Foolish Game of the Gods - Chapter 125

“But the first experiment… failed.”

“In the end, a god is still a god. Even if it’s a false god, cobbled together from the divine essences of [Birth] and [Corruption], the sheer power of their mutual conflict is far beyond what any mortal could withstand.

So, of course, Zangier’s first attempt failed.

But he didn’t give up!

Once again, he came up with an outlandish plan. This plan, absurd, terrifying, and directly challenging the very nature of faith, finally brought him a glimpse of the possibility of absorbing divine essence!

And the core of this plan was:

Divert the direct, intense conflict between [Birth] and [Corruption] away—transfer it to the realm of mortal faith!

As you know, [Gods] protect their followers.

A true [God], with boundless power, wouldn’t be burdened by the strength of the faith directed towards them. But a false god?

A false god, being incomplete, would weaken when their divine power is pulled and conflicted by faith.

At that point, the conflict between the two opposing divine essences would be buffered by this mortal belief!

This buffer would create an opening!

So, Zangier found a small town near the Abyssal Volcano, perfectly suited for his experiment, during the civil war at the Tower of Logic.

He used the Ritual of Truth to transport the entire town into the void!

Surprised, aren’t you? The Far Dusk Town you see now—it’s in the void.

It doesn’t exist in any reality.

The Ritual of Truth has the divine power to create truth. And truth, as you know, is always right.

That’s why they survived in the void.

Then this mad scholar began the first step of his plan in this void-bound town:

Establish faith!

And so, the giant sun rose in the sky!

[Eternal Sun]…

descended!”

“!!!”

Cheng Shi shuddered violently. Suddenly, everything clicked—the clues, the connections, the mysteries.

The worship of sun and moon, the so-called curses, the bard, the “Divine Envoy”—all of it was a lie!

This was all part of an experiment, and everything they had witnessed was merely a few insignificant steps in this grand scheme!

“Your expression is quite something, Cheng Shi.”

“Yes, just as you’ve guessed, all the inconsistencies you’ve noticed aren’t because you missed any clues. It’s because those clues lie beyond the world you inhabit!

The hand of the experiment manipulates everything, and all you can do is passively accept it.

They raise the townspeople like livestock, capture travelers.

They make the townspeople worship [Eternal Sun], endlessly reproduce to blunt the sharpness of [Birth];

They let the travelers indulge in pleasures while spreading fear through the ‘Divine Envoy,’ thus diffusing the strength of [Corruption].

In this way, Zangier doesn’t even need to bother with the direct conflict between the two gods. He just needs to keep the faith scales from tipping too much—making sure there isn’t too much worship for [Birth], nor too little for [Corruption]…

No, no, he’s beyond brilliant!

He doesn’t have to balance anything at all!!

All he had to do was throw both false gods into the fray, and human survival instincts would ensure the townspeople trapped in the void would balance everything themselves.

When their numbers grow too large, slaughter. When they dwindle, they survive.

And the great scholar? He reaps the rewards!

This poor ‘Divine Envoy,’ who’s spent his whole life trying, is at best just another variable in the grand experiment.

Yes, he is a higher-level variable, a variable that manipulates other variables.

Then…

Once the battle between the divine powers shifted from direct conflict to a battle of faith, the cunning scholars could hide in the shadows and secretly snatch up the splintering…

Authority!”

Madness!

Zangier was mad!

This was no mere experiment. No, it was a terrifying hoax, an inconceivable plot to deceive both [Birth] and [Corruption]!

And the worst part—he had partially succeeded!

By this point, Cheng Shi finally understood why the High Priest pardoned all the travelers the next day and reset their gifting rights.

It was likely because Hu Xuan had birthed too many children the night before.

And since those children were conceived through the gifting ritual, they were all born as yet-to-be followers of [Eternal Sun].

Thus, the balance of faith had been tipped.

The “Divine Envoy” couldn’t find Hu Xuan, so he resorted to a massive slaughter during the night.

When she gave birth to herself—and only to herself—all the unborn followers of [Eternal Sun] perished.

And so, the bloodshed the night before tipped the scales of faith once more…

The older Cheng Shi was absolutely right.

Zangier didn’t need to do anything, because someone else was doing it all for him.

And that someone was merely a variable in the grand experiment…

Is he?

A chilling thought crept into Cheng Shi’s mind.

This mysterious guide, this suffering “Divine Envoy,” this High Priest who controlled everything in the town, was he originally part of the town? Or…

Was he a “controlled variable” sent by the Alchemical Creations Department?

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

Cheng Shi didn’t dare pursue this line of thought any further. What if Zangier’s experiment actually succeeded one day?

The older Cheng Shi noticed Cheng Shi’s thoughts and shook his head with a smile.

“Success? No, no, no. He failed… again.”

“Huh?”

Cheng Shi was confused. He looked at the older Cheng Shi and then at the massive, suspended corpse before them, blinking several times in disbelief.

“You mean…”

“That corpse is the best proof. No one has ever conducted an experiment this insane, which means that no matter how glorious the concept, until it’s accomplished, it remains pure fantasy!

Zangier, the scholars of the Alchemical Creations Department, even the members of the Council of Scholars—they never imagined that the false god they pieced together from fragments of divine essence…

Would develop the consciousness…

of a [God]!”

“!!!??”

Cheng Shi’s jaw dropped, his words stammering as he spoke:

“You’re telling me…

[Eternal Sun]…

came to life?”

“Correct. But not now.

It’s recorded in the Pillar of [Birth] that:

When the divine essence coalesced, consciousness was born. When that consciousness grew strong enough to awaken, a new emissary was born!

And the name of that emissary was…

[Eternal Sun].

However, shortly after its birth, it perished.

As for the reason—no one knows.”

“……”

Cheng Shi’s mind was completely overwhelmed. He swallowed hard, took a few deep breaths, and then, face pale, said:

“But neither I nor my teammates have ever heard of such an… emissary.”

“Of course. From birth to destruction, it may have only existed for a brief instant. If I hadn’t stumbled across the Pillar of [Birth], I wouldn’t have known either.”

Cheng Shi’s expression shifted slightly. For the first time, he asked the older Cheng Shi a question probing into the unknown:

“What is the Pillar of [Birth]?”

“It’s a… ‘fossil’ of life that you’ll never want to look at twice.

When the life forms that worship and believe in [Birth] go extinct, a plaque grows on the Pillar.

You can think of it as a museum, except that its exhibits are made from the piled-up flesh of those who once worshiped That God.”

“……”