Free Web NovelChapter 242: Chapter 242: The Ancestor’s Proxy_1
The sudden, unexpected sound made Aiden subconsciously stop talking, and he looked at Kael with some surprise, unable to see the other’s expression from this angle.
At first, he thought that the other had simply dropped a cup by accident, but it was not until Kael slowly turned around that he realized the other was holding two broken pieces of a teacup handle—it seemed like he had "accidentally" crushed it.
"Oh dear, luckily, luckily, the coffee hadn’t been poured into the cup yet." Kael’s face bore a frozen smile as he tossed the fragments into the trash can, "You just mentioned... someone broke out of prison?"
"It seems you’re still quite concerned about your sister, aren’t you?" Aiden said, emotionlessly sweeping his gaze over the pieces Kael had disregarded on the floor.
"Let’s continue to talk about the important matters," Kael said, his smile gaining a bit of vigor.
"Alright then." Aiden briefly explained to Kael about the incident he encountered the day before, omitting the part where the female earl nearly got silenced.
Abigail had once said that the bloodline ancestors had almost become the rulers of the ’Death Authority.’ He wasn’t sure whether Kael, who claimed to be working on behalf of the ancestors, was aware of the divine word’s intel. The process of rescuing the female earl involved the divine word he controlled, and he couldn’t just reveal it to anyone.
"They even targeted that silly girl; now, I’m actually glad she committed a crime and was locked up. Otherwise..." Kael seemed to calm down after hearing the story. He looked directly into Aiden’s eyes again, and then slightly lowered his head, "I owe you thanks for resolving the situation promptly, warden."
"Just doing my duty," Aiden replied calmly, "After the incident, I notified the Inquisition to strengthen patrols around the prison. This time we were lucky that they happened to take our strongest guard hostage, or things could have gotten messy."
According to the female earl, who had been captured, her initial target was actually Aiden. However, when Aiden became alert, it was Veronica who reacted quickly and stepped forward first.
"As for that point, I can quite empathize with those who took your subordinate hostage," Kael recalled his own experience of almost getting his hand twisted off by a female guard.
"I guess they must have confirmed that you’ve come to this city. The purpose of the prison break... was probably to coerce you," Aiden said slowly. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"I think so too," Kael agreed nonchalantly, "Unlike those petty thieves, I made my presence known in this city quite openly. Wait around for an extra couple of days and the news ’here’s a vampire’ would spread. Moreover, from the moment I arrived in this city, I’ve been gathering information everywhere. It would be hard not to notice me."
Aiden thought to himself that Kael had also been brazenly recruiting models for photo shoots to earn money, probably also with the intention of hiding in plain sight.
But he didn’t make any comment, and instead continued with the matter at hand: "Actually, I came to inquire about this situation."
"What do you mean?" Kael didn’t understand.
"I got a bit of information out of the mouth of that captured female earl. First, the supervisor who forced her to break into the prison can transform his body into a fog-like state, and his bloodline is at least that of a duke or higher."
"That’s for sure, after all he could make earl-level vampires obey him," Kael replied.
"Then, she said that man has a special ability where just through physical contact, he can instantly cause death—not only to ordinary humans but also to vampires," Aiden said, looking into Kael’s eyes.
Then, he noticed that Kael’s eyes had sharply intensified.
"If that’s the case," Kael became serious, "That man, he received the ’Death’ gift, just like those cultists."
Aiden realized that Kael had some understanding of the power held by the "Grim Reaper’s" proxy, but he still couldn’t be sure if Kael knew about the divine words.
"To be honest, I’m a bit puzzled," said Aiden, getting straight to the point. "If that person thought to use Ophelia as leverage against you, he must have already looked into you. His bloodline isn’t low, and he has such a special ability. Logically speaking... shouldn’t he have come directly to take your life?"
"About that..." Kael hesitated for a moment.
Kael had been near the Rose Iron Prison when the proxy visited the Vampire Viscount hidden in the Upper City District, and he had encounters with Veronica and Abigail, making it very unlikely that Kael was the proxy.
So far, the information provided by Kael had been verifiable, so Aiden chose to believe for the time being that what Kael told him was true.
But Kael telling the truth didn’t mean he was withholding nothing.
"I always feel like the proxy seems to have some fear of you, which is why he might have tried to resort to such means," Aiden pressed on while the iron was hot. "Could it be that you’ve known all along that the enemy has a special ability granted by the ’Grim Reaper’? Are you hiding something from me?"
After several seconds of silence, Kael gave a sigh, "Alright, alright, it seems I can’t hide it from you. Since you’ve also helped me thwart that bastard’s attempt at breaking into the prison, I’ll tell you."
As he spoke, he straightened his expression and lowered his voice, "Actually, I bear a ’blessing’ bestowed upon me by the ancestor. If that person is the Grim Reaper’s proxy, then I am the ancestor’s proxy. The killer ability he activates through touch is probably ineffective against me."
"A blessing? What kind of blessing?" Aiden widened his eyes slightly. "Did you drink the blood of the ancestor?"
It seemed that Kael might be immune to the proxy’s "death-stealing" power.
"No, it’s a blessing of a higher order than that." Kael held up a finger and waved it, "My body has merged with a fragment of the ancestor’s heart, and the ancestor has shared a part of his ’immortal body’ with me."
Merging with a fragment of the heart...
Aiden realized this was almost identical to what Abigail did when she fused her finger with his body, much closer than the proxy making the Vampire Countess drink his blood.
Logically deducing, the ancestor, at least in terms of divine words, should also be a saint of the "death" authority.
From what Kael meant, it seemed the ancestor had passed on the power of "immortality" to him.
"So you mean, like the ancestor, even if you were burned to ashes, you wouldn’t die?" Aiden pointed at Kael and asked.
"I can’t reach that exaggerated level, but it’s not far off," Kael shrugged his shoulders, "Other vampires die when their hearts are completely destroyed, but I have no vital spots. Of course, I just can’t die, that’s all. If I suffer severe injuries and don’t get a blood replenishment, the wounds will not heal."
"Feels like your ancestor was really good to you, are you his real son?" Aiden asked.
"No, I’m his dog, the most loyal hound," Kael pulled up the corner of his mouth and smiled self-deprecatingly. "He rather trusts me, as I’m absolutely unable to betray him."
