Pleasure watched as the criticism against him came to an end and leaned back in his chair, looking somewhat unsatisfied, as if he hadn't had enough.

To be honest, although the consequences of his own spontaneous rebellion were something even he hadn't anticipated, watching the other gods lose their composure still gave him an inexplicable sense of pleasure.

They lost, facing the risk of dissolution... but what did that have to do with him?

Anyway, in this round of the Game, he hadn't lost anything. On the contrary, he had gained many benefits. The only pity was being stabbed by that little girl...

It would be even better if they all lost and died! The thought of a group of gods losing a life-or-death wager game to a human—how delightful that sounds!

Just thinking about it made him feel quite amused.

Wait... maybe that's not right either. If that really happened, the one who would benefit the most might not be him, but Death...

Speaking of which, he wondered how much benefit Death gained from Knowledge's dissolution this time. Could it be more than what he got?

As he pondered this, he simultaneously divided part of his attention to observe the Arbitrator at this moment.

He actually felt something was very off about the Arbitrator right now, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly.

Seizing the moment before the other gods started asking questions, he proactively spoke up:

"Let's not talk about useless things first. I want to ask you something."

"I was present when 'Knowledge' died, I even participated in the game. I know what kind of game his Life and Death Boundary is."

"He was practically invincible within his game scenario. I can't imagine at all how 'Sin' could win, and he didn't show any signs of being about to win either."

"Why did you rule that He lost?"

At the meeting of the gods, in front of all the gods, he brought up this matter once again.

The Arbitrator's heart stirred, remembering another piece of advice that "Sin" had given him.

—"No matter what demands they make of you, reasonable or unreasonable, whether you can fulfill them or not, your first response must always be to refuse."

"After some back-and-forth, reluctantly agree to the things you were already going to do anyway. This way, it makes the things you genuinely intend to refuse seem reasonable."

But this matter was absolutely a question he truly couldn't answer! 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"I'm sorry, I can't say anything about that."

Pleasure immediately narrowed his eyes, and the other gods also looked over.

What did 'can't say' mean?

"You firmly refused during that game before, and you're still insisting now?"

"Arbitrator, your stance is questionable..."

Hearing these aggressive words, the Arbitrator seemed to calm down instead, as if recalling the first method "Sin" had taught him. He spoke neither submissively nor arrogantly:

"This isn't a matter of stance. To be honest, I find that guy very displeasing too, and I'd like him to die quickly."

"But before the game started, it was already established that the manner of his victory cannot be disclosed."

"Knowledge's death has already shaken some of the Game's fundamental rules. At a time like this, we really shouldn't keep violating the rules."

"This is a critical period. For the stability of the Game, I hope you all understand."

The Arbitrator spoke with his head lowered, slightly bowing, appearing meek and submissive.

This attitude when facing the gods had been his daily routine before, but now, performing it gave him an uncomfortable, twisted feeling in his heart.

He didn't yet know that this twisted feeling was called humiliation.

He had already broken free from his shackles. In terms of actual strength, he surpassed any single god!

From the moment he gained independent will, he no longer wanted to speak with his head bowed.

The stability of the Game was in the common interest of all the gods. With this reason given, it was indeed difficult to press him further.

Pleasure looked at him thoughtfully. This type of response always gave him a feeling of being brushed off.

But those who shared his sentiment were in the minority. After all, Knowledge was already dead. Who cared how He died?

For those gods who were tricked by Pleasure this time and lost part of their power, the next game was the main focus.

From among the points of light in the palace, a god whose identity was unclear suddenly spoke:

"Can the next game start right now? There's no need to prepare anything. We need to hurry."

"That won't do. The Game requires a buffer time for announcements. If you all have already discussed and decided, we can announce the time for the next game now."

"Give me a chair. I want to manifest."

Suddenly, a somewhat weak voice rang out.

"That's not really possible..." The Arbitrator, firmly remembering "Sin's" method, instinctively refused.

Huh?

All the gods turned their heads in unison, looking at the Arbitrator with some astonishment.

Damn it, this one is possible! There's absolutely no reason for this to be impossible!

Cursing inwardly, the Arbitrator realized he seemed to have applied the formula incorrectly and hurriedly spoke up:

"No, I mean, this will require a brief wait."

After uttering a somewhat vague sentence, the Arbitrator quickly took action, wanting to divert some attention. He casually made a new chair materialize beside the long table in the Giant's Palace.

Then, an illusory, ink-blue airflow swirled, condensing into a body in a somewhat transparent manner, appearing on that chair.

—Nightmare!

Seeing that it was actually Him, the Arbitrator was momentarily stunned. Pleasure, however, said with great curiosity:

"Oh? It's actually you! Shouldn't you have already entered a deep sleep?"

"I thought you were on the verge of death. I didn't expect you could still come out. Impressive."

Hearing Pleasure's words, Nightmare's entire form rippled with a hatred as solid as congealed ice, forcing himself not to look at the other!

The reason he had ended up in this state today was entirely thanks to Him! And He actually dared to...

But he didn't want to complicate matters now. For something like Pleasure, killing him just for fun was entirely possible.

"My time is limited. Since none of you have asked the key question all this while, I'll ask it."

"Arbitrator, the next game needs to start as soon as possible. Furthermore, random matching is no longer acceptable. The player who won against us in the last game must be the one to face us again!"

Here it comes!

The Arbitrator knew that this matter was undoubtedly the most critical point of this meeting.

He and "Sin" had spent the longest time discussing precisely this issue.

After a moment's thought, he decided to stick to the formula and refuse first.

"I'm sorry, regarding this matter..."

"Arbitrator." Suddenly, a somewhat authoritative voice interrupted him.

A god who had been sitting at the round table all along without expressing any opinion suddenly spoke, bringing with him an immense sense of pressure that came crashing forward.

—Life!

"Don't you think you've refused us a bit too many times?"

Wrong!

Alarm bells blared loudly in the Arbitrator's mind.

How could I have completely trusted that guy, "Sin"?!