Chapter 1413: All Gods Have Fallen, the [Covenant] Endures

All gods have fallen, yet the 【Covenant】 endures.

What is the 【Covenant】?

It is the supreme pact of the cosmos that 【Fraud】 tricked the gods into signing at the dawn of the age, in order to shelter the gods' authority and balance their interests. They handed their authority over to the 【Covenant】 together, so that divine power would never be lost no matter what.

And now, the gods have come to their senses and realized this was nothing more than a trap 【Fraud】 set for them at the dawn of the age.

The 【Covenant】 did indeed shelter divine authority, and while the gods were all present it truly did serve to balance things.

But when the gods fell or departed for various reasons, and the empty divine seats were collected one by one by others, the flaw of the 【Covenant】 revealed itself: once someone holds an absolute majority of votes, the other gods will have no room to resist!

Of course, to the side holding the voting advantage, this flaw is no flaw at all — it is a fatal attraction.

Now, Cheng Shi is the side with the voting advantage, an absolute one at that, and the Council of the Gods' Covenant has almost become his one-man show.

Even so, the best scenario Cheng Shi could imagine was simply taking 【Fraud】's votes, so that all of its future schemes would be laid out under his very nose, and whether they were done or not would all be subject to his "approval."

But now, what is 【Justice (Order)】 saying? To replace it and become the new acting 【Covenant】?!

Cheng Shi was dumbfounded.

Wait, wait, wait, wait!

My brain can't quite keep up — let me sort this out.

You mean, once I hold enough votes, I can leave the negotiating table and become the judge directly?!

I approve my own proposal?

"......?"

You can play it like that?

Even with a mind as unorthodox as Cheng Shi's, he was genuinely dumbfounded at this moment — this was a path he had never imagined.

The 【Covenant】 stands above the gods; he had never thought the acting agent could be replaced. He had always assumed that 【Justice (Order)】, as the framework of the 【Covenant】, could exist eternally and neutrally just like the 【Covenant】 itself.

But now you're telling me 【Justice (Order)】 can be replaced?!

And that person is me?

Cheng Shi's expression became extraordinarily colorful. The first thing that came to his mind was not that he could pick up a tremendous bargain for free, but that a benefit delivered unbidden to his doorstep must absolutely have something wrong with it.

The Lord of Greed is greedy, but he is equally steady.

That old boy 【Justice (Order)】 — could it be that seeing the established tide cannot be defied, he wants to use this method to corrupt me?

Does becoming the acting agent of the 【Covenant】 count as corruption?

Does the 【Covenant】 count as a faith?

Just as Cheng Shi was frowning and pondering everything before him, the tilted flowing-light scale hummed again:

"I know you have many doubts in your heart, but rest assured, I am not using this method to create new fear.

Nor am I what the world imagines — single-mindedly drawing close to 【Origin】.

I too feel fear, so I understand 【Fraud】's deeds to the utmost."

"??????"

What?!

What did I just hear — 【Justice (Order)】 saying it feels fear?!

That 【Order】 who, to carry out the will of 【Order】 bestowed by 【Origin】, dared to step into the Sea of Desire, intending to sweep clean the cosmos — is part of the fear faction?!

You with your thick brows and big eyes have defected too?

Are you kidding me, bro?

Two nations have been at war for years, unification is in sight, and you tell me the enemy Emperor is our undercover agent?

No, even an Infernal Affairs plot can't play out like this!

You can't be 【Fraud】, can you?

【Fate】 being 【Fraud】 would be one thing, but 【Justice (Order)】 is also 【Fraud】?

Or is it that 【Order】 itself is 【Fraud】?

Cheng Shi blinked wildly. With his mind in total chaos at this moment, he was seriously considering one question: could he himself also be 【Fraud】?

【Fraud】 probably can't be 【Origin】, the creator of the cosmos, right?

Could the entire cosmos be a fabricated illusion?

Clearly, Cheng Shi's thoughts had wandered a bit too far.

【Justice (Order)】 could guess Cheng Shi's shock, and within that shock it also confirmed one thing: the other party did not know certain truths about 【Fraud】, even though he had been pushed to his current position by 【Fraud】.

However, it did not elaborate, only explaining what it had said:

"The established will not be corrupted, and it will also inherit everything of the 【Covenant】.

This is likely the plan 【Fraud】 conceived when drafting the 【Covenant】, and also the truth I comprehended after being inserted into the 【Covenant】's framework once the age had passed its midpoint!

Do you know what method 【Fraud】 used back then to deceive the cosmos into signing this covenant acknowledged by all the gods?"

Too many explosive revelations — Cheng Shi's brain crashed. His mouth opened and closed, his face stiffened, and he shook his head instinctively:

"I don't know......"

"Beneath the cosmos, among the gods, there are those who draw close to 【Origin】, and there are also many who keep their distance, but never has anyone brought such ideas out into the open.

Until 【Void】 descended, and 【Fraud】 used it to extend an invitation to the gods.

It seemed to have long known where the age was headed, so it said to those who drew close:

To draw close to 【Origin】, one must grasp its deeper meaning. 【Origin】 distributed authority to us, so we must gather that authority, and through this act of 'most resembling 【Origin】' present it to 【*It】, in exchange for Its gracious glance and reward.

Then, to those who kept their distance, it said:

【Fate】 has descended bearing 【Origin】's will, intending to drain faith dry to craft an offering to the Creator. To protect ourselves, the gods must unite, binding authority together in one place, so that faith does not wither and we are left powerless to resist.

Afterwards, I do not know by what method it persuaded 【Fate】......

Thus the 【Covenant】 was finalized, and divine authority never strayed again."

"......"

Hearing this, Cheng Shi slowly came back to himself from his initial shock, his expression shifting several times, his gaze impossibly complex.

【Justice (Order)】did not know how 【Deceit】had persuaded 【Fate】, but Cheng Shi did.

Because He had no need to persuade at all—【Fate】was itself 【Deceit】!

Still, one had to admit, 【Deceit】's handling of this information gap was truly ingenious. He was, after all, the very embodiment of cosmic illusion. Exploiting the gods' reluctance to speak carelessly of 【the Origin】, He hid all the undercurrents beneath the table. He hadn't even lied—merely shifted the phrasing slightly, and the 【Covenant】was signed between the different factions.

The Proximity faction learned a vague version of 【Fate】's manner of offering; the Fear faction learned the true 【Fate】's will to offer.

To play both sides of the board in 【Fate】's name even after 【Fate】had fallen...

【Deceit】was truly the greatest chess player of this era!

No—the greatest playwright!

He had written this era a wildly imaginative one-man show.

But what did this have to do with his inheriting the 【Covenant】's execution?

Cheng Shi frowned slightly, still wanting to ask one more question, but the next instant his eyes snapped wide, his pupils contracting sharply. A flash of light crossed his mind, and in an instant he understood everything.

If the world's future truly was as Wei Mu had said—【Deceit】was devoting all efforts to forge a new "Origin" capable of replacing 【the Origin】's gaze—then what qualities should this new "Origin" possess?

At the very least, like 【the Origin】, it must be able to bestow divine thrones upon the gods, distribute divine authority, grant the gods their true names...

Familiar, isn't it? Does it remind you of something?

That's right—isn't this precisely the function of the 【Covenant】in the starry sky above us right now?!!

And just now, the 【Covenant】had even bestowed true names upon several new divine thrones!

"!!!"

So this was the method of replacing 【the Origin】?

To use a covenant of the gods spanning an entire era, and set the established upon the "divine throne" belonging to the Creator?

Thinking carefully, the pretext under which He had tricked the gods into signing the 【Covenant】was no pretext at all—it was a truth about to come true at the end of the era.

Gather the gods' authority to offer it to "the Origin"; guard the gods' authority to stay far from 【the Origin】.

In this moment, proximity and distance became harmonious and unified.

Cheng Shi finally understood what 【Time】had said.

It turned out all the answers had long been written within the 【Covenant】.