient stars. After an unknowable stretch, His pupils regained their focus, and He smiled:
"What a coincidence. I was just thinking of making an exchange as well."
Fate seed to have anticipated this. He nodded:
"Then let us begin. My mory — in exchange for the fate you desire."
mory smiled. He had no objection to this deal. But before beginning, He respectfully glanced at Truth beside them. After all, this was Truth's domain. Conducting business behind the "host's" back was sowhat... improper.
Yet Truth raised no objection. In fact, after Fate finished speaking, Truth also proposed a deal to mory:
"History deserves respect, but Existence has upheavals of its own. I respect everything you've curated in the Collection Hall. But not everything in the universe is controllable.
I contaminated your collection. I have no standing to request this deal.
But you should know how critical this deal is to . It determines how my path of seeking Truth can continue.
So, mory — na your price."
mory sank into thought once more. After a while, He gazed at the Book of Truth and smiled:
"Many have contaminated my collection. But you're the first to willingly pay the price.
It's a simple matter, really. You and War share the Civilization path. Borrowing a few trinkets from Him on my behalf shouldn't be too much trouble."
Truth's fluttering pages froze — then He burst into laughter:
"Interesting. So Existence is capitulating to Void?
I watched Ti submit to Fate. And now you — are you also preparing to bow to Deceit?"
"Bow? That's a stretch. I simply find that sotis, His machinations make for rather interesting mories.
At the end of the day, both Fate and I are acting for our followers. Whereas you...
Having abandoned so many followers — are you growing numb?"
"Those who walk a different path from mine can no longer share my heart.
Let us begin the deals, everyone. Any more chatter and the Void presence here will lose His temper."
Both deities looked toward Fate. Those stellar eyes — for once — held no derision. And they remained closed.
"mory, you're wrong.
Only you are doing this for your follower. I... am doing this for myself.
Begin. This mory is too heavy. It's pressing
off my destined path."
...
Reality. 0221's experint site.
The fusion between Zangier and 0221 went fast, thanks to thorough preparation. In short order, the eyes — woven from the mother-tree and desire vortex — shrank dramatically and embedded themselves in 0221's half-bloated, half-desiccated body.
The physical rger was complete. All that remained was unification of consciousness.
And then — a sudden reversal. 0221, who had joyfully embraced total fusion with Zangier, abruptly broke his oath. He turned on Zangier — attacking his ntor's consciousness!
Though this battle played out entirely within their intertwined minds — invisible to outsiders — when 0221's body began thrashing wildly, his expression twisting, one hand even drawing a dagger to self-mutilate, everyone knew sothing had gone terribly wrong.
"HOW DARE YOU!!!"
Zangier was furious. He hadn't been this enraged when his own mother abandoned him, or during the centuries of imprisonnt inside the Stars Dagger — because back then, he'd already been secretly siphoning divinity to build his pseudo-god body. He'd known he wouldn't die in that prolonged cage.
But now — deceived by a so-called "player," a mortal he'd dismissed as an insect — how could he not be enraged?!
And the sche's linchpin was sothing he'd never imagined: a... Concentric Dagger!
Yes — the very sa Concentric Dagger created by Life Extension Departnt Grand Scholar Selius!
Rember: 0221 possessed a Concentric Dagger. It was the "gift" his personality slice Li Zhi had "given" him — the version that excised the dominant personality.
He'd used that very dagger to kill Li Zhi — the personality slice stronger than himself.
And now he attempted the sa thod: kill Zangier's personality and seize the pseudo-god's power — along with those painstakingly crafted pseudo-divine eyes!
But how could a mortal outwit a pseudo-god? The Concentric Dagger only eliminated one's own personalities. Zangier and 0221 were clearly two different people. How could a sa-personality dagger work?
The answer was actually simple.
The doctor had explained it: 0221 obtained this body through faith-stitching. He'd fused untold numbers of himself — across different faiths — until the Prosperity-Decay coexistence of 0221 was achieved.
0221 had also admitted that the Wang Weijin personality was the sole survivor of the stitching experint's consciousness war. But...
0221 possessed the Master of Deception card!
Nobody knew how many personalities — how many conscious selves — truly lurked inside that body!
And that was how 0221 had fooled Zangier. He'd offered up his dominant, externally communicating consciousness for seamless fusion. Then, once the rged consciousness inherited his mories and cognition...
Who was to say the current "Zangier" wasn't just another 0221?
And so, in this very mont — the instant Zangier's consciousness beca the strongest personality — the other personas hidden within 0221's body erupted. Concentric Dagger in hand, they thrust at the dominant personality.
If this strike landed, it would end the Grand Scholar's life!
And then — this cicada, caught in the mantis's jaws, would tear free and beco the oriole — swallowing the mantis whole!
This was 0221's true "path to godhood"!
He had spent six painstaking months scheming toward this mont.
And right now — he was closer to success than ever before.
...
Reviews
All reviews (0)