Power Thief's Revenge [BL]-Chapter 190: Plant of Birth

Hermes then recalled something Shani told him a while ago, when they talked about their own names.

"Hermes is the Greek god of messengers and travellers, right?" Shani said while eating his biryani packed lunch. "So what is your message to the world?"

Hermes shrugged as he ate his egg sandwich. "I don’t know yet... Maybe that goodness should prevail?"

Shani nodded. "Hm. Make sense. My name is from the Indian god of Saturn, the god of karma and justice. I guess if I had a message to the world..."

His expression darkened, those sienna eyes with gray rings gleaming.

"... is that it will reap what it sow."

Hermes felt his head about to split from the thrumming ache of all this information. At first he thought Shani was just a righteous person, that’s why he said that. After all, he said he wanted to be a lawyer because he could not stand injustice.

"And this world has become corrupted with lies and injustices. Someone has to stand up and purge it, wipe it clean."

He admired that sentiment, as someone who valued the truth himself. But...

Could he have meant something beyond putting criminals behind bars? Something beyond human matters....

Does he actually know the secret of the world itself?

But what exactly is the secret? And what part does Hermes play in it?

Maybe Shani’s sense of justice had nothing to do with human law at all. Maybe it was cosmic. Maybe he knew something Hermes didn’t. The way his eyes glowed when he spoke of karma, the way his voice dropped into something inhuman.

Does he know the secret of the world? Does he know what role I’m meant to play?

Hermes’s throat tightened. The thought made his skin crawl.

He forced himself to speak. His voice cracked in the silence. "Dr. Khemia... what is the Great Flood exactly?"

The blind scientist, who had been unmoved by every question so far, remained as still as the roots around him. His cataract-clouded eyes blinked once, slowly, like dust settling. For a long moment, Hermes thought the man had ignored him.

Then Khemia exhaled, a long and dismissive breath. "I will prepare what you came for."

The group exchanged glances.

"You’ll just give us the solinium?" Raphael asked carefully.

Khemia raised his head toward them, lips pressed in a straight line.

"If you promise never to bother me again. You take what you need. You leave. That is all."

That stunned the group into silence.

"Wait... that’s it?" Somner asked, narrowing his eyes. "No deal? No exchange? No strings? Just like that?"

He crossed his arms and leaned forward, suspicion dripping from every word. "What’s the catch?"

"There is no catch," Khemia replied flatly. "I do not like being disturbed. That is all."

"Bullshit," Somner muttered under his breath.

But Aphrodite’s eyes flashed faintly violet. His Mindbloom stirred, petals unseen unfolding around him. He lifted his gaze toward Khemia, reading the inner truth behind the monotone voice.

After a moment, he gave a small nod. "He means it. He really does not care. He just wants us gone."

Ymir scoffed. "That’s exactly why I don’t trust him. Only men with many secrets like to hide like moles."

Khemia ignored them and moved to the tree. His thin hands pressed against the bark.

His fingertips lingered there, pale against the wood, before his fingers began to move in the air. It was as though he was pulling on threads no one else could see. His motions were slow, deliberate, each tug drawing forth something that shimmered faintly in the air.

Then, from the tree itself, a glow appeared. A filament of gold began to seep through the bark, twisting and writhing like liquid sunlight. The group fell silent, watching in awe as Khemia guided it outward.

The golden plasma floated like molten silk. It pulsed with an inner heat, radiating a hum that made the hairs on Hermes’s arms stand on end.

Khemia held it carefully, manipulating the plasma until it hardened, shifting from fire to crystal. The room filled with a faint ringing sound as it solidified, a resonance like glass being struck. Then he drew an empty jar from the desk, placed the crystal inside, and tapped the glass with his knuckle.

The crystal dissolved instantly, liquefying into a shimmering golden solution.

"There," Khemia said simply, tightening the lid. He held it out, arm steady. "This will last you eight months. Enough for Uriel and the plant."

Raphael stepped forward immediately, his golden eyes locked on the jar. He hesitated for a moment, then took it carefully into his hands. The glow inside reflected on his face, softening his features for just a second.

Khemia continued speaking, his tone detached. "From my observation, this plant you brought blooms flowers. The tree does not. Eventually, your plant will bear fruit. That fruit will be enough for your monthly dose of solinium. You will no longer need to come here."

Magni tilted his head, scratching his jaw. "Will it grow as tall and magnificent as this one?" He patted the massive tree trunk with something like affection.

Khemia shook his head slightly. "Unlikely. It is a different strain. But there is not enough data to say for certain. The myths speak of the Assyrian world tree as a plant of birth. It must be a flowering plant. And that tree was said to reach beyond the heavens, so perhaps it is even bigger than this."

Magni’s eyes gleamed. "A tree taller than the sky itself! Glorious."

Hermes caught the way Raphael’s grip tightened on the jar. His lips pressed thin, but he said nothing.

Instead, he spoke only once, his voice calm but clipped. "We will not bother you again. I promise."

Khemia gave the faintest nod, already turning away. He sat back at his desk, stacking papers as if they mattered more than the strangers before him. Hermes almost thought that was the end of it.

But then Khemia spoke again.

"One more thing."

The group turned.

A puff of pink smoke burst from Khemia’s hand, curling across the air like mist. It washed over them before anyone could react.

They coughed violently. Hermes stumbled back, waving his hand in front of his face. The scent was faintly sweet, cloying, sticking in his throat. Then the heat hit him.

His skin burned, sweat prickling across his forehead. His stomach twisted. A strange, heavy warmth pooled lower, spreading through his body in waves that made his chest tighten. He realized with horror what it was.

Arousal.

"W-what the hell did you do?!" Hermes gasped.

His hand shot forward, grabbing Khemia’s collar. His other hand jerked back instinctively to cover himself, his thighs pressing together in a desperate attempt to hide the obvious.

"Answer me!"

Khemia’s face remained as still as stone. His words came low, calm, almost academic.

"The Reverend gave Raphael the blessing of courage. To endure the pain that water brings him . But blessings are not his only power. He also gives punishments. Punishments for sins... even if those sins were not committed."

Hermes’s breath caught, his anger mixing with nausea. "Punishments?!"

Khemia nodded slowly. "Through his Dogma, belief itself becomes real. Sin made manifest. He punished me with the sin of lust."

Somner’s eyes went wide. "You? Lust? Oh, this I gotta hear."

Khemia’s lips curled slightly, but it was not a smile. It was a grimace.

"I loathe lust. I despise the distractions of flesh. Sexual desire is useless, irrational. Humanity has been chained by its own hunger. Libido wastes time, wastes thought, clouds judgment. It is only useful for reproduction, and even then, reproduction can be achieved without it. Without illogical feelings. Without weakness."

The pink smoke thickened. Hermes’s chest heaved, his vision hazy. He heard Magni grunt beside him, fists clenching. Aphrodite had covered his mouth with his sleeve, but his cheeks burned faintly red.

Even Ymir, who was always aloof, had narrowed his eyes in discomfort. His gaze towards the Scientist was as deadly as his ice daggers.

"You perverted old freak... Why did you pass this lust curse to us then!?"

Khemia was unfazed, continuing as if he did not hear him. "I freed myself of the punishment immediately. I placed it on the tree instead, curious whether it could aid reproduction. It did not. But at least I found use for it now."

"What use?!" Hermes snapped. His voice cracked with both fury and strain.

Finally, Khemia turned his blind gaze directly toward him. His pale eyes seemed to pierce regardless of their emptiness.

"You."

Hermes froze.

Khemia’s voice lowered, steady and deliberate. "I know what your seed is capable of. You created life inside a man without organs to give birth. You changed him. His body was altered to bear your child."

Hermes’s blood ran cold.

"The child failed only because of its own power," Khemia went on. "Destroyed before it ripened. But if another child were to survive... what would it become? What fruits would be born of the man who can become anything?"

The air grew thick with pheromones and their heavy breaths.

"In exchange for the solinium," Khemia said, voice sharp and clear at last, "I want to experiment. I want to see what your children would be. With Raphael, with the others... every variation. I want to observe what life takes root when seeded by you."

He leaned back on his desk, waiting as the pink smoke tightened its grip on them all.

Hermes’s fists shook. His face burned, not only from the smoke but from rage, from humiliation, from the terror that Khemia’s words stirred deep in him.

The others shifted uneasily, the unnatural heat pulling at their minds, twisting their bodies from the tension they could not ignore....

And soon, they all gathered around Hermes.