The sage was not fooled at all. He knows that the serpentine world god is regretting the changes it made to Soverick's arena. It is an expected reaction in light of the recent events. But that doesn't mean he has to agree to the serpentine world god's request to make changes. So the sage refused.
The refusal made the serpentine world god ecstatic instead of downcast. He pointed at the sage and said, "Aha. I knew you were up to something. Now I know it has to do with you allowing me to change the last boss. Your refusal to let me remove the change confirms it."
The sage rolled his eyes. "Paltry tricks to get me to let you have your way. I can't even fall for it if I were blind."
Then the sage said with a grin. "You are right about me being up to something though. But I'll let you have your way. You can revoke the changes you made to the last boss. It will be at a cost to you. The Piper has to be paid."
The serpentine world god became alert immediately. This is the first time that the sage will be asking for something since the competition started. The sage allowed him to interfere on his own side of the competition earlier without asking for anything. That is a big deal and yet he didn't ask for anything. But now he is asking for something. So he can't take this lightly. It will give him an insight into what the sage hopes to achieve.
He has to review and analyze the request over and over again for him to crack the First Sage's intention.
He asked carefully, "What do you want?"
The sage smiled innocently. "I want to be given permission to change the final boss of every arena in your own side."
The sage's request dropped like a hammer on the serpentine world god's mind. Alarms flared up. That innocent smile did nothing to reduce his fears. He doesn't need to think hard and long to recognize the game that the sage played. He also recognized that he has fallen into a trap already. Now he has to either give up an arm or a leg.
The sage allowed him to make the changes because he isn't worried or because there was something at play that he doesn't know about. If he wants to eliminate that thing that the sage is up to, he has to allow the sage to set an obstacle for his entire side. He doesn't know what that hidden agenda is but he knows what effect the open agenda is. It will lead to catastrophic consequences if the sage sets the final boss for all of the arenas of his side.
The serpentine world god turned away and focused on the happenings of the arenas. "Never mind."
All he did was change the dragon and the last boss of Arena 28. If it had worked it would have delayed Soverick and Soverick alone but the sage wants to delay everyone on his side. He doesn't think the trade is worth it.
He will risk the repercussions for not removing the changes he made to the last boss. That is if there is even any repercussions. The sage might just be acting mysterious and suspicious so that he will think there is something wrong and allow the sage to stall all the arenas in his side.
'What could go wrong?' He asked himself.
He can't figure out anything that might go wrong from simply making some changes to the Soverick's arena. So he dismissed his fear.
The sage shrugged and turned to the competition too. "Your loss."
The sage's words stung the serpentine world god. He grumbled audibly. "They warned me but I didn't listen. They said I should be very careful of you and that you are more snake than I am but I didn't listen."
Yes, they warned him. Even the realm lord warned him but he didn't take it to heart. He should have known that something is up when the madman of the void Universe is telling him to be extra careful when dealing with the sage. He didn't listen because he can't take the monkeys that his race subjugated easily seriously. Battle sage monkeys are pets or prey in his plane. There's just no way that he would be afraid of pets.
The sage agreed. "I told you too, didn't I? But you didn't listen. I told you your arrogance will be your downfall."
The sage is also one of the people that warned him. That warning did nothing to help take the other warnings seriously. How could he actually take the warning to heart when the person that he felt to be beneath him warned him to be careful? It's like being warned by a being you consider to be a rat that you want to kill. That warning from the rat will undermine the warning of others. Because if you decide to be careful, you will have to listen to the warnings of the others and the warning of the rat. He couldn't listen to the rat so he didn't listen to others.
"I hate you." He told the sage.
The sage replied, "I know. But it changes nothing. The end is inevitable. If it will help, I want you to know that I am quite fond of you though."
The serpentine world god grunted and said nothing.
The sage smiled to himself. It was inevitable. His trap wasn't built in a day but it became inevitable for his co-administrator to be trapped right from the moment he started building the trap. A good trap is one that is built together with the prey you want to trap. That assistance can either be voluntary or involuntary because it doesn't matter.
There's one thing that sages always say about warfare. Make plans and plan for the failure of your plan. So it doesn't matter if you try not to corporate because you will assist in making that perfect trap even with your incorporation. He had prepared for the outcome and made plans upon plans.