What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

The petrified Bishop Beckett was bound to an iron chair, his left hand forced out. An iron basin had been placed on the floor, surrounded by waterproof wax paper.

Lena held a headhunting rabbit in her arms.

When they saw Leon, both Weiss and Lena nodded, indicating that they were ready.

If it weren't for the need to complete the ceremony, Leon could have let Bishop Beckett die without him even realizing it.

With a thought, Leon temporarily lifted the curse of the Cursed Blood.

Bishop Beckett awoke with a convulsion, followed by a violent coughing fit.

He raised his weak face, and it took him a while to focus his eyes and see the person standing in front of him.

Leon Seth.

Bishop Beckett looked confused at first. He didn't know what was happening outside, or even what time it was. For a moment, he thought it wasn't time for war yet. At that moment, Leon pulled out something hanging from his waist.

A silver longsword, with the sun engraved on the hilt, the coat of arms of Count Frey.

Beckett's pupils dilated as he realized what it meant for the sword to be in Leon's hands; the shock made his eyes widen.

This is Count Frey's sword, a sacred object specially crafted for him. It can be enhanced with the blessing of a divine weapon, strengthening the concept of slashing and cutting, causing the sword wind that cuts into the target's body to instantly split into dozens of strands, which can cut the target into pieces with a light slash.

But the prerequisite is that you have to be able to hit the target.

A moment later, Bishop Beckett's gaze became vacant, and the sparkle slowly faded from his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure and accepted reality.

“The Earl is dead, I have won.” Leon personally explained the result to Bishop Beckett.

“Then do what you’re supposed to do,” Bishop Beckett replied in a very flat tone, as if he were talking about the weather.

He knew that Leon must understand why he shouldn't be kept.

He himself had no intention of continuing to serve others. He had long ago decided to live a life devoted to someone, and he had also decided that one day he would die with that person.

“I’m not the one who wants to kill you,” Leon said.

“Are you going to use me as a sacrifice?” Bishop Beckett looked around and quickly understood his position. “Let’s get this over with, ladies.”

Leon nodded to the two of them, and Lena, having prepared herself mentally, let go and allowed the headhunter rabbit to jump down.

She then controlled the headhunter rabbit to leap quickly, using the blade at the joint to slit the artery in Bishop Beckett's wrist.

Then, Weiss began to cast the Blessing of Blood Exhaustion, controlling Bishop Beckett's blood to quickly concentrate at the wound, as if squeezing Bishop Beckett's heart and blood vessels, rapidly draining the blood from his body.

Bishop Beckett's blood began to gush from the wound like water being poured from a jug, splashing into the basin.

Before long, his face lost all color, and even his lips turned white. He gasped for breath, but it still seemed like he couldn't catch his breath. Blood loss caused his body to quickly enter a state of oxygen deficiency.

“There’s no turning back now,” Bishop Beckett suddenly said. “Now that you’ve defeated that man, please don’t lose to anyone else so easily.”

The era of the Earl has finally come to an end prematurely.

“Of course,” Leon replied in a deep voice, looking at the man in front of him who, in some ways, could be considered his teacher.

Bishop Beckett's eyes began to lose focus, and as the feeling of suffocation drew closer, his vision gradually darkened until it was completely black.

Weiss sensed that Bishop Beckett's heartbeat weakened until it stopped completely.

But she waited quite a while before delivering her verdict: "It's over."

Leon stepped forward and carefully examined the body, confirming Bishop Beckett's death. He then turned to the two men and said, "Let's go."

There are still many things to do after Ophelia and Beckett are executed; the bodies can be disposed of later.

Leon breathed a sigh of relief as he left the cellar that served as a dungeon and stepped out of the house. Just then, he heard the sound of hooves and turned around to see Simon, whom he had sent out to monitor the retreat of the remaining enemies, riding back on horseback.

"How is the situation?" Leon asked.

"We tracked them down to the vicinity of the dock and saw that all their ships had left the port, and the vast majority of their people had evacuated," Simon reported.

"The vast majority?" Leon realized that Simon's statement meant that a small number of enemies remained on the island.

“There was a serious stampede during their retreat. There were many corpses and wounded left on the mountain road. I had my brothers bring the survivors back first. Then I looked down from the mountain and saw the dock. They retreated in a hurry. Some people didn’t have time to board the ship, and some even jumped into the water to swim… Haha.” Recalling the chaotic retreat, Simon couldn’t help but laugh. He then added, “There were probably at least fifty people left at the dock with nowhere to go. Then about half of them left the dock immediately and headed east along the road.”

"They went to the east side of the island?" Leon frowned.

The western side of Arend is a mine, where the labyrinth is located, and also a dock; this side is now completely under Leon's control.

To the east of the island, separated by mountains, lie two small fishing villages and the mansion of Viscount Arendt.

Were those people desperate and trying to steal fishing boats from the villagers to escape from here?

No, deserters driven to the brink are capable of anything. Thinking they are about to die, it's not surprising that they would commit acts of rape and plunder like bandits.

Leon certainly didn't want the impact to spread to the east side of the island. If there were too many casualties, or even if the viscount, who was the lord, was in trouble, it would attract a high-level security investigation, which would require him to spend a lot of time dealing with.

"Did you send someone to chase after them?" Leon asked Simon earnestly.

“The enemy has a large number of men and is well-equipped. I didn’t have enough men with me, so I came back to ask for your instructions.” Simon looked ashamed. “However, they didn’t have horses. They ran there. Those who could ride fast have already boarded ships and escaped.”

Leon estimated that if they set off on horseback now, they should be able to intercept the group as soon as they arrived at the residential area, or even earlier.

"Gather more brothers, bring your weapons, and come with me. You handle the docks, and I'll deal with the group heading east," Leon instructed Simon.

“Sir, this is a small matter, you can leave it to us…” Simon said.

“What will you say if the locals or the Viscount see you like this? I have to step in. I’m going to change into my uniform first!” Leon made the decision.

His men, like the enemies stranded there, were all underworld mercenaries, no different in the eyes of the common people and the viscount and his daughter. But he had status, and with him there, at least a decent explanation could be given.

The Earl's ship was making such a grand entrance to Arend Island that the Viscount of Arend must have been quite aware of it. He also needed to find a way to appease them and prevent them from spreading the news.

Leon immediately pictured the beautiful viscount's daughter, whom he had met twice before.

I hope that when I arrive, the young lady will still be safe and sound.

Chapter 185 Rescuing the Viscount's Daughter

"Damn it, where am I?"

Where can I find a boat?

"What's the use of finding a boat now? The church people have already landed on the island!"

"Hurry, hurry! They're catching up!"

……

The twenty or so mercenaries ran wildly along the mountain road. After the count died, the remaining troops scattered under the threat of the so-called "church navy".

In a panic, they rushed to the dock, pushing and shoving to board the ship in a disorderly manner. The ship set sail ahead of schedule as soon as the crew was mostly in place, resulting in many people who did not board either falling into the sea or being left behind on Arend Island.

Unable to leave the dock or turn back, these scattered soldiers were forced to flee eastward along the mountain path to Arend Island.

But they were unfamiliar with Arendt Island, and knew almost nothing about what lay to the east of the island.

In their eyes, their situation was now quite hopeless. They were pursued by Fenrir, who had defeated the Earl, and were also surrounded by the Church's navy at sea. Without a ship, they had no chance of escaping from the island. Even if they managed to reach the east side of the island and seize a fishing boat, the Church's ships would probably be closing in, and they would have no way to escape.

They ran wildly along the mountain road, and before they knew it, they had arrived at another hill.

"What's that?" the person running in front suddenly shouted.

Before them, the mountain road stretched along a gentle slope to the top of a scenic hill with a good view, where a mansion sat, clearly the residence of a local wealthy person or lord.

"It seems that there is a lord on Arend Island..." someone suddenly remembered this.

"They'll have a ship, won't they? Taking the lord here hostage might give them a chance to escape!"

"The lord's cellar must be full of fine wine and tobacco; I should enjoy myself before I die!"

"Maybe there are women too! Anyway, we're all going to die..."

"Let's go in and take a look!"

Everyone chimed in with their own ideas, and they quickly came together, emboldened by the conversation.

Normally, they would never have dared to trespass into a mansion that might be inhabited by powerful and wealthy people; they were mercenaries, not bandits.

But now they are surrounded by wolves in front and tigers behind, and there is almost only one way out for them: death. They can't care about anything else. Sometimes despair can drive people to become beasts!

At that moment, in the study upstairs in the mansion, Adele's hired maid, Hayley, was peering out the window through the gap in the curtains, holding a shotgun. She quickly spotted the mercenaries approaching.

There were at least twenty people, and they were fully armed with very sophisticated equipment, almost indistinguishable from the Church's Knights of Faith.

If these people had politely rang the bell outside the door to inquire, or shown their identification or tokens, Hailey might have even slightly doubted whether they were actually government or military personnel.

But without saying a word, these men began smashing the locks on the courtyard gate. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they looked more vicious than ordinary bandits.

"Damn it!" Hailey felt like she was having a major headache. How come she always got into such big trouble as a bodyguard for a noble lady?

But now she had nowhere to retreat. This mansion was built on a hill and there was only one road leading out. The previous Viscount Arend was just an honest merchant, and there had never been any pirates here. When this mansion was built, no one had thought of building a secret escape route.

With a loud crash, the lock on the courtyard gate was smashed, and the mercenaries rushed in.

Hayley had no choice but to open the window, set up her shotgun, and threaten those below: "Halt! You've broken into the manor of Viscount Arend! Get out of here now, or we'll shoot!"

If it were an ordinary robber, realizing that he had possibly broken into a guarded lord's mansion, he would probably back down.

The Viscount's family couldn't even afford to hire a single servant, so naturally they had no guards. Hayley herself was just a private bodyguard that Adele had hired with her own savings.

Right now, Hailey could only bluff and hope to scare them off, but even she didn't dare to have much hope. These men seemed to have a strange... madness about them!

"woman!"

There's a woman there!

"Charge!"

Hearing Hailey's voice only made the mercenaries more excited, and they began rushing toward the gate one after another.

Seeing this, Hailey had no other choice but to aim at the person in front and shoot, who fell to the ground.

However, the death of one person did not deter the mercenaries; instead, they raised their guns and fired back at the window.

Hailey quickly dodged to the window, and the windowpanes shattered.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!" Adele screamed in the corner of the room, clutching her head.

Hailey ran over, grabbed her, and pulled her into another room. She locked the door, pushed furniture over it to block it, and shoved a flintlock pistol into her hand: "They've broken in, Miss!!"

Taking advantage of Hailey being forced back by the firepower, the remaining mercenaries rushed to the main gate of the mansion, and the sound of the main gate being smashed down could be heard from below.

"This, this... Do you want me to use this?" Adele gripped the flintlock pistol tightly, her hands trembling as if the thing was burning hot.

She had never learned to hunt and had never used a firearm.

“We have nowhere to run. These men are insane. Falling into their hands would be worse than death!” Hailey replied, her voice trembling as she loaded her shotgun. “Either we hold out to the death and jump out the window, or we have no choice but to…”

Rather than falling into the hands of these crazed, beast-like men, it might be a little easier to shoot myself.

"Why did this happen..." Adele burst into tears.

As the daughter of a viscount, the most difficult thing she had ever encountered in her life was her father's debts. She had never seen anything like this before.

"That's exactly the question I wanted to ask!!" Hailey shouted, sounding somewhat exasperated.

She was only paid a regular fee to act as a bodyguard for the viscount's daughter, thinking it would be nothing more than running errands and scaring away some thugs. But not only did the young lady encounter that dangerous inquisitor twice, but this time a group of crazed pirates inexplicably showed up. This time, she herself might also get caught in the crossfire!

Footsteps echoed up the stairs, accompanied by the sounds of rummaging through drawers and cabinets.

"Here!" Someone discovered the tightly closed room and began kicking the door hard; the door frame soon made a sound as if it were about to break.

With trembling hands, Hailey and Adele pointed their guns at the door, their last embers of hope beginning to die out.

Just as the door was about to be kicked open, gunshots suddenly rang out outside, accompanied by screams.

"Huh?" Hailey was taken aback.

The sound makes it sound like a battle has broken out outside?

Are these pirates starting to fight amongst themselves?

"They're coming after us!"

"It's over!"

"That monster!"

The men outside, who were so insane they terrified, made sounds of fear, and the pounding on the door stopped.

The gunshots and shouts grew closer and closer, quickly extending from downstairs into the corridor of this floor.

The men who were kicking the door outside gasped in surprise, then several gunshots rang out from the stairwell, and the shouting stopped abruptly.