Chapter 256: Is Two Against One Too Much? Countless bats surged towards Aiden, obscuring his vision. Bats? Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on noⅴelfire.net Aiden felt slightly surprised. These bats, charging him uniformly, were clearly transformed blood-kin. But the Agent had just been within his sight, still with a bullet lodged in his knee; he shouldn't have the ability to transform right now. Unless... there were other blood-kin involved. The thought struck him, and he understood. This blood-kin was likely another of the dead hidden by the Agent in the "Underworld." The Agent had used the Embrace ritual to turn his murdered victims into his own kin! If his lineage was Duke or higher, then his kin's lineage must be Marquis or higher, naturally possessing the transformative ability to split into bats. The bat swarm surged towards Aiden with suicidal determination. But the moment they entered the range of the "Return" utterance, a powerful force pulled each bat together, forcibly merging them. The blood-kin's transformation ability was forcibly dispelled. The bat swarm "returned" mid-air into a naked, pale-skinned woman with blank eyes, who continued lunging towards Aiden, tear tracks—already dried—staining her face. Aiden realized that although turned into a blood-kin, she was completely dead—likely killed by the Agent as a sacrifice to the God of Death after being Embraced. Aiden easily dodged the lunging female blood-kin corpse, letting it fall prone on the ground, then shot her in the back of the heart. Without blood-kin abilities, even controlled by the "Channeling" power, she was just an ordinary zombie. The Agent turning her into blood-kin must have been purely to have her as reserve combat strength. As for the earlier woman in black, the Agent likely hadn't Embraced her in order to maintain her disguise as a living person—after all, blood-kin differed subtly from humans in many details. Leaving the blood-kin corpse behind, Aiden turned his gaze towards the Agent, only to see him holding the last "deceased" summoned from the underworld, using her as a shield while biting her neck from behind, greedily drinking her blood. The woman held by him shed the blood-tears unique to blood-kin, her eyes filled with palpable fear. The fourth "deceased" wasn't a blood-kin corpse like the previous one, but a "living" blood-kin. Aiden grasped the Agent's purpose: the required sacrifices to the God of Death were three, but the fourth "deceased" he had merely Embraced without killing completely. This way, he could not only imprison her in the "Underworld" but also draw fresh blood from her whenever needed. The injuries Aiden inflicted earlier were potentially fatal for a blood-kin; repairing the wounds with blood magic and transformation after digging out the anti-magic bullets likely required significant resources. So, he had tapped into his stored "blood bag." Aiden continued to close the distance. Seeing he lacked time to drink further, the Agent simply ripped the woman's heart out from behind and bit into it fiercely. The woman let out a piercing scream, the light fading from her dark red eyes. Lacking immortality, such a devastating blow to her heart killed her instantly. Aiden realized the Agent had already removed both anti-magic bullets. Firing at a high-ranking blood-kin prepared to turn into mist at any moment was pointless. Instead, he shot the corpse of the just-deceased female blood-kin, preventing the Agent from controlling her to use blood-kin abilities again like before. Just then, the Agent, hidden behind the corpse, dispersed his body into grey bats. The swarm flew rapidly into the air. A portion of the bats reconsolidated into the Agent's head, held aloft by the swarm, looking down imperiously at Aiden. "Effective range under ten meters... Time should be running out too," he mocked Aiden. "Aiden Galord, enemy of my Lord. Let's make a deal. Hand over the woman you just let go and Ophelia Kaodo. Tell me where the remains of the 'Proliferation' Saint are... and I'll spare your life." "You're asking for too much; I can't remember all that," Aiden replied coldly. But simultaneously, he realized he could no longer capture the Agent alone. The damage accumulated earlier had been forcefully replenished by the opponent feeding on his kin's heart. As for Aiden's own trump card, the "Return" utterance's range, the opponent had thoroughly mapped it out using the attack from the previous blood-kin corpse. The Agent had also discerned that the duration of "Return" was nearly spent, hence opting not to flee but cautiously maintaining a safe distance while plotting his next move, even confidently attempting to bargain with Aiden. Stalling here meant certain death. The only wise choice was to retreat to the prison while the utterance was still effective. Veronica would probably have to stay inside the prison for a while... As for dealing with the God of Death's Agent, it would require long-term planning. With the regret of failing to eliminate the enemy, Aiden prepared to withdraw. But just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him: "I think so too." As the words fell, a small swarm of black bats shot past Aiden, heading straight for the Agent, clashing with the grey bat swarm mid-air. Aiden instinctively turned around and saw Kyle Kaodo emerging from the narrow path beside the prison, walking quickly towards him, his left sleeve empty—the black bat swarm just now had been formed from his left hand. "What are you?" Aiden hadn't expected reinforcements at this moment. "I Heard the gunshots and came right over. Surprise!" Kyle flashed a brilliant smile, then shifted his gaze skyward, his expression rapidly turning cold. "I thought I heard a name I didn't particularly like coming from that guy's mouth just now." "Me too," Aiden agreed. Whether it was attempting to break someone out of his prison or targeting his subordinate, both were intolerable acts for Aiden. "The Progenitor's hound!?" The God of Death's Agent's face twitched. "Warden, the current situation..." Kyle sought Aiden's opinion. Clearly, proceeding according to the original plan was no longer viable. Letting the Agent escape here would make capturing him later extremely difficult. "I'll trouble you to spar with him first. I'll provide support based on the situation," Aiden raised his hand towards the runes on Kyle's neck, silently reciting the secret incantation known within the Inquisition, lifting the restriction on Kyle's transformation ability. Seeing the tables turn, the God of Death's Agent prepared to disperse his body and flee. Just then, Kyle also completely split his body into countless bats, surging towards the sky to engage the grey bats split off from the Agent in a chaotic melee.