The Warden of the Witches Chapter 205

 Chapter 205 - Snatched the Kill

    Aiden didn't plan to shoot the defenseless nun here. It wasn't a matter of principle; it was simply unnecessary.


    His involvement in this conflict had two purposes: first to eliminate the bountiful Mother Goddess cult, which posed a threat to the Rose Prison, and second to seize the opportunity to gain some benefits and acquire divinity. As long as these objectives were achieved, he wouldn't do anything superfluous.


    Now, the bountiful Mother Goddess cult was as good as destroyed. As long as the nun transferred all her divinity here, she wouldn't be able to use the divine word "reproduction." Once inside the Rose Prison, she would be no different from the other prisoners in the core area.


    Moreover, keeping the nun alive wasn't entirely without benefits.


    The nun was a saint of the "reproduction" authority, and her understanding of this authority was certainly far beyond that of ordinary people.


    Aiden had already vaguely realized that in the matter of approaching the Dominator's authority, he couldn't completely trust Mephilia. So, at the very least, he needed information sources other than Mephilia.


    However, he also vaguely guessed what kind of answer the nun would give.


    "I won't accept it. After all, I am a queen..." The nun didn't hesitate at all.


    "Your country is long gone," Aiden replied with a sneer.


    "Then stop talking nonsense and kill me, boy," the nun said indifferently.


    As expected, she's this type of person... Aiden thought to himself.


    Based on the information he currently knew, the person in front of him was once a queen who ruled a country. She was determined to become a Dominator and getting close the authority. Even after the fall of her country two hundred years ago, she never gave up on restoring her nation, nor did she give up on becoming a god. For this, she was willing to use her own flesh and blood as tools without any scruples...


    Although the calamity orchestrated by the Reaper was a catalyst, the continuous uprisings in a country due to such disasters only indicated that the ruling class had long lost the people's support. The queen's desire to restore her kingdom likely stemmed not from patriotism but from an unwillingness to relinquish her former power.


    She was a person dominated by a thirst for power. Even though her country was gone, she still immersed herself in those memories of nobility.


    In the prisons Aiden had managed, both in his previous life and now, there was no shortage of individuals with significant backgrounds. Some of these "high-ranking officials and nobles" found it hard to recognize their predicament after becoming prisoners. They tried to maintain their former grandeur in prison, even adopting a condescending attitude towards the guards, essentially "putting on airs."


    Such prisoners could usually be taught a lesson and would restrain themselves, but a case like this nun’s was probably not so easily corrected.


    She wouldn't cooperate in any way and would retaliate at any opportunity. Keeping her with her divinity intact was too dangerous. So, should he kill her after all?


    As Aiden weighed his options, he suddenly heard a barely perceptible whisper nearby: “【She gave me flesh and blood, but she also gave me a chains!】”


    Black magic!


    Aiden instinctively turned his gun towards "Priscilla"—or rather, Father Bales. His first thought was that Father Bales intended to ambush him.


    To his surprise, Father Bales, with a contorted face, lunged at the restrained nun. As he extended his hand, dark red blood suddenly pierced through the skin of his palm, transforming into a fifteen-centimeter long spike.


    A simple blood magic—Father Bales used the blood from this body to create a weapon.


    In just a moment, the long spike pierced straight into the nun's eye. She could only reflexively close her eyes but couldn't avoid it. The blood spike penetrated her eyeball, driving deep into her brain.


    Excruciating pain shot through the nun's body, but the mercury alloy golem tightly restrained her, leaving her unable to move.


    "You—"


    Before losing consciousness, the nun stared at the twisted expression on the face of the "witch" who attacked her. She seemed to recognize the true identity of her assailant, but she could only utter a single sound before her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open. She stopped reacting, though her face continued to twitch uncontrollably.


    "What are you doing?" Aiden quickly regained his composure and questioned Father Bales.


    Father Bales took several deep breaths before slowly turning his face, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and resolve. "I had to kill her... Only by killing her can I attain freedom. She cannot be allowed to live!"


    Aiden realized he had somewhat underestimated Father Bales' hatred for his mother. For Father Bales, his mother—who forced him to be born as a monster and coerced him into becoming the false leader of a cult for the sake of restoring their nation—was the primary culprit who ruined his life.


    When Aiden and the nun discussed the so-called "opportunity," Father Bales must have already harbored the intent to kill her himself. Perhaps the moment he transferred into a body immune to the influence of the "reproduction" authority and free from his "mother's" bloodline, he had this thought.


    Aiden calmed his emotions. When Father Bales lunged at the nun, he had a vague sense of his true intent. At that moment, Aiden still had the capacity to intervene. Had he immediately shot "Priscilla" in the leg or used a divine word, there would have been a chance to save the nun.


    But he didn't do that. After all, he was already considering killing the nun himself and saw no need to put a hole in Priscilla body for an almost certain outcome.


    "Move aside," Aiden ordered Father Bales to step away. Then he aimed and fired another shot into the nun's head.


    A spike through the eye and into the brain was fatal but not instantly so. Given the current situation, she was likely beyond saving, and Aiden decided to give her a quick death.


    "You won't be able to gain freedom. Someone needs to be held accountable for the actions of the bountiful Mother Goddess cult, and you are the public leader of the sect," Aiden said, turning his gaze to Father Bales. "You will be sent to the Thorn Iron Prison to serve your sentence... If you cooperate, you might not die, but it's unlikely you'll see freedom in your lifetime."


    "That's... fine, I guess," Father Bales replied, slumping to the ground. Living under the shadow of his mother was more painful for him than being in prison.


    Aiden approached to check and ensure that the nun was dead.


    A saint of the "reproduction" authority, who had borne countless offspring over two hundred years, ultimately died at the hands of her own son who hated her. In a way, it was quite tragic.


    What should he do next? Aiden quickly considered his options.


    He could extract all the divinity from this corpse right now. He had already learned from Mephilia how to extract divinity from remains.


    The issue was that the remains still held the divine word "reproduction," controlled by the nun. Since the authority of "reproduction" and "Order" were neither aligned nor adjacent, Aiden could not wield it.


    The divine word held little value for Aiden, but Abigail specifically wanted the divine word of "reproduction."


    A thought naturally formed in Aiden's mind—first, let's take all the divinity, and then... negotiate with the Witch gathering!