What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

By this standard, although Elena, as a witch, would not have the chance to live with her family again, she could still live to see her husband and daughter again. Witches who were willing to cooperate with the church and live in the asylum were allowed to receive family visits.

The case file describes Elena as showing obvious hesitation, indicating that she needed to think about it carefully.

However, on the very night she made these considerations, she committed suicide in prison.

“I secretly contacted Archbishop Rogers and obtained this case file from him. With your intelligence, you should be able to figure out what happened, right?” Leon said slowly, looking at Ophelia who had a surprised expression. “Your mother probably didn’t commit suicide. It’s likely that your father, who was a novice knight at the time, silenced her. This was a humiliating thing for your father, and he sought revenge against Archbishop Rogers to avenge that humiliation. But you have no such reason. If you insist on avenging your mother, perhaps you should seek revenge against the Earl.”

Leon's words were all lies, even the case files were fake.

He did not risk contacting Archbishop Rogers, who, as the head of the Inquisition, could easily access the case files from that year, but in fact, that section did not exist; it was a falsified version of the case files.

This wouldn't require much effort from him; turning Ophelia against him was unnecessary, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

"You think you can make me believe you with just a piece of scrap paper?" Ophelia quickly regained her composure and tossed the case file aside.

There was no evidence for anything Leon said. She had also been involved in the underworld business since she was a child. How could she believe such things so easily?

Furthermore, even if it were true, her mother passed away when she was three years old, and her father accompanied her for twenty-three years. During those twenty-three years, the count not only cultivated a father-daughter relationship with her, but also instilled in her the logic of the underworld.

If she could choose to abandon her father here, how could she not understand the Earl abandoning her mother? In that situation, even if her father really did that, it was just a forced choice. If anyone should hate someone, it should be Bernard Rogers, who forced their family to that point!

"Then you don't need to consider any other conditions, just consider my biggest bargaining chip." Leon brandished the gun in his hand. "Your life. Your life is in my hands now. In your eyes, is your life more important, or your father's life?"

"Can you really throw away this chip?" Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "If you kill me, what cards do you have left to play against my father?"

“If I can’t use you against your father, then why should I keep you alive?” Leon retorted.

Ophelia stared at Leon for a long time, lost in thought, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and shrugged: "Alright. It seems I really don't have any other choice. Oh well, the old man will make me inherit his things sooner or later anyway. But you have to let me hear what your plan is first. As it stands, I don't see any chance of victory on your side."

“Drink this before you hear my plan.” Leon tossed over a crystal test tube containing his own blood.

This time, Ophelia didn't take it. Instead, she took two steps back as she watched the test tube fall onto the table.

"What is this? Cursed blood?" She immediately realized.

"Should you drink it yourself, or should I shoot you?" Leon asked bluntly.

"..." Ophelia did not reply, but silently stared at Leon.

As they locked eyes, both gradually dropped their last vestiges of pretense. Leon's gaze turned cold, while Ophelia's eyes became disdainful.

“You didn’t even consider my proposal at all,” Leon said coldly.

In the end, Ophelia pretended to agree, still trying to trick him into revealing his plan.

In reality, Leon had no intention of involving Ophelia in the plan to kill the Count. Whether Ophelia would cooperate was too uncertain. His plan only required the capture of Ophelia.

However, if Ophelia is tricked into going in, at least it will save us the trouble of capturing her and killing her later.

"You weren't planning to spare my life in the end, were you? Do you think I'm a three-year-old?!" Ophelia glared at her.

Even if Leon really intended to use her to unify the underworld forces after the count's death, once the unification was completed, she would lose her value. Why would Leon keep an underworld princess with a blood feud against her father's killer to share power with him?

As the daughter of a mafia tycoon, how could she possibly be willing to be a puppet of a dog that she once kept at home?

A dog that dares to bite its owner should be killed!

In that instant, Ophelia activated the blessing she had prepared.

As soon as she finished speaking, Ophelia's desk suddenly exploded with a cracking sound. A ferocious beast resembling a wolf appeared out of nowhere, overturning the desk from underneath and pouncing on Leon.

Chapter 178 The Final Ultimatum to the Earl

Leon was prepared for this; long before entering, Weiss had already sensed three heartbeats in the room.

One is Ophelia, another is her maid, and the third has a heartbeat that doesn't sound human and features that are somewhat like a monster.

Leon also obtained information about Ophelia from Bishop Beckett.

Ophelia's witch's blessing is called "Hybrid Beast," which allows her to use her own blood as a body adhesive for organ transplants and limb suturing. It can even suturing bodies and transplanting organs between different life forms, although the survival time of the sutured and transplanted organs depends on the level of the blessing.

This blessing can also be forcibly fused with precious potions, such as fusing a dog and a dire wolf together and feeding them potions to stabilize them.

Ophelia actually owned a dog that always slept under her desk, letting Ophelia put her feet there.

But once Ophelia is activated, the dog can instantly transform into a monster and pounce.

Leon activated time acceleration, instantly slowing down the wolf's attack. He aimed at the wolf's eyes, brought the bullet, imbued with the blood of the curse, into the wolf's head, and dodged to the side, avoiding the wolf's attack trajectory.

While the wolf bought her time, Ophelia retreated to the wall and heard a series of gunshots coming from it. In fact, the gunshots should have attracted the attention of her subordinates outside as soon as Leon fired the first shot.

But no reinforcements have arrived yet, because as the signal for gunfire rang out, the mercenary force that Leon brought launched an attack from the outside.

The gunshots, which had been quite far away, now seemed clearer, indicating that the battle line was getting closer and closer, and Ophelia's men were fighting and retreating.

Leon chatted with her for a few minutes, not expecting to actually fool Ophelia, but he wasn't in a hurry. He simply grabbed Ophelia and took her outside, where they would face a large group of guards.

If Ophelia can be easily fooled, she could actually be used to resolve the underworld situation in the future. Since Ophelia is not easily fooled, we should wait until his people are cleaned up before leaving.

While the wolf stalled for time, Ophelia retreated to the wall, crushed a pill in her mouth, and aimed her gun at Leon.

Leon accelerated further, and just as Ophelia pulled the trigger in slow motion, he leaped towards the wall, dodging the bullet.

He stomped on the wall with both hands and feet like a quadruped, his claws tearing cracks in the wall, using the friction to briefly linger, and then used the opportunity to leap towards Ophelia.

At this moment, Ophelia's body underwent a mutation, growing a pair of horns, a tail covered in red scales extending from under her skirt, and a few scales appearing on her body. Her hands transformed into ferocious reptilian claws, like those of a dragon, but no wings grew from her back.

This is Ophelia's second-stage demon transformation. Her demon transformation was specially adjusted and chosen for her by Alexne using magic potions, and it was part of the deal between the witch gathering and the count.

Ophelia originally wanted the Dragonman form, the strongest demon form possessed by Alice, the "Queen of Witches," but Alexie scoffed and concluded that her talent was absolutely incapable of handling that form.

Finally, Alexie used a potion made from a fire lizard and a small amount of dragon blood to help her achieve this half-dragon lizardman form.

Leon was fast, but dodging the gunfire disrupted his offensive rhythm. Ophelia suddenly opened her mouth during her transformation, with flames flashing from it. In this demon form, she could breathe fire.

Leon will accelerate to the maximum while simultaneously flipping in the air to dodge.

His sudden change of speed caused Ophelia's aim to falter, and the flames narrowly missed his side.

Ophelia swept her breath across, and Leon rolled away on the ground, hiding behind an overturned desk.

Ophelia seized the opportunity to rush out the door. She couldn't actually fully control this demon form yet. She gained second-tier abilities by executing and sacrificing first-tier superhumans who made mistakes within the organization, along with the magic potions provided by Alexie. However, to completely master it, she needed to absorb magic power from the labyrinth for a long time, and she didn't have that kind of perseverance. Each time she used the demon form, she also needed the assistance of magic potions.

She wanted to seize the opportunity to break out. Besides her guards, there were also monsters on the farm that had been transformed by her blessing power. If they concentrated their efforts and broke through, they might have a chance to escape!

At that moment, a new figure appeared in the doorway. Ophelia looked up and saw that it was Vice standing in front of her!

“Vise Rogers!” Ophelia roared.

Just as she was about to unleash flames at Weiss, Weiss raised her hand and sent a cloud of icy mist rushing towards Ophelia.

Ophelia collided head-on with the icy mist. The droplets suspended in the mist were not water but liquefied air, created by Weiss using her basic blessing that alters the shape of objects and her divine magic that manipulates ice.

The extreme low temperature caused the icy mist droplets to hiss and crackle as they landed on Ophelia's face, creating a surge of white mist and intense frostbite pain. Ophelia screamed as she covered her face, which was covered in white mist; her eyes were frostbitten, and she instantly lost her voice.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Leon, who had activated his speed boost, caught up and pounced on Ophelia from behind, his claws digging deep into her shoulder, injecting the curse into it.

Ophelia's body quickly became paralyzed, the curse accelerated its effect, causing her body to stiffen rapidly.

Having confirmed that Ophelia was under control, Leon pricked up his ears, and the commotion outside had gradually subsided.

After the last few gunshots, Lena, who was guarding the farmhouse upstairs, called out nervously into the passageway: "Leon, the outside has been cleared. Have you taken care of it?"

“It’s all over.” Leon carried the petrified Ophelia out of the underground space, then glanced outside the farmhouse.

“Mr. Fenrir,” his subordinate Simon led the others to remove their hats in greeting, “the area has been quelled.”

With two demonic wolves brought from the labyrinth leading the charge, and with Weiss concocting poison to coat the bullets, his troops' combat effectiveness was greatly enhanced. More importantly, the intelligence provided by Bishop Beckett gave them a thorough understanding of the situation here, making the cleanup a breeze.

"Everyone, return to Arend Island immediately!" Leon carried Ophelia and strode out.

Next comes the battle that will determine life or death.

……

Two days later, Arend Island.

Bishop Beckett was awakened from his coma in the fortress's cell, breathing rapidly.

Prolonged petrification had made his body extremely weak.

Before he could clear his muddled mind, Leon pushed Ophelia, who was blindfolded and unconscious, in front of him.

Seeing the countess's daughter collapse at his feet with a thud, Bishop Beckett's eyes widened in shock as he looked up at Leon in astonishment.

"You don't usually make that kind of expression," Leon remarked to Bishop Beckett.

Bishop Beckett quickly recovered from his shock and spoke in a deep voice: "It seems I underestimated your madness and overestimated your intelligence. Having done something like this, you have no chance of survival! You don't really think that she can stop the Earl from making any rash moves, do you?"

“I’m not that naive, but the Count won’t be completely indifferent to her life,” Leon said.

The count must care about the life of his own daughter, either out of affection or pride. He cannot tolerate a character like Leon causing him to suffer the pain of losing his daughter.

“You may be able to make that man feel pain, but you will die a hundred times more painfully afterward! He immediately realized it was you who did it when Miss Ophelia was in trouble,” Bishop Beckett warned.

“It would be troublesome if he didn’t know,” Leon replied calmly. “You can contact him now.”

“What?” Bishop Beckett frowned.

“Contact him, make him speak to me!” Leon looked down at Bishop Beckett.

“…” Bishop Beckett was silent for a moment before beginning the blessing.

The moment the seal appeared, just as Bishop Beckett was about to speak, Leon reached out and grabbed Bishop Beckett's throat, silencing him and paralyzing his throat with the cursed blood. Bishop Beckett could maintain consciousness and continue the blessing, but he was unable to speak and reveal any information.

“…Beckett?” A moment later, the count’s deep voice came from the other end.

“Hello, Earl,” Leon replied.

"Fenrir," the count's voice betrayed no obvious emotion, "Ophelia is in your hands?"

Ophelia's hideout was attacked, and with the loss of Bishop Beckett as a messenger, news from the Count was delayed considerably. However, it was impossible for him not to have noticed that Ophelia had been captured after two days.

"Do you want to hear her voice?" Leon grabbed the unconscious Ophelia and released her from her petrified state.

"Gah!" Ophelia cried out in surprise.

“Ophelia!” The count’s voice finally carried a hint of emotion.

“Father!” Ophelia heard the count’s voice and responded urgently, but her eyes were covered and she had no idea what was happening around her.

Leon immediately grabbed Ophelia by the neck, similarly numbing her throat and tongue, making it impossible for her to continue speaking.

“Count, I am on Arend Island,” Leon said slowly. “I’ll only give you one day. Is that enough?”

"I'm already on my way. When I arrive, they'd better be both unharmed." The count's voice was utterly cold.

“Very well, it all depends on whether you can keep your appointment on time tomorrow. If you don’t arrive by 5 p.m. tomorrow, I will execute Ophelia,” Leon said, not intending to give the Count much time to gather his troops.

"Do you want to see someone you care about being humiliated and tortured to death in front of you before you die?" The count's threat followed Leon almost without pause.

“If negotiations fail, we won’t give you the chance to kill us. Go ahead and rage in your rage over our corpses,” Leon replied calmly.

This time, it wasn't the count who issued the ultimatum to him, but rather he who issued it to the count.

"You still think you're qualified to negotiate?" The count's cold voice carried a hint of disdain.

“If you don’t want to see your daughter’s corpse, come before me. No need for further words.” After saying this, Leon suddenly tightened his grip on Bishop Beckett’s neck, causing the bishop’s vision to go black and interrupting the blessing.

Then he loosened his grip slightly and watched as Bishop Beckett coughed incessantly.

“You’re completely finished,” Bishop Beckett said after his cough subsided.

"You can pray that the next time you see him is the Earl and not me," Leon said, petrifying the two of them once again.

Chapter 179 The Crisis on Arend Island

Arend Island, the residence of Viscount Arend.

Adele, daughter of Viscount Arendt, was at the table, rubbing her temples and looking troubled as she worked on the accounts.

During this period, she tried to use the resources on her territory to develop some profitable projects. To be honest, she managed them quite well overall. After all, the island's existing resources are limited, and no matter how she managed them, she couldn't make any more innovative projects.

As for the debts left by her father, it will always be a drop in the ocean.

Because of the outstanding debts, most of the assets on the island have been mortgaged, and even loans are unavailable.

If only I could have at least one decent investment, who else could I ask?

Adele's mind flashed through many of the people she had visited in recent days to attract investment, mostly local wealthy businessmen and nobles.