Free Web NovelChapter 199: Chapter 199 The Way of Heaven is a Good Cycle_1
The three in the distance, Presia and Daili exchanged glances—the direction from which Sister Neve had just fled was toward the abandoned mine, which led to routes outside the autonomous region, and it seemed that Lamia and her group were there now.
Veronica also heard the conversation loud and clear, she wasn’t exactly sure about some parts of the dialogue, but one thing she could tell was that Aiden was in control of the standoff.
She let go of some of her anxiety and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your mother?" Aiden was taken aback upon hearing Father Bales’s confession, then realized something, "Could it be... the Queen of the Old Lese Kingdom?"
Father Bales’s goat-like face twitched violently several times; in the end, he nodded with difficulty, "Yes."
Aiden’s guess was confirmed; the Queen of the Old Lese Kingdom who was assassinated by the unnamed witch hadn’t truly died, but instead had been passing on her power through "inheritance" down to her descendants, although he had originally thought that Father Bales was the one inheriting the Queen’s will.
"So that’s how it is..." Aiden looked at Father Bales for a while, "It seems difficult for you to speak of it. Is it a heavy mental burden to betray that mother, or is it due to the influence of the power?"
He could tell from the father’s expression and tone that the confession was exceedingly difficult, as if he was always undergoing an intense struggle of conscience.
"It’s the power..." Father Bales answered, "The power held by the mother can influence the will of her progeny. Those who are directly split from her become puppets for her to manipulate, and children born by merging with someone else’s bloodlines, although they have a will of their own... are also under her influence. She doesn’t allow me to do anything that would be to her detriment."
"But you are still able to divulge information about her."
"I, I’m an exception," Father Bales exhaled slowly, "because my bloodline is exceptionally impure."
"Chimera?" Aiden sized up the father’s body that seemed as if it was stitched together.
"Yes, it’s one of her experiments. She wanted to acquire a bloodline as powerful as that of the dragonkin, but she couldn’t find the opportunity. So while she was pregnant, she ingested the blood of magical beasts and demons, using the power to merge these bloodlines with the child in her womb, and the final result was to turn me into this half-human, half-monster creature."
Father Bales forcefully grabbed the horns on his head with his manacled hands; Aiden could sense the resentment in his voice.
"But in a way, this appearance also saved me," the father continued, "I was said to have been born as a half-human, half-beast, and she was filled with disgust at my appearance, so she did not choose me as her heir."
Aiden remembered how Father Bales had hesitated to engage in battle, yet also seemed reluctant to flee outright, and it appeared that Sister Neve had ordered him to stay back and cover their retreat.
"So she eventually chose your daughter as the heir?" Aiden asked.
"Ah, for the sake of convenience and to mislead others. Before Neve, she had chosen another daughter she had given birth to, my sister, but that daughter was killed by her while trying to flee. In the end, she chose to have me father a daughter, cleansed of the monster bloodline, to serve as a sacrifice. I couldn’t resist her," the father lowered his eyes, "She had me step forward as the cult’s leader, and also divided her divinity and powers with me. She herself always acted as Neve, even within the cult, where our relationship on the surface remained that of father and daughter."
Aiden thought it was no wonder Qiqimora hadn’t found any issues; Father Bales and Sister Neve truly assumed the identities of father and daughter both in public and behind the scenes. On the surface, they were father and daughter, but in reality, they were mother and son.
Sister Neve communicated with the father in the form of "suggestions," and the father would always "accept" her advice, following her will as the leader of the cult. This allowed Sister Neve to act as the queen behind the scenes of the cult. Although those aiming for the father would also target her as the "heir," the danger to her was significantly reduced, a very typical safety measure.
For their enemies, without being fully prepared, facing off against a saint wielding authority would probably lead to a very ugly death if they didn’t have the skills to protect themselves.
So it seems that the direction Sister Neve left in just now... was towards the mines.
If his earlier guess was correct, then Lamia and Qiqimora must be at the mines now, dealing with swarms of synthesized beasts, and it’s very likely they will run into Sister Neve.
Moreover, according to the planned scheme, Lamia’s target was always Sister Neve.
Those Great Witches intended to trap him into holding off the enemy’s main force, only for them to end up diving headfirst into a pit laid by the Cult...
Is this what you call... divine retribution?
Such good fortune he could hardly believe!
Aiden suddenly felt the urge to laugh.
But reason told him this wasn’t entirely a cause for celebration; Sister Neve was the saint of "fertility" authority, which meant that the Cult’s main force was still intact, and the successor must be someone else.
After thinking for a while, he spoke to the priest, "I can spare you, but you must agree to several conditions of mine."
The Harvest Mother Cult had offended both the underworld and the law, and also believed him to be associated with the Flying Spaghetti Cult. From Aiden’s perspective, the Cult still needed to be eliminated.
"Speak," the priest responded immediately. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"First, give me all the divinity you have," Aiden motioned back and forth between the priest and himself.
"Divinity... giving it to you is not an issue," Father Bales replied without hesitation; he knew opposition was pointless, and if he refused, the other might well consider killing him to obtain divinity from his remains.
Aiden nodded and then put forward his second demand: "Second, tell me who the real successor to your mother is."
"Do you plan to kill my mother?" Father Bales asked.
"If necessary," Aiden answered bluntly, then inquired about the other’s stance, "What, you intend to protect her?"
"...No, on the contrary, I hope she dies," Father Bales answered after a moment of silence, "In that case, I might be free."
Aiden raised an eyebrow but wasn’t too surprised; the undertone of Father Bales’s confession had already hinted at this sentiment, as if he had harbored resentment towards his mother from the moment he was born with monster blood. The queen, who constantly used her offspring to carry on her will and had never shown him a sliver of affection, regarded him only as a tool to manage the Cult.
It was just like what Aiden himself had said when Veronica felt pity for those nuns: one cannot choose their parents.
Perhaps... he could be used to Aiden’s advantage, he thought.
