Chapter 1326: An Audience with [Death] |
The rooftop of the rest area.
The moment Cheng Shi returned to the roof, his first prayer was directed at [Void] — but [Void] gave not the slightest response from beginning to end, silent as something long dead.
An inexplicable unease stirred in his chest.
He had to consider another possibility: had the two of [Void] truly taken their final bow through that false Curtain Call?
No. Impossible.
Without another word, Cheng Shi switched his prayer target to [Death]. In a string of fervent "devotions" directed at his boss, countless chattering small skulls rained down, piling up on the rooftop into a bone-white gate.
That lord had answered — and sent a messenger to escort him.
"Hurry! Faster! Don't keep him waiting!"
Strange how those same chattering skulls somehow looked endearing today, stripped of death's usual chill, radiating instead a warmth that was difficult to put into words.
Before he could determine whether [Death] knew of the false Curtain Call, or what the god's stance toward that trial was, Cheng Shi's heart was in knots. He didn't know how to face him.
True, the [Death] lord had ultimately appeared on the battlefield when the Outer Gods struck. But [Death]'s final choice had not been the outcome Cheng Shi had hoped for.
Much like Cheng Shi's last farewell to [Death] before he died — by that point, what choice was made no longer mattered, because the only ending was destruction.
But now things were different. Now there was still a choice.
Cheng Shi had to confirm: was this lord who had long sheltered him still part of the Fear Faction? Would he continue to shelter him as before?
If [Death]'s choice was still to hand Fixed Destiny back to [Fate]... then this audience might very well end as another "mutual destruction."
It was with that kind of "resolved-to-die" dread that Cheng Shi bounded up those long Fishbone Hall steps once more.
When he arrived beneath the great skull's throne in his own skull form and looked up at that towering face, his heart clenched. He opened his mouth:
"Great—"
"You. What are you. Scheming. Again?!"
The great skull cut off his greeting before he could finish. Green flames surged in the empty sockets, carrying a note of irritation.
"Where have you. Hidden. My follower. This time?"
"?"
Cheng Shi was taken aback. He hadn't expected that after everything, the first thing [Death] would say was to demand where Zhang Jizu had gone.
A gleam flickered in Cheng Shi's hollow sockets. He countered:
"My lord — do you not know where he went?"
The great skull paused, then let out a heavy rumble.
"You grow. Ever closer. To [Deceit]. Most vexing.
I have continuously. Indulged. [Deceit]'s unreasonable. Demands. Yet you. Once and again. Test. My patience.
Cheng Shi. Tell me. Did [Deceit]. Conceal. My follower's. Location?"
Hearing that, Cheng Shi had a fairly good idea of where things stood — [Death] had no memory of anything that happened during the trial.
Yes. Even this cornerstone of the Fear Faction had forgotten the era-ending invasion of the Outer Gods. This didn't seem like an act. The swaying green flames in those great sockets carried the same quality as ever — flickering with exasperation at [Deceit] and anxious urgency to find his missing follower.
That meant [Death] had not "betrayed" him. Though it was also possible that [Death] had simply forgotten those "uncomfortable memories."
Either way — at the very least, they had both been reset back to the same crossroads. And where there was choice, there was hope.
Cheng Shi deliberated a moment, then decided to tell the truth.
He didn't start with Zhang Jizu's whereabouts. Instead, he recounted the entire false Era Curtain Call from beginning to end, leaving nothing out.
It took a long time. When he reached the part where [Death] himself appeared in the story, the Fishbone Hall erupted — pillars of white bone surged skyward and deathly green flames spread across every surface — and it interrupted him. But he only paused briefly, gritted his teeth, and pressed on, until he reached the moment [War] closed its eyes and the universe fell into void. Only then did he exhale.
Cheng Shi was gambling — gambling on [Death]'s reaction.
He had always believed that a lord who cared so deeply for his follower could not possibly be a heartless god.
And he had been right. When [Death] heard every last word of the story, the god first vanished from the Bone Throne in an instant. When that imposing presence returned moments later with a darkened expression, the first words out of his mouth were:
"[Deceit] — as expected. Cannot be reached.
[Deceit] has no intention. Of meeting me. Nor any intention. Of offering. An explanation.
The [Death] you saw. At the edge of the era. Was not me."
Cheng Shi smiled, and it reached his eyes. "I know. That wasn't you."
"You do not know."
The great skull sighed, a complex weight in the sound. The green flames in those vast sockets reignited and burned low and deep.
"You may have guessed. That this was not. A reset. Carried out by [Time].
Nor was it. A forgetting. Carried out by [Memory].
Nor a phantom. Conjured by [Deceit].
It was instead a Variation. Brought about. By [Fate]."
"WHAT?!"
Cheng Shi was stunned. He could barely believe what he was hearing, his chin practically hammering the floor in disbelief.
"[Fate]?!"
The great skull gazed into the depths of the void, and slowly nodded.
"Correct.
[Time] holds. The Authority of Simulation. And in counterpart. [Fate] holds. The Authority of Variation.
Simulation and Variation. Entangle and oppose. Whichever prevails. Will determine. The world's future.
So Variation and Simulation. Are similar — both can generate. Entirely new. Possibilities.
But [Time]'s Simulation. Seeks truth. Through reality. While [Fate]'s Variation. Writes boldly. Without restraint.
By my will. I would never. Surrender the world. To the hands. Of an Outer God.
The 'me' you saw. Was not me. But another 'me'. Born from. The Variation.
[Deceit] must have. Stolen. [Fate]'s Authority. But [Fate]'s power. Alone could never. Have altered everything. To make. The universe perform. Its own absurd. Farce."
Here the great skull paused, and its voice shifted suddenly in tone, dropping into a deep resonance:
"I do indeed. Fear. [Origin]."
"!!!"
Cheng Shi had never imagined a day would come when he'd hear the words "I fear [Origin]" from the mouth of any Fear Faction member besides the Fun God.
He felt both elated and afraid.
Elated, because [Death] speaking this openly could only mean the god had begun to open his heart — to place genuine trust in him. What trickster ever dreamed that a heart-to-heart game could one day be played between a mortal and a god?
Afraid, because nothing had actually changed — they'd only lived through one illusory trial — yet [Death] had shed the wariness he'd always maintained and was now speaking to him like this. That said everything. [Death] had read [Void]'s intent within that false Curtain Call — at the very least, [Deceit]'s will — and had deeply recognized it. He no longer regarded Cheng Shi as a mere mortal or a "toy" of [Void].
[Death] had placed him on the same level as the gods — and clearly, this change came from an acknowledgment of the "Fixed Destiny" identity.
Finally, [Death] had begun to face it directly — this one thing that could give the world an answer.
"[Origin] is the patron. Who granted all things. And also the abyss. That devours all things.
Any death. That becomes entangled. With [Origin]. Will no longer. Be a true death.
I feared. And felt powerless. So I listened. To [Deceit]'s urging.
Now, looking back. [Deceit] was right.
Fixed Destiny... is the answer.
[Deceit] allowed you. To keep your memories. You should have deduced. That [Deceit] holds. A thread. Of supreme. [Origin] power.
This very. Unparalleled power. Allowed [Deceit] to deceive the world. And script. A cosmic tragedy. Guided by. Variation."
"BOOM—"
Cheng Shi's mind exploded.
This was the first time a true god had confirmed his theory with their own words.
Though the Outer God had spoken it aloud within the false Curtain Call — that had still been fiction, and there was no guarantee [Deceit] hadn't lied in the script.
But now it was confirmed. [Deceit] truly possessed a thread of [Origin] power — enough to influence the entire universe.
Cheng Shi's scalp prickled. The question burst out of him:
"Where did it come from?"
The great skull gazed down at the small skull beneath the throne.
"Death always has. A destination.
When death. No longer belongs. To [Death]. It can only. Belong to. [Origin].
The Bell Ringer. Rang her own. Death knell. Not only did she perish. Beyond this world. She also brought. A thread of [Origin]'s. 'Gaze'. Into this world.
Just as you did. In that trial.
Have you ever considered — that [Deceit]'s use of a Curtain Call. To deceive you. Was not for any. Other reason — but for that thread. Of [Origin]'s 'Gaze'. Drawn down. By your defiance?
Before the trial ended. As the void. Began to swallow all...
Did you. See. [Origin]?"
"!!!!!"
