Free Web NovelChapter 658: Chapter 657: Two Rulers_1
"Qiqimora, give him the final blow," Aiden said.
Mr. Bloodcloth, with victory as his final goal, would not let Death impose any restrictions on his lifespan in advance; he possessed only the intermediate power of "Barrenness," which was not enough to defy the saint-level "Laws."
Now, Mr. Bloodcloth could only use "Sacrifice" to transfer his spirit when someone else killed him, yet the annihilating touch of the Hand would directly obliterate his entire existence.
In fact, even if Mr. Bloodcloth successfully transferred his spirit, it would be useless, as Aiden was aware of the distance of spirit transfer through "Sacrifice." With the Goddess’s intuition, he could locate the other’s whereabouts the moment Mr. Bloodcloth transferred, and then use "Exile" to pursue him. Stripped of the Double Blades of Revenge, and with his powers sealed by the Wordless Code, Mr. Bloodcloth was no longer a threat.
Qiqimora was quite surprised by the sudden reversal, but regardless, this outcome was indeed a pleasant surprise.
"..." Mr. Bloodcloth fell silent, silent, and then a faint laugh emerged from his nose, "Hmph."
He began to laugh, at first a laugh of resignation as if he had fully accepted his defeat. Then, the laughter escalated, becoming frenzied and hysterical, "Hehehehe... Hahahaha... Gahaha!!"
"Are you done laughing?" Aiden asked calmly, "Laughing madly when you win, laughing madly when you lose, you’re about to die, there’s no need to work so hard to maintain your madman persona."
Mr. Bloodcloth stopped laughing in an instant, but the smile on his face did not diminish.
"You won," he said to Aiden.
"Yes, I won," Aiden repeated.
Mr. Bloodcloth had "killed" him once in Sunset City, and had also murdered two of his subordinates; Aiden loathed him to the core.
But Aiden also knew that mockery and rebuke had no effect on a criminal of pure evil—it was just a waste of effort. For a criminal who could not be reformed, it was enough to carry out the appropriate punishment.
"You have completed the Goddess’s script, capturing the last piece on the chessboard, won the Goddess’s favor, and even got to become the ruler. These are all things I’ve longed for, honestly, I have never envied you as much as I do now, almost to the point of insanity..." Mr. Bloodcloth sneered, "But I don’t envy you because you can’t enjoy what you’ve won."
"To me, what you’re pursuing is truly foolish," Aiden replied, "Have you ever considered that your pursuit of power and the Goddess might also be a result of the Goddess manipulating your desires?"
"Probably so, but I don’t care, that desire is everything to me, I am willing to be her pawn, a part of the script; I’ve even completely abandoned the name and face of my mortal life," Mr. Bloodcloth said with an unabashed laugh.
"What a fitting lackey," Aiden nodded, "I’m not like you, I’ll break free from the chessboard."
"Too bad I won’t see it," said Mr. Bloodcloth.
By this time, Qiqimora had already taken her position behind him, although he could not see her.
"No, you will witness it," Aiden said, looking into his eyes, "When you turned yourself into a ’dead person,’ did you see any... particular memories?"
"Oh?" Mr. Bloodcloth raised an eyebrow, "You too? What do you know?"
As expected, Aiden thought.
"You’ll find out soon enough," Aiden said, pausing momentarily, "Do it."
Mr. Bloodcloth had more to say, but Qiqimora had already touched his head with the Hand of Annihilation—this time she aimed for the head.
The singularity of "Annihilation" reappeared, starting from Mr. Bloodcloth’s head, distorting his entire body with immense force, compressing it into that point until it vanished.
"Dead..." Tony suddenly exhaled, "Dad, did you see that?"
The Avenging Goddess was also pleased, but as soon as a trace of laughter seeped into Aiden’s mind, he stopped her, "Enough, I don’t want to hear the laughter of a madman again."
However, Qiqimora was quite surprised, because this time, there were still remnants left over.
It wasn’t that a part of the body had been left behind, but in the cage remained an elusive wandering soul, faintly revealing a face.
It was purely a Spiritual Body, and Aiden was not surprised by this.
"So it has appeared. The ’embodiment’ power of the ’Wisdom’ authority, embodying intangible knowledge, memory, and even the spirit itself, existing independently of matter and flesh, it’s that guy’s handiwork, I can smell him," the phantom of the Avenging Goddess appeared beside Aiden.
At that moment, Aiden was certain that Mr. Bloodcoat had also been influenced by the power of the Authority of the Conspiring Goddess, after his death his spirit would be preserved by the ’embodiment’ power of ’Wisdom’. Unlike the spirits summoned by necromancy, the spirit preserved by an Overlord-level ’embodiment’ seems to be indestructible, not even the Hand of Oblivion could completely erase it.
Aiden saw that the blurry face that emerged from the Spiritual Body smiled at him—a smile he was all too familiar with.
Then, that Spiritual Body dissipated on its own, leaving behind only the last remnant of soul.
"Disappeared?" Qiqimora looked surprised at what remained in the cage.
No, it had been reclaimed. Aiden thought.
Melissa had reclaimed Mr. Bloodcoat’s Spiritual Body, taking away all the memories he had retained to date, which was a trap the Conspiring Goddess had designed in her pawn from the start.
He himself was probably the same.
The little Spiritual Body that had been preserved probably contained no memory information; its remnants were likely due to the presence of divinity. Melissa couldn’t, and probably didn’t want to, take Mr. Bloodcoat’s divinity with her; these undying divinities then clung to the residual Spiritual Body.
Strange memories surged once more in his consciousness, and Aiden immediately used "Return" on himself, restoring his spirit to its original state. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
But fragments of those memories still trickled in, like steam leaking from the valve of a pressure cooker.
Aiden clutched his head, the recent death had completely triggered the Conspiring Goddess’s prepared memory unlock conditions; after resurrection, he could only use "Return" to suppress the resurgence of these memories, but he was quickly reaching his limit.
He must advance as soon as possible.
"Haha, well done, kid!" Lamia appeared behind Aiden with a delighted expression, wanting to wrap her arms around him from behind.
"Don’t touch me, or I might use ’Punishment’ on you," Aiden stopped Lamia with a single sentence, and with a thought, he pushed Qiqimora’s hand out of the cage that held Mr. Bloodcoat.
"Warden, do you plan to monopolize these divinities?" Qiqimora asked.
"I will take the divine words of ’Hatred’ and the corresponding divinity, the rest of you can split what’s left," said Aiden, "It is a necessary condition for my ascent to Overlord."
When Mr. Bloodcoat controlled the power of the ’Death’ authority, he was given extra divinity by the Grim Reaper.
"Okay, I have no problem with you taking the lion’s share, but..." Lamia was also somewhat puzzled, "You can’t really control the power of ’Hatred’, can you? And do you need so much divinity? That’s beyond the limit, isn’t it?"
"Everything is necessary," Aiden didn’t elaborate further, but extended both hands toward Veronica and Tony, receiving the Wordless Code and the Avenging Twin Blades, respectively.
Here and now, two Overlords would ascend.
