Chapter 518: Chapter 519: First Battle with Mr. Bloody Coat_1
Warmth was rapidly draining from his body, and his vision abruptly darkened.
Aiden felt a blockage in his throat, instinctively opened his mouth to cough, but no sound emerged, as air leaked from the wound in his throat, with only blood froth spilling from his mouth and nose.
"Warden!?" Qiqimora exclaimed in shock.
The others present were stupefied by the scene before them.
Fatal Injury—Aiden realized his current condition in that instant.
If he couldn’t speak, then he wouldn’t be able to utter the divine words... Without breathing, he would die.
Aiden clutched his neck, as blood continued to flow uncontrollably, soaking through his clothes.
How could this be? The rules of the Wordless Code were still in effect; even a fatal wound should have been immediately healed. After all, where did this injury come from?
"This injury comes from the Revenge Double-Edged Sword; the sole authority cannot completely constrain another sole authority." The faint voice of the Goddess of Revenge resounded in Aiden’s mind, "Are you awake now? Incompetent child."
Aiden finally snapped to his senses, that foolish confidence was indeed wholly shattered by the looming death, and his consciousness finally returned to normal.
The blade that had slit his throat was none other than the Revenge Double-Edged Sword, wielded by Mr. Blood. The rules of the Wordless Code were overwhelmingly binding for any saint, but against another sole authority of equal standing, its binding power became limited.
It wasn’t that the rules were completely ineffective; Aiden could feel that even though he couldn’t breathe and was losing blood, the symptoms of oxygen deprivation hadn’t emerged so quickly.
The wound appeared to be healing under the rule’s influence, but given that it was inflicted by the Revenge Double-Edged Sword, the healing was exceptionally slow; Aiden wasn’t certain he could survive the symptoms of oxygen deprivation or blood loss before the wound healed.
He tried to perform a bodily transformation, managing to somewhat control the bleeding, but there was no alleviation for the agony caused by the lack of oxygen.
If Mr. Blood used the Revenge Double-Edged Sword then he must have sustained the same injury, but all he needed to do was employ "Sacrifice" to transfer the hurt to a follower.
Another infliction of such an injury, and even the power of the Wordless Code’s rules might not suffice to save him; moreover, he was now unable to write new rules.
Even the power of the Wordless Code was insufficient to restrain the adversary; he had been ensnared into believing he could defeat such a monster when he had no rules left to write—with the Revenge Resonance present, as soon as he entered Mr. Blood’s domain, the "Betrayal" power would target him.
The "Hatred" authority was exceptionally suited for battle, an unresolvable force that drove adversaries to despair.
In his first battle with Mr. Blood, he was thoroughly defeated.
I really want to know how that woman managed to defeat you—Aiden suddenly addressed the Goddess of Revenge in his mind.
"Hmph, is that all you have for your last words?" asked the Goddess of Revenge, her voice void of any reproach, only contempt.
In her eyes, Aiden was already a dead man.
Qiqimora suddenly felt a chill, immediately chanted a divine word, casting "Concealment" to hide both herself, Lamia, and Aiden.
At the same time, Professor Dodge took the same action, concealing himself and Tony.
They didn’t know what had happened, but Aiden’s sudden, severe injury undoubtedly signaled an approaching, terrifying crisis.
Those who wielded the power of "Void" authority were accustomed to hiding in the shadows when danger arose.
Suddenly, applause broke out as a dark-skinned refugee youth clapping his hands walked into the "empty" room, a strangely styled double-headed dagger in his mouth.
After entering, he removed the dagger and looked in Aiden’s direction.
He couldn’t see Aiden’s current appearance but knew he was standing right there.
"Look who has come? You’ve really brought me quite a surprise," he greeted with a mature tone that belied his youthful appearance, "Ah, sorry, I forgot you can’t speak right now."
Aiden, clutching the wound on his neck, looked at Mr. Bloodshirt with a sense of despair.
He had lost. He hadn’t anticipated that Mr. Bloodshirt had already prepared a countermeasure for the restricted area, nor did he expect that upon detecting him, Mr. Bloodshirt would discard his original body without hesitation to arrive at the scene swiftly.
He was defeated by Mr. Bloodshirt’s ruthlessness and his utterly unreasonable power.
The revenge sense at this distance, Qiqimora’s "Concealment," couldn’t hide him either.
"Damn maggots!!" The voice of the goddess of revenge exploded in Aiden’s consciousness, and he distinctly felt the goddess’s bone-deep hatred for Mr. Bloodshirt.
Qiqimora’s eyes widened as she too realized Mr. Bloodshirt could "see" Aiden.
"We’re utterly helpless now, we can’t win against that bastard," Lamia said as she discreetly drained the divinity from the Statue of the Goddess of Balance, persuading Qiqimora with a hoarse voice, "The warden is done for, we should throw—"
Her words stopped abruptly, as a force prevented her from finishing the sentence "ditch him and run."
An unbreakable command surfaced in her mind: "Forbidden to break an oath."
Lamia was stupefied, suddenly recalling the vow she and Qiqimora had taken under Aiden’s vehement insistence before; in this operation, they absolutely could not betray each other or act against an ally’s interest.
If they didn’t attempt any rescue and abandoned Aiden here, they would be breaking their vow. The rules of the "Wordless Code" were still in effect; unless Aiden died, they couldn’t leave here on their own!
"Damn it! We’ve been had!!" Lamia cursed.
"To come here and try to stop me, congratulations on making it to our world," Mr. Bloodshirt chuckled, "I bet you pleased our hostess quite a bit. Regrettably, I will prove that I am the one worthy of her, while you, a useless pawn, should simply become a stepping stone."
Aiden desperately wanted to retort and provoke his adversary, but he simply couldn’t speak.
He still had a chance, though. If he were killed here, the resurrection ability granted by Abigail would be triggered, repairing his body to a degree where he could use the divine words, and he would have a way to lead the others to escape!
Suddenly, Mr. Bloodshirt drew a blade across the back of his own hand.
Aiden instinctively screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground. Countless wounds appeared on his body, none fatal, but enough to cause excruciating pain until the power of The Codex could heal the wounds.
"Still breathing, good. Killing you here would violate the agreement with her, and I am a man who honors his promises. If you are to die, you’ll die thoroughly," Mr. Bloodshirt said, reveling in Aiden’s screams of agony, and then he looked away from Aiden.
"Now, it’s time we had a talk, Professor Harrison Dodge," Mr. Bloodshirt said with a calm smile toward the empty air.
