The entire world began to collapse inward, white light refracting toward the center, shrinking this space until it felt very small, like a cage.

Here, no one could probe in; it was completely independent, a space created by the Arbitrator himself.

This was the execution space He had created to deal with His final, greatest problem.

Watching the white radiance sweep over everything, He exhaled, feeling a relaxation after the strain.

Finally, this matter, at last, was over...

Not hearing any reply to what Lu Ce had said to him, He did not care and continued speaking:

“If you die, no one will ever know about this anymore.”

“Hrrrrrr...”

“You were using me from the start, and I did, as you wished, help you get rid of a god.” 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

“Hrrrrrr...”

“To have a god accompany you to the grave before you die, that’s not a bad testament to your power.”

“Hrmmrrr...”

“Given the scene before you, you probably expected this. Before you die, do you have anything to say?”

“Grrrrrr...”

......

Arbitrator: ###

The calm expression on His face began to show strain, features twisting.

No matter what He said, this guy simply had no ability to answer like a human—he kept making those hrrr-snuffling sounds.

He listened with mounting irritation.

Why, no matter the moment, could this fellow perfectly manipulate his emotions?

He spun around and, looking at Lu Ce crawling on the ground like a single-celled organism, roared:

“Are you already dead, incapable of any life activity?!”

“Then die for me!”

Saying that, He suddenly lifted a foot and kicked out, carrying the power of stars across the sky, toward Lu Ce’s head!

Lu Ce had no reaction and kept making those hrrr noises.

The Arbitrator’s foot halted a mere inch from Lu Ce’s brow, stopping with great difficulty.

Gale-force energy blew endlessly in this cramped space; the Arbitrator helplessly pressed his hand to his forehead.

“Damn...”

The other clearly had no sense now; anything he said was just talking to himself.

He could kill him right here, but seeing that he didn’t react at all, He felt that delivering the kick would leave Him strangely empty.

Whatever, getting mad at an idiot is pointless.

Thinking so, He forced his mood to calm, raised a finger, and pulled the man off the ground, making him float in midair.

“If you don't have the ability, don’t eat so much!”

Muttering in exasperation, the Arbitrator suppressed the Knowledge divine power inside Lu Ce with his own strength, withdrawing it back into himself.

Then He began protecting the man’s spirit, attempting to awaken him.

While doing all this, His expression was extremely displeased.

Mainly because, after gaining his own awareness, He was no longer a fool and could start to understand the thinking of Sin.

—This guy devoured power so recklessly because he assumed I would help him, right?!

Damn it... when he wakes, I'll kill him...

The red flow of light slowly dissipated, reshaping into a red face that then blurred.

Finally, it returned to that seven-colored mask, hanging smoothly on Lu Ce’s face in its simplest, primitive form.

“Grrrrrr...” Lu Ce’s mouth still made that utterly senseless sound.

The Arbitrator frowned, staring intently at Lu Ce, and said coldly:

“Stop pretending if you’re awake.”

“You tell me... should I kill you?”

He repeated the question, since no one else could hear anyway...

On Lu Ce’s multicolored mask, though, streaming light gradually formed a smiling face *^____^*, and a somewhat eerie chuckle issued forth.

“What’s the rush? Don’t you know it’s best to squint a bit longer after just waking up?”

“Also, I guess... didn't you just say that to me a moment ago?”

“You saw I didn’t react, woke me up, and then said it again? You really have a sense of humor.”

Arbitrator: ...

For a moment He found it hard to express his feelings, so He said nothing. He reached out into the void and grasped; the killing intent-laden power immediately surrounded Lu Ce.

That force compressed him, as if it could crush him the next second.

“Heh... hahahaha!”

Amid this crisis, Lu Ce suddenly burst into loud laughter, the light on his face shifting until it settled into the purple of Lust.

Among all his masks, this one looked most like a human and was the most handsome.

Now, that mask had been chosen by Lust; the peach-blossom eyes seemed to ensnare souls.

The Arbitrator, without hiding his appearance, faced him directly across the distance.

“What? Scaring me? You mean you can kill me at any moment.”

“But you can’t bring yourself to do it, right? If you could, you would have done it already.”

Lu Ce smiled as he spoke.

On the surface, the two seemed like butcher and prey, but in truth their confrontation felt evenly matched.

Both felt somewhat out of place in their respective camps.

Lu Ce had never been considered an ordinary human; his mask seemed to block everything human about him, becoming a symbol beyond humanity.

And the Arbitrator ought to be at god level, yet He had never actually been treated as a god.

These two anomalies, two conspirators who’d taken a blade to the game’s norms and should be mortal enemies, now stared at each other.

“Killing you would mean only I would know about this,” the Arbitrator said coolly.

“Oh? Then I know. You yourself don’t quite understand why your subconscious refuses to kill me, so you try to extract answers from me, right?”

The Arbitrator paused, stunned; he had not considered that his subconscious would not want to kill Sin.

But hearing the other say that...

“Seems that’s indeed the case, hehe.”

“Because the answer is right on the surface, my dear brother. Kill me, and the previous events will be known only to you.”

“What will you do without me~”

The Arbitrator’s brow furrowed tightly. Suddenly He discovered that Sin before him seemed unusually arrogant, tilting his head back as he spoke:

“Arbitrator, did you think my brother’s name was called in vain?”

“From the moment I set my sights on you, I never planned to let you go!”