The Warden of the Witches Chapter 193

 Chapter 193 - I've Encountered a Bit of a Situation

     "Go to hell!" Lamia cursed, perched at the entrance of the mine pit. Her mouth, almost splitting to her ears, opened wide as she gazed at the chaos unfolding within the pit.


    To eliminate over thirty nuns gathered in the mine, Lamia decided to use her prized petrifying potion. She threw explosives filled with refined powder into the pit. Instantly, a cloud of dust spread through the entire area near the entrance, enveloping the nuns gathered inside.


    The highly toxic dust, which also had a paralyzing effect, quickly took hold. The nuns soon lost their ability to move. According to Lamia's expectations, these nuns should have died swiftly. However, although they lost the ability to move immediately, their death process was much slower than she had anticipated.


    Moreover, before dying, they actually "gave birth."


    Inside the mine, the nuns holding weapons stood rigidly, as if frozen. Yet, their stiff bodies quickly began to crack, and creatures with goat heads suddenly burst from their bodies. Covered in fresh blood, these beasts emerged, fixing their gaze on Lamia, the enemy, amidst the toxic fumes of the mine. The constitutions of these beasts were far more robust than that of humans, making them much more resistant to the poison.


    These beasts looked almost identical to Father Bales, though much smaller, standing at less than two meters tall. To ordinary people, this would be a rather imposing size, but in front of the partially beastified Lamia, they were still somewhat dwarfed.


    However, the number had increased to thirty-two, which still posed considerable pressure on Lamia.


    Lamia had guessed the reason—Father bales had used his own blood, leveraging the power of "reproduction" to impregnate these "daughters." They carried embryos with the genetic information of chimera. These embryos parasitically resided within the mothers, using their bodies as nurturing eggs, and would break out at the brink of the mother's death by absorbing her life force.


    "Such an extreme method, even I wouldn't have thought of it," Lamia sneered wickedly.


    Seeing these monsters about to swarm out, Lamia employed her body modification techniques, causing her body to inflate like a balloon—her modification skills were far more exaggerated than those of Melusine.


    Her serpentine body grew to a full fifteen meters, with her snake tail thick as a pillar. She then violently spun and swung her tail, heavily injuring several of the chimera that had just rushed out, and then leaped to block the entrance of the mine.


    "Abigail, can you hear me? Respond!" she called out in a resonant voice through the amulet.


    Gray mist churned within the black crystal pendant. This time, Abigail didn't project a scene but instead "projected" a voice that only the wearer could hear: "What's the matter?"


    "I've encountered a bit of a situation here. The nuns in this mine were all 'impregnated' through divine word and gave birth to the priest's offspring directly from their bodies. Get Qimora and Hasbinis over here to lend a hand! I still want to conserve my divine words."


    "Does this mean the plan to besiege the priest is on hold?"


    "You must be joking. These monsters are all the priest's offspring. Their hive mind is connected to the priest, so he must already know they’ve been born. If he comes here, I'm dead meat!" Lamia blocked wave after wave of attacking chimera while quickly strategizing. "We should let Aiden Galord stall him. Have Qimora lure the priest away!"


    "But what if they fail..."


    "If that guy can't even save his own life, it means he's worthless as a collaborator, and his death would mean one less person to share the spoils with," Lamia hissed. "Of course, if he can weaken the priest, all the better. Right now, preserving our strength takes priority!"


    Abigail didn't respond. The gray mist within the black crystal pendant quickly retracted. From Lamia's experience, Abigail had likely accepted her suggestion.


    ...


    Meanwhile, Aiden, deep within the village, encountered a similar situation.


    Veronica, with her wolf ears out, kicked a charging chimera in the chest, using her werewolf strength to halt its leap.


    Just as the beast prepared to retaliate, Priscilla, who was waiting for an opportunity, cast a "sensory disorientation" spell. The beast felt a sudden vertigo, and Dailey summoned a shadow demon to immobilize it.


    Veronica immediately raised her large-caliber pistol and fired three shots at close range, shattering the beast's heart and killing it instantly.


    "Is this the result of alchemy!? This is terrifying!"


    Veronica holstered her gun, still shaken, as she glanced at the large bloodstain mixed with flesh, skin, and shredded clothing not far away. Just two minutes ago, this mess had been a combat nun from the cult who encountered Aiden and his team while patrolling the village.


    Aiden's team had swiftly dealt with the nun, but just as she was about to die, her body exploded into a tall beast, forcing them into an unexpected second fight.


    Aiden quickly recognized the beast's features, which matched the descriptions given by Rebecca and the others of Father Bales transformed appearance, albeit much smaller.


    In other words, these were likely Father Bales offspring, reproduced using the nuns as vessels.


    Aiden grew tense. The combat nuns in the cult were born from sister Nawei, and their bodies directly controlled by him. But this beast, if reproduced directly by Father Bales and connected to him as the mother body...


    It was possible that the priest could sense their presence here.


    "Abigail," he called out to his communication amulet. In an area devoid of modern communication devices, their operations relied entirely on Abigail as the contact hub, with her holding all the control.


    "I'm here, sir," Abigail responded.


    "We've encountered a situation. From the nun we fought, a direct offspring of the priest was born..." he explained to Abigail.


    Abigail's voice was calmer than he expected: "What is your current location?"


    "We're close to the target. If we run, we can reach it in two minutes," Aiden replied, cautiously providing only the necessary information, while glancing up at the tower's position.


    "No need to worry. Qimora is monitoring the priest's movements, and Lamia is already preparing to ambush the heir. Just stick to the plan," Abigail calmly responded.