Deception, Existence, Shadow

(D cup.)

But Cheng Shi knew that tolerance was always limited. His heart clenched, and without hesitation, he put his hands behind his back and grabbed a Mask.

If Dice bring forth "Destiny," then logically, Mask should also bring forth "Deception."

Before [Decay] could even speak, Cheng Shi clenched his Mask and silently recited in his mind:

"Life is as numerous as the stars, beyond our reach..."

However, the Mask remained motionless and did not respond.

Cheng Shi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly tried to change his words: "The path we came from and the path we went through are all predestined!"

"The Lies Like Yesterday..."

"Unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood..."

He was frantic with worry, but the Mask still didn't react.

Cheng Shi's heart sank. [Deception] was ignoring him, and [Destiny] was fighting with him. This was bad; things were about to go far away.

Cold sweat poured down his forehead and back. He took another step back and quietly clutched the "Death" Amusement Ring in his hand.

He was using this to encourage himself, hoping that the aura of death would make the person before him think twice.

But clearly, if it were just a creation, it wouldn't amount to anything in their eyes.

The aged giant slowly opened his eyes, his cloudy pupils filled with sorrow and grief. He seemed to have some unfulfilled wish, but his body appeared to have reached its end.

He looked at the tiny Cheng Shi and weakly squeezed out a hoarse sound from his almost dry throat.

"[Deception]... Believer... you did... very well..."

?

Just that one sentence almost made Cheng Shi's skull explode!

What did He say?

Praise me for doing a good job?

Imagine if you just demolished someone's house, and the next thing you know, that person comes up to you and praises you for doing a good job. What do you think they're up to?

Could it be a feint followed by a sneaky self-inflicted death sentence, delivered in a Yin-Yang?

Cheng Shi panicked, but he regained his composure.

Because he instantly realized that if He didn't want him to live, then he wouldn't have been able to hear those words at all.

So he steadied himself, suppressing his fear, and took a small step forward, first feigning utmost reverence as he praised:

"Praise be to you, great God of Decay!"

May all beings in the world transform their bodies into something more precious...

Except for me.

May all things in the Cosmos both progress and decay!

Besides me.

Then, filled with deep remorse, he bowed his head and admitted his mistake:

"Bound by the rules of the Trials, I, Cheng Shi, the traveler of [Nothingness]'s Path of Fate, the second treasure of [Deception], the favored child of [Destiny], a part-time employee of [Death], and a candidate Emissary of [Chaos], have committed some minor acts of blasphemy against you..."

But please allow me to explain that I have never committed any real blasphemy against you, and those so-called 'offerings' were not out of devotion to [prosperity].

I simply wanted to pass the Trials, and perhaps my methods were a little too extreme in the process. I deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused you and am willing to bear some... well, not fatal... responsibility for it.

The already slow-moving giant became even more sluggish after hearing this long string of rambling words.

He stiffly turned his head, and when he opened his eyes to look at Cheng Shi again, the black blood in his eyes dripped down even faster.

You don't need to be afraid...

I summoned you here... only to see if this former, useless, Deception Believer... is also a pitiful person like me...

Unfortunately... you are too much like Him... and not in accordance with my will...

[Deception] Believer... you've done well... but remember to stay away from [Prosperity]...

"?"

Cheng Shi was stunned; his mind went completely blank because of the sheer amount of information contained in the word "Decay."

He seemed to be praising me!

Ah?

What exactly did I do that satisfied you, bro?

Has this world gone mad?

I offered up prosperity, and He gave me a question; I offered up Decay, and He praised me in return.

No, could this be a script written by Deception?

Why does the word "fun" seem to be subtly shining behind all of this?

Speaking of the God of Merriment, [Deception] might not be in a very good situation right now.

When the [Faith Game] encountered an unexpected event, and [Prosperity] broke the Order and descended upon the Trials, those eyes, painted with spirals and starlight, immediately sensed the anomaly and vanished into the Void to rush to the front line of gossip.

But when He opened His eyes with a playful smile, He found himself beneath a Starry Sky where stars twinkled rapidly. Looking at the distorted time around Him, warped by excessive acceleration, He...

They laughed even more heartily.

"[Time] is precious."

Under the Starry Sky, time twisted and became increasingly distorted, and countless rays of light collapsed into two terrifying black hole pupils, looking at Him both quickly and slowly.

"Haven't seen you for a long time."

"Yes, it's been a long time. You're still as annoying as ever." Starry and spiral eyes blinked, searching for loopholes in time.

"The same to you."

The eye of a black hole always seems to be concise and to the point. It stands in the Starry Sky, and with each blink, time around it rushes by for a moment, making the Starry Sky show the splendor of the stars rising and falling, being born and dying.

When the blink of an eye stops, the distorted traces of time come to a complete standstill, solidifying into an unchanging eternity.

The Change of time prevented [Deception] from slipping away, so it gave up trying and sighed deeply.

"I can't even fool myself into thinking this is just a memory, that it all happened a million years ago."

So... the Memory are still there. You brothers are really united.

As soon as the words were spoken, a new star was born in the silent Starry Sky. It gradually Change over time, and then disappeared. In the ever-changing river of time, it was born and died many times. In the end, all the traces of its existence were connected to draw a pair of eyes that were engraved with the vicissitudes of history.

Those eyes flashed with the many memories of that star, and in the instant they appeared, it seemed as if they had weathered countless years of wind and frost, filling the entire Starry Sky with a mysterious and ancient aura.

The spiraling, star-like eyes looked at Him and scoffed:

"Two against one? What, you want me to make the first move?"

His eyes, etched with the marks of time, looked at [Deception] without joy or sorrow, and he spoke in a voice full of vicissitudes:

"There's one more."

As soon as those words were spoken, a figure appeared faintly beneath those playful, mischievous eyes.

It really was just a human figure, a shadow of a person floating above the Starry Sky, without a physical form...

The shadow, like a paper cutout, twisted and turned with the Storm of time. After finally smoothing itself out, it stretched out a hand to greet the three pairs of eyes before it:

"Tsk, we're one short for a game. Today... poker or mahjong?"

Time is eternal, Memory is devoid of joy or sorrow, and Deception is rampant.

He glanced at the shadow, his eyes showing slight displeasure.

"It's one thing to stay secretly, but why didn't you call me beforehand if there was going to be a good show?"

The shadow paused, scratched its head, and chuckled dryly, "It's just that I didn't have time."

"Then how did you have time to notify [Destiny]?"

"Uh... we just happened to run into each other, so I couldn't hide it from them."

"Tch, you think I don't know that He helped you cover up the traces?"

"You're a traitor!"

"..." Shadow sighed helplessly, "[Nothingness] is the only one, where did this outsider come from, my Lord of Grace?"

"Oh, that sounds nice. In that case, why don't you let my dear sister come back and stand in the corner for me while I go and cause trouble for [Prosperity]?"

The shadow nodded vigorously:

"Sure, as long as these two are willing, I will definitely support them wholeheartedly."

But the question is, do they both agree?

As he spoke, the shadow looked towards [Time] and [Memory].

Time is eternal, Memory is devoid of joy or sorrow, and Deception is astonishing.

He scoffed:

"If the choice of [existence] is [silence], then please let me know before you completely follow Him, so that I can also join in the fun."

Upon hearing this, the shadow burst into laughter.

But no matter how much these two laugh, the time and space and Memory of this place remain unbreakable.

Seeing that they couldn't find an opportunity, neither their eyes nor their shadow could smile anymore.

They exchanged a glance and both sighed.

"My Lord of Grace, we failed to deceive you, what should we do?"

"What does this have to do with me? You're not asking me for help. I'm just sorry that I didn't get a front-row seat for such a great show. But you're in trouble. Do you have any 'last words' before you're deported? Hurry up and say them."

Shadow touched his nose and laughed, "There's not much to say, I just came back to visit."

The two people in front of us were still talking nonsense when [Memory], who had been silent all along, finally spoke again.

"No one can break the [Covenant] and kill [prosperity], not [Truth], and not [Deception] either."

Whatever you're after, it's all in vain.

The Covenant is above all else; we all know that.

I may not delve into whether this was an accident, but I will keep a close eye on my Memory Archive to prevent unauthorized entry in the future.

[Deception] scoffed, looking at [Memory] with Yin-Yang tone:

"Since [Existence] thinks I can't kill [Prosperity], then why are you brothers surrounding me here?"

Do you want to witness me and my Believer Sinking the Sea of Desire, sharing the Divine Authority of Birth?

"..."

"..."

"..."

The shadow froze, coughed twice, and offered a friendly reminder: "Humans and gods cannot share the Divine Authority of [Birth]."

Those eyes scoffed, looking at it and saying, "Are you human?"

"..."

That's a good point.

I'm really not...

Unable to refute, Shadow chose to mute.

As the shadow fell silent, the flow of time in the Starry Sky returned to normal. The black hole eye, outlined by the light, glanced at the shadow gently, and then the shadow began to fade away.

It sensed itself being pulled back to its original space by the power of [Time], and before disappearing, it laughed loudly:

"I think Time is a bitch too!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the shadow vanished.

All the loopholes in the current spacetime have been patched up.

[Time] remained silent, glanced at [Deception], and then quietly departed.

[Memory] watched [Time] depart, sighed, closed its eyes, and said:

"Isn't it good to be close to [*He]?"

Those eyes, painted with stars and spirals, blinked and feigned ignorance, saying, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."

"You understand."

"Alright, alright, I understand. Since I understand, how about we celebrate by having a fight?"

"..."

History's gaze vanished with a crash, giving it no chance to intervene.

"Tch, boring."

As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished into the Starry Sky.