"In the end, the biggest troubles I've encountered since coming to this world were fundamentally all orchestrated by you. For such a reason alone, you caused so much trouble?" Aiden put the chess pieces away, his expression blank.
"In your eyes, 'such a reason' is boring, and what I did had a significant impact. But in my view, that reason was sufficient, and what was done was merely a trivial matter," Mephilia's face showed complete indifference. "Mortals always seek meaning in their actions, but in the eyes of a Dominator, many things mortals deem meaningful are just illusory trifles."
"I've wanted to ask for a long time..." Aiden ventured the question. "You were once mortal too, weren't you?"
"Of course. Apart from the long-fallen first generation of Old Ones, subsequent Dominators were all mortals who stole Authority. I am no exception," Mephilia replied.
"Then do you still consider yourself human?" Aiden asked.
"Is that important?"
"Is it not important?"
"You're asking about my subjective identification, and I truly don't care about it. I can be considered human, or not... Compared to this, don't you have other, more pressing questions to ask?"
Aiden realized Mephilia clearly lacked interest in this question because she genuinely didn't care about it. She possessed desires similar to mortals but had long since abandoned human values and emotions. This capricious goddess might do good deeds on a whim or commit heinous crimes out of momentary fancy because, to her, mortal rights and wrongs meant little.
Mortal love was also merely a game she could try. Even if she was fond of a partner one day, she might grow bored the next.
To pursue such a goddess, that Mr. Blood Robe probably isn't a normal person either.
And for Aiden, who had transmigrated here, having his life endangered over such nonsense was simply an undeserved disaster.
"Since you willingly threw yourself into prison for this reason..." Aiden said slowly, "...then what exactly did you secretly discuss with the previous owner of this body back then?"
"Nothing much. I just found him rather interesting, so I persuaded him to assist me in setting up this trial. He would stop that man, and as a condition, I would 'surrender' myself to him, becoming a prisoner of humans. Once I did that, that man would burn with jealousy towards him, viewing him as an object of revenge."
"You asked someone without Authority power to stop a Saint?" Aiden frowned. "Isn't that practically a death sentence?"
An Inquisitor facing an S-rank wanted criminal could somewhat bridge the power gap with equipment and combat skills.
But the power of divine word was too far beyond the scale, especially against a Saint. A rabbit, even struggling with all its might, could never win against a wolf.
"Yes. According to my calculations at the time, his win rate was less than ten percent, which is why I set up that insurance," Mephilia said. "But even knowing the low odds, he still agreed, just so I would willingly accept containment. I don't know whether to call it bravery or a sense of justice—people as 'unintelligent' as him are rare, which is why I found him interesting."
"You can read minds. You proposed it to him because you predicted he would agree, didn't you?" Aiden stared intently into Mephilia's eyes.
As a High Inquisitor who sent countless heretics to prison to maintain order, the previous Aiden clearly realized what a threat the Dominator worshipped by the Blood Moon Coven posed to humanity. Under such circumstances, Goddess Mephilia willingly entering prison to be supervised by the Inquisition was something highly desirable from his standpoint and duty.
However, the price was becoming a tool for the goddess's amusement. His life would be directly taken by the jealousy-fueled Mr. Blood Robe, and his very existence became a prop for the goddess's trial.
But the previous Aiden probably didn't know the goddess left an avatar active outside. In a way, Mephilia actually deceived him.
"Of course. Is there a problem?" Mephilia still looked completely unconcerned.
"You didn't let him pursue the path to godhood? Don't you think that's unfair?" Aiden asked.
"Unfortunately, according to my predictions, he basically wouldn't survive," Mephilia said with a regretful expression. "Although he was interesting, he didn't have the chance."
After the previous Aiden destroyed the coven and imprisoned Mephilia, Mr. Blood Robe would come seeking him to complete the 'Revenge' ritual. Only after killing 'Aiden Galord' once would Mr. Blood Robe discover the 'surprise' Mephilia had set for him.
And even if Mr. Blood Robe knew beforehand, he probably would have tried killing him once just to see.
"So even though the previous Aiden is dead, Mr. Blood Robe still couldn't complete the 'Revenge' ritual because his enemy was actually the chess piece you favored?" Aiden began to understand.
"Correct. As long as that hatred isn't resolved, his ritual cannot be completed."
"But you told me nothing at the beginning."
"I already gave you Divinity. I had to set some trials for you too, right? Otherwise, the fun of randomly rolling the dice would be completely lost."
"Trials? Weren't you afraid your chess piece would drown in the gutter right at the first step?" Aiden still couldn't quite grasp her thinking.
For five whole years, he had been completely unaware of his own situation.
"Testing mortals is a god's prerogative. Even if my chess piece gets captured on the first move, it just means the dice roll was unlucky," Mephilia remained indifferent. "However, even after sealing the 'Omniscient' power to calculate the future, I wasn't completely clueless. With me imprisoned here, forces related to Authority powers would sooner or later be drawn here and come into contact with you within a few years..."
Aiden thought about it; that did seem to be the case. He actually learned his first divine word incantation through contact with the Witch Coven. And his contact with the Witch Coven ultimately stemmed from Priscilla tracing the Blood Moon Coven's tracks and venturing into the Autonomous Prefecture.
Then, he heard Mephilia continue: "Besides, with Melissa continuously interfering from the sidelines, this game won't deviate too much from the proper course. The rest depends on your own performance. Fortunately, you haven't disappointed me..."
"Wait a minute!" Aiden interrupted before she could finish. "So you're saying, ever since I was summoned to this world, Melissa has actually been continuously monitoring me?"
"Yes. Is there a problem? I still need to ensure the game proceeds normally, right?"
"Isn't that... stalking?" A chill suddenly ran down Aiden's spine.
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