[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-foolish-game-of-the-gods":3,"chapter-foolish-game-of-the-gods-foolish-game-of-the-gods-chapter-253":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Foolish Game of the Gods",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},579524,829,"Chapter 253: This Honor — It Doesn't Belong to You Yet","foolish-game-of-the-gods-chapter-253",253,"\u003Cp>\"Whew—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too hard. This was an agonizing choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Cheng Shi had never once considered betraying [Void]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even now, as [Fate]'s favored child, he still considered himself a trickster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just one with slightly better luck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So for him, there was no choice to make.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the one presenting the choice was a God — one of Those seated upon the Divine Thrones!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could humble Himself and \"graciously\" offer Cheng Shi the opportunity to choose, but Cheng Shi absolutely could not refuse [Chaos] as bluntly as he'd refused [Memory]!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, His goodwill was genuine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he devised a workaround. His expression shifted several times as he carefully chose his words and asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Would I be betraying [Fate]?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a pointless question — and yet it wasn't.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because accepting the envoyship would necessarily mean betraying [Fate]. So by voicing this question, Cheng Shi had already, in the instant the words left his lips, given his refusal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing in the hall's disorder changed in response to his answer. This meant [Chaos] had not grown angry at the rejection. He merely let out a sigh of profound disappointment upon hearing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes — He was disappointed. The disappointment of disorder toward order. The disappointment of a deity toward a subordinate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Step down. This honor does not yet belong to you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, the entire hall warped. Cheng Shi was a grain of sand in this deforming space, slipping through a gap in the disorder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His vision went black. Then he lost consciousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Cheng Shi vanished, the hall returned to its original form. Spaces became regular. Pillars became symmetrical. Inscriptions became complementary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kataro resumed his place in the position that should rightfully have belonged to Ultraman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood with his head bowed, eyes fixed on the center of the empty hall, and asked with a trace of puzzlement:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My patron, forgive my presumption — You could have simply bestowed [Chaos]'s Authority and Divinity upon Lord Ultraman directly. Why did You insist on having him personally experience that extrapolation, to try to ignite his own New Authority Divinity?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air was still for a moment. Then [Chaos]'s resonant voice sounded:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A passing fancy, nothing more. If Chaos's new authority had truly germinated within his consciousness, it would have proven he was born to be [Chaos]'s darling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pity — the trial did produce a new authority, but it belongs neither to him nor to Me. It belongs to [Corruption]...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his patron's words, Kataro had gleaned fragments of the Gods' history, so he understood that [Corruption]'s new authority would not be easy to claim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called New Authority Divinity was a type of divinity, but fundamentally different from ordinary divinity. Its state wasn't that of scattered shards or disassembled puzzle pieces — it was an entirely new \"component.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this was precisely why Selius's Divinity Germination Experiment had earned the Tower of Logic's attention. Other experiments studying divinity invariably used known, existing divinity. But Selius was researching a method to produce divinity!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, the Germinating Divinity born from his experiment was, in fact, brand-new divinity manufactured by mortals!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The method may have referenced the \"Faith Blueprint\" of a known deity — [Corruption] — given the similar data and directional overlap. But ultimately, it was born from a different kind of faith: the self-affirmation of \"I am who I am\"!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason the Gods referred to Selius's Germinating Divinity as New Authority Divinity was simple: if a stable method of \"manufacturing\" and accumulating this type of divinity could be found, it would bypass the Convention's restrictions entirely — and create a New God!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the New Authority Divinity produced in Selius's experiment was extremely weak, because the foundational faith behind it wasn't strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So even though it was a New Authority, it ultimately couldn't resist [Corruption]'s seizure and became a wisp of new [Corruption] Divinity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Even knowing Lord Ultraman would refuse You, why did You still...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fate changes constantly. I was gambling on that possibility. But I lost the bet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kataro's gaze sharpened. He didn't dare continue the line of questioning. After a moment of silence, he bowed his head once more:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"[Fate]'s interference allowed Galusha to see Lord Ultraman. This Wise Man — who betrayed [Chaos] — holds grudges for even the smallest slight. Could this affect Your arrangements...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No matter. Her actions were anticipated. [Fate] is not one of the players on the board.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then what should I do next?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Play His role in history. Don't disgrace [Chaos]'s envoy. And then — wait. Wait to see if the day comes when he changes his mind.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kataro bowed even lower, answering with ever-deeper reverence: \"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Chaos]'s resonant voice sounded once more: \"Is there anything else?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I... I have repeatedly felt the true Will of [Chaos] calling to me. So I wished to ask — has He... encountered some problem?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment his words fell, a pair of eyes opened within the hall — eyes of Chaos suffused with the essence of [Chaos]. They gazed upon the head-bowed, eyes-lowered Kataro, the corners lifting slightly, then turned toward the direction in the Void corresponding to the Grand Tribunal's position across each temporal period.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Which era do you mean?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The dimension You occupy — not the one we occupy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He is well. He has even forgotten that He was once [Chaos]. But the order He shelters... it seems to be in some trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for further details, you should know who to ask. That will be all for today. Someone has come knocking, and I need to deal with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You are dismissed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, the eyes vanished from the hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Come knocking?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Who would dare challenge His authority at the gates of the [Chaos] temple?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kataro stood in thought for a moment, then chose not to leave. Instead, in an act of supreme \"presumption,\" he ascended to the high platform where the Divine Throne sat, and turned the great seat — one that had never been occupied yet bore immeasurable weight — around to face him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the throne rotated, a codex nailed to its backrest gradually came into view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chain after chain of solidified amber chaos-mist bound the tattered codex in place. Long nails — each topped with a mocking, chin-stretched grinning face — pierced the book's four corners, pinning it motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kataro reverently lowered his head. Before he could speak, the grand voice of [Order] resonated from the codex:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Send Him to see me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You're still as arrogant as ever.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I said — send Him to see me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My Master is not here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmph. Your master. Your master. Is your patron [Chaos], or [Deceit]?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That depends entirely on how You choose to see it, great [Order].\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1117,"2026-05-30T16:17:59.408Z","2026-06-01T04:31:40.442Z",1,"novelbin.me","9928ba15e282250058a26ae41a16bc8119162ea3b99ab69a23de52316945b859","foolish-game-of-the-gods-chapter-254","foolish-game-of-the-gods-chapter-252",1463,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffoolish-game-of-the-gods-cover.jpg"]