Chapter 983

The Day of Folly

No one knew what agreement [Deception] and [War] had reached, but the flames in the Void had finally subsided, and the Cosmos had ushered in complete peace...

What a lie.

The starlit eyes that had just escaped the war had no time to catch their breath before they were blocked mid-path by a pair of eyes painted with chaotic white miasma.

Seeing this one had come, [Deception] sneered, seizing the initiative: “Do you think your folly will yield an answer?”

The white eyes regarded [Deception] at an utterly grotesque angle and sneered in return.

“My attempts may not be folly, but your folly has already given me the answer.”

“That’s why you’re afraid, isn’t it?”

“!!!”

When [Folly] spoke those words, [Deception]’s gaze froze abruptly, then the corners of its mocking eyes gradually smoothed and drooped.

It suddenly realized it had truly committed an act of folly—one that was none other than completely misjudging how [Folly] had uncovered the truth of this Cosmos!

This self-proclaimed second deity of [Chaos], the pinnacle of wisdom, likely never escaped this starry expanse, nor approached that [ *He ] above the countless sliced universes.

It should have occurred to it long ago: if even [Time] required time to seep through this barrier, how could [Folly] have simply vanished from here?

It was far more likely that [Folly] had merely used its authority to set a trap, telling all the gods it had encountered trouble—and when [Deception] saw the truth of the Cosmos and used it to probe each [ *He ]’s stance, [Folly] could deduce, no, verify its hypothesis through these deities’ reactions.

This was the true reason it agreed to fuse with [Nurturing]!

If it had truly known everything all along, it would never have “lowered itself” to deal with an old-school traditionalist at this moment.

The unchanging [Nurturing] was, in [Folly]’s eyes, nothing but a “face-up fool”—the only thing on it that could attract [Folly]’s gaze was the truth about the sliced universes it had just heard from [Deception]’s own mouth!

So [Deception] had walked straight into [Folly]’s trap, almost confessing everything about the Cosmos itself.

Now, [Folly] was truly a true knower of the Cosmos.

Thinking of this, [Deception]’s gaze sharpened.

“I underestimated you. It seems you’ve learned everything from [Nurturing].”

“But I’d like to ask—what is your first act of folly?”

“Hiding behind others and playing petty tricks? That doesn’t sound like the so-called First Fool of the Cosmos.”

[Deception] spoke these words with gritted teeth, and [Folly]’s next reply nearly shattered its composure.

“I’ve already deduced everything—I simply refused to waste time verifying it.”

“Because I knew some act of folly would eventually give me the answer—and now, your ‘courage’ has not only confirmed my deduction, but proven my hypothesis.”

“This world is a grand folly.”

[Deception]’s eyelid twitched. It glared at this deity of [Chaos], whom it found utterly disagreeable, but did not let its anger fester; instead, its eyes rolled, and it laughed again.

“Hee~”

“You set a good trap, but aren’t you worried someone else might find the authority you’ve hidden?”

Yes—if [Folly] never risked itself, then its lost authority was clearly a lie!

It still possessed its authority—just not on its person.

[Folly] snorted in disdain: “You mean you? Then I’m not worried at all.”

“?” [Deception] laughed bitterly, then suddenly understood. “Oh? I get it—you don’t even know where you hid it yourself!”

“Fascinating. So [Memory] is in the trap too.”

No sooner had the words left its mouth than the starlit eyes vanished. [Folly] stood motionless in place, then after a long while, let out a cold snort.

“[Memory] may be in the trap—but if you can find my authority from [Memory], then [Memory] should long ago have been named [Folly].”

“Mortals believe themselves wise, so folly never ceases...”

“Nor do the gods.”

As it spoke, the deep, white gaze turned toward the void’s depths—no one could tell whether its words referred to itself, another, or that [ *He ] beyond the Cosmos, observing countless sliced universes.

As [Deception] turned to seek [Memory], [Folly] did not linger. Today, it seemed, had much to ponder and much to verify.

Soon after, it opened its eyes again before a pair of starlit eyes—this time, the owner of those eyes was violently assaulting [Decay] in the void.

Yes, you read that right: even now, someone was still lashing out at [Decay], that entity who had long secluded itself, indifferent to the Cosmos as if it were a transparent god.

[Decay] had no idea why its long-secluded self had drawn the ire of this master of [Void], only hearing the other mutter nonsense like “How dare you claim [Fate]?” before being subjected to sudden, fierce attacks.

Fortunately, these attacks were merely a way for [Decay] to accelerate its own decay, so it offered no resistance.

The eyes knew it had come only to vent its rage, so it would never let [Decay] benefit from its fury—its assault grew weaker, nearing its end.

And then [Folly] arrived.

The moment it appeared, its signature opening line echoed through the void:

“Do you think your folly will yield an answer?”

No one knew whether this was directed at which fool—after all, there were two [ *He ]s here.

But [Fate], upon seeing [Folly] arrive, immediately blew away [Decay], fixed its icy gaze on [Folly], and let out a heavy, cold snort:

“Yes!”

“What is destined is my answer.”

[Folly] felt no admiration for [Fate]’s refusal to deny its own act as folly; instead, it grew even more contemptuous, shifting its gaze to side-eye [Fate]:

“Have you ever considered that it might not be your destiny?”

“You want to fight?”

Always prefer action to words—[Fate] had already moved.

The endless black void suddenly boiled, and a ferocious wind of void tore through, threatening to grind every existence within to dust.

Facing such a violent assault, [Folly] furrowed its brow, muttered “Unreasonable,” and left.

Without its authority, it could hardly withstand such attacks.

After [Folly] vanished, [Fate] immediately retracted all void power, gazing wistfully at the spot where [Folly] had stood, and said in a strange tone:

“What is destined is destined—regardless of who, regardless of distinction.”

“I bear the name [Fate], wield the authority of [Fate], and must answer to what is destined.”

“Whoever seeks to destroy destiny... is the enemy of [Void].”