Chapter 62

Chapter Intermission (This Conversation May Not Be Recorded) Gods’ Games We Play Elements, the superior spiritual realm: a “land of different rules” where the gods resided. For a human to enter this place, they needed to use one of the doors called Divine Gates. This was one of those places—but it had never yet been a stage for the gods’ games. As such, no human knew of it. No one had yet set foot in this Elements. Therefore, no one overheard the voices that spoke here. (This conversation may not be recorded.) “The interference with the Divine Gates proved successful, no?” The words were all spirit and power, reverberating. Someone, somewhere, spoke to someone else. The voice contained limitless compassion, love, and even a pinch of sorrow. “Thank you, Nibelung, O Great Beast. The Elements to which the Divine Gates connect has been fixed as the Lucemia labyrinth. Thanks to you, the connection has been established with all Divine Gates around the world. With this, all humans will be gathered in a game that is impossible to complete. The humans will soon surrender. They’ll give up. The gods’ games are finally over.” Silence. A long time passed, so long that a human would have found it agonizing. “Heckt-Maria.” Someone with a manly voice spoke to another person. “Lucemia has been invaded. The snake has arrived.” At those words: “……Uroboros?!” the female voice asked. It was a rhetorical question. “A god has intervened in the game of another god?” “Affirmative.” “…Why?” Another profound silence. The reality was that even the supposedly all-powerful gods had no way of knowing. Uroboros was one of them. Even the almighty gods could not read the mind of another almighty god. “The snake… The snake could take over the game master privileges of Lucemia. And as game master, it would be possible to change the labyrinth’s rules.” The labyrinth’s game master—its creator—was, naturally, the very god who had built the maze. But that god had disappeared, and so the game master’s seat stood empty. If Uroboros, the snake, were to sit in that empty seat, it could remake the maze on a whim into something that could be cleared. That was not desirable. “I will chase the snake out before it can threaten Lucemia,” said the female voice, now frighteningly cold. “The labyrinth must remain unconquerable for all eternity.”