No one objected despite the ring fact that the person least affected by the punishment is the immortal link. The immortal link has no need for connections so in a way, the child of the ne is punishing only 8 of them. They know that immortal links are always favored by generations of the child of the ne so they aren''t going to ask why the immortal link isn''t getting punished.


    Also, asking won''t really be a good idea for them right now. They are already in big trouble. There''s no need to dig their grave by questioning the child of the ne''s decision. The child of the ne''s voice was calm and he seemed to be open to questioning. But questioning him in front of all these titans and Sovereigns ofw is just a one-way ticket to death, or worse.


    They all kept quiet even though their power and authority in the ne is alling to an end. The one most affected of them is the attack paragon. He has an army of Vipers that he has managed to boost to the level of paragons which makes him the strongest of the 9 of them. To lose his connections is to lose his entire life''s work. It is hundreds of thousands of years worth of time and resources going down the drain.


    "That''s good." The child of the ne nodded when no one objected or asked any stupid questions.


    He said to them, "Now give up your connections."


    The eight of them felt a tug on their connections. They could resist and refuse but the child of the ne just has to kill them to remove their connections. So it is a choice between their lives and their connections.


    They all gave up their connections. They can always start again on the ne or take a small group of Vipers to another ne and start there. On the other hand, they won''t be able to do any of that if they die. Of course, the immortal link didn''t give up anything. The thought of that made their pain feel worse.


    They made the wise choice but they felt the pain of having their connections removed from them. The threads bonded to their existence and that empower them were severed from them. It is something that should only happen when they die but they have to live through the pain just because they were the best among their equals and were given the privilege to represent their ne.


    "You are dismissed."


    The child of the ne ordered them to leave while he spoke with the various powerhouses that came to watch the event. The paragons bowed wordlessly and left. The attack paragon rushed out and made his way toward the portal of the ne immediately. He is a paragon but he is weak and extremely defenseless right now. There are normal vipers that will very much like to kill him.


    Any normal viper that is at least a transcendent can take the heart of a paragon as long as they kill one. That is, a normal Viper can be a paragon as long as they are transcendent and kill another paragon. So he is a prime target right now and he will like to escape the fate of bing the target of a hunt. Then there are the other paragons that he has offended and bullied over the years with his army. Now is a good time for vengeance since he doesn''t have any power to resist.


    Meanwhile, The Two World Gods.


    Thepetition has ended. The two co-administrators are having a nice chat within the world fragment that they used to monitor thepetition.


    "So you won." The serpentine world god said through gritted teeth.


    "It would seem so. I still can''t believe it. This is so unexpected. I am so surprised. You said you would win. You were so sure of it. I would never..."


    The disgruntled serpentine world god interrupted the tirade of the sage. "Yes, yes, spare me the mockery."


    The sage looked at him with pure innocent white eyes and said, "That''s not mockery. I haven''t even started yet. It is just slight teasing."


    His co-administrator didn''t believe him. The serpentine world god huffed and red at him with naked hostility. So the first sage gave up on the mocking.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He said, "Fine. I won. Give me my due."


    His request made the serpentine world god dete. His righteous anger and indignation bled out of him instantly. Mockery or not, he has to pay the sage since he lost the bet. He began racking his brain for an alternative that will let him off of paying his debts. The sage rolled his eyes at the sight. This is something that has happened every time after the serpentine world God loses a bet.


    ''This guy has a serious gambling addiction.'' the sage thought to himself in amusement.


    The serpentine world God finally thought of something to escape his debt. "How about this? Let''s..."


    The sage interrupted him quickly. "Don''t bother with anything else. I am not interested at all. Give me what you owe me."


    "But..."


    "No buts."


    "Hear me out."


    "Give me my money."


    "You will like this. We.."


    "No more bets."


    He tried to offer an alternative but the sage remained obstinate.


    "How about I give you something else?" He asked the sage hopefully.


    The sage smiled. His smile was like that of a vicious shark''s. It was all teeth and it promised violence. The serpentine felt an ominous sensation when he saw the smile. He knew then that the sage won''t let go once it gets a hold of him. And that the sage has in fact, gotten a hold of him. Why else would he feel as if something bad is about to happen?


    The sage started slowly. "I could do that. I could ask for something else."


    His calm voice did the opposite in calming the debtor. That ominous sensation crept to every part of the serpentine world god''s body.