GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?



"But what do I need? What can I get from you? Let me see." The sage pretended to think about his request for a while before speaking.

He sighed first then continued. "There is really nothing that I need from you. There is one thing that I might be interested in but I don't want to make it feel like I have put you up against a wall or something. So remember, I am just asking. You can say no if you want."

"Just ask." The serpentine world god said in exasperation.

He is not at all convinced by the theatrics. He knows that the sage already has something planned. There is already something that the sage wants from him. He just hopes it won't cause him too much pain to give it up.

The sage said innocently, "Okay, I'll ask since you are so eager. Give me control of your plane for the era of conquest and I'll remove the 6 folds increase on your debt."

"Are you mad?" The serpentine world god asked with obvious rage.

His voice was loud because of the absurdity of the suggestion. The request that the sage made is a request that he never thought could be asked for. It's like asking someone with one heart for their heart. Technically you can ask for it but you shouldn't no matter how much you need it because the person only has one heart. They need their heart. To ask for their heart is to ask for their death. You might as well just ask for their death and be done with it. That's what the serpentine world God felt about the request.

His plane is very dear to him. Even if he doesn't need it, he won't give it up easily. But he needs it very much so he won't give it up for anything. The era of conquest is coming and he needs to be in control of the plane or at least have some control of it so that he can have some stakes in the realm. To ask it of him is to ask for his heart.

It was the Sage's turn to try and convince him. "I know you're not the only one in control of the plane and I am not asking you to make enemies of all of them. I am willing to pay them off if you help me negotiate a price. You will also benefit immensely from it. Isn't it a good proposal? Think about it."

The serpentine world god calmed down. He also pretended to think about his answer. Then he said calmly, "You must be mad. You must be out of your mind. Or you must think that I am very stupid."

The sage shrugged and said, "Your loss. Now pay up. Our deal was that you would pay me when I ask for it. You swore an oath to it so you will pay me now because I want it now."

"You won't get away with this." The serpentine world god promised.

He took out the things that he owed. Some of them took him millions of years to acquire. It is a wealth that will make world gods weep. The serpentine world god did weep as he gave them up. It was a silent weeping but that doesn't reduce its veracity. 

Even his heart bled. He loves gambling but he hates losing. Everyone hates losing but the few times they win makes gambling worth it. This loss is the greatest loss he has ever incurred. It has wiped out all his wins and his love for gambling. He is so close to swearing that he will give up on gambling.

One of the things he gave up are world hearts. They go by many names, realm core or realm hearts etc. They are the foundation of a realm tree and are very important for an origin god to become a world god. They can be called priceless in a sense but they do have a price. The price is the lives of the trillions upon trillions upon trillions of lives that were lost in the process of acquiring them. Each heart is a realm tree and all its inhabitants were doomed to oblivion to get the heart. 

These two world gods made a bet with the lives of an uncountable amount of people as stakes. They may laugh and quarrel with each other like normal people do but they are not normal and they are not people. They are gods of worlds. They can end the lives of anyone for anything they want and they will do it no matter the amount of lives needed to be sacrificed. All world gods have shed their own portion of blood. It is why they are referred to as predators.

"It was nice doing business with you." The sage said happily after receiving his due.

He tried to make light of the situation but his co-administrator was not amused. "Just you wait. I will get back at you once this is over."

"I am looking forward to it." The sage replied in a cheerful manner as he examined the package that was sent to him.

"You better. You won't be able to escape me."

The serpentine world god's bitterness didn't affect the sage. He has really stuck it rich this time so he is very happy. The next thing that happened made the sage even happier. But he still pretended to be angry about it.

"I must say that you're not a god of principles. I expected you to kill my champion. I thought it was beneath you but you went through with it anyway. It seems you have no qualms about picking on the weak and I was wrong about how low you could go."

The serpentine world god sneered with glee. "Don't worry. The same thing is going to happen to you and everything that you care about."

They glared at each other and refused to speak with each other. None of them left yet because they still have something to do. They are waiting for someone so that they can put an end to this whole competition business.