Chapter 592: Chapter 591: First Meeting_1
Several hours earlier.
"Let her and me...fuse into one?" Deborah gaped at Aiden.
"Yes, since we cannot deny the fact that you are the same existence, why not fully accept this fact?" Aiden said.
"Can you do such a thing?"
"I cannot, but I know someone who might be able to." Aiden said, "Remember the Empire’s evil experiment that fused humans with demons?"
The "Fusion" ability of the "Chaos" authority could eliminate the boundaries between different entities, forcibly merging the two into one.
At the military base in Sunset City, they had once obtained a Divine Artifact with this ability, capable of merging humans and demons into man-made demon offspring.
Now, the Great Witch Lamia wielded this power.
If Deborah and the doppelganger murderess truly belonged to the same existence, then logically, they could be fused into one.
"Frankly, I do not know if the being that results from the fusion will still be you. Even in the best scenario, her malicious thoughts will still become part of you, you will need to overcome them. You would have to use yourself as a prison, completely locking away the other evil side. Yet, you will still turn out to be different from your original self," Aiden explained. "Of course, this is just the ideal state, there is also a possibility of ending up as a villain. If you are still willing to try despite this, I can lend you a hand."
"I..." Deborah hesitated.
...
"Let me confirm one more time, do you really intend to do this?" Lamia looked at Deborah and the doppelganger murderess before her.
"I am sure," Deborah nodded without hesitation.
"It seems I don’t have a choice," the doppelganger murderess said somewhat helplessly.
"After the fusion, both of you will disappear, you know," Lamia said.
"Why do you have to put it that way?" Aiden said. "Can you tone down your sadistic nature a bit?"
"After the fusion, they will coexist within one form, but that can also be considered a completely new being, so I am not wrong," Lamia hissed. "Besides, the outcome of this experiment is unpredictable."
"The ’Regulation’ ability should work, right?" Aiden asked.
"Theoretically, it could have some effect, but my power is probably not enough to achieve what you want," Lamia explained. "The greatest difference between the two lies in the spirit, which is the most difficult to control. My level of power is likely not high enough. Compared to that, the power of the ’Spirit’ throne’s three authorities would certainly be more reliable."
The being capable of wielding the power of the "Spirit" throne’s authorities that could truly be of help, in Aiden’s memory, was none other than the Goddess of Revenge. However, the Goddess of Revenge’s power level currently only reached that of a vicar, and the "Betrayal" ability could only last for about two or three seconds.
"Then, what would happen without any intervention?" Aiden looked at Lamia and asked.
"Quite simple, after the fusion their memories will coexist, only the personality will be reshaped. Since the personalities are two extremes, they will inevitably fall into internal contradiction and struggle, and whoever’s spirit takes the dominant position will dictate the merged form," Lamia said. "Of course, you also have the option not to merge the spirits, only the bodies, but that would definitely result in a dual personality."
"So, you’re saying I still have a chance to become the dominant one?" the doppelgänger murderer suddenly became interested.
"You won’t have that chance," Deborah said seriously. "Mr. Aiden, if after the fusion, I turn into a bloodthirsty criminal, please do not hesitate, just kill me!"
"Don’t be so resistant. Even if I become the dominant one, you will become the only conscience I have left," the doppelgänger murderer coaxed.
"Conscience is meaningless if it can’t restrain evil deeds," Aiden interjected, looking at Deborah, "I promise you. After your fusion, I will interrogate you with ’The Codex’. If the result is still a dangerous villain, I will handle it."
"Not even a little chance for me? That’s not fair!" the doppelgänger murderer protested.
"When you were killing people, you never considered giving them a chance," Aiden said with a cold tone.
"Let’s start now then," Lamia fixed her gaze on the two and began chanting divine words.
In Lamia’s murky voice, Aiden commanded the mercury amalgam golem to release the doppelgänger murderer’s restraints.
The moment he was freed, the doppelgänger seemed to want to do something, but Lamia’s divine words promptly took effect. Her figure suddenly blurred, like a smudged photograph. Deborah was affected as well; after being blurred, they were drawn to each other like two magnets, merging into a vague and ethereal silhouette.
The silhouette soon became clear again. It was still Deborah’s form, but she had changed clothes, now wearing a patchwork of garments from what they both had worn before. Her facial expressions switched like a slideshow, but with every change, her figure would blur again, as if she might disappear at any moment.
Aiden doubted whether what he was doing was right. Actually, Lamia was not wrong—after the fusion, the righteous Deborah Awen would also cease to exist, and the best outcome would be a new Deborah, who harbored some wicked thoughts at heart but would use her conscience to keep them in check, overall still decent compared to the naive justice advocate Deborah. There was a difference.
Was this outcome truly better than Deborah and the doppelgänger murdering each other? Aiden couldn’t be sure. He was doing this purely because he didn’t want Deborah to walk down the tragically set path of inevitable sacrifice for her beliefs, dying alongside her other half, because that reminded him of his own potential future. He wanted to give Deborah a choice, even if it wasn’t perfect.
In other words, it was simply his personal bias.
But then, Deborah had given him her answer:
"I’ll do it! I don’t want to become someone else, but I still want to leave my mark on this world. Of course, I don’t want to just disappear, even if my life is a lie! It’s okay not to be a justice warrior, as long as I’m a decent person," she said.
With such a strong desire, Aiden believed she could take control.
As long as she doesn’t do evil...
The merging, blurry figure finally stabilized, and the fusion neared its conclusion. Aiden and the fused Deborah locked eyes.
"Do you want to be the justice warrior Deborah, or the murderer?" Aiden asked her, "In the future, do you plan to do good, or evil?"
"I have memories of murder, I’m no longer entitled to be a justice warrior..." under the influence of ’The Codex’, the merged Deborah Awen said wearily revealing the truth, "But I won’t do those bad things anymore."
"Welcome back," Aiden smiled.
"No, it’s nice to meet you for the first time," Deborah also smiled, "Mr. Aiden, I still... like you."
