Foolish Game of the Chapter 896: War Has a Part in This Too?

Cheng Shi pondered for a long ti, then looked up at Kataro again.

"Do you know what actually happened before and after Order stepped into the Sea of Desire?"

Kataro glanced at the now-silent Pride of Order and bowed his head with reverent deference.

"I've heard snippets.

At the ti, Void had just descended. It was the dawn of the era. Everything in the universe was developing in an orderly fashion — after all, previous epochs had gone through the sa cycle several tis. Aside from the massive influx of divine wills, the tide of history was no different from the past.

But the problems seed to originate from within that very deluge of divine wills.

I believe you already know of His existence...

This humble Kataro dares not speak that na. I can only say that all of the gods' wills are connected to Him. They seed to be vying for sothing. And this chaotic situation, under the... ahem, 'push of the era'... finally drew Order's displeasure."

"..."

Cheng Shi shot Kataro a sideways look, thinking — 'That's a nice euphemism.'

'What "push of the era"? Just say the Fun God was stirring the pot.'

So that was it. Aph Ros had once said the gods had coexisted peacefully in every previous era, which had left him puzzled as to why a god war erupted in the Void era. Now it was clear — the Fun God had contributed significantly to igniting that war.

"And then?

Order went solo against the entire world?"

As he spoke, Cheng Shi glanced back at the codex that embodied "Order's transcendent standing."

"Yes."

"???"

Cheng Shi was stunned.

'Hold on — I was joking. You're telling

it actually happened?'

Kataro's expression was somber, as if awed by the mory of Order's forr might.

"Order sought to restore order and purge the universe. First, He exterminated the various lesser gods who harbored too many sches. Then He joined forces with War to deal with the subordinates of both Civilization and Chaos. The fires of war at one point engulfed the entire universe — until several other supre true gods intervened, each shielding their own Envoys. Only then did this all-consuming crusade of order co to an end.

But Order understood: gods, too, have desires. As long as the Sea of Desire existed, divine wills tainted by desire would never build an absolutely ordered world.

And so Order resolutely stepped into the Sea of Desire, intending to judge Corruption — a fellow mber of the sixteen true gods.

War loved war. Naturally, He followed right behind."

"Wait!" Cheng Shi raised his hand in astonishnt, cutting Kataro off. "War 'loved war'? That's a pretty niche description.

War has a part in this story too?"

"Yes." Kataro nodded. "According to the Benefactor, the old War was the most belligerent and battle-hardened god in all the universe. He fanned the flas of war everywhere, all to make the universe acknowledge His will.

During Order's purging war, War was originally one of Order's targets too. But War was ultimately a sibling deity of the Civilization Path, so Order ordered Him to use war to end war — to pay for His sins.

War never refused a war. So He agreed. And then He threw Himself into the most exhilarating battle since His descent: a god war!"

"..."

'This War is way too unfamiliar.'

If "war" didn't inherently connote violence and cruelty, Cheng Shi might as well have labeled it with "silence."

Then again, His followers did carry quite a bit of His old "heritage."

Kataro paused at the right mont, giving Lord Cheng Shi ti to sort his thoughts before continuing.

"After that ca the mont Order, with War in tow, stepped into the Sea of Desire.

What happened inside was unknown to any outsider. All the gods knew was that Order had shattered — split into four. And War, from that day forward, strayed far from His original will."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow.

"Here's the question: how did the gods know Order split into four?

I'm guessing...

Among the gods stationed at the edge of the Sea of Desire, eagerly awaiting the outco — the most enthusiastic one bore the divine na Deceit.

And perhaps alongside Him was Chaos!

The Fun God was probably already scheming all of this by then. He struck a deal with Chaos — maybe not because He foresaw what would happen in the Sea of Desire, but simply to team up like fishern waiting to profit while the snipe and the clam fought.

Except Order didn't manage to destroy Corruption. Instead, Order Himself shattered.

And so!

What was originally a three-way split happened right under Deceit's watchful eyes — and beca four. The fourth piece was the Chaos who agreed to impersonate Order!

So what Chaos replaced wasn't truly Order — He was rely displacing the so-called Iron Law of Order.

That's right — if Order could purge the entire universe, how could His fragnts so easily fall to His opposite number? The Fun God used precisely this 'logic' to deceive every god and successfully infiltrated Chaos into Order's Tribunal!"

Cheng Shi guessed aloud as he spoke, his eyes burning brighter with each word. He suddenly pointed at the codex on the throne and nodded.

"Not only that — He even left a failsafe. What if soone discovered Order only split into three? For example, War — the one who'd entered the Sea of Desire with Him.

So to patch that hole, He and Chaos kidnapped this disgraceful Pride of Order and locked Him in the temple.

With that, everything falls into place.

From start to finish — from the god war to the impersonation — He was pulling the strings all along.

The current state of affairs may not have been His original plan, but the facts prove that the situation remains heavily in His favor — even more so than the original sche.

Am I right, Kataro?"

Kataro was sweating. He absolutely didn't dare speculate about the Benefactor's plans. All he could do was laugh nervously, offer a couple of vague affirmative sounds, then wipe the cold sweat from his brow and stamr:

"Reporting to my lord — Kataro was not inford of this."

"Of course you weren't. Otherwise, how could you serve as His ssenger?

But when He told you all this, didn't you at least make so guesses? You're not a fool.

And judging by your reaction, you only learned all this recently, didn't you?"

Though Cheng Shi was questioning Kataro, he was really asking himself:

'What does the Benefactor want

to do?'

'Could the Fun God want

to probe War?'

'Is that why He used the War Supervisor to test War?'

'He thinks sothing's off about War?'

True enough — if Order, the god who'd purged the entire universe, had shattered, why did War co out unscathed?

rely becoming timid and orderly didn't look like soone who'd suffered a "devastating blow."

But the real question wasn't that. The question was why the Fun God wanted to probe War at all.

Everything He'd done was to uproot Order. War had nothing to do with that. Even as sibling deities on the sa Path, there was no need to overly affect War's interests.

Besides, who said deities of the sa Path were like family? The Fun God and Fate weren't exactly getting along either.

"..."

'Forget it — my daily blasphemy quota is already way over the limit. Better cool it.'

Cheng Shi couldn't figure it out. Kataro didn't look like he'd offer anything useful either. So Cheng Shi turned back to the codex behind him, hoping to squeeze a few more words out of the captive.

As the saying went — a tiger on the plains gets bullied by dogs...

'Wait — that's not a great saying. I'm not a dog.'

Cheng Shi smacked his lips, walked back over to the codex, crouched down to eye level, and dropped his earlier mocking tone entirely. In a sudden shift to sincere gravity, he began to "negotiate."

"Pride of Order — transcendent above all. Allow

to speak plainly. Your predicant is not entirely without a solution.

Though the true Order is but a fading afterglow, Your followers don't know that, do they?

So as long as the faith endures, as long as conviction remains — why can't the universe march toward a different kind of order?

All that's missing is soone to guide them.

Do You... take my aning?"

"..."

Whether Pride of Order understood or not remained to be seen. But Kataro understood. He understood instantly.

'So that's it — that's what this is!'

'I was wondering why Lord Cheng Shi had abandoned his trademark prudence today. Every taunt and attack was laying the groundwork for this one line.'

'He wasn't showing off his sarcasm — he was showing off his greed!'

'Facing the last remnant of Order in all the universe... he was still greedy!'

...