The Warden of The Witches

Chapter 236: The Most Painful Way to Die

Both Aiden and Veronica's eyes widened slightly. Ophelia? This woman... she wants to stage a jailbreak? "What do you want with that prisoner?" Aiden pressed. "Cut the crap and do as I say!!" the blood-kin woman screamed frantically. "She has to come out wearing anti-magic shackles, right now!!" Hearing this, Aiden realized something. A blood-kin wearing anti-magic shackles could neither use blood magic nor their innate transformation ability; they were essentially helpless. This woman's goal wasn't to "rescue" Ophelia, but merely to "abduct" her. With just a moment's thought, Aiden understood her objective—this was likely a plan to take Ophelia hostage as leverage against Kyle. The Blood Moon Cult seemed to have detected the "Progenitor Faction's" interference and was preparing a countermove. Simultaneously, Aiden confirmed that the person facing him was not the supervisor, merely a manipulated, lower-ranking blood-kin. The autonomous state had seen incidents where terrorists took citizens or even law enforcement hostage, demanding the release of incarcerated accomplices. However, from the perspective of law enforcement, agreeing to such demands was virtually impossible. The only options were negotiation or tactical intervention to rescue the hostage, especially concerning a criminal as dangerous as the S-class Ophelia. Using a prison guard as a hostage to demand the handover of an inmate was a reckless tactic, more likely to endanger the perpetrator. A mastermind capable of deploying smokescreens against the Inquisition would hardly participate personally in such a risky endeavor. Just as Aiden was about to probe further, the blood-kin became even more agitated. "Stop wasting time! Or I'll stab her first!" It seemed further conversation in this state was impossible. Aiden shifted his gaze to Veronica and gave a slight nod. Understanding the signal, Veronica instantly tightened her grip on the blood-kin's wrist. The woman felt a sharp pain and instinctively tried to plunge the blood dagger downwards, only to find her hand immobilized as if clamped in a bear's jaws. Then, Veronica twisted the captured wrist forcefully. A sharp crack echoed, and searing pain shot through the blood-kin woman's consciousness. Before she could react, Veronica used the broken wrist to execute a shoulder throw, slamming her to the ground, then stomped down hard—she never showed mercy when dealing with dangerous criminals like this. The blood-kin woman felt the pain in her arm as her vision flipped violently, agony erupting throughout her body. She didn't understand how she, the hostage-taker, had been so utterly defeated by her captive, but only one thought dominated her mind—transform! Split into bats and escape! Being captured meant failure, and failure... meant death! But Aiden gave her no chance to transform. He fired an anti-magic round into her leg, sealing her abilities. "N-No!" Realizing she couldn't transform, the blood-kin woman could only cry out in despair. "Stay still, or the next shot goes through your heart!" Aiden threatened coldly. Veronica seized the opportunity to pin the woman's arms behind her back, securing control. Aiden immediately scanned the surroundings. The supervisor, having sent this woman to enact such a farce, likely wasn't just testing the waters for a jailbreak; he was probably also probing Aiden's situation. In that case, he was likely hiding somewhere nearby, observing in secret. Seeing this, Veronica, though still unaware of the full context, realized Aiden was searching for something and also began scanning the area alertly. She was the first to spot the hidden figure. "Warden, over there!" Aiden immediately followed her gaze—in the district's clock tower, over five hundred meters away, a shadowy figure flickered past a window before instantly vanishing into the darkness within. It was truly remarkable that Veronica could spot someone at such a distance. "Should we chase him down?" Veronica quickly looked at Aiden. "No need. He's blood-kin; he can fly directly from the tower. We can't catch him," Aiden shook his head. The opponent had chosen a very safe vantage point, making pursuit virtually impossible. Besides, Aiden himself wasn't prepared for a direct confrontation with such an adversary. He turned his attention back to the captured blood-kin woman and began questioning her. "Are you part of the Blood Moon Cult?" But the woman ignored his question, her eyes wide, shouting like someone delirious, "No! S-Save me! Help me!!" "Stop screaming and answer my question!" Aiden warned her. The woman merely continued to wail, her voice now tinged with sobs. "No! I don't want to die!" Just as Aiden was about to say more, the woman's skin suddenly began to decay at a visible rate, as if burned by invisible flames. "No, no, no—" The woman's voice turned into a bloodcurdling shriek. Aiden's eyes widened. This process of skin burning... it was the damage reaction seen when blood-kin were exposed to sunlight, splashed with holy water, or subjected to life magic. A low-ranking blood-kin exposed to direct sunlight would suffer incurable burns within seconds and turn completely to ash within two minutes. While higher-ranking blood-kin had some tolerance, sunlight still caused them some harm. Theoretically, prolonged exposure could kill even a Prince-level blood-kin—though naturally occurring conditions rarely reached that intensity. It was currently evening. Although the sun was still up, it was setting fast, posing minimal threat to titled blood-kin. Moreover, this woman had shown no symptoms from this level of sunlight moments ago; there was no reason for her to suddenly suffer burns from the sunset now. It's a power of the 'Death' authority—Aiden realized abruptly. After speaking with Abigail the previous day, Aiden had visited Mephila in the underground cells to ask about the powers of the 'Death' authority. Mephilia had answered him thus: "The abilities of the 'Death' authority... I haven't studied them extensively... In truth, I've only dabbled lightly in the lesser authorities beneath the other thrones. I only know two powers of the 'Death' authority: one is 'Reaping,' which kills a designated target, and the other is 'Undying,' which governs death itself. 'Reaping' is easy to understand—it kills, taking life... However, the 'Death' power can affect any entity possessing the concept of 'death'. Once activated, the target designated by the power will die via a method feasible for that target... drowning, beheading, hanging, disease, even old age." Being burned alive by the sun—precisely the most agonizing way for a unique undead creature like a vampire to die.