The woman thrashed violently, her back arching against the bed as her veins bulged unnaturally, a sickly purple hue crawling under her skin.
Her throat constricted, raw screams ripping from her mouth as the Heart Gu dug its way through her body, coiling around her heart like a vice.
"Aarghhhhh! Khwaackkk!" Her wails turned guttural, her fingers clawing at her own chest as if trying to tear the unseen parasite from within.
Blood dribbled from the corners of her lips, and her eyes rolled back montarily before snapping forward, wild and unfocused.
Aleriana folded her arms, watching impassively. "It ignored the sealed acupoints."
"Yes, her Qi is most probably corrupted," I muttered, stepping closer, watching the quivering ss beneath . Even I understood how, even though Aleriana had sealed her acupoints, which would not have been able to release on their own, seeing how she was able to move it towards her chest showed how dangerous that worm was. They are known to change the overall purity of one's Qi, corrupting it and sending false signals to the body, which was evident in the way she was able to move her hand.
Her muscles spasd violently, but I wasn't about to let her die before spilling what I needed to know.
"Tell ," I whispered, leaning in as my fingers gripped her sweat-drenched hair, pulling her face closer. "Where are you from? Who sent you?"
The woman let out a strangled breath, teeth clenching as another convulsion racked her body.
"You..." she gasped, her eyes unfocused but filled with unfiltered hatred. "You... monster!"
I sighed, tightening my grip. "Tch. Wrong answer."
With a flick of my wrist, the Gu inside her pulsed.
She shrieked. Her body jerked so violently that the bed fra creaked under the strain. Her nails dug into her arms, drawing thin trails of blood.
Her breath hitched. Tears mixed with sweat, drenching her face as her lips quivered. "P-please...!"
"Be cautious, husband," Aleriana said with concern, given how I felt, my body surrounded by a protective layer of Qi.
I crouched lower, my voice barely above a whisper. "Your kingdom. Now."
The woman's body stilled for a mont before a single word forced its way past her trembling lips.
"H-Heavenly... Frost... Kingdom."
'.....'
A beat of silence.
Aleriana's eyes narrowed, her claws tightening involuntarily at her sides before her words reached . "She is lying."
"I know." Unlike how fire is normally opposite to ice, this was not true for both kingdoms. Considering they existed just against each other on the continent, both the Azure Fla Kingdom and the Heavenly Frost Kingdom were at a neutral standing.
Both kingdoms had no past grievances nor would there be any in the future as per the story I was aware of.
"She would not tell the truth," Aleriana seed to realize, as I did, that this woman was a tough nut to crack. Even with the halt go, which normally takes over the nervous system, we weren't able to get the real na of the kingdom.
Not only the kingdom, but now there was doubt that even any future information she could provide us would be fake, prompting to sigh before turning my head towards the balcony where I saw a thin blood string.
"Mialthara, open her mind and tell everything." I finally looked towards the balcony where that blood string seed to coil together until forming a humanoid shape before slowly descending. A woman with blood accentuating her beauty, her hair finely spreading around her shoulders, looked towards in a way that was just too dangerous.
Mialthara was definitely a beauty, a sight to behold. But loving soone whom I cannot control was beyond dangerous in this world.
So, I had no interest in her, and my focus was on the problems I had, prompting to just blankly observe as she approached us.
"Heh, you amuse again and again, Kyle."
I could discern the reason behind her words. Considering the presence of my domain, I was able to sense her presence the mont she entered the radius.
Clearly feeling her presence as I called her out.
'Olea is late.' But on the other hand, tilting my head, I felt that Mialthara, who did not co through the main gate but instead barged directly into the palace, ant Olea had not yet arrived.
Mialthara strode forward, the crimson aura swirling around her like liquid silk, its tendrils licking at the air as she neared the convulsing woman.
A smirk played on her lips, an amusent that never quite reached her piercing eyes.
With an effortless motion, she reached out, her fingers ghosting over the woman's forehead.
"Try not to kill her," I said, watching her closely.
Mialthara let out a soft chuckle, tilting her head. "No promises."
Before I could protest, she plunged her hand forward—not into flesh, but into sothing far deeper.
"Aarghh—!!—" The woman's body jerked violently, her spine arching as if an unseen force was yanking her upwards.
"A....a....h..." Her mouth opened in a silent scream, her veins darkening as Mialthara's fingers twisted through the invisible threads of her mind.
The spy thrashed, her breath turning ragged. Her fingers clawed at the sheets, then at her own skin, as if trying to fight off sothing unseen.
Blood seeped from her nose first, then her ears, a slow and steady trickle marking the damage being done.
"Mialthara—" I warned, my tone sharp.
"Relax," she murmured, eyes glowing with unnatural light. "She's still breathing. Barely."
The spy gave a final, violent shudder before her body went limp, collapsing against the bed like a marionette with its strings severed.
Her chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths, her consciousness flickering like a dying fla.
Mialthara withdrew her hand, flexing her fingers as if shaking off the filth of another's mind. She exhaled in satisfaction, turning her sharp gaze to .
"Well?" I demanded.
She smirked. "I have what you need."
I folded my arms, not in the mood for gas. "Then speak."
She stepped closer, her crimson aura pulsing faintly. "What will you give in return?"
'Damn you, snake woman,' I thought, looking towards Mialthara before glancing at Aleriana, who seed to give a look, patiently waiting for my offer. But given what needed to be done either way, I replied, "Blood Domain. I will give you the secret to awaken your Blood Domain."
'!?'
".....How—no, you make want to..." Mialthara's words ca in pieces, as if she first wanted to know how, then wanted to extract information from my brain, yet halting due to so other thoughts, as if completely confused about what to do with .
"She got a contract over 20 years ago from the Soaring Phoenix Kingdom to get her hands on an artifact called the Progeny Stone while infiltrating the kingdom. She married the head of the Wei family after controlling him and finally, she is not real."
'Huh?' While Mialthara, reaching her conclusion, started to give all the necessary information, the words she said left confused as I stood in a blank state, not understanding what she ant before looking towards that woman lying on the bed, slowly having her eyes roll back as she died.
"What? Did she just die?"
[ Co on, didn't she say that woman was not real? ]
'....I heard her.'
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