Audience Assembly · Merriment

[Deception] Sighs with closed eyes:

"Yes.

His proposed method of verification was to personally meet with [the Origin] and request a divine oracle.

He believed that the great Creator had Naming the True God, which meant that we, as His agents, should serve as Heirs of the Cosmos, and that it was only right for Executor to pay homage to the Lord of Grace.

But He was wrong. Creators are heartless; He only cares about His own Experiment and doesn't care about anyone else.

Of course, at that time we did not know that the Cosmos was just a grand Experiment, and when I discovered the truth, I hated [*He] even more than at the Dawn of the Era, and I was even more determined to remove the throne of [the Origin] Divine Throne.

[He] was never my Lord of Grace, but the murderer who killed my only Twin Gods!

Void gust of wind arose in the void, and the hatred of [Deception], like the coldness of [Destiny], howled wildly.

But no matter how Bitter Wind howled, it bypassed Cheng Shi's location and blew into the depths of Nothingness.

I had no choice.

The corners of those eyes finally stopped slanting upwards, and he lowered his gaze, saying:

"After [Destiny] died, [Nothingness] could not continue. Whether for the sake of this Starry Sky where He once existed, or to await [Origin]'s return to deliver a vengeful blow, I must conceal the news of [Destiny]'s death and let 'He' continue to live in this era."

Then...

I tore myself apart and created 'He'.

'He' is not me in the true sense, nor is it [Destiny] in the true sense. I instilled my most despised Predestination will into 'He', completely severing all ties between 'He' and me, thus creating a completely new deity, 'Destiny'!

You can think of it as my Avatar, but it's more like an independent entity.

He never considered himself to be Deception; He only knew that His existence was for the sake of Predestination!

So you should understand why it self-destructed at the end of that false era, because...

He is ultimately me.

No matter how Predestination will paints its mark upon Him, the deepest essence within Him is not true [Destiny], but rather [Deception] born from appearances!

When I, disguised as Outer God, announced my own death, He could not accept the death of [Deception], nor could He bear the pain of [Nothingness] again. Despair overwhelmed His Will, making Him unable to persevere any longer, and He completely gave up the struggle.

Your guess isn't wrong; the "Destiny" you followed did indeed fall in that false era's curtain call, but the true "Destiny"...

He died at the Dawn of the Era and never participated in any of its processes.

Ah, having deceived myself to this point, I finally don't need to lie anymore.

"!!!!!"

Cheng Shi was completely numb. At this moment, his consciousness was like a quagmire, and he could no longer think at all.

He sat stiffly in the Void, passively accepting the news of [Destiny]'s death, accepting the sorrow of the God of Merriment, accepting news he could not bear.

Confused, bewildered, sluggish, and lethargic, he resembled a Puppet.

Amidst the turmoil of his thoughts, a sentence suddenly flashed through his mind:

Where there are Believer, there must be Lord of Grace...

Indeed, this statement is Truth.

The Blind Man foretold [Destiny] at the beginning of the game, while her Lord of Grace [Destiny] directly foretold [The Origin] at the Dawn of the Era...

Destiny, oh my god, really is a series of interconnected destinies.

But can't you accept something better?!

The eyes that hung high in the Void glanced at its Believer once more, seeing what Cheng Shi was thinking, and its tone finally regained a trace of "humanity" from its complete coldness.

"Now you should understand why you are the Predestination, but your blind friend always remains at the Top Rank of the Ladder of Audience [Destiny], right?"

Because her prophecy of [Destiny] at the beginning of the game was strikingly similar to [Destiny] at the Dawn of the Era...

Destiny was very much like Him, especially in matters of piety, so He punished His Believer for her transgression, taking away her blasphemous Mortals eyes.

I both hate and pity their similarity, so after [Destiny] took away their Mortals eyes, I granted them the ability to see into Destiny.

Unfortunately, Mortals receive divine mercy, but my Twin Gods... did not receive mercy.

"..."

It turns out that the reason Blind Man see everything in similar forms to Giggle and Mock is indeed because of the God of Merriment!

I wonder if the Blind Man ever considered that her closeness to Destiny wasn't due to her devotion to Destiny, but rather because she was "born in Rome"...

Cheng Shi chuckled self-deprecatingly, feeling that this era was becoming increasingly absurd.

It's so absurd it's incomprehensible, so ridiculous it's unacceptable.

He let out a long breath, stood up again, stared intently into those eyes, and once again asked the question that had been troubling him.

At this point, the question is actually meaningless; even if we knew the answer, it wouldn't change anything. But Cheng Shi just wants to understand!

Why me?

Since An Mingyu is so close to true [Destiny], why did you choose me?

Was it because my name was explicitly stated in the will of [Destiny] that I was born?

Or is it because [Origin] needs me to be included in the Divine Throne he desires?

I don't understand, what exactly do I have to do with this bullshit of Predestination?

"It's alright."

"???" Cheng Shi was stunned.

[Deception] looked into the depths of Nothingness, seemingly lost in memories, "Before I knew the truth that the Cosmos was just a Creator's Experiment, I didn't think the Clown was anything special."

The reason I chose the Clown is because the Clown himself walked right up to me.

"?

What do you mean? When did I arrive at...?

Cheng Shi suddenly stopped talking, his eyes widening as if he had thought of something.

[The Deception] nodded and continued:

That's exactly right.

I abhor [Destiny]'s fixation on Predestination, and will not show mercy to any creature that comes close to [Destiny's ] will.

You are the only human who betrayed [Destiny] at the Path of Fate's Beginning, and that is the kind of being I am looking for who defies Destiny!

Later I realized that in every world, I had chosen you at that time, the one who had renounced their vow to [Destiny].

Ah, going around in circles, isn't this also a Predestination thing...?

Every world!!!

When Cheng Shi heard this, he felt his hands and feet turn ice cold and his whole body grow cold.

His experiences made him hate Destiny, and his choices at the Path of Fate's Beginning betrayed Destiny, so [Deception] took a liking to him, which is perfectly reasonable.

But when we broaden our perspective, beyond the Cosmos, and see the same script playing out continuously without any change in billions of Slice Universe, then the problem becomes enormous.

Who dares to say that this wasn't a "rule" set by [Origin] for this Experiment?

Who dares to say this isn't Destiny?!

There's no escaping it, there's absolutely no way to escape!

Cheng Shi, suppressing his trembling body, looked up at his Lord of Grace again and asked, word by word:

"So what are your plans?"

At this moment, he finally had a moment to notice [Deception's ] gradually cooling eyes amidst the endless bombardment of knowledge.

He doesn't seem to like to laugh.

Why then is He so keen on pursuing pleasures throughout the Cosmos?

Thinking of this, a sentence that [the Deception] had just said suddenly popped into Cheng Shi's mind:

Life is too bitter; it needs some relief.

Yes, He witnessed the fall of His Twin Gods, tore apart His whole self, and for an entire era, He carried a rebellious will alone, misunderstood by everyone, yet He kept moving forward in silence. Such bitter times certainly needed some fun to cheer Him up.

So it turns out that His laughter was all a mask for His suffering...

It turns out that what [Destiny] said was not false; it was just that [Destiny] itself went astray, and it was its lingering Twin Gods [Deception] that brought it no joy.