Chapter 600: Chapter 599: Winning Over Companions_1
To hand over one’s trump card to someone else for the balance of a game, or to even put oneself in danger, is not what a normal person would do, but the Goddess of Conspiracy could do just that.
Her actions resemble those who, in pursuit of fun and excitement, are even willing to risk their lives.
It’s as if a tycoon who has enjoyed all the pleasures of the world suddenly finds life too boring and starts playing Russian roulette as a game.
"You’ve said this kind of thing before," the Goddess of Vengeance raised her eyebrows meaningfully, "You really seem to have had a deep understanding of her. I guess you’ve hidden part of your relationship with her from me, haven’t you?"
"How could there be a chance of winning without understanding her?" Aiden dodged the latter question.
The Goddess of Vengeance guessed correctly. Aiden told her about Melissa but had not mentioned Melifilia.
However, judging by her tone, it seemed she was speculating in a slightly wrong direction.
"So you’re saying that when that conspiring bitch was competing with me, she wasn’t really trying her hardest and was just playing around? That sounds kind of frustrating." The Goddess of Vengeance sneered coldly.
"It’s a good thing. The more she maintains such an attitude, the bigger our chance of winning," Aiden said.
"But our only clue is the memory I’ve lost and can’t recover," the Goddess of Vengeance said.
"So could the key actually lie in the loss of memory itself? Why did you actively sacrifice your memory? Could this be the key to gaining authority?" Aiden tapped his fingers on the tabletop.
"That’s not entirely impossible," said the Goddess of Vengeance, "I’m not very familiar with the ’Wisdom’ authority, but I know it can manipulate memories and even devour someone’s entire spirit. Paired with the ’Desire’ authority, it’s easy to erode someone’s spirit. Perhaps I sacrificed the eroded part of my spirit to resist such spiritual erosion. As far as I know, ’Sacrifice’ can achieve this."
"Then, after becoming a ruler, you had the power to resist such erosion, so you only retained the memories after ascension to godhood," Aiden nodded, "That makes sense."
The "Wisdom" authority has the power to devour the knowledge and memory of others. Combined with the "Desire" authority, it can completely absorb a person’s spirit and assimilate it as one’s own.
An unnamed witch whose spirit had once been eroded by Melindale had tried to seek authority to preserve her self, but failed.
This also verified the first hint provided by the Dreamer: only the power of a ruler can contend with a ruler.
At that moment, the Goddess of Vengeance suddenly grinned: "You see, if the ruler-level ’Sacrifice’ can resist the spiritual erosion of the ’Wisdom’ authority, then helping me return to godhood is your only choice, isn’t it? I can help you, kid. Don’t worry about me abandoning you, because I would never let go of my enemies."
"You’re thinking of hitting me with a memory delete at a critical moment?" Aiden was reluctant, "To forget an entire past life to evade erosion and consider it a narrow victory?"
"There’s nothing bad in abandoning everything as a mortal. Once you become a ruler, you will find such an ordinary life trivial," the Goddess of Vengeance scorned Aiden’s view.
"That’s not very persuasive coming from you. You’ve lost your mortal memories, so how can you be so sure they’re insignificant?" Aiden said.
"Maybe it’s exactly because they’re so insignificant that I cast them away without hesitation," the Goddess of Vengeance said, "After gaining authority, there were a few times when clues to my past arose before my eyes, but I simply couldn’t find any interest in them. Once you become a ruler, you can do so much more, there’s no need to cling to a mundane past."
"Too bad I’m just human right now," Aiden said calmly, "Those things are pretty much all I have."
Setting aside the memories inherited from the previous Aiden, if the memories from his life in another world as well as the few years spent in this one all disappeared, would he still be himself?
Memory is the property of the spirit, capable of influencing cognitive perception. Suppose that only his memories vanished, leaving behind those of the previous Aiden; he would likely come to believe that he was Aiden Galahad, the Judge of the autonomous region, and may even consider the years spent as a prison guard as being possessed by someone else. As a transmigrator and as a prison guard, it would be as if he had been killed, vanishing from the world without a trace.
To lose his memory like the Goddess of Vengeance and become a ruler who completely abandons mortal past, he was against it. He had a premonition that without the moral constraints brought about by memory, he would likely become a god-like "childishly destructive being" similar to the Goddess of Conspiracy and the Dreamer. Perhaps in the pursuit of pleasure, he would trample upon everything he once valued.
"Up to you, but I’m serious, you should assist me in returning to godhood," said the Goddess of Vengeance with a knowing smile, "And I have an idea."
"What idea?"
"Since you also intend to ascend as a ruler, why not form a long-term alliance, not just limited to dealing with that conniving bitch? How about it?" the Goddess of Vengeance suggested, then earnestly explained, "However, don’t get me wrong, I still don’t really like your way of doing things, but I tentatively accept you."
"I’m not even sure if I can successfully ascend yet," Aiden reminded, "And you want to rope me in as your companion?"
"Hence the need to settle this now," the Goddess of Vengeance said with a smile.
"You are too unreliable as a companion, there’s a big possibility of betrayal," Aiden sized up the Goddess of Vengeance, "After all, your ascension ceremony involved ’betrayal,’ didn’t it?"
"That’s required for the ascension, and besides, I don’t have any memory of it," the Goddess of Vengeance spread her hands apart.
"But authority does influence a person; I can’t fully trust you," Aiden said, "Let’s set aside the long-term alliance for now. If it’s truly about letting you return to godhood, I’d rather use the conditions you mentioned to me in Gistas: that we don’t interfere with each other in the future. However, we can be on the same side against the Goddess of Conspiracy, I don’t doubt your thirst for revenge."
"So that means you’ll still assist me in returning to godhood?" the Goddess of Vengeance circled back to the topic.
"I’ll think about it," Aiden said.
"Think about it, huh? You didn’t directly refuse like before... sounds like there might be a chance," the Goddess of Vengeance teased with a laugh, "Come to think of it, what exactly is the final step of your ascension ritual?"
"That’s not something you need to know," Aiden said expressionlessly.
