Chapter 461 - 256: The Murderer

"So you want them to die with your grandfather?" Baron asked.

Vivian froze, then snapped to her senses. She suddenly found her body, including the wings on her back, entwined in ancient silver chains. The more she struggled, the tighter they coiled around her. It was like sinking into a swamp—the more one struggles, the more futile it becomes.

She said in a frightened voice, "Mr. L... these chains..."

She squirmed uneasily in Baron’s arms. Her wings flared and folded, but the silver chains expanded and contracted in tandem, keeping both her wings and body tightly bound no matter what.

"Don’t move," Baron said. "This is a special Alchemy Restriction. The more you struggle, the stronger it will become, until it tears you apart."

Baron glanced at the chains on the Angel Girl and realized they were linked to the Alchemy Array on her original cage.

He said, "The buyer who won you placed this restriction. The moment you leave this hall, the Alchemy Restriction triggers."

"Then what do we do?" Vivian asked, her face deathly pale. She was clearly terrified.

"What to do..."

Baron set her down and drew his Spear Sword. He held the tip over the spot between her eyebrows. Although it didn’t touch her, an invisible aura from the blade opened a small cut on her forehead. A single drop of blood slowly seeped out, like a red crystal emerging from a white salt flat.

Vivian panicked, but she only stared at him. Her rose-red pupils were so clear, filled with a strange sort of trust.

Baron met her gaze, his Spear Sword still raised. He chuckled. "So, how long are you going to keep up the act? Member of the Blood Race."

Vivian’s reaction was odd. She trembled, as if in fear of his sudden move, yet she managed to suppress the shaking and say, "Mr. L... what are you talking about?"

Baron said, "I mean, please, stop pretending. You’re the member of the Blood Race who was hiding at the auction, right?"

"What... Blood Race?" Vivian said. "Mr. L... I don’t... understand what you mean."

"Your blood isn’t dripping. That’s a trait only the Blood Race and Demons share. And most Demons have blue blood."

Baron said flatly, "You bewitched me with your blood, taking advantage of my sympathy and goodwill. I’m a good person, but I’m no saint. I’m certain that I would never have risked ruining all my previous efforts to save you."

"But I came anyway," he said. "That’s what felt so jarring to me. I even started to wonder, if I’m such a bleeding-heart, why couldn’t I even do something as simple as helping an old grandma cross the street back then?"

He gave a self-mocking laugh. His smile, reflected blood-red in the girl’s rose-colored pupils, looked like that of a thug cornering a runaway girl in an alley after school.

The thug spoke. "I couldn’t figure it out... so I came to find you, to see just how badly I wanted to save you. Now I understand."

The panic on Vivian’s face suddenly vanished, replaced by a cold, lonely arrogance on her delicate features. "Understand what?"

"Before that, maybe you should answer me first," Baron asked. "Who are you, really? What’s your purpose here? Why did you put your blood in the red wine and lure me here to save you? Or is this all just a plot by the Dragon Eater Association?"

Vivian smiled. "As expected of a Dragon Knight... Your powers of observation are truly sharp. To see through my Blood Race identity with simple deduction... Now I believe everything you did on the Outer Side was just a disguise."

She finally dropped her disguise. Her childlike face took on a maturity and arrogance most adults could never possess, as triumphant as Cinderella putting her glass slipper back on for the prince.

"I am indeed of the Blood Race. As for my purpose here, I’m afraid I cannot comment. But as for you, Mr. Constantine, coming to my rescue... that I did not expect."

Baron’s brow twitched. "You didn’t expect it?"

Vivian said in a childlike voice, "Just as you said, this room is under an Alchemy Restriction. No Spiritual Power, not even Mental Power, can penetrate it. Naturally, I couldn’t control my blood."

"Once my blood is no longer under my control, it naturally runs rampant, drawing out the deepest desires of any Blood Drinker... Given the time, the blood has probably already started to act up. That might be one reason you were able to get into this room and save me."

Vivian continued, "As for the second reason, I should be the one asking you... I’m quite surprised, Mr. Constantine. Why would you feel sympathy for a little girl like me, tainted by Demon’s Blood?"

’Because that’s what Knights do, right?’ Baron thought.

Vivian said, "Uncontrolled blood awakens a person’s deepest desires. This means your desire was to see me... To be honest, I’m also surprised that you would show up here, Mr. Constantine."

A desire to see Vivian? Baron thought for a moment, and then it hit him.

He was on the verge of Promoting to the Bronze Blood Faction. Because he suspected Vivian was a member of the Blood Race, he subconsciously wanted to use her blood to help him Promote.

He had mistaken this desire as Vivian subconsciously influencing him to find her... and from that premise, he had deduced that she was part of the Blood Race.

So, although his deductive process was flawed, Baron had stumbled upon the right answer by mistake.

"And the Dragon Eater Association..." Vivian sneered. "Are you aware that the truth of the world is only ever grasped by a select few?"

Her implication was that her organization disdained to cooperate with the Dragon Eater Association. It also seemed her group wasn’t large; likely some kind of elite, rogue organization that only recruited the best.