Chapter 311: Stalker_1

Chapter 311: Chapter 311: Stalker_1

"In the end, the greatest trouble I’ve encountered in this world, all of it was concocted by you alone. Just for this reason, you’ve caused so much turmoil?" Aiden said with an expressionless face as he put away the chess pieces.

"In your eyes, ’this reason’ might seem dull, and my actions impactful. But to me, this reason is sufficient, and the actions merely trivial," Melifilia said indifferently, "Mortals always search for meaning in what they do, but to the dominators, many things mortals find meaningful are but fleeting trifles."

"I’ve been wanting to ask..." Aiden tried to inquire, "You were once a mortal, right?"

"Of course. Except for the original generation of dominators who have long perished, all subsequent dominators were mortals who seized power, myself included," Melifilia answered.

"Then do you still consider yourself human?" Aiden asked.

"Does it matter?"

"Doesn’t it?"

"You’re asking how I subjectively define myself, but I truly don’t care. I could be considered human, or not... Instead of this, don’t you have any other, more pressing questions?"

Aiden realized that Melifilia clearly lacked interest in this question, as she truly did not care about it. She harbored desires similar to mortals, yet she had long abandoned the principles and emotions of humankind. This capricious goddess might, on a whim, perform a good deed or impulsively commit an atrocious sin, for to her, the moral distinctions of mortals meant little.

To her, mortal love was merely a game to be tried; even if she fell for a partner one day, she might tire of them the next.

The gentleman in red who pursued such a goddess could hardly be considered normal himself.

For Aiden, who had crossed into this world, to have his life endangered over such nonsense was a disaster completely undeserved.

"Since you’ve thrown yourself into prison for this reason..." Aiden slowly said, "then what exactly did you secretly discuss with the previous owner of this body I inhabit?"

"Nothing much, I just found him rather interesting, so I persuaded him to assist me in setting up this trial. He was to stop that man, and in exchange, I would ’surrender’ to become a prisoner of the humans. Once I did that, that man would become jealous and target him for revenge."

"You sent someone powerless to stop a saint?" Aiden frowned, "Isn’t that a surefire way to get him killed?"

The Heretic Inquisitor, when faced with an S-rank fugitive, could still rely on equipment and combat skills to bridge the gap in power.

But the power of divine words was too exceptional, especially when the opponent was a saint. A rabbit, no matter how hard it tries, could never defeat a wolf.

"Yes, according to the results of my calculations at the time, his chance of success was less than ten percent, which is why I set up this failsafe," Melifilia said, "But even knowing the slim odds, he still agreed in order to have me willingly accept containment—it’s hard to say whether that was brave or just a sense of justice. It’s rare to find someone ’not so smart’ like him, which is why I found him interesting."

"You can read minds. You knew he would agree when you made the offer, didn’t you?" Aiden stared intently into Melifilia’s eyes.

As a senior Judge who had sent countless heretics to prison to maintain order, the former Aiden must have also understood the grave threat this dominator worshipped by the Blood Moon Cult posed to humanity. Under such circumstances, the goddess Melifilia’s willingness to voluntarily go to prison and be monitored by the Heretic Inquisition was something his position and duty would have greatly welcomed.

However, the cost was that he became a plaything for the goddess’s amusement. His life would be taken by the jealous gentleman in red, and his existence had become a mere tool in the goddess’s setup of a trial.

But the former Aiden probably did not realize that the goddess had left an incarnation acting in the outside world—in some sense, Melifilia had deceived him.

"Of course, is there a problem?" Melifilia still appeared unconcerned.

"You didn’t let him pursue the path to divinity? Don’t you think that’s quite unfair?" Aiden asked.

"Unfortunately, according to my prediction, he was unlikely to survive," Melifilia said with a look of regret, "Although he was interesting, he had no chance."

After the former Aiden disrupted the Cult and imprisoned Melifilia, the gentleman in red would come to complete the "revenge" ritual. And only after killing "Aiden Galahad" would the gentleman in red discover the "surprise" Melifilia had set for him.

And even if the gentleman in red knew beforehand, he would probably still try to kill him at least once to test it out.

"So even though the former Aiden is already dead, the gentleman in red still hasn’t completed the ’revenge’ ritual, because his enemy is actually your favored chess piece?" Aiden was beginning to understand.

"Right, as long as that hatred isn’t resolved, his ritual cannot be completed."

"But you didn’t tell me anything at the beginning."

"I’ve already given you divinity; I have to set some challenges for you too, right? Otherwise, it would completely lose the thrill of rolling the dice," Melifilia replied.

"Challenges? Aren’t you afraid your chess piece will drown in the gutter on the very first move?" Aiden still struggled to comprehend her mindset.

For a full five years, he had been completely unaware of his situation.

"Testing mortals is the privilege of the gods. If my chess piece is taken on the first move, then it’s simply bad luck with the roll of the dice," Melifilia said nonchalantly, "Yet, even having sealed away my ’omniscience’ power to calculate the future, I’m not completely without plan. Being imprisoned here, it was only a matter of time before forces related to authority would be drawn here and come into contact with you..."

Aiden thought about it and realized she was right. His first divine word was actually learned from contact with the Witches’ Gathering. And he had come into contact with the Witches’ Gathering because Presia, in pursuit of the Blood Moon Cult, had ventured into the autonomous region.

Then he heard Melifilia continue, "And with Melissa continuously intervening, this game won’t deviate too far from the norm. The rest is up to your performance, and thankfully you haven’t disappointed me..."

"Wait a second!" Aiden interrupted her before she could finish. "Are you saying that from the moment I was summoned to this world, Melissa has been continuously monitoring me?"

"Yes, is there a problem? I still need to ensure that the game can proceed normally, right?"

"Isn’t that... like a stalker?" Aiden suddenly felt a chill.