Chapter 94: They All Want to Go to the Demon God’s Labyrinth

“The current Elizabeth Cateline is Sophia Cateline… I really need to be careful.”

Hall waited for Mandosha Flower to finish eating, but before he could say he was leaving first.

Mandosha Flower disappeared, and then the owner of the tavern came over to ask who was paying.

He had been played.

However, even in a city with prices as high as Saint Louis, a meal only cost a few silver coins.

Easily settled.

It wasn’t a big problem for him.

But when he got home, it was already very late.

He had thought Lov and the others were asleep, but the main hall of the Faxtius estate, which could only be used by direct family members, was still lit.

Hall felt a little uneasy, wondering what was going on.

‘They’re not asleep yet?’

When he got home, he found that not only were they not asleep.

Himan, Lorraine, Lov, and Ye Wangxue were all sitting there.

The lights were on brightly, giving Hall a very ominous premonition.

“You’re back?”

Himan spoke first.

“I’m back. Why are you all still awake? It’s past midnight.”

He sat down opposite the four of them.

He didn’t say anything else, just wanted to assess the situation first.

“You’re only just back yourself. Which girl did you go out gallivanting with again?”

Himan’s tone was unhurried.

She wasn’t too anxious now because she had realized a problem.

In terms of seniority, Ye Wangxue was her younger sister, Lorraine was her cousin, and Lov… well, she was a maid of the Faxtius family.

She was the eldest sister, the elder in this group.

So she had to act like an elder, not be too hasty.

“It’s nothing, just met an old friend and had a simple drink.”

Hall neither admitted nor denied it, intending to let Himan and the others guess.

In any case, no matter how they guessed, they would never guess Mandosha Flower.

“Oh, an old friend? Which family’s young lady is she? Miss Leticia was with us until she left, and Saintess Candidate Christine went back to the Roan Cathedral to rest early on.”

Himan’s tone remained calm.

Normally, she would have started grilling him, but in front of Ye Wangxue, Lorraine, and the others, she suddenly felt she had to establish her image as an older sister.

It wasn’t for any other reason, but because tonight, after the blessing ceremony, while Hall was having dinner with Sophia and the others, she, Ye Wangxue, and Leticia had been invited by Cardinal Russell for a late-night snack.

But when they arrived, they found that Lorraine and Lov were already there.

Their grandmother chatted with them idly, while also bringing up the topic of Hall.

However, the main focus was on their respective opinions and life stories, with less talk about Hall.

When it was about to end, that very young-looking grandmother, who looked to be only about twenty-five and still had her charm, patted Himan’s shoulder and said.

“Himan, you are the oldest girl here. In the future, when it comes to matters concerning Hall, you can’t be too hasty. You will understand the reason for this in the future.”

Himan didn’t quite understand at the time, but seeing Leticia and Ye Wangxue both show a thoughtful expression, she tried her best to grasp her grandmother’s hidden meaning.

So now, it was like this.

“It’s a woman, but you don’t know her. There’s nothing special between us, don’t overthink it.”

Hall thought for a moment and gave this reply.

“How dare you say that!”

This time, Himan couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Because she felt that Hall was quite proud of going out for a drink with a woman late at night.

“My dear, which girl is she? Can you introduce her to me?”

Ye Wangxue was the one who had been the most frustrated today.

She was filled with anger.

When she went for a late-night snack in the evening, the five of them were at a table with Cardinal Russell.

She had to admit that Cardinal Russell was a woman who looked quite tasteful, but she also put a lot of pressure on Ye Wangxue.

She wasn’t a fool.

Of course, she knew what the cardinal meant.

Wasn’t it just about choosing a real wife for Hall?

Comparing the five of them… to be honest, just comparing her, Leticia, and Himan would have been enough.

Why were Lorraine and Lov included?

In Ye Wangxue’s eyes, those two were not in the same league as her.

Because there was a paradox.

The son of a Western duke was unlikely to marry a maid, but even if this paradox was not followed, he couldn’t possibly marry his sister, right?

So her first reaction upon returning was that Westerners were really a bit crazy.

The etiquette teacher who had taught her before was not wrong.

In Saint Louis, outrageous things could happen as if they were normal.

But after carefully recalling the situation tonight, Cardinal Russell had questioned them with an almost equal number of questions, and the time, tea, and desserts allocated to each of them were completely equal.

She had even suggested that the five of them go to the Russell family’s bridal academy for some training during the winter break this year.

Lorraine was very much in favor of this proposal, Leticia’s attitude was ambiguous, Himan couldn’t understand, Ye Wangxue was against it in her heart but remained silent on the surface.

As for Lov, she didn’t really want to go.

She thought that if Lorraine, Ye Wangxue, and the others all went to the bridal academy for training.

Then wouldn’t she and Hall be the only ones left at home?

That seemed quite nice.

The premise was that she had to stay behind.

Hall himself remained silent, wondering how to explain the situation.

Several heroines were in front of him, and he had indeed gone out with someone else.

He couldn’t hide it by trying to conceal it.

So he threw out a very defeatist sentence.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Now, the four girls were looking at him, and he was looking at them.

He decided to see who would break first.

Even if a storm was coming, he would be a silent stone.

Silence was the law of the Faxtius house tonight.

“Hall Faxtius won again. He won even more beautifully than before.”

“What’s with that sword? Duke Faxtius couldn’t possibly have the spare money to buy that sword for his son.”

“Who knows, maybe that old thing from the Russell family gave it to him.”

“Unlikely. Cardinal Russell is known for her fairness. She wouldn’t favor Hall Faxtius too much, would she? The girls from her family who married out didn’t all marry into new noble families.”

“Then what’s next? The Conclave is already consciously starting to restructure the Black Knights. Are we just going to let it happen? I think with Hall Faxtius’s strength, he can at least become a vice-captain.”

“Maybe. If the Conclave favors him, they might just give him the position of vice-captain directly. But when the various Black Knight branches are being integrated, there will be no shortage of strong people.”

“It sounds like your family has invested?”

“Of course. In Saint Louis, those who enter the Black Knights for training are either young masters of noble families or people supported by giants like the Child family. They are not easy to win over. But if you invest in an enforcer from scratch in another country, the cost is not that high.”

“But you can’t find anyone with better talent than Hall Faxtius, right? How many geniuses can there be among the commoners?”

“That’s a matter of probability. There will always be a few who can compete with him. We can’t let him have it too easy. If he is destined to become the captain of the Black Knights in the future, then we have to make his journey there longer.”

“After all, they also know very well that the world will change dramatically in less than three years.”

“At that time, as long as Hall is not the captain of the Black Knights, or does not control a very important force in the Papal State, it will be fine.”

…

Christine woke up from her dream.

She felt her back was completely soaked.

Last night’s dream was extremely vivid.

She felt as if she had really, at some point in time, pierced that unknown white-haired girl with that sacred blade that felt so familiar to her.

And, she always felt that the white-haired girl’s physique was a bit similar to the Empress of Cateline she had met yesterday.

“Strange…”

“Lady Christine, are you alright?”

“Mm, I’m fine.”

“You woke up very late today again, you missed mass.”

“Maria and a few other nuns took care of it.”

“This is not the first time this month. If you’re really not well, should we ask Lord Roan to find a doctor for you?”

Maria was very worried.

In her eyes, Christine was self-disciplined and almost never overslept.

“I was just a little tired from last night’s coronation ceremony. No need to worry too much, Maria.”

Christine’s voice was weak because she felt a heavy emotion pent up in her chest.

That heavy emotion was like accumulated snow piling up in her heart.

If it were to collapse, it seemed it would be an avalanche-like wave.

“I see. But Lady Christine, this morning’s Saint Louis Morning Post is out! It says you were the best of the three Saintess Candidates yesterday. Your approval rating among the common people is 41%, even higher than the other two combined.”

“Congratulations, Maria.”

“Was my approval rating high last night?”

“Yes, because you were personally summoned by Her Majesty of Cateline.”

“Lady Christine, you’re being too modest. When you walked onto the high platform, I could feel…”

“What?”

Seeing Maria hesitate.

Christine offered some encouragement.

“Feathers.”

“Feathers?”

“Yes, it seemed like feathers were falling from your side…”

“Oh, so it wasn’t my imagination.”

Christine could feel it too.

But it was strange.

The divine art she had invoked last night shouldn’t have caused feathers to fall.

And also…

The blade in her dream also had feathers falling and reappearing around it.

She couldn’t help but be curious and wanted to investigate the reason.

But before Christine could think any further.

She suddenly heard Maria say.

“By the way, Lady Christine, Her Majesty of Cateline said that since she’s rarely in Saint Louis, she also wants to register as an adventurer and challenge the Demon God’s Labyrinth. And, she proposed that you act as her blessing priest.”

Maria originally didn’t want to say it, seeing Christine so weak.

But if she didn’t, both of them might be held accountable.

“Then help me ask if Baron Hall is going?”

Without him, Christine didn’t know if she could hold on in the Demon God’s Labyrinth.

…

Hall was not at home.

He was in the library today.

First, Lorraine and Himan, who had stayed at the Faxtius house overnight, were there.

Second, he had to understand the history of this world so far.

To see what was going on with the Kingdom of Cateline.

And then he saw, just as Sophia had said, “Sixteen years ago, the previous Empress of Cateline had a miscarriage, and Sophia Cateline died in the womb.”

This was a smokescreen, but why was it necessary?

According to her character design, Sophia Cateline’s mother was a very doting woman.

Her education of Sophia was not strict, but not indulgent either.

If her mother’s personality was not good, then Sophia would not have been a very well-liked heroine in the game.

In this world, it seemed to be the same.

The previous empress had no negative news.

Twenty years ago, before he transmigrated to this world, the course of history was no different from the game.

The biggest point of divergence was sixteen years ago.

Why did that loving previous empress make Sophia live in hiding and say she was dead?

“If Elizabeth wasn’t harmed, wouldn’t that mean this queen would never appear on the political stage?”

“According to normal logic, as an emperor with only two children, hiding one and letting the other ascend the throne could be exploited by those with ulterior motives, leading to a civil war with two kings.”

“Unless there was some reason why it had to be done this way…”

Hall flipped through the history of the Kingdom of Cateline for the past twenty years and continued to think.

“If Sophia being falsely reported as a miscarriage is linked to Elizabeth not dying in this world.”

“Then this could be a causal relationship…”

Hall thought to himself, at the same time, why would Sophia “die” and Elizabeth not die?

If it was related to the rules of the world, it would be too absurd.

But he had to consider it.

So he looked up the family tree of the Empress of Cateline in the Holy Light University’s library.

And then he found a blind spot.

In a thousand years, the Empress of Cateline had only given birth to girls.

And the Empress of Cateline, from beginning to end, had always been only one.

Or rather, if there were sisters, the other would not live past the age of six.

Although the occurrence of sisters was rare, without exception, they all died very young.

“A rule?” Hall thought.

Only one person can possess the bloodline of the Winter Saintess at a time.

No, that’s not right.

He found a name that seemed to have been deliberately erased, during the era of the Cateline Kingdom’s rapid expansion.

He remembered a player on the game forums posting that at a certain period, Cateline might have had a situation of one emperor and two empresses, because during this period, the Cateline Kingdom expanded rapidly, seizing a large amount of territory from the Demon Lords.

In other words, from the Demon Lords’ perspective, they would not want two girls with the Winter Saintess bloodline to be alive at the same time.

“Oh… I see.”

After flipping through a large amount of information, Hall, who had been sitting in the library from morning to noon, felt he had understood.

Perhaps in the game, Elizabeth’s death was related to the Demon Lords, and even the Church.

That’s why exploring this route had an unusual level of resistance, leading to the Demon Lords and the Papal State declaring war on Cateline.

And in this world, the previous empress of Cateline had figured this out and deliberately said Sophia had a miscarriage, in reality letting her live in hiding to prevent her from being targeted by multiple forces.

But without interference, the previous empress shouldn’t have figured this out, and Elizabeth would have died.

So…

“What could I have done when I was three or four years old? At most, I could have leaked this information to the previous empress of Cateline.”

Hall fell into deep thought.

Soon he found that thinking about this problem was meaningless.

Because a more important problem had been put on the table.

Since Elizabeth had survived, as the Winter Saintess, why was she seriously injured, leading to her being replaced by Sophia now?

Could it be that Elizabeth’s death was still unavoidable?

Just like his fate in the game.

“Hey, Hall, Her Majesty of Cateline has invited you to go to the Demon God’s Labyrinth with her. She wants to break through to the seventieth floor in one go and get the lord’s token there. Do you want to go?”

Hall was reading a history book of the Kingdom of Cateline when he was suddenly woken up by Ye Wangxue’s voice.

“She’s going to the seventieth floor of the Demon God’s Labyrinth?”

“What, you look down on Her Majesty of Cateline?”

When Ye Wangxue asked this question, she wanted to hear an affirmative answer.

“That’s not it. Her Majesty of Cateline has the bloodline of the Winter Saintess. After coming of age, she is almost invincible in the world. The seventieth floor of the Demon God’s Labyrinth is a small matter, it will definitely be easy for her. I’m just curious why she invited me.”

Hall praised Sophia, and Ye Wangxue’s face turned a little green.

“Hmph, what’s there to praise? I might not be weaker than her in the future. Our eastern swordsmanship doesn’t care about bloodlines and things like the divine right of kings, bloodlines being a gift from the gods.”

“Because Saintess Christine was invited by Her Majesty of Cateline to give her a blessing. After all, without a priest to replenish stamina and energy, going from the fortieth to the seventieth floor, even if you avoid all the monsters, will take a long time. You can’t go without rest.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Christine said, if you don’t go, she won’t go. If you go, she’ll go. My fiancé has a lot of face, even a Saintess Candidate has to give you face.”

Ye Wangxue said sarcastically.

Hall pretended not to hear.

He closed the book in front of him.

“Are you going?”

“I’m going.”

He definitely had to go.

On the seventieth floor, the monsters were generally around level sixty.

It was actually quite dangerous because it wasn’t just one or two level sixty monsters, but hundreds or even thousands of them.

If they all came out at once, it would be no problem for them to rival an army of ten thousand Holy Crusaders.

And Sophia also wanted to get the lord’s token.

According to the game’s setting, the Demon God’s Labyrinth started having lord challenges from the thirtieth floor, with the level being equal to the floor number.

But the lord’s level was not equal to the floor number.

In the game, players often challenged the lord with at least two teams at the same time.

And a team consisted of at least two damage dealers, one healer, and one support character.

That is to say, the recommended challenge condition for the seventieth-floor lord was eight level seventy players.

Sophia was sixteen now.

In the game, Sophia started at level eighty-nine at this time.

But this world’s Sophia had undergone a change.

She was probably at most in her early eighties.

It was very dangerous.

If she and Christine were to fail together, it was very likely that a huge meteorite would come and smash Hall to death in his house.

He had to go.

“You’re going?”

“Yeah, I’m going. Why don’t you come with us? You were nagging me every day a while ago to go to the Demon God’s Labyrinth with you.”

Hall glanced at Ye Wangxue.

He remembered that in the game, when the heroines fought side by side, their affection would increase.

Sometimes, without deliberately cultivating it, their feelings would naturally grow after a few dungeon runs.

“Ah, of course I’m going, you don’t have to tell me. My fiancé is actually quite perceptive today.”

“I just think it’s safer with more people.”

Hall said no more and put the history book of the Kingdom of Cateline back on the shelf.

Ye Wangxue just glanced at the book he put back and said nothing more.

…

In the afternoon.

Hall and Ye Wangxue went to the Cateline embassy.

They found that Christine and Sophia were already waiting there.

Christine was now in a pure white Saintess robe with gold trim, holding an ancient book.

Sophia had added a black cloak over her attire, with a snowflake-patterned scabbard hanging from her waist.

Just looking at it made one feel a chill.

Himan was also there, wearing knight’s armor.

Tarasha was wearing a set of light leather armor.

Hall was not surprised that Himan was there.

But there was someone here who surprised him greatly.

It was Lorraine.

Lorraine was actually here, and she was wearing a nun’s habit.

The traditional, ascetic black and white color scheme, because of her petite figure, looked like a children’s version, and she was even wearing a headscarf.

But in her right hand, she was holding a green tin staff.

Hall knew this thing.

In the game, it was a birthday gift from Lorraine’s uncle.

Like his Knight’s Rite sword, it was called the Nun’s Rite staff.

But its quality was much higher than the Knight’s Rite sword.

The center of this triangular staff was an emerald magic gem that had been soaked in holy water.

It was a Heritage weapon.

Its attributes were very good, and it could be used from the beginning of Lorraine’s route.

Its special effect was that the gem would emit light, slowly restoring the stamina and magic of nearby allies.

Although it was a bit of a chicken rib, its advantage was that the Nun’s Rite staff’s active effect had no cooldown.

As long as the wielder had enough mana, it could be sustained indefinitely.

For example, they were about to break through from the forty-first floor to the seventieth floor to find the seventieth-floor lord’s token.

Stamina was essential.

“How about it, brother? Lorraine will be brother’s exclusive nun-priest.”

Lorraine held up the Nun’s Rite staff in her hand.

“That won’t be necessary, Miss Lorraine. I will provide blessings for everyone in the team.”

Christine spoke from the side.

“I’ll just bless my brother. Saintess Candidate Christine can bless cousin Himan and the others. The more targets a divine art blesses, and the larger the area, the weaker the effect. As a Saintess Candidate, you should understand this, right?”

Lorraine’s professional statement was very high-level.

But the person opposite her was Christine.

“There is one problem, and that is speed. Her Majesty of Cateline’s plan is that after we enter the forty-fourth floor, we will avoid the monsters and go directly to the end of this floor’s labyrinth, without alerting the lord, and go all the way to the seventieth floor. Although the connection between the two floors of the labyrinth is at the far left and right ends, because it’s impossible to walk in a straight line…”

“Then, calculating by the distance, this is at least five hundred miles, and the return trip is another five hundred miles. At this rate, a thousand miles… Miss Lorraine’s stamina, how long do you plan to walk?”

“A thousand miles, for Hall who has been under a constant blessing, would at most take two days.”

And the time budget given by Sophia was five days for the round trip.

As the niece of the Cateline empress, she couldn’t stay in the Papal State for too long.

“Why walk?”

Lorraine retorted to Christine, “Brother can just carry me. I’ll just give brother a blessing directly on his back. The closer the distance, the better the blessing effect. When we reach the destination and need to eliminate the lord, he can just put me down, right?”

“…”

Christine was speechless.

Because this line was the plan she had originally intended to use.

As a Saintess Candidate, she definitely couldn’t keep up with Hall and Himan’s speed.

When everyone reached the forty-fourth floor and discovered this problem, she would then logically propose that Hall carry her.

She never expected that Lorraine would have the same idea.

She fell silent, and Lorraine looked at her.

Hall thought to himself that having him carry her all the way wasn’t impossible, but if they encountered a monster attack or were discovered by the lord of this floor, it would still be quite dangerous.

So he looked at Himan.

This cousin of his was usually not one to cause trouble.

Why wasn’t she stopping Lorraine now?

But alas, Himan couldn’t do anything either.

This was her grandmother’s wish.

Actually, she didn’t want Lorraine to come either.

But before Hall could even open his mouth to stop Lorraine.

Another rose-colored girl walked into the Cateline embassy.

“Sorry, I’m late. Is everyone here?”

“…”

“Sophia, Christine, Himan, Leticia, Lorraine, Moyel, Tarasha, Ye Wangxue.”

Eight people.

In the game, that would be exactly two teams.

If Hall were playing the game now, he would definitely think that at the end of the year 1034 of the Holy Light Era.

On a day when many of the main heroines’ storylines had not yet begun, assembling this dream team would be absolutely invincible.

He could dominate any route.

But now, he just felt sad.

Very f*cking sad.

The ancestors were going to the Demon God’s Labyrinth, and they were going to the seventieth floor.

If something went wrong and they were defeated.

It was very likely that Christine would immediately say, “Hall, replenish my magic, I’ll save the day.”

And then, as long as he wasn’t replenished to death, she would keep replenishing.

Christine’s super-high level cap would make her drain him completely.

And with Himan’s sense of responsibility, once she knew that replenishing magic with him would make her stronger, she would probably do the same as Christine in a crisis.

But when it came to actually doing it, Himan obviously couldn’t cooperate perfectly.

In short, there would be an accident.

Sophia would be about the same.

The deadly thing was that her body temperature was lower than a normal person’s on the outside, but higher on the inside.

Replenishing magic with her would feel like a mix of ice and fire, and he would easily get beaten up.

As for Lorraine, before he even replenished magic with her, she would see him replenishing magic with someone else and turn into a yandere and go on a killing spree.

But fortunately, her strength was not that great, so she would probably be suppressed.

But no matter what, today, going to the Demon God’s Labyrinth, Hall had only one thought.

He could only win, he could not lose.

And when they reached the first floor of the Demon God’s Labyrinth.

Lorraine started to act spoiled, saying her legs were tired and she wanted Hall to carry her.

Hall couldn’t refuse, but he was also embarrassed in front of so many people.

So he asked Himan to carry Lorraine.

Himan agreed, and Lorraine was very reluctant, saying that way she couldn’t give Hall her exclusive blessing.

“It’s okay, I’m stronger than your cousin. You protect her.”

It was the truth, but Himan was still very happy to hear it.

“Baron Hall, hearing Miss Lorraine say that, my feet are a little sore too. Can you carry me? These shoes are also rubbing my feet.”

Seeing Lorraine being carried by Himan, Christine started to implement her original plan.

“That’s not very appropriate, is it? You are a noble Saintess Candidate, you can’t be touched by a man’s body…”

Hall knew this girl had something up her sleeve and quickly refused.

If she messed around on his back, in front of everyone, he would be screwed.

“Hall, you carry her, Miss Christine.”

Sophia still wanted to confirm if Christine was related to her sister’s coma.

But Christine, remembering last night’s dream, subconsciously refused.

“That won’t be necessary, Your Highness. Your noble body cannot be tired.”

“But someone has to carry you, otherwise the speed will become very slow,” Sophia said.

“Then let me do it, Your Highness.”

Tarasha took on this task.

And at the same moment Tarasha picked up Christine.

Moyel suddenly said.

“Baron Hall, my lady wants you to carry her.”

This direct statement stunned all the girls.

Because in everyone’s subconscious, it should be Moyel carrying Leticia.

“And, our Child family will pay you. My lady said…”

“If it’s not enough, she can add more.”