Free Web NovelDeep within the Arlend Island labyrinth, inside the temple.
Standing before a laboratory bench, Weiss shook a test tube, poured the liquid inside into a reagent solution, compared the resulting color change, then set the vial down and said to Leon:
“It's Number Nineteen Holy Water.”
“What did you say?” Leon frowned.
“I detected the same ingredients found in Number Nineteen Holy Water from the sample you brought. It was in that bowl of soup,” Weiss replied.
“What is Number Nineteen Holy Water? Is it poisonous?” Leon asked, somewhat surprised.
After all, holy water used by the Church for healing shouldn't be poisonous.
He had already concluded that Zona Mendes had poisoned Sally Hesh under Bishop Beckett's orders.
Even so, he had still brought back the food delivered to Sally as evidence and handed it to Weiss for analysis. She was the Church's expert in this field.
“Number Nineteen Holy Water isn't poisonous. On the contrary, it's often used for poison treatment. It's a special sustained-release agent that delays the absorption of medicines and can also postpone the onset of many toxins. If additional materials containing the power of the Supreme God's blessing are added, it can even affect curses.
“For example, your Curse of Exhaust Blood. While the Church has no means of curing it, consuming a highly concentrated dose of Number Nineteen Holy Water can delay the curse's activation. This is currently the Church's only method of dealing with Curse of Exhaust Blood poisoning,” Weiss explained.
“The Church actually has something like that? So they didn't poison Mrs. Hesh?” Leon asked.
“No, perhaps the opposite.”
Weiss shook her head.
“Number Nineteen Holy Water can only delay the onset of toxins; it cannot neutralize them. After the delay, the amount of toxin inside the body remains essentially unchanged.
“Take Curse of Exhaust Blood as an example. According to Church records, within safe dosage limits, the maximum delay is around ten minutes. After those ten minutes, the holy water becomes useless on that individual, and Curse of Exhaust Blood will activate as normal.”
Leon thought about it.
Although it couldn't cure the curse, it was still an effective countermeasure.
It could buy the victim approximately ten minutes.
Within those ten minutes, they could either kill the curse caster or flee beyond the range in which the caster could manipulate Curse of Exhaust Blood, thereby avoiding immediate death.
The fact that the Earl knew about this substance meant he also knew how to use it against Curse of Exhaust Blood.
Weiss was reminding him of that fact.
“So you're saying Number Nineteen Holy Water is actually meant to be used together with poison?” Leon understood what she was implying.
“Exactly. If it can delay a violent curse like Curse of Exhaust Blood for ten minutes, then ordinary poisons can be delayed for one or even two days before taking effect,” Weiss answered.
“What poison did they use alongside it?” Leon asked.
“We don't know yet. But we'll find out after testing it on animals. Miss Rena has already fed that soup to the laboratory mice.”
Weiss turned her gaze toward another workbench.
Rena, standing there, turned around and continued the explanation.
“The mice have already consumed it two hours ago. So far there haven't been any obvious symptoms.”
“That's because Number Nineteen Holy Water is still working,” Weiss said while organizing her experimental materials.
“If that's the case, won't we have to wait one or two days before getting any results?” Leon asked.
“Not that long. I've already begun preparing an antagonist for Number Nineteen Holy Water. As long as it isn't the anti-curse variant, the antagonist will work.”
Weiss had already begun skillfully mixing various reagents.
“I can roughly guess what they used.”
“What did they use?” Leon asked.
“Castor beans, lily of the valley, Gelsemium, wolfbane... all are possibilities. It could also be a compound poison.
“My prediction is that after the acute onset, the victim would develop fever, dizziness, weakness, muscle pain, bodily stiffness, and ultimately die from respiratory failure.
“If symptoms appear after a two-day delay, they would closely resemble complications of Saltification Disease. Even if you became suspicious, you wouldn't be able to find any evidence. Of course, we'll know for sure after testing.”
Turning toward Rena, Weiss said:
“Miss Rena, could you give me a hand? I'll teach you the preparation method.”
“Of course.”
Rena joined her in producing the antagonist.
The two of them quickly completed the antidote and administered measured doses to the mice that had consumed the contaminated samples.
After waiting slightly over an hour, the three observed that the mice had become noticeably less active.
Some time later, one mouse after another collapsed inside the cage in disordered heaps.
They struggled desperately for breath.
Their chests heaved violently.
Several even began convulsing.
Everything perfectly confirmed Weiss's hypothesis.
The poison that the Earl—or rather Bishop Beckett—had ordered Zona to administer to Sally was intended to induce organ failure while disguising itself as complications from Saltification Disease.
The Church would never investigate such a death too deeply.
From the Earl's perspective, if Leon had rescued Weiss in order to save Sally, then killing Sally would strip away one of Leon's greatest reasons for protecting Weiss.
And if Leon noticed the scheme, it would become the perfect warning.
Since he wanted to save Sally Hesh, they would simply kill Sally and render everything he had done meaningless.
Afterward, they could confront Leon openly and demand that he hand over Weiss.
If Leon chose to swallow the humiliation and obey, it would mean they had successfully broken his spine.
A thoroughly domesticated Leon would still retain some value.
And if Leon continued resisting, matters became even simpler.
The Earl could crush him without restraint and completely destroy Leon and everyone around him.
The Earl wanted revenge.
To achieve it, he would stop at nothing to find Weiss Rogers.
Unlike the Church forces that the Earl and Bishop Beckett had manipulated in the past, this time they were facing the Earl himself.
Pure violence that followed no rules whatsoever.
“......”
Leon stared silently at the dying mice, his expression dark.
“Leon, are you angry?” Rena asked quietly.
“Angry? Why would I be?” Leon replied.
“Because... they poisoned Miss Sally...” Rena blinked.
There was no definitive proof, only suspicion.
And while guaranteeing Sally Hesh's safety had once been a condition of their agreement, the Earl could tear up that agreement whenever he deemed it beneficial.
Even if he turned out to be wrong, it didn't matter.
In the Earl's eyes, Leon remained a dog that could be dealt with however he pleased.
And the methods he employed displayed undisguised contempt toward Leon.
Rena worried that Leon might be enraged and do something reckless.
They were walking a tightrope now.
One wrong step meant utter ruin.
Yet Leon's response was astonishingly calm.
“This was entirely expected.
“The Earl may have violated the agreement based solely on suspicion, but his suspicion wasn't wrong. I really did betray him.
“In a sense, that's fair, isn't it?
“What exactly would I be angry about?”
Strictly speaking, there was no true personal hatred between him and the Earl.
Only opposing needs and conflicting interests.
But now, one of them inevitably had to yield.
Otherwise, there would be no outcome except mutual destruction.
“Then why did your expression look so grim just now? I thought you were about to retaliate immediately,” Rena said, still not entirely reassured.
“The Earl wasn't being cautious when he made this move. But he doesn't need to be cautious against me.
“He knows there's a chance I'll discover it. But if I do discover it, that serves his purpose just as well.
“If Mrs. Hesh doesn't die according to plan, it means I've been on guard. That itself becomes evidence that something is wrong.
“At that point, they'll force me to make a choice directly.”
Leon paused.
“They have no intention of giving us time to prepare.”
As Weiss listened, her body gradually grew cold.
When Leon had rescued her and brought her here, she had still harbored a trace of hope.
Reality had shattered it with brutal speed.
The Earl and Bishop Beckett were not fools.
Their arrangement to poison Sally was straightforward and blunt.
There was nothing cautious about it.
Against Leon, however, it was a direct punch aimed straight at a dead end.
Whether Leon saved Sally or sacrificed her, they would still issue a final ultimatum.
This was the underworld's way.
Simple.
Direct.
Overwhelming force.
There was no room for clever maneuvering or prolonged games of strategy.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Weiss still could not see a viable solution.
“There is no way out...”
She lowered her eyes.
“If there's truly no alternative, then hand me over.”
“And what happens after I hand you over?” Leon replied calmly.
“Do you think they won't make me pay a price afterward?”
At that stage, someone among himself, Rena, Sally, and Melissa would inevitably suffer.
They would serve as punishment, a means of completely breaking his spirit.
As for Weiss, death would be unavoidable.
“Even so, that's better than everyone dying because of me.”
Weiss stared at Leon Seriously.
“Think carefully. Against the Earl, can you see even the slightest chance of victory?”
“You don't believe I have a chance. The Earl thinks the same thing.
“He looks down on me.
“He's powerful, but he still doesn't consider me worthy of his full attention.”
Leon replied.
“Because he doesn't need to. He's underworld. Against you, he doesn't need rules. He doesn't need his full strength. He can crush you through sheer power alone,” Weiss said.
“Exactly.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Leon's mouth.
“Violence without rules. Pure underworld methods.”
He laughed softly.
“You say that as if I'm not the same.”
Both Weiss and Rena looked at him in surprise.
Neither could understand why Leon was capable of smiling in such a hopeless situation.
“Do you have a plan?” Rena asked.
She had already realized that since Leon had decided so early on to oppose the Earl, he must have been planning something all along.
“An eye for an eye.”
Leon spoke slowly.
“They've taught me quite a few things over the years.
“It's time I showed them the methods I've learned from them.”
As he said those words, his gaze became increasingly cold.
