Chapter 355: Chapter 355 I Was Wrong, Next Time I Dare_1
Someone is watching me—this was Qiqimora’s first sensation.
She vaguely felt the presence of an unseen, unfamiliar pair of eyes opening above her, staring straight into the depths of her own consciousness, and this sensation of being spied upon involuntarily filled her with dread.
This gaze... it came from a will far more powerful than hers!
With just a little effort, she could cease the butler’s heartbeats by tightly squeezing his heart, but now she didn’t dare exert any strength in her fingers because she instinctively felt that doing so would lead to dire consequences.
Then, that will "spoke" in the depths of her consciousness, "Worship me as your lord..."
The voice was so soft it was like a whisper, yet Qiqimora felt an indescribable deterrence in it.
In just a moment of consideration, she chose to withdraw her hand—she could only maintain the dark spell of "telekinesis" for a few seconds, and if her hand stayed in its intangible state when the spell took effect, she risked severing it.
However, her choice to abandon the attack was primarily because she felt that persisting in confronting that will was not a wise decision.
"Ugh... ah!" The butler collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest and gasping for air.
Qiqimora distanced herself from him and let her figure fade into the mist, while softly chanting the divine words of "nullity", using the power of "invisibility" on herself.
She must vanish from this world, escape from the scrutiny of that will!
Meanwhile, in Abigail’s summoning space, the image in the Crystal Ball suddenly blurred and then cut off.
And after a good while, Qiqimora’s voice came through the Crystal Ball again.
"Finally escaped..." Qiqimora said, still shaken.
Only now did Qiqimora finally feel that the sensation of being scrutinized deep within her consciousness had faded, but it was less that the powerful will couldn’t find her and more that it had lost interest in this side.
Aiden and Abigail looked at each other and then back at the Crystal Ball.
They had no idea what had happened; from their perspective, they only saw Qiqimora abruptly stop the attack, release the butler, and then hide herself using divine words.
"What happened?" Abigail spoke first, "It’s so unlike you to spit out the prey already in your mouth."
Aiden also frowned in confusion; Qiqimora’s extreme desire for divinity would have driven her to seize such an opportunity to kill on her own accord, so it was unexpected for her to stop so easily.
Qiqimora hesitated for a moment before recounting what had just happened to her.
The summoning space fell silent for a while, and Abigail laid down the fork in her hand.
"It sounds like some form of psychic hypnosis," Abigail mused.
"A spell related to the Spirit?" Aiden asked, "That’s unlikely, isn’t it?"
Qiqimora’s intermediate-level divine word of "suspension" could suspend intangible things. If it were mere dark magic, she could simply have made it ineffective; there was no need to flee abruptly as if petrified with terror.
"It’s the power of authority, yet the butler didn’t utter a single divine word," Abigail analyzed, "And if he had access to such divine words, he wouldn’t have been at the mercy of Qiqimora’s grip on his heart."
"Someone has definitely used their power on him, and that person must be close to high authority!" Qiqimora declared confidently, her voice steady, "I can feel how strong that will is... that overwhelming pressure..."
"After all, only those above Saints can place a portion of their power within their own ’followers,’" Abigail analyzed.
Aiden knew this, saints and rulers could distribute their power to others, just like Abigail had given him the power of revival, the Ancestor had bestowed the power of immortality upon Kael, and Death could grant its agents powers... The difference lay in that a saint’s power could essentially benefit only one person, whereas a ruler could have several "followers" who received favors.
It seemed that there was an existence above a saint, who had left a safeguard on the butler’s person, so that when someone endangered the butler’s life, this insurance would begin to erode the killer’s consciousness.
Moreover, it was the power of the Throne of Spirit...
With this thought, Aiden felt a chill creeping up his spine, bit by bit.
No way... He was already vaguely realizing what was going on.
"So behind the Smiling Balance is indeed an existence above saints..." Qiqimora mused.
"Given the resources collected by the Smiling Balance, it wouldn’t be strange if the core controller was a saint or a ruler. That butler is temporarily unkillable, which is why the Smiling Balance could safely let him handle the aftermath. You think the same, don’t you..." Abigail said, turning her gaze to Aiden, "Hmm? My lord, you look quite solemn. Are you angry with Qiqimora?"
Aiden blinked, only then realizing he had been frowning.
"Why would I be angry?" Aiden sighed through his nose, "This isn’t the first time I’m experiencing your style."
"..."
"..."
Abigail and Qiqimora fell silent at the same time.
It was the same when they had joined forces with the witches to attack the Harvest Mother Cult; these Great Witches were standard egoists, always ready to act on their own in pursuit of their interests—although Aiden privately believed he was quite self-interested in this regard, he at least had a bottom line when it came to following rules.
If it really was just a relationship tied by interests, the witches’ meeting could be a reliable ally when interests aligned completely, but once there was a divergence in interests... heaven knew what these witches would do.
With trust in question, could he really use them to get out of this situation? Aiden couldn’t help but doubt it.
"I am sorry, Warden..." Qiqimora apologized softly.
"Next time you dare." Aiden said expressionlessly, continuing, "That’s fine, everyone is self-interested, I am not at all surprised by your actions. Let’s set aside the matter with the butler for a moment, you just now... weren’t spotted, were you?"
"Rest assured, no exposure, he didn’t see my true form, and the memory should vanish soon enough." After the earlier incident, Qiqimora’s tone had become much more submissive.
"What about our original target?"
"I’ve placed a short-term magical mark on Joey Lawson’s clothes, I will catch up with him immediately... please leave it to me," Qiqimora responded.
"Then the plan will proceed as I just mentioned, follow their trail, and I’ll go and see the superstar once more," Aiden stated calmly.
"I wish you success," Abigail picked up her fork again.
