Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 124 Gambling in Leisure Time
Within the Crystal Palace, the ancient chessboard, which has stood since the beginning of creation, remains, covered with countless pieces. These pieces include mortal kings, celebrated heroes, even frail women, loving mothers, and valiant warriors… Regardless of status, morality, or right or wrong, all living beings are pieces on this chessboard, while on either side, gods and demons who control the destinies of countless people silently place their pieces.

This game of chess, which has lasted for tens of thousands of years, has involved the fates of countless beings. And how many lives has it unknowingly altered? Perhaps only the gods and demons on either side of the chessboard can know the answer.

The dark creature casually toyed with a chess piece, gazing at the board before it, lost in thought, before suddenly speaking.

"God, besides this chessboard, would you be willing to play a small game with me?"

On the opposite side of the dark entity, the divine voice, shrouded in radiance, remained noncommittal, simply stating calmly.

"What are you gambling?"

The dark entity, whose face was obscured, casually twirled a black chess piece in its hand, a piece symbolizing the fate of a certain human king. The power emanating from the dark entity was slowly permeating the chess piece, gradually influencing the fate of the human king who was still completely unaware of it.

Without any action, or even any thought, simply touching, being tainted by, seeing, or even being involved with anything related to the dark entity known as "the enemy of God, Satan," will gradually affect one. Like matter captured by the immense gravity of a black hole, it will slowly and steadily fall towards the abyss... little by little... little by little...

This man king's mad fate was thus sealed.

"Boom!"

The dark entity casually placed the newly added piece on the complex and chaotic chessboard, then tapped its head with its hand and spread one hand towards the god, saying...

"How about we wager Metatron's loyalty to you?"

The tyrannical, inhuman pupils dilated slightly, a hint of interest in them.

It seemed to be plotting something.

"Why? I don't think there's anything worth betting on."

But before the things of darkness, God spoke only quietly.

“Metatron’s loyalty to me is beyond question. It is a product of my will, just like a person’s hands and feet. Angel Raziel, can hands and feet defy a person’s will? Can they go against a person’s will? No, an angel’s thoughts come from me, an angel’s reason comes from me, everything about an angel comes from me. An angel is my messenger and cannot possibly rebel against me.”

God's tone was calm and even, yet it carried an unquestionable divine authority.

As God said, angels, messengers of heaven, are the embodiment of God's will, beings who convey and carry out God's mission. Even those guardian angels who have been tainted by desire and mated with human women to give birth to irrational giants, still believe in the God who created the universe and would never disobey His will.

However, the dark entity shook its finger in denial and then said, word by word.

"But what if you want to cause the angels to fall?"

Inside the palace, all was silent; the god did not immediately answer the words of the darkness.

Then, the dark being touched its forehead and looked at the god before it, who was shrouded in endless radiance.

"I discovered the game of chess that has lasted for tens of thousands of years long ago... God, you don't really care whether the world evolves as I've heard those legends, or rather, you're even quite interested in making those legends happen."

"Eden, Adam, Eve, Cain, Noah... or rather, the yet-to-be-present Son of God, Jesus, all the legends are being born one by one, and you see all of this but do not stop it, or rather, you are actually enjoying it."

"It's like a director who has read the script, enthusiastically directing the actors to perform the plot, and then casually making some changes. God, you don't really care whether mankind has fallen or whether angels have fallen. As long as the drama on stage is interesting, that's enough for you."

As it spoke, the dark creature couldn't help but laugh. Then it picked up a chess piece from the board and continued speaking while observing the situation on the board.

“I once heard a legend, a legend about the fallen angel Lucifer, an angel who was once favored by God but ultimately rebelled against God.”

"Of course, it was actually just a copying error. The original meaning was simply 'Why did the morning star fall from the sky?' It was originally used to satirize the fallen Babylonian king, but in multiple translations and copies, 'morning star' was mistakenly translated as 'Lucifer.' Later, the word 'morning star,' which was originally just a metaphor, was gradually personified, eventually giving rise to a legend about the fallen angel Lucifer..."

The black piece, representing an unknown assassin, casually knocked over a white piece. That piece, representing the fate of a celebrated hero, then fell unwillingly to the assassin's dagger. The black piece was placed.

With a few simple strokes, a destiny set decades in the future was already determined.

“However… God, I can keenly sense that you are quite interested in this legend.”

A glimpse of the eyes of something in the darkness.

"As you said, angels are a product of your will, your hands and feet, but if you were to have the idea of ​​causing the angels to rebel, then... what would Metatron, as the King of Angels, choose?"

"God loves the world, but does God love angels?"

“I once asked Metatron this question within my temple, and it naturally didn’t answer me. Instead, after time resumed its flow, it tried to fight me within my temple and caused quite a ruckus, destroying dozens of my underwater temples. But it is precisely because of this that I find it so interesting…”

The dark creature, whose face was obscured, chuckled softly.

"What do you think the outcome will be?"

Before the darkness, the god, shrouded in endless radiance, spoke calmly.

The dark creature propped its head up, holding a black chess piece in its other hand, examining it closely as it casually replied.

"I naturally don't know what the outcome will be."

Its tone was calm, making it difficult to understand.

"I can completely control the material world, but I cannot completely control the mental world, because I cannot fully understand the mental world."

“I can understand what loyalty is, and I understand the snake woman’s loyalty to me. It is a complex emotion that is a mixture of fear, awe, dependence, worship and other emotions. She awes me, so she is loyal to me.”

Looking at the black chess pieces in front of him, even when talking about the subordinates who had been loyal to him the longest, his cold pupils remained unmoved, as if he were talking about an insignificant ant, only indifference.

"Without a doubt, the snake woman is loyal to me, but that loyalty is not absolute. If one day I were to order her to cease being loyal to me, she would resist my command, because even though she reveres me, she still has her own will. Given the circumstances, she may still disobey my orders for some reason. In other words, if one day the snake woman were to suddenly rebel against me, I would not be surprised at all."

“However, Metatron’s situation is different from that of the snake woman. Metatron was born entirely according to your will. You could say he is a part of you. I can understand the snake woman’s loyalty, but I can’t understand what Metatron’s loyalty to you is. Naturally, I have no way of knowing how he will ultimately choose. But that’s precisely why it’s so interesting… isn’t it?”

His cold, upright snake-like eyes glanced over.

The god before me was enveloped in endless radiance, and it seemed as if the entire universe could be seen through the boundless radiance surrounding Him…

Cold, deathly silent, profound, hollow...

Light does not necessarily mean warmth.

God did not answer the dark being directly, but merely glanced at the dark being before Him and then spoke.

"Raziel, I have given you the duty to oversee good deeds and to test the faith of all living beings on earth. Thus, all things in heaven and on earth will be under your watch. Those who are destined to fall will fall, and the steadfast will uphold the right path. Angels and humans alike, without exception."

God did not answer directly, but his meaning was clear enough. The dark creature chuckled and said nothing more.

Neither the gods nor the demons discussed any specific details of the gamble, such as the possible bets or the stakes, because there was no need for them; it was just a casual game. What the gods and demons were more concerned about was the ignorant child on earth named Noah…

"God loves the world, but does God love angels?"

(End of this chapter)