Chapter 591: Chapter 590 Merging into One_1
Late that night.
On the edge of Banquet Forest within the autonomous state, Aiden and Deborah stood in the enveloping mist with lanterns in hand, waiting.
In front of them, the murderous doppelganger was tightly bound by chains made from mercury amalgam automaton, and the "Wordless Codex" ensured she had no way to resist or escape using divine words.
"It feels rather eerie, doesn’t it?" Deborah whispered.
"The forest of Banquet is filled with a mist that can disorient people, along with monsters raised by witches. No villages are nearby, no hunters willing to approach, not even fugitives wanted by the law would come here," Aiden explained. "This place isn’t just the residence of the top witch Abigail, it is also where the witches’ gathering is convened."
"I know that, but..." Deborah hesitated for quite a while before finally voicing the question that had been gnawing at her heart, "Mr. Aiden, what exactly is your relationship with the witches’ gathering? Why would you think of asking the people from the witches’ gathering for help?"
"I suppose you could say we have a cooperative relationship," Aiden replied calmly.
"Most of the witches’ gathering are wanted criminals, aren’t they..." Deborah said cautiously.
"They’re not good people, I know," Aiden continued. "But the power of evil can also be harnessed. Similar to prisoners serving time, they too can engage in work, their abilities can be put to good use. You know about the time when I stole the ’Wordless Codex’ from the Red Shark Pirates, right? I also utilized their power then."
"My abilities can also be at your disposal, dear warden," the murderous doppelganger attempted to turn her head. "Just let me go."
"Quiet," Aiden said coldly.
"So, you mean the top witch Abigail could allow us to..." Deborah inquired.
"No, we’re not looking for Abigail, but for the Great Witch Lamia," Aiden answered, his gaze fixed on the depths of the forest.
About fifteen minutes later, a strange hissing sound came from the forest. At first, Deborah didn’t pay much attention, but as the sound came closer and was accompanied by a breath that was utterly unhuman, Deborah felt the hairs on her body stand on end.
Suddenly, two amber lights appeared within the forest.
"Mr. Aiden, please be careful, there’s a monster!" Deborah cried out immediately.
"No need to be nervous, the one we’re waiting for has arrived," Aiden said with unusual calmness.
Deborah narrowed her eyes to observe carefully, then in terror saw a massive creature, half-human, half-serpent, gliding through the mist towards them with its snake tail slithering closer.
"Good evening, warden," the creature greeted them. "Found a new partner?"
"Good evening, Lamia," Aiden nodded in greeting. "I must say, couldn’t you wear some clothes before coming out?"
"Haha, the S-class wanted criminal, the Queen of Magic Potion, Lamia! I admire the creature, warden, your connections are impressively badass," the murderous doppelganger suddenly whistled.
Deborah regarded Lamia warily. Although the tone of the conversation suggested Lamia was not an enemy, just looking at Lamia made her subconsciously tense her entire body—an instinctual fear of a predator.
"Warden, as far as I remember, the debt of gratitude I owed you should be considered paid off. You mentioned you had something to ask of me, it should come with a reward, right?" Lamia said with a sly face. "I heard from Abigail and rushed here from my own lair."
Lamia didn’t reside in Banquet Forest but merely made use of its shortcuts to hurry from her stronghold across to meet Aiden within the autonomous state’s boundaries.
Just yesterday, Aiden contacted Lamia through Abigail, saying he had a favor to ask of her and wished to discuss the details face-to-face.
"Last time, you and Qiqimora divided the spoils, ate the meat, and didn’t even leave me any soup, but I didn’t quibble with you over that. Now you want to discuss compensation for using your divine words, isn’t that a bit too much?"
"But your goal was also achieved, wasn’t it? Now, using this as a reason to have me work for free is a bit too..." Lamia shook her head.
"You witches sometimes really are like merchants, shouldn’t you be pursuing knowledge for your whole life?" Aiden said, then suddenly thought of a fitting argument, "Say, aren’t you interested in experimenting with the divine words you obtained?"
"Of course, I’ve always been experimenting." Lamia said, "I’ve tried both living things and dead things."
"But I guess you have never tried experimenting with creations made by the Keeper of ’Existence’." Aiden’s voice grew heavier.
"The Keeper’s creations?" Lamia frowned slightly.
"Abigail told me that when you witches plotted the assassination of the Hound Duboman, a mysterious person intervened to stop you all." Aiden said.
"There was such an incident; he created duplicates of several members." Lamia replied, understanding Aiden’s implications, "You’re saying those are the Keeper of ’Existence’s creations?"
"Exactly, and the one before you is one of the Keeper of ’Existence’s creations." Aiden said.
"It should be ’the second one’." Lamia corrected, noticing the two people looked exactly alike.
"No, they are the same existence. The Keeper of ’Existence’ created a fictional character, then split the two extremes of this character’s personality, crafting them two different bodies, but they remain an existence that lives and dies as one." Aiden roughly explained.
"That does sound quite intriguing." Lamia seemed to show a bit of interest, leaned in, bent down, and sniffed at the bound doppelganger assassin with her tongue out, and then got close to Deborah, who, frightened, hid behind Aiden, grabbing onto his shoulder, too scared to move.
"This face, it does seem like an artificial creation." Lamia nodded in satisfaction, "Interesting, truly interesting. I wonder what the taste of a divine being’s creation is like!"
Deborah and the doppelganger assassin shivered at the same time.
"Don’t eat." Aiden stressed.
"So, what do you want me to do?" Lamia asked.
Aiden turned to look at Deborah, seeking her opinion with his eyes for the last time.
With a determined expression, Deborah nodded.
Looking at Lamia again, Aiden spoke seriously, "I want you to use the power of ’Fusion’ to make them one!"
"Is it that simple?" Lamia raised her eyebrows, "I must remind you, the power of the ’Chaos’ attribute is full of randomness, even I dare not predict what the outcome of ’Fusion’ might be. It is clear, your feelings towards the two of them... are different."
"That’s why I also need you to use the power of the ’Balance’ attribute to ensure that the fusion results are mostly based on her." Aiden pointed at Deborah.
