What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

But most people had no intention of seeing her. The Viscount Arendt's predicament had long been known, and now his family was the subject of gossip and jokes in both business and aristocratic circles.

Some people met her out of friendship with her grandfather, but politely declined her invitation.

Some people were clearly more interested in her than in investing, and their words implied that she could be their lover and that they could try some "special ways to make money."

The thought of those blatant stares that lingered on her face and body filled Adele with a deep-seated disgust.

"Oh dear, what should I do!" Adele wanted to grab her hair and yank it, but she was worried about messing up her neatly styled hair, so she had to restrain herself.

At that moment, the maid she had hired suddenly pushed open the door and called out urgently, "Young Miss!"

"What's wrong?" Adele noticed the panicked look on the other person's face.

"A villager ran over to report that pirate ships are heading towards the island!" the female attendant said earnestly.

"Pirates?" Adele looked puzzled. "How could that be? I've never heard of pirates around here. Did he mistake a merchant ship for a pirate?"

The port here is bustling with merchant ships and armed escort vessels. If one ship is in trouble, other fleets can detect it and help each other. The naval port is not far away, so pirates would have to go to the far sea to cause trouble.

“But I also saw it from the hill, and more than one person came to report it. Some fishermen said they saw that the boats were full of armed soldiers!” The female attendant said solemnly.

Adele blinked: "Then...where did those ships come from?"

“They’re on both the north and south sides!” the maid said.

Adele's expression finally changed. She got up, found a telescope in the study, and quickly went upstairs, with her maid following closely behind.

Their residence was built on a hill, with a pavilion-style sea-viewing platform on the roof. From there, one could have a panoramic view of the surrounding sea on the east side of the island.

Adele looked to the north and south and could indeed vaguely see the silhouettes of sailboats. She picked up her binoculars and peered through them. To the north were two three-masted sailboats without flags, accompanied by three smaller armed merchant ships. To the south were a dozen or so small ferries traveling in a row, all heading straight toward Arend Island.

On the deck of the largest sailboat, she saw neatly arranged square formations, all of whom appeared to be fully armed.

These aren't pirates, they're practically an army surrounding this island!

Adele put down her binoculars, completely panicked: "W-what's going on?"

She couldn't understand why a group of armed men would come to visit this impoverished Arend Island.

“Where is my father?” she asked, turning to the maid.

How could a young lady from a wealthy family possibly handle such a situation? Only Viscount Arend, as the true lord, could deal with it.

“The Viscount… he hasn’t returned home since yesterday,” the maid replied cautiously.

That bastard!!

This phrase, which is considered inappropriate for a nobleman, almost slipped out of Adele's mouth.

Could it be that her bastard father has gotten into some trouble again?

With boats approaching from both sides, it seems we'll be surrounded no matter where we try to escape. Should we find a place to hide?

Just as she was holding her head in her hands, completely lost and confused, the maid looked at her with a mixture of sympathy and worry, and then tentatively said, "Um, Miss, if we all get through today safely... could you allow me to resign?"

……

However, contrary to Adele's fears, these ships were not coming for them at all.

About half an hour later, the fleets from both sides had all arrived at the dock on the west side of Arendt Island.

Earl Frey, dressed in light knight's armor with a longsword and flintlock pistol at his waist, stood on the deck, coldly gazing at the dock.

He hadn't personally led troops into battle like this in a long time; in fact, it had been a long time since there had been an enemy that required him to mobilize his forces in such a grand manner.

With limited time, he mobilized all the mercenaries deployed in River Valley County, and the officials of the three surrounding counties also received the news and led their troops to assemble. His most elite guards set off with him from the territory, and he personally led the army.

This time, the traitor Leon Seth must be killed by him personally.

The dock, which had been repaired by Leon, had been completely cleared out, with not a single person left behind. Only two scouts were stationed in the lighthouse, and they would return to report as soon as they saw the fleet approaching.

The troops quickly assembled at the dock. Although it was a temporary assembly, the dock was packed with people, and some didn't even have room to disembark and form ranks. These mercenaries from various territories varied in combat skill, but their equipment was no less sophisticated than that of the regular church knightly orders.

More importantly, the Earl also urgently summoned ten elite superhumans from the organization. Their combat power was beyond what ordinary inquisitions could contend with. Together, they were enough to confront three or five orders of knights on the battlefield. Even if Leon desperately hired thugs to fill his labyrinth fortress, he would only be slaughtered.

The count mounted his horse and personally led the troops into battle.

The troops marched in a long, unhurried manner along the mountain path, and soon arrived at the mountain pass near the maze.

From the suddenly narrowing mountain pass, the count could see the fortress's gate.

This mountain pass is estimated to be over 200 meters long, but its average width is less than 20 meters, and the narrowest part is only about 10 meters wide, making it a terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, the fortress that Leon built here was not very sturdy. It wasn't even a city wall. It was made of earthen walls with thick wooden piles on top, much like the strongholds of many bandits.

After all, this place was only used to prevent people from spying on us, and we never thought we would face such a fierce attack.

The count, unconcerned, led his troops into the mountain pass and approached the fortress. His most elite superhumans rode around him, their horses laboriously pulling the cannons forward to form ranks.

As long as the Earl gives the order, they will launch an attack on the city. The fortress is as fragile as paper in front of them. The Earl himself can even break through a hole in the fortress and start killing under cover.

"Enough, stop!" a shout came from above the checkpoint.

The count reined in his horse, looked up, and saw Leon's half-face peeking out from behind the cover. The two faced each other from a distance of about fifty meters.

Looking out from the city wall, Leon saw that the mountain pass was completely blocked by the Earl's troops. As far as he could see, the number of troops was more than twice that of the troops inside their stronghold. More troops were blocking the mountain pass from the outside, forming a long, endless dragon. Their guns, cannons, and heavy armor were also far superior to his mercenary troops.

Due to the terrain limitations, the count was unable to send all his troops out at once, leaving a third of them to wait at the port.

"Today!" the Count suddenly shouted, his voice echoing through the valley, "Everyone will witness the most tragic end a traitor will face. Traitor Fenrir, this is your trial! Now, hand over Ophelia and Beckett."

After a moment of silence, Leon replied, "What a grand display, Your Excellency. I simply wanted to have a talk with you."

"Talk?" The count's expression was as hard as stone, and his voice was equally icy. "You've flown too high!"

Is there any room for negotiation at this point? Just like the parable of Icarus that Leon told him, Leon has now become too arrogant and has flown too high. The Count will inevitably have to destroy his wings and make him fall hard to the ground!

"You only need one shot to kill me, and I only need one shot to kill your daughter. You don't need to threaten or torture us anymore. When you break through here, all you'll see are corpses. To you, killing me a hundred times is not worth as much as your daughter's life. Don't tell me you don't care!"

"Because of someone as insignificant as me, causing you to lose your daughter will be a lifelong pain and a lifelong humiliation for you! The initiative is with me, so if I say we should talk, you must talk to me!" Leon said in a cold, hard tone.

"Hand over Ophelia and Beckett," the Count continued, his expression hard as he made his demands, without even asking Leon for his terms.

“Get your troops out of here, and I’ll let you see your daughter!” Leon said.

The count slowly raised his hand, and his troops immediately began to move, loading guns and cannons and forming ranks, looking as if they were about to attack the city.

The count had experienced similar situations many times, and he knew that when knives were pointed at each other's throats, whoever backed down and sheathed their knife first would die first.

If he were to comply with Leon's demands, he would not only fail to rescue Ophelia but would also put himself in danger. In this situation, he should instead step forward and pressure the other party. If they refused to hand over Ophelia, he should storm in and quickly suppress the situation, which would maximize the chances of Ophelia's survival.

He is the one with the absolute advantage; how can he be controlled by others?

Seeing that the count was unmoved and about to launch an attack on the city, Leon's face showed a moment of panic.

"Stop!" Leon shouted. "Beckett has been executed, but I can return Ophelia to you now. She's been poisoned. If you want her to live, don't make any rash moves!"

Chapter 180 You Must Die Today, Earl

"..." The count's expression did not change significantly after hearing Leon's words. His face remained cold and hard, showing no obvious anger, yet still exuding an imposing aura.

He kept his hand raised, ready to signal the attack at any moment.

“Ophelia has already been fed multiple poisons, including the blood of the curse. Only we can concoct the antidote. Oh, and there are also crystals that induce salification disease. If she's unlucky, she'll soon contract salification disease. And you should know from Bishop Beckett that only Weiss Rogers can concoct the medicine to treat salification disease.”

"I'm handing her over to you now, but if you want her to avoid dying in a hospital bed, get out of here and never come near this place again. From now on, I'll do my business, and you'll do yours. Apart from me providing you with the antidote periodically, we'll have no relationship! We'll keep to ourselves!" Leon shouted.

The Count showed no anger upon hearing what Leon had done to Ophelia.

On the contrary, he was genuinely disdainful of the cards Leon had played.

"Give her to me," the count said to Leon, emphasizing each word.

Leon and the Count exchanged a glance for a moment, then turned and gave the order. A small door opened on the side of the fortress, and someone pushed out Ophelia, whose hands were bound in front of her and whose mouth was gagged.

The count looked at Ophelia, who was disheveled and barefoot, but did not appear to have suffered any cruel treatment.

The count's gaze softened for a moment, and Ophelia saw him too. Her eyes sparkled with joy, and she burst into tears. Then she quickly ran forward.

Between the bunkers above the fortress, under Leon's command, mercenaries set up their guns one after another, their range covering Ophelia's back, seemingly as a deterrent.

But the count ignored their actions, simply watching as Ophelia rushed to their side, opening a gap in the formation to welcome and protect the count's daughter. Immediately, someone raised a heavy steel shield to provide cover for her.

"Ophelia!" The count finally lowered his hand gestures to command, went to Ophelia, and personally cut the ropes and tore off the tape from her mouth.

"..." Ophelia trembled all over, her eyes fixed on the count's face, as if she was still in shock.

“Now you can leave, Earl!” Leon shouted.

The count glanced sideways at the city wall, his eyes cold as he looked at Leon.

In the Earl’s eyes, this foolish man was already a dead man. Leon Seth actually thought that he could control him by poisoning Ophelia?

Rather than engaging in this tedious tug-of-war, he preferred to attack from here and capture Leon, Rena Lothark, and Weiss Rogers, and perhaps Hershey and her daughter as well.

He preferred to obtain the antidote through torture, and even if he couldn't get it, he could still get relevant support from the witches' gathering.

With his current strength, being controlled by a character like Leon would be an intolerable humiliation!

But before attacking the city, he had to get Ophelia out of there. If Ophelia had been given the cursed blood, then as long as she was within range, the original owner of the cursed blood could trigger the poison at any time...

At this moment, Leon, standing on the city wall, stared expressionlessly in the direction of the Count, while the shield-bearer used his shield to shield the Count and Ophelia.

He raised his hand and gestured to the side, and his men lit the cannon fuse.

In the final seconds, Leon took a deep breath and counted down in his mind.

three……

His attention shifted to sensing the magic surrounding the maze.

two……

The reactions of many monsters around him were connected to his consciousness as the master of the labyrinth; they were all created by this labyrinth, including the demonic wolves that had gathered beneath the fortress.

one……

At this moment, Ophelia, who was far away, also experienced a similar magical reaction in his consciousness as these demonic wolves.

"Make your move!" Leon secretly channeled the consciousness of the Labyrinth Lord into the monsters created by the labyrinth.

For the Earl, everything happened without warning.

Ophelia suddenly transformed into a black shadow and pounced on him, biting down on his neck. Her sharp teeth pierced his throat, and a strange heat began to flow back into his wound!

Shapeshifter!!

"Your Excellency!!" The others around were thrown into disarray by the attack on the count.

At that moment, Leon's hoarse roar drowned out their gasps of surprise: "Kill!!"

The cannons and flintlock muskets on the fortress fired simultaneously, shells exploding into sprays of gravel and dust at the front line of the Earl's camp, while poisoned bullets rained down on the unsuspecting enemy.

Everyone in the Earl's camp was caught off guard; no one expected that the enemy would launch the first fierce attack!

The attack on the Earl further exacerbated the chaos. If Bishop Beckett or Johnny were present at this moment, they might have been able to quickly take over command of the Earl amidst the chaos, but neither of them was there!

The count pushed Ophelia, who was clinging to him and biting him, in disbelief. Ophelia had now revealed its true form, a humanoid black shadow that had shed its disguise and transformed into fangs and claws to prey on humans.

This is the Phantom, a level 3 monster commonly known as a shapeshifter. The Church describes it as a creation filled with the deepest malice of the Moirai against humanity. It can transform into someone important to its target, approach them, and then seize the opportunity to kill them.

Leon has been keeping this phantom, and now he is using it to transform into Ophelia to set a trap for the Count.

He not only had the Phantom inflict a near-fatal blow on the Count, but he also had the Phantom's teeth smeared with his blood. In that instant, the cursed blood also flowed into the Count's body!

The count's eyes widened, and his muscles bulged suddenly. The God of War's blessing activated in that instant, causing his power to break through the limits of humanity.

"Ugh!!" He gripped the phantom that was biting him tightly and tore the monster apart with his bare hands!

He clutched his bleeding neck, feeling a strong numbing sensation spreading from his neck throughout his body—Leon had unleashed the Cursed Blood from afar!

Realizing he had been poisoned, he quickly took out the test tube containing medicine number nineteen from his body, crushed it with his teeth, and poured it down his throat.

"Counterattack! Counterattack!!"

The count's side was caught off guard, and finally one of the officers couldn't take it anymore and called on everyone to fight back.

However, just as everyone was scrambling to prepare for the attack, a familiar figure suddenly appeared on the city wall—Ophelia. This time, Leon tied the real Ophelia to a frame and pushed her onto the city wall, like setting up a target for them to shoot at.

"This, this..."

"Stop! Stop!"

"Push it back!!"