Chapter 255: 【Void】A Few Matters (Part Two)

【Void】A Few Matters (Part Two)

"Any more questions?

If not, then withdraw. I truly still have matters… matters to attend to."

"Yes! Far too many!!!"

Cheng Shi glared through gritted teeth at the eyes before him, longing to jab a finger and give them a thorough dressing-down, but he didn't dare. So he could only pant heavily as he asked:

"【Chaos】 just summoned me, wanting me to become Its Emissary. You should know about this, yes?"

"Mmm~ I know."

"Why did you want me to become Its Emissary?

Is it for the same reason you had me break my oath and become a follower of 【Fate】?

I've heard other players talk about the matter of fusing faiths, and you're pushing this along too, aren't you?

And I—I'm your test subject, aren't I?"

Cheng Shi's thoughts finally cleared. He blurted out all his guesses in one go, then quietly watched those eyes, waiting for a response.

He wasn't sure whether 【Deceit】 would answer him, but he felt She didn't seem to avoid these questions.

"You have too many questions. I don't have that much time. I can only answer one—pick one."

Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened, and he answered at once:

"Fine. Then my question is:

Were all the guesses I just made correct?"

"......"

Those eyes looked at Cheng Shi with a hint of surprise, a trace of appreciation surfacing in their gaze.

"Not bad. You've learned to use your head."

"Learned from you. So what's your answer?"

"Heh~

I've already answered. That's that—time's running short.

Mmm, this audience… heh, wasn't a pleasant one.

Next time, don't recite Its prayer at the mask.

Also, I will relay your devotion to It. Withdraw."

With that, the eyes blinked once and vanished on the spot, and Cheng Shi, with nothing left to support him, plunged straight down into the boundless void.

No, wait!

What are you going to relay?

Is this 'relay' the relay I'm thinking of?

The one that lets 【the Gods】 know of my greed, that lets 【Fate】 remind me that 'mortals and gods cannot share the authority of 【Birth】'?!

Oh my lord, please, pick another sheep to fleece—the clown's about to be fleeced bald!!!

If not, how about you look at your first collection item?

A tangle of thoughts followed Cheng Shi back to reality. He woke once more on his rooftop, watching the sun that had yet to set, and sank back into contemplation.

The answer?

"I've already answered."

So what did She answer?

Not bad?!

Cheng Shi's pupils contracted, and he instantly straightened his back.

Her answer was "Not bad"!

So his guess was right!

She really was pushing the fusion of faiths. Cheng Shi could still understand the fusion of the two 【Void】 faiths, but what was the meaning of throwing 【Chaos】 into the mix?

Chaos… confound… deceit… lies…

Could it be that Her original plan was to fuse 【Deceit】 and 【Chaos】, but 【Fate】 cut in and snatched it away?

Not impossible!

So that was why, in that 【Chaos】 deduction trial, he had been pushed along by 【Fate】, bumping into one "himself" after another so quickly and coincidentally, and then slaughtering them all before the split personalities could take shape.

【Fate】 was preventing him from sprouting the divinity of 【Chaos】. It seemed to have refused the fusion of 【Deceit】 and 【Chaos】.

So…

It can only be 【Deceit】 and 【Chaos】, or 【Deceit】 and 【Fate】?

Then will It agree to a fusion with 【Deceit】?

When his line of thought reached this point, Cheng Shi tightened his grip on the mask in his hand, and thought once more of the problem he'd discovered after breaking his oath:

The masks accumulated under 【Deceit】's protection in the early phase now—or rather, in the foreseeable future—seemed somewhat insufficient…

But the version of himself under the 【Fate】 faith hadn't gained any channel to obtain masks, and the only method was the talent from his 【Deceit】 faith days: Faces of All Beings!

So…

She had already agreed long ago?

Cheng Shi was stunned dumb by his own bold thought. He pulled the Dice of Fate from his bosom, set it down side by side with the golden mask, and then furrowed his brow.

Faith fusion… how exactly does it fuse?

After fusing, am I 【Fate】, or 【Deceit】?

Who would have thought that the moment this somewhat "blasphemous" notion for the current stage rose in him, Cheng Shi's vision plunged into darkness once more.

Ah, no, why is it happening again?!

This was the third time today that Cheng Shi had ascended the boundless black void.

Before him again were those eyes filled with spirals and starry specks, only this time the corners carried a faint chill, the gaze radiating cold indifference.

The moment he opened his eyes, he recognized the one before him!

【Fate】!

His true benefactor had come.

His heart gave a sudden lurch, and he thought: surely my lord isn't here to demand an explanation after hearing 【Deceit】 relay something outrageous?

But just to be safe, he had to strike first at the 【Divine】!

So Cheng Shi's face grew solemn, and with extreme devotion he declared his loyalty:

"Praise be to the great god of 【Fate】. You pluck the strings of 【Void】, playing the symphony of all beings, making every change in the world unfathomable and inconstant, making past and future sing the hymn of destined echoes.

It is my profound honor to be summoned by you once more. Your humblest, most devout believer, Cheng Shi......

Pays his respects to you."

As he spoke, he quickly lowered his head, pressed a hand to his chest and bowed, using his body bent at ninety degrees to hide the motion of rubbing his nose.

"......"

Too awkward. The overwrought performance had not only failed to convey devotion, but had exposed him as a clown.

Such a cover-up might still work on players, but before one of 【Them】......

It was no different from streaking.

But the eyes were not angered. They merely gazed silently at Cheng Shi, saying nothing.

After half a day without hearing a sound, Cheng Shi cautiously raised his head, only to meet that gaze of neither joy nor sorrow.

"......"

The cold-sweat encore returned on schedule.

What was with this inexplicable pressure?

Why wouldn't They speak?

Wasn't it Them who summoned me? Why make me speak first?

What should I say? Confess?

No, my minor offenses against the divine surely don't count as a grave sin compared to before, right?

Despite giving himself many excuses, after a nervous glance at the still-silent eyes, Cheng Shi decided to "confess" first out of respect.

"My lord above, I can...... explain!

Just now I merely picked up the wrong token, it wasn't deliberate disrespect......"

And at that moment, those icy eyes finally spoke.

"What token?"

"Huh?"

Cheng Shi was dumbfounded.

You mean you didn't know?

Didn't 【Deceit】 say anything to you?

Seems like really not...... then why did you summon me?

Cheng Shi let out two dry, awkward laughs, rubbed his nose, and said: "Nothing, I remembered wrong."

The eyes' gaze sharpened, and in a cold voice said: "They just met with you."

"......"

How to put it, there was suddenly an inexplicable...... sense of betrayal......

Cheng Shi stiffly lowered his hand, not daring to speak or make a sound.

"Hmph, as expected They have not abandoned their vain illusions!" After the eyes gave a cold laugh, the gaze turned back to Cheng Shi with a hint of approval. "You did not forsake the path of 【Fate】 and chose to embrace 【Chaos】. That is good."

"...... It should be, it should be." Suddenly praised, Cheng Shi was overwhelmed with surprise.

"But 【Fate】 is still changing, and illusion may yet become reality......"

Hearing this, Cheng Shi was startled to realize that the eyes before him, always cold, had grown even icier at this very moment.

They seemed angry.

But the anger certainly wasn't directed at him; as for who it was aimed at......

Cheng Shi hurriedly lowered his head, pretending not to understand, and then heard the eyes continue:

"Although you have already walked firmly upon the correct path, know that 【Fate】 too has its byways."

"......"

Cheng Shi was stunned, thinking: I know that, I know it all too well, I've even walked down that byway myself.

"I bear the divine name of 【Fate】 above my head, wield the authority of 【Fate】, perceive the essence of the cosmos, and already know all of the past and countless futures.

Among those countless futures, They......

【Deceit】, having lost the aid of 【Fate】's favored child, went astray and never smiled again.

As a sibling god of 【Void】, though I need not forcibly alter Their fate, I should still grant appropriate mercy."

No, wait......

My lord, what are you saying?

What nonsense is this? You couldn't possibly be 【Deceit】 in disguise, could you?

Cheng Shi looked up in bewilderment, his face blankly confused as he gazed at the eyes before him, and then saw the spirals within those eyes begin to rotate in layers, as if a lone spinning chain had suddenly gained a shadow.

Two layers of spirals overlapped and intertwined, and after spinning for a moment they radiated outward a strange and mysterious power of 【Void】.

The moment this power appeared, it swiftly condensed within the void, instantly forming a blurry black figure that, without warning, smashed down toward the top of Cheng Shi's head.

Cheng Shi instinctively tried to retreat, only to find he was already locked in place, unable to move.

"On this day I bestow a new divine oracle, ordering the believer of 【Fate】, Cheng Shi, to temporarily reclaim the divine power of 【Deceit】, and to render aid, at his discretion, to that pitiful 【God】 who has been abandoned by 【Fate】.

"As reward for this oracle, I shall grant you the power to wield 【Void】."

"Wait, huh?" Cheng Shi's pupils shook—this seemed to be the real 【Fate】!

"Boom—"

He only felt a soul force brutally slam into his sea of consciousness, then his eyes rolled back and he passed out cold.

Eyes watched Cheng Shi falling endlessly through the void; the dizzying spiral slowly stopped turning, the gaze still cold, like the eternal, unchanging void—without joy, without sorrow.

"It is written..."