Chapter 642: Chapter 641: The Way to Kill Mr. Bloody Shirt_1
At that moment, in the Office of the Warden.
Aiden had confirmed the rules on the Wordless Code and then closed The Codex.
The three rules he had written in The Codex now were, "No acts of harm are permitted," "The spirit of every person in the domain shall remain normal," and "No one in the domain shall die."
The ban on harm was to prevent the use of the Bladed Revenge, the rule protecting the spirit was to counter "treachery" mental interference, and the rule prohibiting death was a final safeguard—which had proven to be quite effective, unless the death were the result of a dominator-level power.
"It’s clear that you’re ready at any moment," he heard a voice echo in his mind.
At the same time, the figure of the vengeance goddess appeared beside him.
Mr. Blood Cloth could reemerge from the netherworld at any moment, and Aiden had a premonition that his next appearance would be the time he was prepared to launch an attack.
Therefore, Aiden chose to repeat his previous trick, transferring the spirit of the vengeance goddess to himself.
As soon as Mr. Blood Cloth materialized from the netherworld, they would sense it immediately.
"Still no sign of that guy?" Aiden asked.
"No," said the vengeance goddess. "It’s been several days, and you’ve been on edge here, but your prison has been peaceful all along. It seems like you’re just nervous for nothing."
"Being overly cautious doesn’t really lead to any losses, but negligence might cost one’s life," Aiden calmly replied.
"Instead of being on guard at all times, it’s better to draw the adversary out," said the vengeance goddess. "Always being on the defensive isn’t a good habit. When that maggot approaches you, he will certainly be prepared."
"So, do you have any ideas?" Aiden asked.
"Isn’t that your job?" the vengeance goddess countered.
"To pompously lecture me and then push the task onto me?" Aiden said.
"Of course," the vengeance goddess replied matter-of-factly. "You have more ideas than I do."
"I understand what you’re saying, I’m just considering..." Aiden said, "the way to kill Mr. Blood Cloth."
"Indeed, that’s not an easy task," the vengeance goddess agreed.
"I plan to confirm once more, if I kill him with the Unique Authority, ’Sacrifice’ shouldn’t be able to transfer the damage, right?" Aiden asked.
"That’s correct, you just have to remember one iron rule, ’When the effects of abilities conflict, the higher-level power prevails.’ The power level of the Unique Authority is second only to the dominator itself, higher than the saints. For instance, if you use the Hand of Oblivion to kill him, its effect is to designate a target for disappearance. If the target tries to use ’Sacrifice’ to transfer this damage and protect himself, it’s undoubtedly conflicting with the effect of the Hand of Oblivion," the vengeance goddess explained. "Then, the power of ’Sacrifice’ must be higher than the Hand of Oblivion to be activated."
"So, a dominator-level ’Sacrifice’ could transfer, but a saint-level wouldn’t be enough?" Aiden confirmed.
"Exactly," the illusion of the vengeance goddess sat on the office desk.
Aiden thought it over. Once ’Sacrifice’ was used, the devotee who selflessly offered himself up would be nearly invincible until he was entirely consumed. However, this invincibility couldn’t seem to overcome the gap in power levels.
On his hand, the only powers he could rely on were the death sentence of the Wordless Code and the Hand of Oblivion in Qiqimora’s possession.
The punishments of the Wordless Code don’t execute themselves. Once the adversary comprehends that their actions could incur the death penalty, they would not violate the rules.
That left only the Hand of Oblivion... There were two ways to use the Hand of Oblivion, one was to snap one’s fingers and erase the target known to oneself regardless of the distance, which had a cost. While erasing the other party, the user would also disappear.
The other way was to touch with the Hand of Oblivion itself.
"This method requires careful consideration, as you might need to prepare a pawn to be sacrificed," the vengeance goddess advised.
"A pawn?" Aiden was taken aback.
"Don’t forget that the power of ’Vengeance’ is also in play," the vengeance goddess said somberly.
"His ’Vengeance’ ability is also saint-level..." Aiden muttered offhand, then immediately realized, "Wait a minute, the effects don’t conflict!"
"That’s right, the effect of the Hand of Oblivion is to eliminate the target, while the power of Vengeance causes the inflictor of the harm to bear the same damage, rather than leaving the target unharmed. The two effects don’t conflict. Moreover, unlike ’Betrayal,’ ’Vengeance’ can be activated as soon as the existence of the other party is sensed, without requiring information about them."
Aiden realized that the instant he used the Hand of Oblivion to touch, Mr. Blood Cloth would be aware of the source of the damage. As the effect of "Obliteration" manifested, "Vengeance" would cause the same effect to happen to the bearer of the Hand of Oblivion as well.
In other words, like paying the price to use the Hand of Oblivion, this approach would require the sacrifice of someone to perish along with Mr. Blood Cloth.
But if the damage caused by Vengeance could be repaired...
"What level would the ’Vengeance’ rebound effect be considered in terms of power levels?" Aiden continued to confirm. "The same as the ’Vengeance’ ability level?"
"No, it would be the same as the level of the power that caused the damage, that’s the inherent mechanism of the ’Vengeance’ ability," the vengeance goddess said.
Aiden’s face became serious.
It appeared that no matter what, if the Hand of Oblivion was used to eliminate Mr. Blood Cloth, the user would also endure the erasure caused by the touch of the Hand of Oblivion.
And Aiden couldn’t use the "Return" divine word to restore the sacrificed person because the level of his power was also of the saint level, something he had experienced when his throat was cut by the double-edged revenge in Sunset City. The inflicted damage effects of the Unique Authority could only be somewhat mitigated by the Wordless Code, which was also a Unique Authority, let alone his capability of return.
"In that case, we’ll have to use The Codex to seal the power of Vengeance first," Aiden said. "You’re right; taking the initiative is very important."
Using The Codex to seal the power of Vengeance, then using the Hand of Oblivion to eliminate Mr. Blood Cloth seemed like the most effective plan to defeat him.
Only, once it came to killing Mr. Blood Cloth, the rules on The Codex about "No harm allowed" and "No one shall die" had to be amended. As soon as these rules were gone, Mr. Blood Cloth could inflict self-harm with the Bladed Revenge, causing the same injury to appear on him— even if Vengeance itself were banned, preventing Mr. Blood Cloth from self-harming as his enemy, he could still have his followers use the Bladed Revenge.
The first to act would win. The vengeance goddess was right; seizing the initiative in this duel was crucial, just like in chess: whoever moves first has a higher chance of winning.
