Chapter 153: A Method to Escape Tracking |
“Leon, two groups are moving in to surround this block!” Weiss lowered her voice to warn Leon.
“You can sense other people nearby?” Leon glanced at Weiss.
“My Blessing can sense the heartbeats of living creatures, especially humans. Right now, there are people moving toward this area from both sides, and there are quite a lot of them.” Weiss pointed toward two directions.
It seemed Bishop Beckett had called for reinforcements. For them to identify this block so quickly, the other side really did possess a way to track Weiss’s location.
A Witch likely could not move together with Church personnel, but Bishop Beckett’s Teleportation Blessing allowed him to contact others through holy relics. He could receive information from the Witch at any moment.
If things continued like this, then hiding anywhere would be useless.
“Leon, someone’s coming down the alley!” Weiss warned nervously.
She could sense that the nearby knights had already split into several groups and begun carrying out an extremely efficient carpet-style search.
People had already entered this alley, and two groups were closing in from opposite directions.
Leon also realized that the situation no longer allowed him time to think things through.
Right now, he needed to break through immediately.
The top priority was escaping this district first.
He once again activated Demonized Humanoid Form. His body rapidly expanded and beastified, transforming into the form of a werewolf.
“Climb onto my back!” Leon said in a low voice while turning his back toward Weiss.
With werewolf form stacked together with Time Acceleration, even while carrying someone, his speed would definitely be faster than moving together while pulling Weiss along.
“Alright.” Weiss also realized this was the most suitable plan, so she climbed onto Leon’s back and tightly wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Hold on tight.” The moment Leon finished speaking, he charged out.
The knights who had just entered the alley to search immediately saw a gray shadow burst out from the gap between the buildings. Before they could even react, Leon leaped forcefully onto a windowsill, then jumped again and climbed onto the rooftop.
“He’s here!” A knight shouted while already raising his gun to fire, but by the time they pulled the trigger, Leon had already flashed out of their sight and begun sprinting across the rooftops.
Relying on the werewolf’s powerful physical abilities, he was able to leap and run between rooftops, vaulting over walls and traversing eaves with ease.
Positioned high above like this, even if the surrounding knights spotted him from below, their shooting angles would be heavily restricted.
If only he also had grappling hooks and smoke bombs right now, this entire assassin-style rooftop parkour routine would really have style.
While sprinting, Leon let his thoughts wander aimlessly and revealed a bitter smile.
That thought could only count as finding amusement amid suffering. The number of gathered knights was incomparable to before, and he could also sense Bishop Beckett following the trail after hearing the commotion. Escaping them was far more difficult now.
More importantly, no matter how powerful a werewolf’s body was, the burden from continuously using Time Acceleration and losing blood to Weiss was gradually beginning to show. As he ran, his breathing had already begun turning erratic.
When he jumped from one rooftop to cross an alleyway, Leon staggered slightly, but ultimately managed to steady himself and continue sprinting forward with Weiss on his back.
He glanced toward the nearby streets. He had already widened the distance between himself and the knights considerably, but it was still not enough to say he had completely shaken them off.
“This is bad. If this keeps up, I’m afraid it’ll be hard to continue.” Leon gradually sensed his stamina nearing its limit.
“Leon…” Weiss also sensed the problems appearing in Leon’s heartbeat and breathing.
Arrhythmia, respiratory disorder, sudden body temperature fluctuations—these were all side effects of using Time Acceleration. If not for the werewolf physique forcefully sustaining him, Leon should already have collapsed unconscious by now.
“I’ll help you.” Weiss attempted to use the Blessing of Exhaust Blood, beginning to adjust the flow of Leon’s blood and reduce the burden on his heart.
The Blessing of Exhaust Blood was not merely capable of weakening enemies’ physical condition. It could also be used to strengthen oneself and allies!
Leon immediately felt an indescribable sense of smoothness throughout his entire body. It was as though his body had suddenly become much lighter, and his previously rough breathing also became easier.
He regained his momentum and once again activated Time Acceleration, widening the gap between himself and the knights at twice his previous speed. Before long, he vanished completely from their sight.
Several minutes later, after confirming that they had temporarily shaken off the pursuing knights, Leon stopped atop the roof of a house and hid within the shadow of a chimney. He first set Weiss down before sitting down himself and gasping heavily for breath.
Playing hide-and-seek against the knights of an entire diocese while under the massive disadvantage of being traceable— even a werewolf enhanced with Time Acceleration could not withstand that!
“There’s no way we can escape if they keep sensing us like this. Isn’t there any solution?” Leon said between heavy breaths.
Even if they managed to shake off the pursuing knights, all it bought them was a brief moment to breathe.
Bishop Beckett could still determine their general area by contacting that Great Witch. Combined with carpet-style searches, they simply had nowhere to hide.
His stamina had already been consumed to a terrifying degree. If they were discovered again, he likely would not have enough strength left to break through.
Even hiding Weiss inside his carriage or his lodging room would only result in exposing himself.
The entire diocese had undoubtedly already entered lockdown. Escaping the city without preparation would be extremely difficult.
There was still one other option: kill Bishop Beckett. The intensity of the pursuit would temporarily lessen.
But that would not solve the root issue of being tracked by the Witch. The Earl would still be able to locate Weiss, and there was no reason to expect Bishop Beckett to be the Earl’s only subordinate capable of carrying out missions for him. Furthermore, if a bishop died, the Church would only tighten the lockdown even further.
“Do you have any clues regarding the Witch who framed me?” Weiss instead asked about the lead.
Since Leon knew Bishop Beckett was collaborating with a Witch, he might also know something about that Witch herself.
“Well…” Leon thought for a moment. “I’m not completely certain, but there’s a high possibility it’s Arachne, the Insect Queen!”
He knew the Earl maintained smuggling ties with the Witch Gathering. The Great Witch invited to frame Weiss should have been someone the Earl brought from there, perhaps even the very same Great Witch Arachne who had originally acted as the intermediary between the Earl and the Witch Gathering.
Ophelia had once told him that her own teacher was Arachne. This terrorist, whose head carried a fifty-million bounty from the Church, was fairly famous throughout the Empire.
“Arachne? Then this should be ‘Parasitic Infection.’” Weiss muttered thoughtfully.
“Parasitic Infection?” Leon asked instinctively.
“This is the Blessing of the Great Witch Arachne recorded within the Church. She allows her own blood to invade and parasitize a target’s body. That blood transforms into parasites, which then absorb the host’s blood and multiply. After a certain incubation period, the multiplied parasites continuously hatch into Magical Beast larvae that kill and devour the host. These larvae can also autonomously attack other living creatures, allowing the parasites to spread like a plague.
Arachne’s Magical Beast form is a spider woman. The Magical Beasts hatched through her Parasitic Infection take the form of spider larvae. She used this ability to create numerous horrifying assassinations and terrorist incidents.”
Weiss’s expression became grave as she spoke. After all, the one who might now die through this horrifying method was herself.
“If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean she could kill you at any moment?” Leon widened his eyes.
“The amount of Witch blood that invaded my body is extremely small. The incubation period from multiplication to larval hatching should be very long. But if we don’t find a solution, it’ll still be dangerous.” Weiss said.
“Isn’t there any medicine that can deal with it? Since it’s a parasite, there should be some way to remove it, right?” Leon asked.
“While it’s still in the incubation period, I can formulate medicine for it. But we can’t obtain the materials here, nor do we have the conditions necessary for preparing medicine. It’s impossible right now.” Growing tense, Weiss unconsciously began biting her fingernails. “Or… there’s another emergency solution.”
“What emergency solution?”
“Use poison to force the parasites out. The parasites are also living creatures. During the incubation period, they aren’t especially resilient yet. If one consumes poison potent enough, the parasites will either die from poisoning or be forced to flee the host.” Weiss answered.
“So poison will work?” Leon reacted immediately upon hearing that.
“It’s not as simple as merely using poison. This method places extremely high demands on the poison. The toxicity must be violent enough to kill the parasites, but at the same time there must be a way to detoxify afterward. I can think of several options, but none are poisons we could possibly obtain under these circumstances.” Weiss still frowned deeply.
“Would Cursed Blood work?” Leon immediately asked.
“You mean Sally Hesh’s Cursed Blood? Theoretically, yes. But Mrs. Hesh isn’t here right now.” Weiss sighed.
Using Cursed Blood to force out the parasites was theoretically feasible. Although Arachne was a Third-Rank Witch, Weiss had only ingested a very small amount of blood, which was why it still remained in the incubation stage. In theory, Cursed Blood could suppress it. Even if there was a difference in Blessing ranks, overwhelming dosage could compensate for it.
But Cursed Blood only functioned under the control of its original owner, whether triggering the poison or detoxifying it.
And Sally was still imprisoned in Hamel Town.
“You should’ve said so earlier!” Leon finally let out a sigh of relief. “It’s fine. I have Cursed Blood, and there’s already some inside your stomach right now!”
“What do you mean?” Weiss failed to react for a moment.
“My Blessing is Cursed Blood.” Leon looked at Weiss as he spoke.
“Your Blessing is also… Cursed Blood!?” Weiss froze. Until now, she had believed Sally to be the Witch possessing the Cursed Blood ability.
Logically speaking, a dangerous killing ability like Cursed Blood was quite rare.
Leon could not be bothered to explain further. He pierced his fingertip with a claw, let blood seep out, then activated the ability to demonstrate it for Weiss.
Weiss stared in dumbfounded shock as the other party’s blood transformed into a horrifying purplish-red color. This was undoubtedly the Blessing of Cursed Blood!
And with that realization, another thought suddenly struck her—
Just now, without realizing it in the slightest, she had drunk so much of Leon’s blood that it was effectively the same as voluntarily placing her life directly into Leon’s hands!