Chapter 606: Chapter 605: Whose Turn Is It to Leave_1
Under the effect of the "Law" ability, Aiden began the interrogationā
Aiden, "Who sent you to watch over me? For which power do you serve?"
The vampire struggled painfully, but still opened his mouth under coercion to answer, "I come from the Blood Moon Cult, serving the great Death God. The surveillance order came from the emissary of the Death God."
"Who is the emissary of the Death God? Is he the one who calls himself Mr. Blood?"
"I do not know... who he is, I only know he is an ordinary human!"
"Then tell me everything you know about him."
"Five days ago, that person appeared before us, accompanied by attendants, wearing a mask. The attendants said he had been chosen by the Death God as the new emissary, and he would rebuild the Blood Moon Cult..." the vampire began.
Five days agoāthe timing was just right, Aiden thought.
"The attendants refer to?" Aiden interrupted the vampireās explanation.
"They are the high-ranking members among us, blood kin of the Duke rank or higher. There are seven of them now; they dwell close to the Death God, serving Him directly," the vampire explained carefully.
"And what is your status within the Cult?"
"I suppose... an intermediate member. There are thirteen of us in total, including six Earls like myself, followed by two Marquises and five Viscounts. We take orders directly from the attendants," the vampire answered.
"So, there are people beneath you?"
"Yes, some Barons or blood kin without titles, maybe twenty or a bit over thirty? To be honest, Iām not too clear, these people are scattered everywhere, many are new members who joined the Cult recently."
After listening, Aiden realized this Cult had quite a clear hierarchy; groups made of blood kin easily formed a class system based on lineage ranking.
"Understood, continue about the emissary," he gestured for the other to continue.
"The emissary demanded we swear absolute loyalty to the Death God, willing to sacrifice everything for it... Strangely, after taking the oath, I felt my mind suddenly clear up, with no more confusion, feeling that I could give my all for the Death God!" A fanatical light suddenly flickered in the vampireās eyes.
Aiden realized the fellow had already, under the influence of the "Sacrifice" ability, dedicated his absolute faith to the Death God, and naturally, the emissary of the Death God could also make them obedient. To some extent, this absolute loyalty was still directed at that emissary. If someone was unwilling or even felt extreme aversion, the ability "Betrayal" could also make them change their minds.
The previous emissary of the Death God had also recruited vampires as members of the Cult; in fact, most lower-level vampires joined the Blood Moon Cult merely to seek refuge or for the chance at solidarity. They werenāt necessarily that loyal to the Death God, nor particularly resistive.
However, those individuals that the power could not make "voluntarily" offer up their faith were still unlikely to oppose the strict hierarchy within the Cult. So, in fact, Mr. Blood still firmly controlled the entire Cult.
"Do you truly know nothing about the emissary? Five years ago... now itās six, the Mr. Blood who split the Blood Moon Cult, taking away the human followers, do you know of him?" Aiden continued to query.
"I know of him," the vampire answered. "That bastard... does he have anything to do with this?"
A surgent thought formed in Aidenās mind: this Count-level vampire was just a pawn; he was entirely unaware of who commanded them, the emissary. He was probably chosen to monitor because he had the ability to split into bats.
In that case, even if he was captured, he wouldnāt reveal much useful information.
But Aiden sensed a piece of information being distilledāMr. Blood really had sided with the Death God, seeking power from Him.
The worst part, he succeeded and had become the emissary of the Death God, taking control of the old blood kinās Blood Moon Cult.
After six years, Mr. Blood reappeared before Aiden Galahad as the leader of the Blood Moon Cult, ready to replay the past once more.
Aiden tried asking a few more key questions, but as he feared, he didnāt get many useful answers, only knowing that the vampire received orders directly from that mysterious emissary in Sang City.
After asking his question, Aiden fell silent for a moment, then revoked the rule that compelled spewing the truth and turned back to the round table.
"Iāve taken back the rule I declared, thereās no need to be so guarded anymore," Aiden said.
"..." Neither of the Great Witches responded.
Aiden looked at Tony, "Pass my words on to Qiqimora, she should be able to hear your voice."
Tony relayed Aidenās exact words to Qiqimora.
Qiqimora glanced at Aiden, and Aiden nodded.
Only then did Qiqimora tentatively revoke the "overruling" divine word.
"Really taken it back?" Qiqimora asked.
"How old are you this year?" Aiden suddenly asked.
Qiqimora frowned slightly, unhappy, "Warden!"
"See, itās been taken back," Aiden spread his hands.
Abigail and Qiqimora exchanged glances, Qiqimora nodded, and only then did Abigail reopen her hearing.
"Iām truly amazed by your level of caution," Aiden remarked, "It makes me doubt whether we can truly be allies."
"After all, we all have quite a few secrets, and keeping these secrets is what prevents unnecessary rifts between us, allies occasionally need to have this kind of understanding," Abigail seemed quite composed, "Allies donāt necessarily need trust."
"So, have you obtained any useful information?" Qiqimora asked.
"Alright then, this watcher is just a small fry, I didnāt get much useful information out of him, but one thing is pretty much certain..." Aiden said, "Mr. Red Robe has indeed defected to the Death God and received the Death Godās title, now he controls the Blood Moon Cult that serves the Death God, nothing else could be gotten out of him."
"Are you certain nothing else could be obtained?" Qiqimora confirmed.
"Yes."
Qiqimora stood up and walked towards the cage summoned by Aiden.
"Qiqimora?" Aiden looked at her, puzzled.
Without answering, Qiqimora reached out to touch the cage Aiden had summonedāwith the hand wearing the Hand of Oblivion. The cage flashed into existence, and then suddenly started twisting and becoming illusory like a mirage until it vanished.
The vampire was surprised by the disappearance of the cage, and as his power was sealed by the "return" divine word, he couldnāt immediately flee. Before he could react, Qiqimoraās hand had already touched him.
The effect of "downgrading strike" manifested on him, and in the blink of an eye, the vampire was gone without a trace.
"Why did you kill him? Arenāt you going to hand him over to the Heresy Tribunal?" Tony exclaimed.
"Kid, if you want to avenge your father, remember you have to annihilate all the zealots associated with Mr. Red Robe," Qiqimora answered flatly, "Their faith wonāt waver, theyāre beyond redemption."
"You just wanted to test the āHand of Oblivion,ā didnāt you?" Aiden said.
"Enough, if this matter is settled, letās continue," Abigail shifted her focus back to the chessboard, "Whose turn is it?"