Mercy

Adel struggled to his feet, then heard the man say in a hoarse voice, "You may call me Nesser, Nesser Riggs."

This was Adam's true name in this world. As he spoke it, Adam's bearing seemed to rise another level, instinctively making people feel that there was some extraordinary background behind the name.

With Adam taking the initiative to speak, he had also given Adel a way out. The atmosphere eased invisibly, drawing Adel into Adam's rhythm.

"Adel Rien. What instructions does Mr. Riggs have for me?" Adel stood up and met Adam's calm eyes. Without realizing it, he hunched over, making his own presence seem humble.

This was clearly his own home, yet it now seemed to have become Adam's domain.

"There are indeed a few matters. It simply seems that Mr. Rien does not welcome me." Adam did not even spare Adel a glance, casually surveying the furnishings in the wooden hut instead.

At last, Adam's gaze settled on a copy of Divine Word.

"Mr. Riggs, I only... only mistook you for..." Adel's eyes fell on the priest's robes, and he lowered his head slightly.

"A church priest? I truly was once a church priest." Adam smiled as he spoke, his fingers brushing over the priest's robes. His emotions were extraordinarily complicated, as though he really had once been a priest.

This caused Adel to lower his head even further. He stood before Adam with his waist bent, his body trembling faintly.

Nearly every church had no procedure for leaving. Once one joined a church, one belonged to it in life and became its soul in death.

Yet a church could not remain harmonious forever. There would always be those dissatisfied with it who chose to leave. Such an act was considered defection.

Every defecting priest was regarded as having blasphemed against God. Even aberrants could find churches willing to accept them, but no church would spare a priest who had desecrated God.

The churches would stop at nothing to kill them. Thus, anyone who had defected from a church and still lived was almost certainly extremely powerful, or they could never have survived the churches' repeated hunts.

The reason Adam had put on the priest's robes was to wrap himself in such a background. Adel had traveled beyond the city before and understood what a defecting priest represented.

Judging from the psychological pressure Adam had exerted earlier, the identity he had assumed had already completely intimidated Adel.

Adam rose to his feet, frightening Adel into taking an involuntary step back.

"Look how frightened you are. Don't worry. Since I chose not to kill you, it means I still have something for you to do." Adam picked up the copy of Divine Word and opened it precisely to the page he needed.

"The wheat withered, the fruit filled with borers, and cattle and sheep died in droves. The second son beheld suffering and began to fear his father's shepherd's whip."

"The terrified could not hide their sins. Their ugliness, once concealed, leapt into view and could no longer be covered."

"My second son, I have a way." The demon spirit that had lurked in the darkness emerged from the shadows and whispered into the second son's ear.

"In the most prosperous place lies a lake. Its rippling waters will reflect your true appearance, and ugliness shall be concealed." —Divine Word: Age of Divine Revelation

Adel did not understand why Adam had read that passage aloud. Adam sat back down and spoke as if preaching, "Even the beasts that rebelled against God were granted tears by God after their deaths."

"That was God's mercy, and in the legends, it was also the salvation of the beasts."

"Beneath endless radiance, beasts on the verge of turning to ashes could be reborn so long as they caught those tears."

Adam said in a tone that was either mocking or admiring, "Unfortunately, by then, the beasts had nearly died out. The few survivors had lost their bodies and could only hide in dark underground caves, not daring to see the light."

"So what do you think that demon spirit was? And what was the lake it tempted the second son to seek?"

The God in Divine Word had truly existed in this world. Though it was unclear whether He had really created the world, many of His deeds were in fact real.

Although the events in Divine Word had been artistically embellished, or used extensive euphemisms out of some concern, much could still be gleaned from them.

In Adam's view, the second son perhaps did not refer to just one person, but to a group of people—the earliest aberrants. The shepherding father, meanwhile, could be called the Shepherd, generally recognized as an incarnation of God.

A church had even emerged because of this: the Shepherd Church, which worshipped God incarnated as the Shepherd.

"The Church of God's Tears, whose doctrine is the salvation of aberrants, has a lake as its church emblem." Adam slowly revealed his method for concealing abnormalities.

Adam was not lying about this. Otherwise, even with the status of a half-pureblood, he would have been exposed the moment the chief priest placed a hand on his head.

"Someone created the Tears of God Ritual from this. Though it cannot grant aberrants salvation like the true Tears of God, it can allow you to reveal your 'true' appearance."

"The concealment offered by this ritual is far stronger than drinking demon potions." Adam's voice brimmed with temptation. "Then, so long as you do not expose yourself, no one will discover that you are an aberrant."

"So, do you know what to do now?" Adam stopped tempting him at precisely the right moment. He could not push too hard; too much pressure would instead make Adel suspicious.

Adel did not disappoint Adam's expectations. He soon knelt before Adam and said in a voice unable to suppress his emotions, "Whatever instructions Mr. Riggs has, Adel is willing to accomplish them at the cost of his life."

Adam knew Adel could not truly give his life for his commands, but such a declaration was enough.

"My identity makes it inconvenient to do certain things in this city, and what I intend to do next will require considerable manpower. So contact every aberrant you know."

"I need them to know of my existence and be ready to accept my offers of employment." Adam narrowed his eyes. "Naturally, the payment will be the Tears of God Ritual."

"The ritual has three stages. Each stage provides another layer of concealment. Once all three are completed, even if you stand before the chief priest, he will not be able to tell that you are an aberrant."

"Tomorrow night, gather every aberrant you can find. Based on their number, I will consider performing the first stage of the ritual for you."

"Then do your best, Adel Rien!" After speaking, Adam slowly departed, leaving only Adel kneeling where he was and respectfully calling after him that he would see Mr. Riggs tomorrow night.

Once he had gone some distance, Adam quickly packed away the priest's robes and mask, then transformed into a werewolf and swiftly left the slums. He went to the river once more to wash away his scent.

The icy river water submerged Adam's body, and pure moonlight spilled across the surface, yet none of it calmed him.

His bloodline was stirring. The joy of successfully subduing a blood thrall, the anxiety he had felt over being exposed, and countless tangled emotions and thoughts crowded Adam's mind, making it difficult for him to find peace.

There are still many flaws in my story, but Adel has already stepped into the pit. It will be hard for him to climb back out.

In Adam's previous life, why could scams so stupid they seemed absurd still succeed? Because greed for something could make people lose their reason.

Even after noticing all sorts of things were wrong, they would still instinctively choose to ignore them. Then they would persuade themselves, weave lies for themselves, and even after the deception was exposed, they would refuse to believe the truth, choosing instead to trust the person riddled with flaws who had deceived them.

Adel was the same now. The difference was that most of Adam's lies were true, with only a small amount of falsehood mixed into that truth.

The impression of Adam as mysterious and powerful had already been planted in Adel's heart, and it would spread through him to other aberrants.

When that time came, Adam, who held the Tears of God Ritual in his hands, would become the king of these aberrants.

Adam ran back to the attic, ended his transformation, and intended to summarize what he had done today before resting early. Yet he found himself unable to do so.

Today, the development of the bloodline within him seemed to have reached a critical moment. Even after ending the transformation, that restlessness still lingered in his heart.

Many events from the past also began surfacing in his mind, making it impossible for him to settle down and think.

I was not very satisfied with today's writing, so I revised and adjusted it after finishing. The next chapter will be a little late. My apologies, and please support the story with bookmarks, recommendation votes, and reading-list additions.