Character side story [Deception] · Fool's Game before the curtain (I)

Before the [Faith Game] came, the gods held a Covenant Council to agree on the specific rules of the game.

It was called an agreement, but in reality, it was about fighting for each other's rights.

After all, they are about to spread their Faith wildly in a world devoid of Faith, accepting a massive number of Believer. No one [He] would think that the Divinity gathered through Faith is superfluous.

However, a game is just a game, and the rules only apply to Mortals beings. As long as these details are not written into the [Covenant], the final right of interpretation still belongs to the gods.

Of course, this is the ideal situation.

The less desirable scenario is that a certain "Nothingness" god, arguing illogically, uses the titles of initiator of the "Covenant" and promoter of the "Faith Game" to monopolize all interpretive rights.

Even if the gods do not listen to Him, they cannot escape His sarcasm, ridicule, and mockery.

No one could stand this insult, so the Gods' Covenant Assembly been completed.

Justice) was quite helpless about this, and among all the gods, only one could still laugh after the show was over.

And this only god who could still laugh, before leaving, cheerfully gave the other gods some instructions:

"The location where the game will take place has already been chosen. I know you are all very interested in certain creatures of that world, but I advise you not to go too far."

A forced Faith is only bitter, not sweet.

The gods, each with a different expression, departed. They were already quite used to this deity's various Yin-Yang behaviors.

After the gods departed, [Deception] reappeared in the Void where the Gods' Covenant Assembly been held.

That's right, the god who can laugh is, of course, Deception, and can only be Deception.

He opened his eyes, looked at the spot where [Memory] had once been present, and smiled as he gathered a fragment of [Memory] power from the Void that was about to dissipate.

Those eyes sparkled with countless tiny stars, spiraling back and forth like flowing water. Soon, He found something within that [Memory] power, and chuckled:

"Concealing [Filth and Decay]?"

Interesting.

Is this some kind of retaliation after they discovered I was using my Memory to hide someone?

Hehe~

I found it anyway.

[Compassionate Lord]... If you truly have compassion, you might as well show compassion to me.

A profound glint flashed in those Starry Eyes before they vanished into the Void.

[The Faith Game] The day of its arrival Path of Fate's Beginning.

Above the Void, unseen by Mortals, pairs of Eyes of the Deity opened, casting their gaze upon this fragile world.

They search among billions of living beings for those who interest them. Of course, this search doesn't mean anything. The gods merely "mark" a few Mortals beings whose wills are most compatible. They won't tamper with the Token at the Path of Fate's Beginning, nor will they provide pointless guidance. After all, for them, Faith makes no difference, and even the most compatible Mortals are still just Mortals.

But some gods are an exception.

The moment a player chooses [Destiny] from the [Nothingness] choice, a gaze is instantly cast towards that direction.

[Destiny]!

He saw the Believer who would become his future self.

In truth, this Believer's past was nothing special compared to other Mortals. Some were luckier, and many more were more tragic. Although his Destiny was bumpy, it was far from being favored by Destiny.

The reason for focusing on this is probably because, faced with a choice between [Deception] and [Destiny], he decisively chose [Destiny].

For that player, the choice might be simple: since Mask says to choose the Dice, then just choose the Dice.

But as for [Destiny], He did not consider this a chance occurrence born of heeding advice.

Since [Deception] is always false, its creations naturally cannot tell the truth. Therefore, for [Deception], which knows [Destiny] inside and out, the words spoken by the [Deception] creation that had just attached itself to the Mask were simply an invitation to Faith for a Mortals.

However, the Believer resolutely rejected the invitation of [Deception] and directly chose [Destiny], which is enough to show that his heart was with [Destiny].

Moreover, those eyes that see through the essence of the Cosmos have already discerned that this Mortals utterly despises "Destiny," and that he can still choose "Destiny" despite his resistance... that's not so important.

As the saying goes, Mortals are Mortals after all, and their choices cannot influence the gods.

But!

If this choice gives [Destiny] an extra "topic" to respond to when it encounters its own Twin Gods, it wouldn't hesitate to cast a glance.

So He looked in that direction.

However, no one expected that the moment He looked in that direction, that audacious Believer would reach out to the Mask beside him!

He caught the Mask!

At that moment, not only did the Path of Fate's Beginning fall silent, but the entire Void surrounding [Destiny] was also frozen.

Realizing there was something wrong, the gods quietly left the area, unwilling to get involved in the trouble. [Destiny] snorted coldly and descended directly to the Path of Fate's Beginning.

He will put to death the Mortals who blasphemed [Destiny].

But before His wrath could reach that Mortals, He was blocked at the Path of Fate's Beginning by a familiar force of [Nothingness].

The next second, a pair of identical eyes opened before [Destiny].

[Deception] is here.

His first words after His coming were a mocking remark:

"Oh, isn't this the great [Nothingness] Dominion, my cold-faced sister who never smiles?"

"What, I just warned some gods not to go too far, and now you're going to break the rules?"

"Hmph, it's obvious who broke the rules. I'm here to uphold the rules," [Destiny] said coldly.

[Deception] His eyes darted around. "Then tell me, how do you intend to uphold the rules?"

"That Mortals violated the terms of the Faith choice and should naturally be eliminated."

"That's strange, I don't see which clause he violated?"

"He chose my Token, but then he chose yours. His Faith Token no longer pure. How can that not be a violation?"

[Deception] glanced casually at the Believer tormented by Mask and Dice at the Path of Fate's Beginning, his spiral slightly turning as he smiled broadly:

Where is it no longer pure?

Faith Fusion is a principle advocated by [Truth] and written into the game's terms and conditions. Even if the time for Faith Fusion hasn't arrived yet, what's wrong with a preliminary rehearsal?

"This is not a rehearsal! This is blasphemy, this is pollution!"

"Alright, alright, even if this wasn't a rehearsal, his purity is still absolute, so what kind of blasphemy or contamination is that?"

"?" [Destiny]'s eyes grew colder and colder; He had already sensed the stench of the Twin Gods's sophistry.

[Deception] seemed oblivious to [Destiny's ] increasingly chilling gaze, and continued to smile:

"Can't you see? He's clearly a 'pure' [Deception] Believer who has chosen the Mask."

"..."