Listening as the sound from across from him seemed to have vanished, Death slowly leaned back against the chair and spoke to himself:
"If you won't answer, then don't."
"But in truth, the reason you were able to make it this far was because you precisely exploited this point."
"Because of arrogance, we were unwilling to deploy our strongest forces while you were still weak."
"Because of arrogance, when the gods were mocked by your insolence, every one of them fell into rage and lost their judgment."
"And because of arrogance, when facing an opponent, we still wanted to win at the lowest possible cost, completely failing to realize that once you sat down at the gambling table, there was no such thing as a 'guaranteed victory'!"
Death spoke quietly. He had never said these words to anyone before. Now that he had said them, no one heard them either. Only Sin across from him could hear.
What He said was strange. If one ignored the terrifying aura and divine power surrounding Him, He seemed entirely like a human—a master among humans.
Perhaps Death was the end of all things. Having witnessed so many endings, He carried Himself with greater ease.
"Ha ha ha ha!... Why bring this up all of a sudden? Do you think that once I die, there'll be no one left to hear these words of yours?"
Death ignored him and merely shook His head.
"I only want to tell you that before this game began, I had already made every preparation."
"I was prepared to pay the price. I was even prepared to lose!"
"And now, I've said it. I regard you as an opponent. So I don't care whether Pain is alive, whether the Arbiter will betray us, or how Knowledge died..."
"None of