Abigail stood in the center of the prison corridor, with several unconscious vampires lying in front of her.

Through the power of "Rebirth," Abigail infused the force of life into these vampires. The saint-level ability of "Rebirth" could resurrect the dead and confer life-like attributes to non-living things. However, for the vampires derived from the authority of "Death," this power of the "Life" authority could weaken them.

Using this method, under the restrictions of the Wordless Code, Abigail subdued each of the vampires one by one and purified the plague they had spread.

She split into crows again, flying toward the exit of the prison—earlier, as she had rushed in, one fish that had slipped through the net had escaped before her.

The moment she flew out of the prison area and into the corridor, she saw that vampire.

Inexplicably, he wasn’t continuing to run but just stood in the middle of the corridor, with his back to Abigail.

Just as Abigail was prepared to effortlessly kill him, the vampire suddenly let out a scream, and then his entire body crumpled like a piece of waste paper, squashed by an invisible force into a bloody heap of flesh.

Abigail reconstituted her body, watching him in astonishment.

She realized this must be the transfer of damage from "Sacrifice"; Mr. Bloodcoat had used his own power, and the rules of the Wordless Code had been altered.

Could it be that the victor was already decided? A slight unease crept into Abigail’s heart.

...

"Heeheehee hahahahaha!!" At that moment, atop the field, Mr. Bloodcoat let out a crazed laugh.

In front of him, his nemesis, Aiden Galahad, sprawled on the ground, covered in blood.

"Damn it!!" Lamia let out a frustrated roar.

A second ago, when Mr. Bloodcoat stabbed himself with the Blade of Vengeance, she applied the power of "Blending" to him.

The Wordless Code defined that the spirit cannot be interfered with, but the power of "Blending" could also be used on the body. This ability could instantly kill a person by mixing his blood, flesh, and bones together, turning his body into a bloody mass of meat or a sticky pulp.

However, when her power hit Mr. Bloodcoat, it was as if a clay ox entered the sea, eliciting no reaction. Her "Chaos" authority was only of an intermediate level, and Mr. Bloodcoat simply transferred away the damage she inflicted with "Sacrifice."

The saint-level Qiqimora posed a certain threat to Mr. Bloodcoat, but he was not concerned at all about Lamia’s intermediate-level powers.

Stabbed by the Blade of Vengeance, Mr. Bloodcoat chose to transfer the damage that was meant to cut his entire body into pieces.

At that moment, Aiden felt the scythe of Death begin to slice through his entire body. The avenging goddess clinging to him immediately cast "Sacrifice," trying to repeat the trick and transfer the damage to Lamia—this was also pre-arranged by Aiden.

However, as excruciating pain pierced through his body, Lamia realized what she would have to endure and instinctively chose to refuse.

She could bear the non-lethal damage on Aiden’s behalf, but she couldn’t truly die for him.

"Sacrifice" was thus interrupted. The fatal injury manifested on Aiden, but it did not dismember him.

The rules of the Wordless Code prohibited Mr. Bloodcoat from using means beyond the physical to inflict equivalent harm on others while he himself was injured. Under the interference of the two unique authorities, the injury Aiden received was lessened, but it was still fatal. Although his body remained intact and wasn’t turned into pieces like the vampire who took the damage for Mr. Bloodcoat, his organs, muscles, bones, and even his brain were severed in several places.

Aiden was dead.

Feeling Aiden’s life fading away, Mr. Bloodrobe felt an indescribable satisfaction surge through his brain, making it increasingly difficult for him to stop his maniacal laughter.

He turned his gaze toward the not too distant figure as the mist began to clear, revealing Lamia’s body gradually.

"Qiqimora!!" Lamia shouted out in dismay. As she used her power, her "Invisibility" was broken as well, and Mr. Bloodrobe could kill her at any moment.

Qiqimora had no choice but to divert her attention and cast "Invisibility" on Lamia again, but she soon realized she had made a huge mistake.

As she looked at Aiden’s body again, she saw Mr. Bloodrobe’s hand reaching for The Wordless Code on the ground; he had severed his own hand, flung it, connected it with threads of blood magic, and manipulated it with the power of "Undeath."

With Aiden’s passing, the "Imprisonment" he had cast also became ineffective, and the cage that protected the Wordless Code disappeared.

The Codex was now open. Before Qiqimora could cast "Voiding," Mr. Bloodrobe’s hand had scribbled across it, erasing the three rules written there with his tainted blood.

Fear clutched at Qiqimora, as well as at Lamia.

With the rules of The Codex all rendered ineffective, Mr. Bloodrobe’s powers were restored. He could now not only reflect all damage and negative effects but could also indiscriminately use the domain of "Betrayal" to plunge everyone around him into utter madness, and this kind of indiscriminate Mental Attack was something Qiqimora’s "Invisibility" couldn’t evade.

Qiqimora immediately used the Hand of Oblivion to completely void herself; she was no longer hoping to kill Mr. Bloodrobe or preserve Aiden’s Wordless Code. She just wished to escape from there intact, preserving the Hand of Oblivion.

"Hahahahaha!!" Mr. Bloodrobe laughed as he retracted his hand, reclaiming the Wordless Code for himself, "In the end—"

"It’s still me who wins." A voice as frail as a thread of silk finished his sentence for him.

Mr. Bloodrobe’s smile froze.

The voice had come from Aiden’s mouth.

At the same time, he noticed that the fire of Aiden’s dying life had once again started to burn slowly.

"You?" Mr. Bloodrobe frowned.

Aiden, who had been covered in blood a moment ago, stood up completely unharmed from the ground.

Neither Lamia nor Qiqimora were surprised by Aiden’s resurrection. They both knew about the blessing given to him by Abigail.

The effect of the Vengeful Twin Blades Aiden bore was lethal. The moment Aiden died completely, the hatred was settled once, and the damage inflicted by the Vengeful Twin Blades became normal damage.

Afterward, Abigail’s blessing revived Aiden, and with it, his powers were activated—"Return" restored him to the state he was in before death.

But Aiden’s resurrection was meaningless now. Mr. Bloodrobe took advantage of the few seconds when Aiden’s "Imprisonment" became ineffective upon his death.

With the Wordless Code in Mr. Bloodrobe’s hands, even Aiden’s revival couldn’t turn the tables on this defeat.