Chapter 165: Chapter 165 The Authority of Reproduction_1
After Daili and Presia entered the meeting room and met with Qiqimora, Aiden formally handed over the task of surveilling them to Veronica.
Then, he quietly took out a pen in the corridor and paired it with the notepad in his pocket, on which he wrote "3:12—3:18, Qiqimora visit," and he briefly noted the content of the meeting and the subsequent arrangements.
Qiqimora’s God-language abilities allowed her to completely erase her presence and seemingly even the memories of others who had met with her—this was far more advanced than Meiruki’s memory erasure magic that only worked when one formed a contract specifically with her.
To be on the safe side, Aiden made a point of recording every encounter with Qiqimora in his notepad.
He was unsure whether Qiqimora’s God-language could also erase the written records made by the user—if it could, then the God-language might even be capable of influencing the laws of causality. But Aiden speculated that Qiqimora probably couldn’t do that, for although the power of God-language was immense, there must be significant limitations if its user was a mortal.
After confirming through the one-way glass that there were no problems in the meeting room, Aiden left the area and headed straight back to his office, locking the door behind him.
In recent days, for fear that Qiqimora might be using her God-language abilities to surveil him, he had deliberately avoided attempting to check on Melifilia’s cell.
Now that Qiqimora was meeting with Daili and the others, and with Veronica there to monitor the situation, it wasn’t completely fail-safe, but Aiden deemed it relatively prudent to choose this time to visit Melifilia.
He opened the secret passage leading underground and used blood to unlock the cell door before proceeding into Melifilia’s secret prison with a lantern in hand.
Melifilia opened her eyes and spoke, "It’s been a while since your last visit, I thought you had forgotten about me."
"I’ve encountered a witch with the ’nothingness’ authority of God-language, so I have to be careful," Aiden replied honestly.
"Oh? You’ve started to come into contact with other holders of God-language?" Melifilia smiled, "Haven’t you thought about simply disposing of her and taking her divinity for yourself?"
"I haven’t become foolish enough to lay my hands on other wielders of God-language, especially since I only know an inconsequential piece myself," Aiden responded calmly, "I want to ask you something, do you know about the Harvest Mother Cult?"
"I do," Melifilia answered almost instantly, "Why? Have you crossed paths with them?"
"Not yet," Aiden replied without any hesitation, "but they’ve begun to operate in this city, and I want to know if they’re after you?"
He was confident Melifilia had the capability to sense what was happening in the outside world, especially matters related to him. However, it was clear Melifilia couldn’t grasp everything in complete detail, and some pieces of intelligence still needed to be actively shared by him.
"No, I suspect they are mainly after that diviner," Melifilia answered.
Aiden was taken aback, "The one you told me about?"
"Who else?"
During the previous period when Aiden had been diligently learning about God-language while sequestered in prison, Melifilia had given him the contact details of a diviner who claimed to be able to divine matters related to God-language and divinity.
If this were true, all the powers seeking to grasp the authority of the rulers would covet this diviner, so the Harvest Mother Cult’s interest was not surprising.
"They are pursuing the diviner to obtain ’sole authority’?" Aiden asked again.
If the leader of the Harvest Mother Cult is truly a "saint," then he must be desperately seeking the corresponding ’sole authority.’
"Exactly," Melifilia said.
"Then the proverbs mastered by the cult are..."
"Such a simple matter you still have to ask me?" This time Melifilia interrupted him, speaking in the tone used to guide a slow student, "Don’t forget, the master of the proverbs will gradually adapt to them. To ascend to a ruler, one must also undergo the rites of the corresponding proverb. By analyzing the behavioral pattern of the opposition, one can determine the authority they seek."
"Is it the authority of ’reproduction’?" Aiden pondered.
According to the information Melifilia had once revealed to him, of the four great thrones within the Throne of Life, the authorities are respectively "life," "reproduction," and "death," from top to bottom.
The Harvest Mother Cult worships fertility and procreation—this could well be the external manifestation of the cult leader’s adaptation to the proverbs and preparation for the rites for ascension.
"You pass, but barely," Melifilia said with a smirk.
"Then what is the ability of the ’reproduction’ authority?"
"Well, as far as I know, the most basic power of the ’reproduction’ authority should be to control the various ways organisms reproduce—whether sexually or asexually, oviparously or viviparously... basically all are possible. Under the effect of the proverb, this kind of reproduction can be completed in a matter of seconds. The offspring can inherit some abilities of the mother and are influenced by the mother’s will. It feels similar to creating one’s own duplicates, though most of the time, the offspring will have certain defects."
"Defects?"
"If the master of the ’reproduction’ authority, that is, the fertility goddess herself, they should be able to use their power to create offspring that are sufficiently complete and even superior to the mother. But if the user is a mere mortal, at best they could create something on par with an ordinary alchemy homunculus," Melifilia explained.
Alchemy homunculi... Aiden was familiar with this information in his dark magic knowledge base. The alchemy of this era could manipulate life to a certain extent, and a very few alchemists were even capable of crafting incomplete humans—so-called homunculi—using human blood and bodily fluids.
The characteristics of an alchemically created homunculus are directly inherited from the donor of the material, akin to cloning. However, compared to the human mother, a homunculus has significant defects. They have a short lifespan, and within a week to two months of their birth, they die of organ failure and rapidly decompose into alchemical materials.
Following The Black Magic Management Convention, the creation of homunculi became a strictly forbidden magic.
The leader of the Harvest Mother Cult directly controls such power, meaning there is a high probability that the cult’s members—including those nuns taken for sale—are reproductions created through the effects of the proverbs.
"When I say you are barely passing, it is about time to visit that seer," Melifilia suddenly said.
"The current situation... It might not be convenient, right?" Aiden frowned slightly.
The Harvest Mother Cult is currently searching for that diviner, and although the witches’ assembly might not be aware of her presence, if they do find out, they would have no reason not to be interested in her. If Aiden is currently under surveillance by some force, rash contact with the diviner would expose her existence, which could further expose that of Melifilia—something Aiden must avoid at all costs.
But Melifilia smiled confidently, "Just go without worry. That diviner can foresee many things. She’ll definitely be able to predict your arrival and also divine the most suitable time for meeting with you. She won’t be easily exposed."
