Chapter 1288

Stop acting, Lord Benefactor, I know it's you

Frost froze the spiderweb, and Cheng Shi stood frozen on the spot.

However, he was no longer afraid of these things. He felt the bone-chilling coldness all over his body and sneered:

"Truly black-hearted. Even if the Clown dies on the stage, that 'troupe leader' behind the scenes still refuses to tell the Clown who he is performing for.

Since you want to hide it from me so much, why expose yourself in these trivial details?

Since you want to deceive, why not deceive to the end and keep me completely in the dark? At least I would have no resentment when offered as an sacrifice!

But why did you have to let me know the truth halfway through!

Why did you have to pierce this beautiful illusion and let me sink into a vortex of despair?

Is it just because of your bad taste, Lord Benefactor!?

Then you have succeeded. Now the Clown loathes you, just as he loathes that disgusting fate!"

Cheng Shi stared fixedly at those star-like eyes, his voice becoming deeper and colder. At this moment, at least in tone, he began to approach 【Fate】.

"Stop acting, Lord Benefactor, I know it's you!"

That's right, Cheng Shi saw it. Although the 【Fate】 in front of him had no flaws, he still sensed the clues and concluded that the 【Fate】 before him was not the real 【Fate】, but the mastermind of this trial, 【Deception】!

You must know, since 【Deception】 could trap 【Fate】 in mockery and ridicule, He would never give 【Fate】 the spare power to use His own strength.

The scene of 【Arrogance (Order)】 being trapped in the 【Chaos】 temple was still fresh in his memory; with just a few mocking nails, 【Arrogance (Order)】 could not use any divine power!

So at such a critical juncture, at the moment He chose to show His cards, how could He let the aura of 【Fate】 surge wantonly, or even influence the mockery and ridicule, either solidifying it or making it boil?

Don't forget, mockery and ridicule are not creations of the 【Void】; they are creations of 【Deception】, almost belonging to 【Deception】's private territory. In such a place, for a trapped 【Fate】 to still have such divine power is inherently unreasonable.

Was He not afraid that 【Fate】 would use this to break out of the cage and come to rescue Himself?

So there was only one answer: the one in front of him was not 【Fate】 at all; He was 【Deception】!

This mastermind had once again played the role of His sibling god, toying with him with the greatest malice!

Just like this trial, He could have said nothing and taken him away directly, but He had to use a fake story to metaphorize His actions, telling the Clown that He came from outside the world and was coveting the Predetermined of this world!

Cheng Shi was somewhat broken.

He wondered if despair was a necessary seasoning to become a true offering?

Those cold eyes remained silent, with no response.

But not long after, the coldness in the mockery and ridicule gradually receded, and the colorful colors became lively again. The corners of the eyes lifted slightly, restoring a vivid appearance, and issued a meaningful sound toward the believer before Him:

"Hee~"

Cheng Shi swore that at this moment, he loathed this sound to the extreme.

"Is it funny?"

"Is it not funny?"

"......"

"A confused mortal, in order to beg for guidance, rushes to the god he has blasphemed thousands of times. After using every word of praise, he discovers that the god he met is not the savior who can save him from fire and water, but the demon he fears day and night.

The mortal is no match for the demon and is finally devoured by the demon, ending his absurd life.

Isn't this script wonderful?

Hmm, it seems to be missing something. How about this, let's add a setting to this mortal:

His profession is a Clown!

In this way, the character's fate echoes his identity, with more aesthetic of absurdism. How about it?"

Cheng Shi didn't hear a word. He stared fixedly at those mocking eyes and asked word by word:

"Why?"

The spiral in the eyes turned a circle, and He sneered: "Where are there so many whys in this world?"

"Why?" Cheng Shi repeated through gritted teeth.

The eyes blinked like stars, smiling:

"Hmm, persistence is indeed the key to the ending; it pushed you to where you are now.

But it can only go this far, because my script is over."

"WH, Y!?" The Clown let out an angry roar.

Seeing that twisted face and hearing that hoarse roar, the eyes ignored it and continued to speak:

"It seems I should add a 'repeater' trait to the Clown!"

"Heh."

Cheng Shi laughed. He laughed self-deprecatingly, struggling constantly, pulling at the spiderweb on his body, appearing insane:

"I understand.

The script is indeed over."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and fired five consecutive thunderbolts at himself with the 【Death】 ring that was full of layers.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—"

In the blink of an eye, the spiderweb vanished into ashes.

But the next second, the star-like eyes blinked lightly, restoring the spiderweb from the scorched mockery and ridicule.

Cheng Shi didn't die; what died was...

"Pfft—

Don't waste your effort. If I let you die before the period I wrote, the script would be a failure.

No matter how many times you kill yourself, only your illusion will die.

The moment you stepped in here, your true body fell asleep, and the spiderweb carrying your consciousness is an illusion I created.

It's useless. Your only ending is to leave here with me."

"...... Why? Why on earth!?"

Cheng Shi was in despair. The spiderweb shrank into a ball, just as he curled up in a corner. He could not understand why he had to endure all this for no reason, nor could he understand why his efforts resulted in the regeneration of fear within the Fear Sect.

【Deception】, who once told him "There is no such thing as kindness for no reason in the world, so I am also afraid," had now become the greatest fear in his heart, making him feel that the world was becoming more absurd and more unreal.

Why would a god toy with, manipulate, humiliate, and crush a mortal?

Just because he is a Clown?

But isn't the identity of the Clown also given by you!?

Oh right, it's very likely not you, but the original 【Deception】.

But He is already dead, and no one knows where He died.

Cheng Shi was about to break down, but he persisted. He gritted his teeth, looked up again, looked at 【Deception】, and asked sternly:

"I don't believe that fear would make a 【Deception】 transfer the despair of world-ending to other worlds. Since you are all resisting 【Origin】, you should know that even if one world is destroyed because of you, you are creating 'Void' to offer to 【*Him】!

【Void】 is the will bestowed upon you by 【Origin】. If you resist 【*Him】, you should not follow the meaning bestowed upon you by 【*Him】!

You have a problem!

What on earth are you doing, 【Deception】!"

This was the first time Cheng Shi had angrily shouted His name in front of 【Deception】. 【Deception】 did not feel offended, but maintained a mocking posture and said:

"You are wrong. I am not destroying the world, but saving it."

"Whose world are you saving!?"

【Deception】 chuckled: "Is there a difference?"

"Naturally there is a difference!"

Cheng Shi replied decisively. 【Deception】 shook His head and sighed after hearing this.

"The Clown's perspective is disappointing.

Your vision is still limited to this starry sky, in vain for me to show you the performance of Clowns in so many other worlds.

I let you see them constantly helping you, constantly helping other worlds, spreading fire everywhere like fire-keepers, just to let you know that the gains and losses of one world are not important.

Resistance is never in one corner!

You must know that your sacrifice is meaningful. At least under your contribution, the entire real universe has the experience of resisting 【*Him】.

Just to survive individually, you let all worlds stand still. Do you... deserve the entrustment of those Clowns to you, and the hope they placed in you?"

"！！！！!"

Cheng Shi widened his eyes suddenly, looking at the 【Deception】 in front of him in disbelief. He never thought that His "tricking" him was actually to realize resistance against 【Origin】 at the level of the real universe!?

Then He... is He still wrong?

Cheng Shi was stunned. He whispered helplessly: "How do you know that everything you do will definitely work?"

"I don't know, but if you don't try, it will definitely be useless.

It's a pity that the Clown I cultivated in my world died, and such a perfect plan lacks a successor.

And you are the one most like him among all the worlds I have searched.

The reason I told you all this before leaving is to let you know that the choices you make and the sacrifices you are about to face are meaningful. The fear shrouding the real universe may stop because of you.

So now, do you understand?"

"......"

The huge reversal of stance within a day left Cheng Shi standing there in a daze. His brain was blank, constantly recalling the words those Cheng Shis told him. They sacrificed themselves to eliminate wrong answers for other worlds, using themselves as fire to illuminate the path ahead for other worlds, even at the cost of their lives, just to shout silently in the real universe to resist this absurd and ridiculous Creator experiment.

Every Cheng Shi was like this, then himself...

Just as Cheng Shi was in a daze, the mockery and ridicule suddenly became restless.

A crack seemed to be torn in the tide opposite 【Deception】, and endless cold winds of the void poured in wantonly, freezing the entire river completely.

At the same time, a pair of star-like eyes filled with endless anger opened above the frozen river, looking at 【Deception】 extremely coldly, with a voice like the netherworld:

"Get back to your world, this place does not belong to you!"