GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?



The next opportunity appeared when the first sage found a world god that is famous for his love of gambling. It was pure coincidence that this world god also turns out to be from the race of Vipers. That created a sort of competitive atmosphere between them. One of them might think that they have something to prove. They might think that they have to prove their superiority and the superiority of their race above the other. That person wasn't the sage.

The first sage had been passive in previous auctions but decided to bid for the same project that this gambling world god is bidding for. Their working together seemed like a chance at first sight. It must have been pure coincidence to others. But it wasn't to the realm lord. That's why the realm lord went out of his way to warn the serpentine world god to be careful of the sage. 

The serpentine world god was warned and advised to be suspicious of the first sage. We know how that worked out. Gambling addiction, plus the need to prove superiority and a well-meaning warning to be careful of the person you want to prove superiority to equals a certainty of bets.

Things fell into place and the sage began working his magic on the bets. Their bet started from a little amount of resources until it enlarged into a colossal debt. The ball was in the Sage's hands right from the start. He had been planning it before the serpentine world god even knew he existed. The sage could have decided to stop at any time but he continued to accept the bet proposal. After all, he needed his Co-administrator in a large debt.

The serpentine world god was a perfect target but the sage wasn't passive. He didn't let things just work themselves out. He set up some things. The sage was the one that suggested that they turn the project into a competition so that they will get testers easily. This suggestion was made very early in their cooperation to test the project. And like most suggestions made by the sage, it was a good idea and it was helpful. It was also harmless at first glance.

The sage decided to go that route not because of the opportunity of acquiring testers but because the child of the sages had managed to produce the child of the plane. It was something the sage couldn't do himself since he can't enter the realm tree anymore. 

His suggestion for a competition seemed harmless when he made it. It became something else when the serpentine world god was pressed too far into debt. It was the gambler that decided that they bet on the outcome. The two world gods worked hand in hand to reach this outcome. Nature didn't take its course and things didn't happen to play out the way they did naturally. 

The sage did most of the work though. He set up the situation so that it will always turn out well for him. Everything was orchestrated every step of the way. And now they have won. They have acquired 20 more slots. It was what the first sage was after all along with the competition.

The Sage's suggestion to take over the serpentine world god's plane was genuine though. It would have granted the sage another angle to acquire more slots. The serpentine world god refused but it did nothing to stop himself from being taken advantage of. The main objective was to get the serpentine world to be as poor as he could get and then take advantage of its situation. Either he gives up control of his plane or he gives up his allotted slots. Whichever way, the sage would have won.

"Everything ended well." The child of the sages said.

"Yes. It worked perfectly. Almost too perfectly." The sage replied with a bit of concern.

"You think something will go wrong?" 

The sage replied, "I have a feeling that something bad will happen soon. It has nothing to do with you and it should be resolved pretty easily but it has the potential of escalating into something else in the future."

The child of the sages was surprised. "But what can it be? Everything worked out well. Could it be the other world god?"

The child of the plane believed the sage. He knows enough to always trust in the intuition of fate. The first sage is undoubtedly the best when it comes to intuition and if he says something will go wrong soon then something will definitely go wrong soon.

The sage replied, "Don't worry about it. I will face it when it comes."

The two of them separated and returned to their life of scheming and manipulation. Life moved on after the competition. Soverick was proclaimed dead and Salvini was made the new child of the plane. It came as a shock to the inhabitants of the plane when news of the previous child of the plane's death spread out. It was said that Salvini challenged him and he lost to her. She took his title as the victor. 

Some people didn't believe it. It is only natural that there would be some doubts, but no one doubted the results when they saw a video of the fight. Only the part where he was killed was shown. The rest was hidden to protect the information of the new child of the plane. 

Some people felt bad for the death of Soverick but they are not as many as those that were glad for his death. His family members didn't feel much about his death either. Their lives were not impacted greatly when he was alive so he will not be missed now that he is dead. 

His fans honored him for his feats but they turned to the new child of the plane soon after. Soverick must have been weak for her to succeed in defeating him. They worshipped him because he was strong but now he is not so they will worship the new child of the plane. Strength is worshipped while weakness is abhorred.

A/N: Now you know what Soverick died for. It wasn't personal. His death was just a side quest for the first sage.

How do you rate the first sage as a Villain? Is he even a Villain? He is an antagonist. And by coincidence too.