The so-called Trinity Goddess did not mean mincing Aige, Catherine, and Leira into pieces and kneading them back together into a new person.
Rather, it was more like the three goddesses lending each other their divine portfolios, granting one another permission to wield them.
Once the three portfolios merged, they would give rise to a new entity.
The elves had done this before. After three goddesses merged, they formed a new Trinity Goddess who became Corellon's new consort.
However, many people also considered Corellon quite messy for this, since one of the three constituent goddesses happened to be his daughter.
Anbaixiu's initial reaction was that the old fellow Corellon wanted to take another concubine, but he suddenly remembered that Leira had already joined the fold of Silvanus. The Oak Father, who notoriously avoided factional entanglements, had rarely taken on a subordinate deity; there was no way he would let Corellon abduct her.
From the looks of it, this Trinity Goddess was most likely just a symbol of an alliance.
But why rope in Aige?
"What is the rationale?" Anbaixiu asked curiously.
Aige shook her head. "I'm not entirely sure either, but Catherine's explanation was that if our three portfolios fuse together, we might be able to attain a quick ascension in a short time."
Anbaixiu felt this truly hit a blind spot in his knowledge. Catherine was the racial deity of the drow; Leira held a weakened version of the Portfolio of Darkness, and even with the faith of the shadow druids, she was merely a lesser deity; Aige's portfolio of Freedom seemed broader and had a brighter future.
But what could possibly emerge from mixing these three portfolios together?
High-end divine lore like this was truly beyond Anbaixiu's ken.
"Once the three portfolios merge, will there be any special effect?" Anbaixiu asked.
Aige shook her head again. "I don't know. Catherine didn't go into much detail either. She only said it was the Elven King of Gods' intent, and she gave me her guarantee that it wouldn't bring me any harm."
Anbaixiu pondered for a moment, then said, "Catherine isn't the kind of person who can keep secrets. If she didn't explain clearly, it's mostly because even she doesn't know that much. Still, I can guess a bit. Corellon might not just be making Catherine the racial deity of the drow; he's probably granting her other portfolios as well, which is why she needs you and Leira.
"I just don't understand why Corellon is in such a hurry to elevate Catherine's divine power. The Elven Gods are immensely powerful—could someone still pose a threat to Catherine?"
Asking even Oghma might not yield an answer to something like this, so Anbaixiu decided not to waste his brain cells on it.
Aige asked, "So how do you see this matter?"
Anbaixiu shook his head. "This isn't a decision for me to make. It's your future, so I can only offer a bit of advice. First of all, the elves have a fairly solid reputation. When they promise something, they generally don't deceive, nor do they dig traps for you."
With an immense heritage and far-reaching influence, the elven pantheon valued their reputation above all else. Reputation brought greater benefits to the elves, so they disdained underhanded tricks.
That was how the good alignment was; one could cooperate with them with peace of mind.
Aige understood this concerned her future, but unfortunately, she knew very few deities. Although she had also sought advice from President Jergal, his answer was much the same as Anbaixiu's.
The likelihood of the elves deceiving her was slim, so this cooperation truly posed no harm to Aige; whether to accept it came down to her own choice.
Aige pondered for a long while before nodding. "Then I'll agree to it. I need allies as well."
Anbaixiu offered no opinion, nor did he remind Aige that she could negotiate for greater benefits from the elves. Once Aige ascended to godhood, everything she faced would have to be handled by herself; it was not something a mortal like Anbaixiu could meddle in.
How much benefit to seek and where to draw the line were things she had to grasp on her own so she wouldn't harbor regrets later.
Her judgment was sound enough anyway. The elves were excellent allies, and Corellon's side might even help find what Aige needed.
The dragon pantheon could wager something like a flawless resurrection scroll, and the elven pantheon was hardly inferior to the dragons. Perhaps they possessed something similar, which would allow Aige to resurrect her father directly.
Still, Anbaixiu couldn't just sit back and ignore everything. It seemed it was time to meet with Catherine; perhaps he could glean more relevant intelligence from her.
The elves were close partners of Anbaixiu; nothing could be allowed to go wrong.
Anbaixiu suggested, "How about this: have Leira take the lead and arrange a meeting in the Synesthesia Dreamscape to talk about this Trinity Goddess matter. Before you and Catherine ascend, the sooner we hold this meeting, the better."
Aige nodded, stating that she would personally visit the Emerald Dream Forest, taking it as a chance to converse first with the goddess she would merge with in the future.
Having finished discussing this, Anbaixiu suddenly remembered something and asked with curiosity, "This isn't anything shady either. Why couldn't we tell Rose?"
Hearing Anbaixiu's question, Aige smiled. "Because there's another matter I wanted to discuss with you. You and Rose have already made your relationship official, haven't you?"
Anbaixiu felt slightly embarrassed, but with skin thick enough from long years, he quickly nodded and said, "It just happened naturally."
Aige sighed, then said, "That is a good thing for Rose. Otherwise, once the Ryan royal family disappeared, she would have perished with them. However, your treatment for her isn't going smoothly, is it?"
"Keeping an undead who has lost her obsession capable of rational thought is truly no easy task."
Anbaixiu felt helpless as well. The state shown by his test subjects, Dahei and Erha, was not promising. Merely swapping out their soul material had little effect on their free will. In a year or two, those two fellows would gradually degenerate into drooling zombies, which was why lately they could only maintain their thinking faculties by sleeping for extended periods.
Aige said to Anbaixiu, "I might be able to help, but it could carry a significant risk. That's why I didn't want to give Rose false hope—I wanted to discuss it with you, the expert on souls, first."
Anbaixiu came to a sudden realization. He had wondered what big secret it was, but it turned out to be this.
"What is your method?" Anbaixiu asked curiously.
Aige explained, "By utilizing my divine portfolio. If I can successfully become the God of Freedom, my power should be able to liberate bound souls, just like with those kuo-toa. I can bestow true free will upon them, unhindered by their physical bodies. The reason undead need an obsession is that their bodies, unlike the living, lack the sensory experiences that otherwise sustain a soul's existence.
"Perhaps I can help Rose's soul regain its freedom as well."
Anbaixiu thought about it for a moment and immediately felt there was promise in this.
"Why didn't I think of that? There really is a high chance of success. Are there any risks involved?" Anbaixiu asked.
Aige said with a touch of awkwardness, "Perhaps... this freedom might go a bit too far. Do you remember the two kuo-toa you freed back then? You gave them awkward and inexplicable names."
"Benbo'erba and Babo'erben?"
Anbaixiu indeed remembered them, primarily because those two names belonged to his own unique memories from his past life; nobody else had any clue what they meant.
Aige nodded and explained, "They were the first batch of kuo-toa to awaken free will, but their definition of freedom seems to be a bit different. Not long ago, out of dissatisfaction with the new dogma, they nearly killed Herki Stone."
Anbaixiu's eyes went wide.
"Are you serious? Isn't that dwarf your designated pope? They dared to lay hands on the pope?"
Herki Stone had been drafting doctrines for Aige all along and was the chosen candidate for first pope; the other kuo-toa ought to have treated him with utmost reverence.
"That is the problem with unrestricted freedom: rules seem not to apply to them. The kuo-toa interpret freedom according to their own notions. While their faith remains devout, the doctrine Herki Stone penned doesn't satisfy every kuo-toa. Elsewhere, such dissatisfaction might only lead to debate, but in the eyes of those two kuo-toa, any means could be used to alter the dogma—including assassination."
Aige smiled faintly and continued, "Fortunately, the two of them don't have much ability, and Herki Stone is a legendary vampire after all, so he came out unscathed. But this is something to be wary of. Promoting my dogma will likely not be that simple. Freedom cannot be absolute freedom, or it will only bring ruin."
This truly opened Anbaixiu's eyes. Wasn't that just like the "freedom and gun violence" country from his past life?
Everything indeed had two sides. The portfolio of Freedom was too broad; Aige might struggle to keep it under control.
Aige continued to explain, "That's why I haven't attempted to use my current power to treat Rose. I was afraid it might directly warp her personality and lead to irreversible consequences. Now, as her husband, you're the one whose opinion I can ask. After I ascend to godhood, I want to make Rose my Chosen, granting her soul freedom through the true power of the God of Freedom.
"There might be unpredictable consequences. What do you think?"
Aige's question was genuinely hard for Anbaixiu to answer, but he also understood that only he could make the decision on Rose's behalf. Her periods of sleep were growing longer and longer, and outside the Synesthesia Dreamscape, she struggled even to maintain normal rational thought.
Under such circumstances, she couldn't answer Aige's question or weigh the risks involved. No wonder Aige wanted Anbaixiu to keep it from the Rose of Decay for now; telling her now would only add to the burden on her soul.
Anbaixiu said resignedly, "I can't give an answer right now, but I have an alternative plan. If we ultimately can't resolve the issue with Rose's soul, I'll find a way to have her sign a contract with a devil so her soul falls into the Nine Hells. Once she enters Hell, I have ways to transform her into a devil—be it a cambion, an erinyes, or even an ordinary lemure. As long as the transformation is completed, she will regain normal cognitive function."
This was Anbaixiu's last resort, but unless it was absolutely unavoidable, he didn't want to do it.
Aige's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and she said in surprise, "It seems you really are doing very well in Hell. You're confident you can protect her there."
Anbaixiu shook his head. "Actually, I'm walking on thin ice as well, which is why I don't want to resort to this until the very last moment. I don't yet have the ability to send a soul precisely to a designated location in Hell. If the devil archdukes find out about it, they'll definitely intervene. The authority of Hell lies in their hands, giving them far too much room to maneuver."
Anbaixiu was being watched by everyone now; any plan he made would be noticed, leaving practically no chance of total secrecy. If the Rose of Decay were to descend into Hell, the number of devils eyeing her soul would be countless.
It was a last resort, and the risk was immense.
"Then let's have two safety nets," Aige said. "I'll contact you immediately after ascending. Perhaps after uniting with the other two goddesses, I'll be able to control my power flawlessly, and Rose won't have to risk entering Hell."
Anbaixiu nodded. That would naturally be the best outcome.
Yet he also had to prepare for the worst and pave a path for Rose in Hell.
Counting on his fingers, Anbaixiu was quite busy. He had several major matters to attend to: Rose's treatment, resolving the trouble with Cyric, and ending the Blood War. None of these could be rushed, yet every single one was critically important.
Just as Anbaixiu was reassuring himself that he could take these one step at a time, he suddenly received a message from Hell.
The madwoman Paluriel sent a message through the magic mirror. It was very brief, yet it made Anbaixiu's scalp tingle:
"Your bank can't redeem soul coins anymore."
Anbaixiu was genuinely startled. He quickly tested it using his own account.
Sure enough, he discovered that while the balance on his account decreased, no soul coins were dispensed.
"What in the..."
Without even taking time to say goodbye to Aige, Anbaixiu immediately shifted over to the divine realm of the God of Alchemy and began a thorough diagnostic of the core magic mirror.
Before long, Anbaixiu located the source of the issue.
A bizarre power was infiltrating the magic mirror's system and propagating something resembling a virus. The effect of this virus was very simple: it generated an illusion, making users believe the soul coins in their accounts had been deducted.
Fortunately, this was more like a prank that altered the display interface; it couldn't truly breach the core system to modify account balances. As the artifact spirit of the magic mirror, Anbaixiu had been tricked when unaware, but once he detected it, purging the virus was no trouble at all.
Within a few minutes, the invading viral program was thoroughly expunged, and he added protective wards to block similar intrusions in the future.
Only after finishing all this did Anbaixiu contact Paluriel again. "Problem solved."
Paluriel sneered, "Your technical glitch might be gone, but your troubles aren't solved. Devils are chronic paranoiacs. How do you plan to handle this crisis of trust?"
Paluriel wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. Even though it was merely a prank-like illusion that hadn't actually cost anyone a single coin of savings, to devils, once was enough to guarantee a second time. If this time was fake, would the next time be real?
If deposited soul coins could go missing, why would anyone continue trusting this Hell Bank?
Sure enough, Anbaixiu noticed that massive numbers of users had already begun withdrawing their deposits. Even though the transaction fees were exorbitant, they preferred taking a loss just to pull all their soul coins out.
At the same time, Mammon and a cohort of devils sent messages aggressively questioning Anbaixiu about system security and demanding compensation for everyone's losses.
Looking at these chaotic messages and the furious, twisted faces of the devil archdukes, Anbaixiu merely sneered. He sent out a uniform reply to the devils: "If you don't want in anymore, divest. I'll buy back your shares at original price plus a twenty percent compensation premium. However, I can only pay you in soul coins minted by my own hand."
A bunch of profit-obsessed devils—did they really not understand what the true advantage of the Hell Bank was?
To hell with reputation! It was his ability as a deceiver to counterfeit currency!
A credit crisis?
If you have the guts, don't use the magic mirror; use physical cash for everything. Anbaixiu guaranteed their held assets would depreciate wildly in no time, driving every single one of them into bankruptcy.
After sending that simple and blunt reply, Anbaixiu couldn't be bothered with what the devil archdukes thought. His mind was solely on how to deal with Cyric. Earlier he thought he could afford to take his time, but that clearly wasn't an option anymore. If that fellow could plant a virus once, he could do it a second time. His divine power was tailored specifically for concocting lies and illusions, capable of sowing immense chaos. Eliminating him had to take top priority.
"In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless."
With a flick of Anbaixiu's finger, The True Life of Cyric was uploaded to the magic mirror's reading section and granted the strongest possible front-page promotion, guaranteeing that anyone opening the magic mirror would be forced to watch an ad for the book for several seconds.
Come on, let's see which is stronger: lies, or the truth.
Chapter 599