What just happened is one of the sage's plans. He would have gotten what he wanted either way which is to win the bet. He allowed the serpentine world to change the last boss of Arena 28 so that he will have to input his own law of order into the arena since he wasn't the one that created the arena. It will give Soverick the chance to get a hold of it if he manages to defeat it. He had faith in Soverick to at least be able to match the absolute domain and defeat the Viper.
Then the first sage gave his co-administrator the chance to revert the changes in exchange for him changing the last boss of the arenas under the control of the serpentine world god. The sage would have done something far stronger than the absolute domain. If even Soverick had to resort to using such a powerful move to kill the last boss, then the race of the serpentine world god will never be able to acquire the keys needed to unlock the next designation after Emperor.
It was all part of his plan. But the sage will not allow himself to be slandered like this. He has the moral high ground. He didn't coerce the serpentine world god into making those changes. Everything that happened is all because of the serpentine world god's selfish attempt to hinder Soverick. The dragon made Soverick suffer. Now it it the turn of the serpentine world god.
"How was I supposed to know that he can decipher the foundation of a world with his eyes?" The serpentine world god asked with barely contained anger.
The fact is that he is very angry and he would very much like to resort to violence. He couldn't have considered or expected that Soverick could get a hold of his law of order and manage to put it together. Even if he did, he still wouldn't decide to remove the changes he made to the last boss because that will have allowed the sage to make changes to his own side.
So he was checkmated right from the moment the sage allowed him to make the changes in the first place. The sage had allowed him to tweak the dragon and remake the last boss into a Viper without asking for anything in return. Now he knows it wasn't benevolence or blind confidence in his champion. He was set up nicely. That's why he is very angry.
His anger threatened to overwhelm him but something was nagging at him that requires his attention.
He decided to rectify it so he asked the sage, "Wait a minute. Does he have your law of order?"
The sage shrugged again.
"Stop shrugging." The serpentine world god stood up and yelled.
The sage shrugged again and replied, "I don't want to stop shrugging."
He doesn't want to stop and the serpentine world god can't make him stop no matter how agitated it is.
The serpentine world god cradled his head with the numerous hands he has. He lamented with a shake of his cradled head, "This is bad. If he has your law of order, then he has for both of us. That means he can gain control in both zones. This competition is going to shit. You have practically handed him the reins to this competition. You have fucked me."
The sage nodded in agreement. "That I did. That I did. And I must say, it was pleasurable. It is even better than sex."
The two of them control different sections of the competition for the two different planes. These two sections are composed of arenas created by the two different world gods which means that they have two different law matrixes. It is one thing for Soverick to gain control of one law of order, but two is very bad. It means that Soverick will become near impossible to handle when the final challenge that will decide who wins the competition starts.
Now the serpentine world god fully understands the choice the sage was giving him. It was to either have an unstoppable Soverick or for the sage to create an unstoppable enemy for his own side.
"So this was your plan all along to win the bet."
The sage was quick to correct him again with the tone of a scholar teaching an ignorant child. "You're wrong again. This was "a" plan to win the bet. I have several plans and several cards in hand. Don't let this little victory blind you to the greater aim."
"What can be greater than winning the bet?" The serpentine world god asked incredulously.
The sage refused to specify. He said, "You'll know it when it happens."
The serpentine world god scowled. He couldn't decide if the sage is trying to trick him or not. It is a common dilemma that those that encounter the first sage face. They don't know if they are being manipulated or not.
The serpentine world god declared. "This means war."
Regardless of him being manipulated or not, this competition has taken on a hostile edge. He thought the competition would happen without sleaziness and schemes. He thought wrong.
The sage waved away his threat. "It has always been war. The fact that you have been ignorant of it all along doesn't change what it is. Your arrogance blinded you to it. You didn't care if we are at war or not because you believed you had nothing to fear either way."
The serpentine world god scoffed as he said, "You are not going to win this easily. Nothing is set in stone. I am not so helpless."
He can't say that the sage is wrong and that he wasn't looking down on the sage. He can't say he didn't underestimate the battle sage monkeys. He did underestimate the battle sage monkeys and the situation is currently unfavorable to him because of it. But that doesn't mean he will roll over now. He will not be defeated easily. Besides, this is just the first out of 4 challenges.