"Work?"
"That's right. Work."
Cheng Shi laid out a detailed account of Zangier — the man himself and every one of his exploits within the Tower of Logic — then clearly explained the origins of their conflict. After that, he tapped the table, choosing his words carefully while thinking aloud.
"The tide of faith fusion can no longer be stopped. I can hazard a guess at what Truth is thinking, but as Folly said, it's most likely a foolish act.
The problem is, even if it is a foolish act, we can only ride the wave. Because only by standing atop the crest can you see what lies beyond the horizon — and only then can you judge whether we, as beings beneath the true gods, should embrace the folly or flee from it.
Otherwise, cowering beneath the waves while the era races forward will only leave us further behind.
Of course, Aph Ros, you could choose the latter. You're already behind the tis, after all."
"..."
"But if you want to keep up — if you want to do sothing in this era of Void — then Zangier is an excellent choice.
The man may be deranged, but he excels at research. Even if his thods are, shall we say, unorthodox — no, that's not quite right — unconventional. But your path is unconventional too, isn't it?
His experints require both Birth and Corruption. You happen to possess both faiths. That ans right here, on your ho turf of Dolgod, you can provide this Grand Scholar with everything he needs.
Your status far surpasses any Pseudo God. Your divine power is genuine. This would allow the Grand Scholar to apply centuries of research experience to your actual divine power, building a platform on a higher plane to explore... the possibility of opposing-faith fusion.
I can state with confidence that in the era of Void, opposing faiths can fully rge.
Isn't that exactly what you want?
There's no need for excessive disruption of reality or risky attempts to approach Void. You can fulfill your wish and find the balance point between your two Benefactors' wills. And as a bonus, this blaspher gets to atone for his sacrilege through sheer intellectual and physical labor!
This way, the struggling researcher gets a proper al, you — unable to find faith balance in the real world — gain a new experintal direction, and I only need to collect so inspiration and records from the experint... no, I don't even need that."
Cheng Shi slamd his palm on the table and pointed straight at Wei Mu, grinning brilliantly.
"Give it to him. Give it to this wise man who once scorned his own Benefactor. Let him 'distill' from the Grand Scholar's vast experintal data a divinity assembly thod suitable for non-divine constitutions. If this succeeds, we will have personally raised the curtain on a brand-new era."
Aph Ros was tempted. Cheng Shi's proposal genuinely carried nothing but benefits for Her. Yet She didn't agree imdiately, instead frowning with suspicion.
"My brother, you're lying to
again, aren't you?
You only lost your mories and power — not your status. Why would you need to extract from this research a divinity assembly thod for non-divine constitutions?
Could it be that... your identity..."
"Exactly!" Cheng Shi's heart lurched and cold sweat prickled his skin. He cut Aph Ros off, rose to his feet, and countered with a mask of deadly seriousness. "It is precisely my identity that has led
to hear certain... unfavorable prophecies from Her mouth. That's why I've started paying attention to these matters.
Rember what I said? I intend to lay down as many contingencies as possible for Void before the era cos crashing down.
Those who fail to plan ahead will find trouble at their doorstep.
When the Existence era ended, the universe restructured existence itself. Does that an when the Void era ends, everything will collapse into nothingness?
From your perspective, that void might signal the dawn of the next era. But in the eyes of my Player-identity Benefactor — Fate — the void that follows the era's conclusion may very well not be the Void the gods imagine.
I can't reveal too much before the path ahead becos clear. But I can tell you this: Folly's loss of authority is almost certainly connected to the coming void.
Think about it. If even a true god has lost Her authority, then where does that leave Servant Gods like us?
I haven't experienced an era's reset before, so I approach the coming future with caution.
That's why I'm not laying the groundwork for the present
— I'm laying the groundwork for a future that may offer no way out."
"..."
The speech carried enough weight to shake everyone present. Though Cheng Shi's words weren't entirely transparent, the implications about the era's curtain fall plunged Aph Ros into deep contemplation.
She could dismiss Yu Xi's speculation, but She couldn't ignore a prophecy from the ruler of an era.
Of course, She was only considering how to minimize the impact during a void that even Fate — ruler of the era — viewed with apprehension. Because in Aph Ros's eyes, no matter how terrifying that void might be, the next era would inevitably begin. After all, She had personally lived through several resets. She was firmly convinced that Origin's appearance would steer every anomaly back onto the proper course.
The other two, however, didn't share Aph Ros's composure. Even Wei Mu, for all his brilliance, hadn't closed his jaw once since Lord Yu Xi's lengthy address began.
In that mont, he realized that Players weren't the only ones playing this ga — even these Envoys, it turned out, were also players.
He was infinitely grateful that his earlier proactive disclosures had earned him the chance to listen. Everything he'd just heard was the kind of secret he could have spent a lifeti in Player circles without ever uncovering.
'Eras... What exactly is an era?'
'If both Existence and Void have their own eras, does that an every other path also has a corresponding era?'
Wei Mu began rapidly cross-referencing every mory tagged "era" in his brain, deconstructing the information against what he'd heard. Before long, he struck upon a revelation buried in countless contradictory historical records: eras and epochs were a paired set of interdependent concepts.
'So that's how it is! Beyond the epochs, there exist eras.'
'But then — why do Existence and Void have no corresponding epoch?'
Wei Mu's questions were multiplying faster than he could count. His hunger for this "divine knowledge" had reached unprecedented levels.
Hu Xuan, anwhile, rely furrowed her brow, trying to determine whether Cheng Shi's speech had been lies or truth. She couldn't ask outright — not here, not now. She could only commit everything to mory and wait for Professor Cheng's after-class tutorial.
And so, after Cheng Shi's impassioned address, the terrace fell into silence. Aph Ros deliberated for a long ti, but no matter how She looked at it, Cheng Shi's proposal carried zero risk for Her. She nodded.
"You truly never fail to bring surprises, my brother.
This does sound like it could provide so new amusent. At the very least, it would help
kill ti in Dolgod, where ti is the one thing I don't lack.
However, I'd advise you not to pin too many hopes on the experints here. Even if that Grand Scholar is as brilliant as you say and discovers a thod — even if faith fusion becos possible in the new era — don't forget, matters of faith are ultimately decided by Them.
Without Their consent, fusion is out of the question."
"That's easy." Cheng Shi snapped his fingers, looking between Aph Ros and Hu Xuan with a deeply aningful smile. "If They don't consent, then we make Them consent.
Corruption never refuses — She requires no persuasion.
And as for your Benefactor, Birth — if there's a chance, I'm willing to personally lobby Her on your behalf, brother. The only condition is that you two find a way to grant
an audience with Her.
I believe this is hardly a losing deal for either of you. What do you say?"
"!!!"
"You want an audience with my Lord? Cheng Shi, are you serious?"
...
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