Annans voice was childish and light, reminiscent of wind chis made of ice.
But the Corrupted rely felt a chill wind penetrating his body. The blood-stained red robe he wore, its bloodstains gradually drying up.
"...No one can be omnipotent."
The Corrupted took a deep breath.
Only today did he truly realize and face Annan Winter as an enemy.
...He had thought he had already taken him seriously enough.
The Corrupted even saw Annan as a "divine entity of inevitable future," an existence on the sa level as himself, an eagle whose wings had not yet flourished.
But only today did the Corrupted realize... he had tried to overestimate Annan, but still, he had underestimated him.
Today, he truly felt an intense oppressive force emanating from Annan — it was not rely the degree of "encountering difficulties," but a near despairing sense of fear.
Centuries had passed.
The Corrupted had never thought... that even after becoming a god, he would still feel fear.
Just like when he was seven and dueled with King Gupta, known as the "White Robed King," and felt the pressure.
As if every card he played, every piece he moved, every word he spoke, would be predicted by the opponent. That man clad in a white robe, with a large beard and tanned skin, seed as terrifying as a deity before the re seven-year-old Corrupted.
Fear. Terror. Despair.
He could never win —
That was the first ti the Corrupted, especially adept at gas, clearly realized this fact.
Under intense fear, he cheated for the first ti in his life. But his hands trembled so obviously that it was utterly ineffective and he was caught outright.
And when he was pressed against the table by the guards, and the mark of a slave was stabbed into him amid extre fear.
The seven-year-old Corrupted heard the deep voice of the White Robed King.
"Not all gamblers are fated to lose, just as not all born are destined to perish. But even so, those who constantly win are as rare as those who are immortal... because no one can be omnipotent.
"You are smart, but that is all. re cleverness cannot make one invincible... Wisdom without courage is like a bird without wings, a fire that has lost its warmth."
As a boy, the Corrupted couldn’t understand those words at all.
Even now, he hadn’t fully understood them.
But due to the pain, fear, and despair, he rembered every word distinctly. Even after he murdered the White Robed King, the Corrupted never forgot this conversation; even as he personally plotted the king’s death and slaughtered his descendants, he still respected the White Robed King, holding him as an idol.
— And it was precisely because of the guidance from the White Robed King that he could now beco a deity.
The Corrupted repeated the words of the White Robed King verbatim: "re wisdom cannot make one invincible. Even if you win today, there will co a day when you lose; even if I lose once, there will co a day when I win."
But when Annan heard these words,
he couldn’t help but smile: "Of course I know. The more you gamble, the more you lose; the less you gamble, the less you lose, there is no one in the world who always wins."
The next mont, the Corrupted’s pupils constricted sharply.
Because coincidentally, Annan had casually spoken words similar to those of the White Robed King and even provided an explanation:
"The Goddess of Cup once said, ’Not all those who are born will perish.’ This ans that the power of the ’Cup’ can extend the lifespans of beings of flesh and blood. But conversely, it also ans that ’without miracles, mortals will eventually die.’
"This can also be applied to gambling... Indeed, not all players have a day when they fail. ’Quit while you’re ahead.’ But as long as you walk this path, there will ultimately co a day of failure."
Annan looked at the Corrupted no longer filled with rage.
Because what needed to be vented had been vented, the harsh words that had to be spoken were spoken, the price that needed to be collected was taken.
The Corrupted was no longer worthy of Annan’s continuing wrath.
Annan’s gaze toward the Corrupted was calm, as if looking at an insect, and curious, as if looking at so kind of "treasure."
— Just as how the White Robed King once looked at the Corrupted.
The Corrupted couldn’t help but start trembling.
Because of fear. Or out of anger. Or even because of a sudden enlightennt regarding the previously incomprehensible words...
"I do not consider myself a suprely intelligent person. Because so-called ’friends’ and ’companions’ are things that diocrities need... I’m just an ordinary person.
"I still need the support of others, the help of friends. Am I smart? I think so, but I won’t take a solitary path just because I am smart enough...
"Because wisdom, from the very start, was not a sword ant for seizing victory — but eyes for raising one’s sight."
So said Annan.
He disregarded the rotting husband who trembled before him and looked back casually towards the basent door, "You consider cleverness as wisdom, wisdom as strength, yet you do not have the courage to directly face the ’object of fear regarded by wisdom,’ and see everything in the world as a ’gamble’ with victory or defeat, as just a ga.
"——but you do not realize that habitual gamblers will inevitably lose."
In the confrontation of wisdom, Annan had easily read into the rotting husband’s personality.
The divine are not exalted untouchables. Since they have personalities, they naturally have personality flaws... and the divine, who mostly ascend through purification and have intense desires, thus have even more pronounced defects.
Annan could understand Kafney’s heart and predict her every move.
Naturally, he could understand the rotting husband as well.
The rotting husband’s ntality was like that of a player who stops at nothing.
But these players do not co from this world.
No matter how ruthless they might be, they always know "this is false," and would not transfer their in-ga behavior directly into reality.
The rotting husband’s personality is where this error occurred.
"Gambling" was what he excelled at, beyond that, he had nothing.
It was like "cheating" in a ga.
Murdering others, setting traps, administering poison, killing the enemy before battle, wantonly killing those he disliked. He resorted to many bottomless tactics, all for the sake of victory.
But the problem is, this is not a ga.
This is a real world, the world where the rotting husband was born.
"I soar through the skies with wisdom as my wings. And you... are as insignificant as an ant."
Annan spoke leisurely, "Let’s start the third round... though it’s already unnecessary. Because I have guessed how you manipulated Bella. I also know what you’ve hidden for the third round..."
Before Annan’s voice fell,
"Bella" pushed open the basent door with a sweep.
"I’m sorry for being late—"
She emitted a powerful voice, capturing everyone’s attention.
But soon, their gazes returned to Annan.
And Annan turned back to look down at the still trembling rotting husband.
Although it was a child watching an almighty and invincible divine being, Annan’s gaze seed more like a deity looking down upon a fool.
"——Let destroy your sanity, shatter your confidence."
Annan spoke slowly, "We’ll have the third round right here. I’ll make you see clearly—even if it’s Salvatore, I can make him crush you with ease. Do you believe it?"
"...What if you lose this round?"
As if he were frantic.
The rotting husband asked hoarsely, "Want to raise the stakes?"
"Are you sure?"
Annan actually laughed, responding, "You dare to raise the stakes in front of ?"
Pressured by Annan’s gaze, the rotting husband fell silent.
"...Let’s just leave it as it is."
He replied in a low voice.
On the side, "Bella" seed a bit bewildered.
"Eh? Can you really just say it outright? Has the situation already reached this extent?"
Looking at the blood-soaked rotting husband, she voiced her confusion, "Hmm? This person looks like they’re about to die..."
Hearing Salvatore’s words, the rotting husband’s complexion imdiately darkened.
"Let’s start the third round, you and I."
The rotting husband took a deep breath, straightening up.
His voice was cold and emotionless, "This round, I will not gamble on anything.
"I just want to defeat you.
"To prove... no one can be omnipotent."
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