Chapter 628: Chapter 627 The Ally Gets to Work_1
The flesh had completely decayed and collapsed, the corpse water flowing on the floor had also quickly dried up and decomposed, leaving only the skeleton still standing in the center of the lecture hall, as if it were a tragic martyr.
When this death process finally reached its end, Aiden’s "Return" divine words finally began to take effect, restoring the decayed state, reconstructing along the skeleton to make the body whole again from the inside out.
However, the restored body still collapsed stiffly in the end, as the "Return" could not change the fact of death.
Aiden quickly realized that the death that had occurred to Conrad was not an effect of his own power, but the power of the Death God.
But it was almost impossible for the Death God to personally descend to this place, otherwise there would not have been a need for a servant of Mr. Blood to challenge him.
The only remaining explanation was that the Death God’s "Reaping" power had been used on Conrad from the beginning, and considering that Conrad’s own will might be influenced directly by Aiden’s "Law" or the Wordless Code, this death was likely not entirely under Conrad’s own control.
The Death God, who had long struggled against the erosion of the Spirit, was unlikely to have the capacity to focus on manipulating the life and death of Mr. Blood’s servant, so the most likely possibility was that this power was set to automatically trigger upon the fulfillment of certain conditions or the arrival of a specified time limit.
In other words, from the moment Conrad undertook this mission, this assassin was destined to be a dead man.
"That really is quite a desperate move," Aiden commented inwardly.
Mr. Blood had placed a gamble while also setting up a safeguard, ensuring the return of his principal through the predestined death of a follower executing his will, even if the bet did not pay off.
It seemed, however, that Mr. Blood wasn’t crazy enough to hand over the double-edged sword of revenge, which served as his trump card, to a follower; after all, his sole authority currently existed in the form of an item and would not be easy to retrieve if mishandled.
...
Outside the prison, in a certain inn, a sleeping follower of the Blood Moon Cult suddenly opened his eyes, blankly sensing the slight difference deep within his consciousness.
As per the prearranged plan, when Conrad initiated the "Sacrifice," his shell would become Conrad’s backup body.
And now, although the power of authority had been successfully transferred, Conrad’s Spirit hadn’t moved over, only some fragmented memories had been transmitted back.
"The mission has failed, I can sense that damned lucky one is still alive," Mr. Blood’s voice echoed in his head, and due to the loyalty offered up by the "Sacrifice," Mr. Blood could convey his "oracle" to them at any time, "Come back, my useless servants, it’s time to reevaluate the plan."
"At your command, my master," the follower responded to the void with a vacant gaze, even though their master couldn’t hear.
...
That evening, at the Rose Iron Prison office.
Aiden sat in his office chair with furrowed brows in silence, while Veronica and Tony Dodge exchanged glances in their seats, neither initiating conversation.
"It was a close call, we nearly had a disaster," Aiden exhaled, "A dangerous saint breached our prison, and had it not been for the protective measures we had set up in advance, there could have been many casualties. This was my oversight; I should have anticipated the enemy might do this."
He had placed too much trust in the vengeance goddess’s surveillance of Mr. Blood, who clearly perceived that Aiden had the ability to monitor his location, hence choosing to pass the power of authority to another person who absolutely would not betray him.
If Aiden had anticipated the method Mr. Blood would adopt earlier, he might have been able to find the enemy before he made his move, and neutralize the deadly opponent before he used "Sacrifice," given that the enemy, even as a saint, did not possess an authoritative power comparable to the Wordless Code. Once Mr. Blood lost the power of the "Wrath" authority, he wouldn’t be able to use the revenge blades recklessly.
This feeling of having narrowly missed victory, known as "I could have," coupled with the frustration that accompanied it, was most unbearable.
Although in reality, no one gained any advantage, and Mr. Blood even lost a disciple, Aiden still felt as though he was one step behind; he had considered the enemy’s perspective, but Mr. Blood’s unscrupulousness had caught him off guard. Had it not been for that cautious safeguard, it would now be he who was reduced to bones.
In the pursuit of awakening at all costs, Mr. Blood had the upper hand.
Of course, Aiden also realized that this was, in fact, a difference in their approach. Mr. Blood was insane and liked to take risks; even if a plan was risky with a slim chance of success, he would pursue it at all costs, given the opportunity.
Aiden, on the other hand, preferred to be more cautious, to suppress the opponent perfectly on a foundation of informational advantage. In predicting the enemy’s actions, he was more accustomed to adhering to rationality, but Mr. Blood did not necessarily play by the book. Under such a premise, Aiden could easily end up in a passive situation.
Now, Aiden somewhat understood why Melifilia had said that when she first began to oppose the vengeance goddess, she found it so difficult. However, with the mind of the goddess of conspiracy, Melifilia could likely anticipate moves like Mr. Blood’s within her calculations; it could be said that the vengeance goddess probably acted even more irrationally than Mr. Blood, as the closer one is to authority, the deeper the influence of authority.
"Chief, you have already successfully stopped him," Veronica said.
"Yeah, none of his plans ended up succeeding in the end, we should consider this a win for us," Tony joined in.
"The key point is that we’re still in a passive situation. Next time, we might not be able to stop him successfully," Aiden reminded earnestly.
"Do you mean we should take the initiative to attack?" Veronica caught Aiden’s drift.
"I think it’s necessary, even if we can’t kill the enemy with one punch, we can’t let him land his blows on us unchecked," Aiden said, "The ’Sacrifice’ power to transfer bodies should also have a distance limitation. Before the disciple entrusted with the authority can make it back to Thorn City, Mr. Blood won’t be able to retrieve his power immediately."
Now Mr. Blood would be much weaker than usual, and at this time, organizing a raid on the Blood Moon Cult in Thorn City, he shouldn’t have much power left to strike back. Even if they couldn’t root out Mr. Blood, they could still deliver a blow to the Blood Moon Cult.
"But, Warden..." Tony hesitated, "Mr. Blood can sense your location, can’t he? And those disciples might already be on their way back by now. Even if you head to Thorn City immediately from here... it’s too risky, almost like walking into a trap."
"That’s why I won’t go," Aiden replied, "It’s time to make use of our network of allies, and have our allies do some work."
