Free Web NovelChapter 256: Chapter 256: Is 2 Against 1 Too Much?_1
Countless bats swarmed towards Aiden, obscuring his vision.
Bats?
Aiden felt somewhat perplexed; these orderly bats flying towards him were clearly transformed by members of the Bloodline, but the proxy had just been within his sight, and one bullet was still lodged in his knee—he should be incapable of transforming at the moment.
Unless... there were other Bloodline members.
Realizing this, he understood that this member of the Bloodline was probably another dead being hidden in the "Underworld" by the proxy. freewebnoveℓ.com
The proxy, through the First Embrace ritual, had turned his victims into his own thralls!
If his bloodline was above that of a Duke’s, then the bloodline of his thralls would naturally be above that of a Marquis’, possessing the ability to split into bats.
The swarm of bats rushed towards Aiden with the resolve of those welcoming death, but the moment they entered the range of the "Return" divine words, a powerful force tugged at each bat, drawing them together and forcefully merging them into one.
The Bloodline’s ability to transform was forcibly dispersed, and the group of bats "returned" in mid-air into a naked woman with pale skin. She continued to lunge blankly at Aiden, her face still marked with traces of dried blood tears.
Aiden realized that although the woman had transformed into a member of the Bloodline, she was already thoroughly dead— likely killed by the proxy as a sacrifice to the god of death after becoming a vampire through the First Embrace.
Aiden easily dodged the vampire corpse as it leaped towards him, letting it fall to the ground, then shot her in the back of the heart.
Without the Bloodline’s powers, even if she was manipulated by the "Necromancy" authority, she was merely an ordinary zombie.
The proxy had transformed her into a member of the Bloodline likely just to keep her as a reserve force for combat.
As for the woman in black clothes earlier, the proxy probably did not perform the First Embrace on her because she needed to be disguised as a living person to move around—after all, vampires have many subtle differences from humans in numerous details.
Leaving the vampire corpse behind, Aiden turned his gaze to the proxy, only to see the latter hugging the last "dead" person summoned from the Underworld and using her as a human shield while biting into her neck, greedily drinking the blood.
The woman being held, with tears of blood that only members of the Bloodline could shed, showed stark terror in her eyes.
"Save me! I don’t want to die!!" The woman tried feebly to struggle away from the proxy, reaching out to Aiden for help.
The fourth "dead" person was not like the vampire corpse just now, but a "living" vampire.
Aiden realized the proxy’s goal. The sacrifices that had to be killed and offered to the god of death were three, and the fourth "dead" one—he had just turned her into a vampire and had not yet fully killed her. This way, not only could he trap her in the "Underworld," but he could also draw fresh blood from her at any time.
Just now, Aiden had inflicted wounds on him that were fatal to a vampire. Digging out the devouring bullets and healing the wounds with blood magic and shapeshifting abilities must have required considerable energy, so he had resorted to the "blood bag" he had been saving.
As Aiden continued to close the distance between them, the proxy, realizing that he did not have the leisure to continue drinking blood, simply dug out the heart from the back of the woman, biting fiercely into it.
The woman screamed in agony; her dark red eyes lost their light. Without the immortality of the undead, her heart could not survive such damage, and she died on the spot.
Knowing that the proxy had already extracted the two devouring bullets from his body, Aiden realized that shooting at a High-Rank Bloodline member who was ready to vaporize his body at any moment was meaningless. He raised his gun and shot the freshly dead female vampire’s body to prevent the proxy from manipulating the dead to use the Bloodline’s abilities as he had done before.
The agent hidden behind the deceased scattered his body into gray bats, which rapidly flew towards mid-air. Part of the bats then coalesced to form the agent’s head, which was elevated by the bat swarm, looking down on Aiden from above.
"The effective range is less than ten meters... There shouldn’t be much time left either," he taunted Aiden with a sneer, "Aiden Galahad, my master’s enemy, let’s make a deal. Hand over the woman you just let go and Ophelia Callado, and tell me where the remains of the ’fertility’ saint are... and I will spare your life."
"You’re asking for too much. I can’t remember all that," Aiden responded coldly.
But at the same time, he realized that it was no longer possible for him alone to catch this agent.
The damage accrued earlier had been forcibly replenished by the other party through the consumption of their minion’s heart.
As for Aiden’s trump card, the range of the "Regress" divine word, the opponent had thoroughly grasped it using the attack of the bloodliner who had just died.
At the same time, the agent also saw that the time "Regress" divine word could last was running out, hence he didn’t choose to take the opportunity to escape. Instead, he was maintaining a safe distance while preparing for the next attack and even confidently started negotiating terms with Aiden.
Dragging this out here would be certain death. The only wise choice was to escape back to the prison while the divine word was still effective.
It looks like Veronica will have to endure a stay in prison for a while... As for dealing with Death’s agent, they would have to think long-term.
With the regret of not having been able to eliminate the enemy, Aiden began to prepare for the retreat.
But just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him: "I feel the same way."
No sooner had the voice faded, a small swarm of black bats soared over Aiden’s head, charging straight towards the agent and clashed with the gray swarm of bats in mid-air.
Aiden instinctively looked back and saw Kael Callado emerging from the little path on the side of the prison, walking briskly towards him, the left sleeve of his coat missing a section—the black bat swarm had been transformed by his left hand.
"How did you...?" Aiden did not expect reinforcements at this juncture.
"Heard the gunshots and came straight over. Surprised or pleased?" Kael flashed a brilliant smile, then turned his gaze to the sky, his expression quickly turning grim, "I think I just heard a name from this guy that I’d rather not hear." ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"Me too," Aiden added.
Whether it was breaking into his prison to take someone or attempting to lay hands on his subordinates, both were unacceptable to Aiden.
"The lackey of the Primogenitor!?" The face of Death’s agent twitched.
"Warden, with the situation as it is now..." Kael sought Aiden’s opinion.
The current situation obviously could no longer proceed according to plan. Allowing the agent to escape from here would make it harder to capture him in the future.
"I’ll trouble you to have a go at him first, I’ll support you depending on the situation," Aiden gestured towards the runes on Kael’s neck, silently reciting a secret incantation from the Inquisition, lifting the restriction on Kael’s shapeshifting ability.
Seeing the situation turn sour, Death’s agent prepared to disperse his body to escape. At that moment, Kael also completely split his body into countless bats that surged into the sky, battling it out with the agent’s divided gray bats.
