The appearances of both individuals simultaneously manifested before everyone, capturing the gazes of all other players present.
The name "Sin" was thunderously renowned, and that signature mask was something no one could fail to recognize.
So, this lady in black must be the "Arbitrator" for this round?
Another Divine Messenger openly entering the field to compete with Lu Ce?
The woman with heavy smoky eye makeup lifted her chin, adopting a superior posture as she looked Lu Ce up and down, observing his current arrogant appearance.
"You are 'Sin'?"
"Heh, you do look the part, it's just... you're a bit too ignorant of your own limitations."
Her lips, painted a deep purple, parted slightly. Those thin lips gave off a sharp, acerbic impression.
Fittingly, the words that emerged from her mouth immediately began with belittlement.
Lu Ce: ...
No words came from the mouth of Pride; he remained silent like a statue, his body completely motionless.
The expression on his mask resembled that of a stone sculpture, making it unclear if he even retained vital signs.
The Divine Messenger opposite raised an eyebrow and asked:
"What? Are you mute? Why aren't you speaking?"
"You knowing who I am is sufficient." Finally, Pride spoke, his expression still unnervingly calm. "I don't care who you are."
The woman was momentarily stunned; these words caught her off guard, leaving her briefly at a loss for how to respond.
Was this not just arrogance anymore?
Why did he act as if he were the one in control here?
From within a pillar of light, someone finally spoke up.
"So, who are you anyway?!"
"Could you hurry up with the self-introduction and not waste everyone's time?"
Lu Ce's eyes didn't move, but from the voice, he could roughly guess who was speaking.
Hmm... Sun showed up after all.
Though quite rude, Sun had, after all, broken the awkward stalemate for him. The woman glanced towards the light pillar before refocusing her gaze intently on Lu Ce.
"Heh, don't care who I am, is that it?"
"Though it seems others here still do care quite a bit."
"Because they all know exactly who I am," Pride stated flatly.
His calm tone carried an inherent, unshakeable dominance—devoid of any provocation, yet it seemed to firmly suppress the other's imposing aura.
—Everyone here understands my prestige; you are the one who's the nobody!
The woman's expression darkened slightly. This attempt to establish dominance before the game began didn't seem very effective.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she smiled and shook her head.
"Your tongue is quite sharp."
"Since we're already being open about it, there's no need for further concealment."
"After this game concludes, you will be my reward~."
After saying this, she even licked her lips provocatively at Lu Ce.
Xie Antong frowned within her light pillar, wondering inwardly if this was another Pleasure?
But she didn't feel any connection, no sense of familiarity.
"No matter how all things in the world change, they ultimately reach an end."
"【Death】 is the final destination of everything!"
"Everyone, you may address me as the Death Messenger."
After announcing this, the Death Messenger lifted her chin higher, that aura of nobility tinged with eeriness, sharp and superior, becoming even more pronounced.
Indeed, regardless of the internal hierarchy among the divine, it was clear that 【Death】 would hold an extremely high rank.
This time, the one sent was plenty powerful.
It just wasn't clear how she compared to the 【Judgment】 from the last game.
Xie Antong calculated silently in her mind.
Suddenly, that reckless and somewhat tactless voice emerged once again.
"Just a Divine Messenger?"
Sun's voice came from the light pillar, actually tinged with a note of disappointment.
Death Messenger: ?
Her fists clenched.
This time, she truly couldn't hold back, frowning as she looked sharply in that direction.
Sun didn't care in the slightest, continuing:
"What are you looking at? Got a problem?"
"I'm saying, could you all stop coming one by one like grandpas in a gourd squad, incrementally increasing the difficulty?"
"Are you helping him level up? If you want him dead, can't you just send a properly powerful god to finish him off?"
Behind her heavy eye shadow, the Death Messenger's gaze grew even more sinister. She snorted coldly and said:
"He will return to the embrace of the Death God today, along with that strange aura of Agony."
"As for you, clueless fool!"
"It seems there really are many in your generation whose minds are not clear."
Cutting the small talk, she couldn't be bothered to waste more words. After all this talk, she hadn't gotten any positive feedback, only remarks that irritated her.
With a wave of her hand, an aerial view materialized amidst the sixteen participants.
It was an aerial view of a cluster of cities; looking down, there appeared to be eight cities in total.
"Here is the scenario area for our current game. Everyone, take a look for yourselves."
Spreading her hands, the aerial map before them enlarged. A strange light seemed to enter everyone's eyes, allowing each person to see it clearly.
The area of each city district wasn't exceptionally large, but collectively, it amounted to a significantly large urban region.
This was likely the largest game area encountered so far.
"Hmm, eight cities. Let's give them names."
"Eight... perfect, let's use your naming convention."
As she spoke, the Death Messenger had a sudden inspiration. With a wave of her hand, eight large characters floated above the cities, slowly imprinting downwards.
They were respectively "Qian," "Kan," "Gen," "Zhen," "Xun," "Li," "Kun," and "Dui"—names taken from the Eight Trigrams.
"Now that the naming is clear, let me briefly outline the broadest rules."
"Overall, it's the age-old theme of destruction versus salvation. No one should be unfamiliar with this classic trope from stories."
As she spoke, phantom images appeared above the cities. Various monsters materialized out of thin air, descending to burn, kill, and plunder below.
Simultaneously, heroes emerged within the cities, confronting those widespread monsters and defending their urban centers.
"Alright, enough digression. Each of you must now choose a faction: either 【Saint】 or 【Devil】."
"Pay attention, because here comes the most interesting part of this game."
"During the game, you can change your faction at any time through specific methods! And there are no limits on how many times you can switch."
"Whoever is winning, you stand on their side. A perfectly logical choice."
"Alright, the rest can be explained later. For now, you must first choose your factions!"
Saying this, she crossed her arms and waited quietly.
Due to unclear specific rules and the ability to switch factions mid-game, no one yet knew what others around them were choosing.
At this moment, it was essentially a blind choice! Not much room for strategy.
Yet, Lu Ce, faced with two floating options before him, seemed to completely ignore them, standing motionless as before.
The Death Messenger, watching Pride opposite her, frowned and asked:
"Why aren't you choosing? Don't you know how to press the button?"