The Warden of The Witches

Holy Nails

Having personally experienced the mental contamination of the divine language and then releasing it himself, Aiden truly felt the terror of divine power.

From the effects, the divine language he used wasn't particularly powerful, but it did indeed possess the ability to transcend normal magic and alter concepts in a buggy manner. Extrapolating this to the scale of Mephilia power, it was simply unimaginable.

Could such a being really be sealed solely by containment measures created by humans?

If Mephilia was just pretending to be contained and could actually move freely at any time, not to mention the Rose Prison built above her, the entire Silver City and even half of the continent could be at risk.

Originally, upon learning the fact of his own divinity, he had some inclination to confirm with Mephilia, but considering this, he instinctively set aside that thought for now.

"You've been personally monitoring her for nearly five years, and only now do you realize this issue? Isn't it a bit late?" Harold furrowed his brow, casting a gaze at his obtuse student, expressing a mix of anger and dissatisfaction. "Indeed, without her voluntary cooperation, we would never have been able to contain her, but theoretically, our containment measures are effective against her."

"Do those few nails really seal her power?"

"Firstly, do not underestimate those holy nails; they are ancient relics containing divinity," Harold replied calmly.

"Ancient relics?" Aiden was taken aback. "But the records clearly state that they were commissioned by the Inquisition..."

"The records are false; those items weren't crafted but were seized from illicit trades of the Esoteric Society in the past. The holy nails are relics imbued with divinity, possessing the concept of 'fixation' so strong that even water flow can be interrupted. This concept is effective even against itself, and to date, there hasn't been any method to extract divinity from the artifact itself. It's an excellent sealing tool, but until we captured the 'Saintess,' we never found a suitable subject."

"So powerful?" Aiden pondered, the idea of using divine items to seal a deity sounding somewhat plausible.

"Moreover..." Harold flicked some ash, "Strictly speaking, what we are sealing is not the deity itself but merely the human body she inhabits. The holy nails simply block her control over that body."

"I see." Aiden relaxed slightly. "That puts my mind at ease."

Indeed, strictly speaking, Mephilia couldn't be equated with the controller itself; ultimately, she was just a human vessel inhabited by the controller. The term 'body' was just a tool for the controller to enter this plane—judging from the Blood Moon Cult's method of summoning deities, it seemed that the controller's entry into this realm was also subject to certain rules.

They might not be able to imprison the controller itself, but sealing the human body used by the controller was achievable. Ants might not necessarily kill a person, but they could bite off the straw the person extended into their anthill to probe.

"Rest assured, but don't let your guard down too much. Without the holy nails, that person could immediately manipulate the body freely using divine language..." Harold cautioned sternly, but he abruptly stopped midway.

"What's wrong?" Aiden noticed the unnatural pause.

"Someone's coming." Harold gestured, speaking in a low voice. "Quiet."

Aiden instinctively closed his mouth, recognizing the sensitivity of their recent discussion, which delved into classified information even senior inquisitor might not be privy to. Harold had confided in him because he had learned about the intel on divine language from yesterday's incident.

He turned to look at the glass on the wall; Harold's office featured the typical one-way glass used in interrogation rooms, positioned differently from the interrogation room. It obscured the view from outside into the room but allowed those inside to see the silhouette of someone approaching the door.

Seeing the person at the door, Aiden couldn't help but pause— it was Rebecca.

The door was promptly knocked on, and Harold gestured to Aiden with his cigar-clad fingers, indicating for him to go and open it. To prevent any sudden interruptions while discussing classified information, he had locked the door behind him when he entered.

"Making the guest open the door...?"

"You're closer to the door, hurry!" Harold urged.

Resignedly, Aiden stood up and opened the door.

"Aiden? What are you..." Rebecca, standing outside the door, widened her eyes upon seeing him but then nodded as if she had a sudden realization. "Ah, you're here to deliver that item, aren't you."

"I've already handed it over to the director. You came specifically for that, right?" Aiden stepped aside, gesturing towards Harold. "Would you like to take a look?"

"Director, um..." Rebecca entered the office somewhat hesitantly, offering a salute to Harold as she raised her hand.

"I heard about the situation from that smelly brat. Heard you had some impression of this thing?" Harold picked up the pendant, gave it a shake, and casually tossed it to Rebecca. "Take a look, see if it triggers any memories."

Rebecca quickly caught it with both hands, took a closer look, and froze on the spot. "How... did it change like this!?"

"Ask him," Harold quickly shifted the blame to Aiden.

Rebecca turned to look at Aiden, and somehow, Aiden could faintly sense a hint of resentment in her eyes.

"During the investigation, there was a bit of an accident," Aiden shrugged, "but it didn't have much impact on the appearance. Have you remembered anything?"

Rebecca is currently on suspension for recovery and does not hold the authority of a senior inquisitor. Harold didn't mention it, so Aiden wouldn't disclose to her about his infiltration of the witch gathering yesterday.

Rebecca glanced at the pendant in her hand, shook her head, and returned it to Harold. "I can vaguely recall Priscilla wearing this thing, but I can't remember anything else."

Aiden was somewhat surprised by her reaction. Yesterday, Rebecca had seemed quite fixated upon seeing the pendant, appearing to sense very clear memory cues. Yet now that she had it in her hands, she only glanced at it briefly before dismissing it.

"This item was extracted from Priscilla after she swallowed it. Do you really have no recollection at all?" Aiden inquired.

"I really can't remember. If I could, I would have said so by now," Rebecca shook her head.

"Looks like you made a trip for nothing today," Harold remarked.

"No, Director, I came today to discuss another matter with you," Rebecca looked at Harold.

"What is it?"

"I request your approval to transfer from the Inquisition Bureau. I want to work at the Rose Prison like him..." Rebecca glanced at Aiden as she spoke.

Startled, Aiden hand who was holding a teacup, trembled slightly and almost spilled the tea, just like last time.