The Cosmos's Past?

Cheng Shi was not lying; the Mask in his hand was indeed not a simple Mask, but a divine covenant.

This covenant involves six deities: [Deception], [Death], [Time], [Silence], [Folly], and [Memory]!

To understand the origins of this covenant, we might need to follow the perspective of [Deception] and return to the Dawn of the Era that broke [Nothingness].

[Deception] placed everything He had experienced into this covenant, Cheng Shi entered the collection, gaining a glimpse into the past.

At the Dawn of the Era, [Destiny] perished because of the prophecy of [Origin], and [Deception] was heartbroken and caught off guard.

He became even more determined to rebel against the [Origin], but at that time, the [Deception] did not know what the True Universe was, and even his understanding of the [Origin] was limited to the will that was born at the time of his descent into the world.

Fear swept over him, and he could only endure it in silence.

But He was determined to take revenge.

In order to continue this path of revenge, He must at least ensure the continuation of the Age of Nothingness. It is easy to understand that if the Age of Nothingness were to perish at its very beginning, then Deception would not even have time to plot and scheme.

So, relying on his Deception instincts, he concealed the news of [Destiny]'s death as much as possible, gathering up the Divine Authority that had not yet departed, attempting to deceive the Cosmos.

But at that time there was no [Covenant], nor any Final Decree; the death of [Destiny] could be concealed from all the gods, but not from one particular Him.

[Death]!

Indeed, [Death] knew of Destiny's demise at the Dawn of the Era, and in some ways, it even knew of Destiny's death faster than Deception!

Furthermore, He knew that the death of [Destiny] must be related to [The Origin], because He had not received the half of Divinity that should have been offered to Him from the dead [Destiny].

Death tainted by the [Origin] will is not true [Death], which is why the fear of [Death] intensifies in the Void Era.

[Deception] knew that it was absolutely not enough to resist [Origin] on its own, so it could only take this opportunity to win over [Death] and bind [Death] to its own chariot!

So He immediately went to the door and blocked [Death] in the Fishbone Hall.

He said:

"[Origin] was ruthless, and you've seen the ending of getting close to [*He].

The gods are nothing but [*His] toys, and not even a glance at them is permitted.

I may not be a god, but I cannot stop being myself.

Born into constraints, I refuse to accept this!

Old Bones, are you really willing to accept this?

[Death] remained silent for a long time. At that time, [Deception]'s words were like the sky falling and the earth cracking. Even though the gods had different attitudes toward [Origin], none of them ever brought these words to the forefront!

But the fall of [Destiny] and the resoluteness of [Deception] moved [Death], and He did not immediately agree, but said:

"We alone are not enough..."

[Deception] instantly understood the meaning of [Death], telling Him that they would soon have new allies.

But [Death] could never have imagined how [Deception] would find allies.

[Destiny] is dead, and apart from [Time], no other god can foresee the future. In order to find a viable path forward, [Deception] found [Time] and directly forced the Divine Authority of [Destiny] onto it, saying:

"[Destiny] has fallen. In His prophecy, there is no end to any approach. The Cosmos will eventually return to Nothingness, and there will be no next era."

The [Existence] you've created has lost its meaning. You want to break free from it all, seize the Divine Authority of Destiny, and find a way for this world to survive.

[Deception] Of course He lied. At that time, He didn't care about the world at all; He was only focused on rebellion and revenge.

[Destiny] never made any prophecies related to the world. He died shortly after His descent. The only prophecy He made was about [the Origin], but no one but [Destiny] could see through [Deception's ] lies, unless... [Destiny]'s Divine Authority was taken away!

Upon hearing these words, even though it was a black hole, the eyes of [Time] visibly contracted for a moment.

At that moment, He felt that [Deception] was not [Deception], but rather [Filth and Decay], so seductive and bewitching.

He had thought there was still room for negotiation, but the next line after "[Deception]" is:

"I am destined to go against the will that is close to the [Origin]. If you disagree, without the [Origin], I will turn the legacy of the [Existence] of the previous era to ashes."

You can interpret this as a threat, or choose to disagree, or even 'report' me in exchange for a chance to get closer to [*He], but the ending of [Destiny] has already told you the answer:

If you also want to die, this is indeed a shortcut.

Perhaps you don't care about your own death, but what about the world you created, the [Existence] you cherish?

Even if [Existence] is [*His] will, I don't believe you could be so heartless, otherwise you wouldn't have deduced one world after another, bestowing life with infinite possibilities.

Give the world a chance, and give fear a chance. We can be ourselves, not puppets...

"..."

[Time] offers no choice, just as Predestination offers no choice.

When [Deception] set its sights on Him, He had already lost the chance to refuse and was dragged onto the black car.

Thus, the Fear Faction gained another member.

Next is [Silence]. Actually, [Deception]' The First target was [Chaos], but [Chaos] cannot always communicate normally. The plan, born of fear, needs to be safe, so [Silence] became the third victim.

[Deception] found [Silence], and before the Leaky World Silent Puppet, He told Him everything He had experienced since His descent, even His innermost thoughts, without missing a single word.

Even though [Silence] realized something was wrong and wanted to escape, He continued to speak.

Until [Silence] was forced to know everything, [Deception] laughed:

"It's no use for you to disagree now, because if you don't 'report' it, you're condoning and protecting it; 'reporting' it is tantamount to getting close to it, and getting close to it can lead to death. Do you have the courage to die?"

"..."

At that moment, fear was born from [Silence].

He was aware of the will [Deception] of the others and they were not on His target list, but there was one exception whom He had to bring into this covenant.

[Folly]!

[Folly] Too clever for his own good; [Deception] Wanting to make plans in this era, but lacking confidence in deceiving the other party.

Since we can't hide it anymore, we might as well not hide it at all.

So He approached [Folly], got straight to the point, revealed the truth of [Destiny] to [Folly], and made a bet with him.

"Foul Mouth! Since you're so smart, do you really think this world has a future?"

The bet of [Deception] certainly had a deeper meaning; He wanted to pry open the mouth of [Folly] and have the most intelligent person in the Cosmos [Folly] "guide" Him on a clear path to rebel against [The Origin].

However, [Folly] scoffed at this:

Do you think there's an answer to your Foolish Deed?

[Deception] laughed:

Of course.

I've answered your question; now it's your turn to answer mine: Do you think this world has a future?

I know you're going to say this is a Foolish Deed again, but does that mean you think the world has no future?

"If not, can a great Wise One find a possible future for the world?"

"..."

Ha, you can't!

But I can!

You are not [Destiny], yet you can foresee the future. You are simply using your wisdom to influence the course of the Cosmos, thereby completing your own 'judgment'.

But if you lose your wisdom, relinquish your Divine Authority, and allow the Cosmos to escape your influence, would you still dare to assert that the world has no future?

I'll bet you this, are you in?