Chapter 157: Hall Is Impure

“Investigating the Cult of the Living and Dead?”

Although the Holy Train explosion incident did not exist in the game.

The Cult of the Living and Dead did clearly appear in the game’s setting.

As one of the six major cults marked by the Judgment Bureau.

The Cult of the Living and Dead seemed to be on par with the Salvation Church, but its presence was far less than that of the Salvation Church.

Because in the eyes of the players, the Salvation Church was a whole composed of seven Sages.

The seven Sages all had style, skill, and their own special abilities and talents.

But the Cult of the Living and Dead, besides the grand priest and the cult leader, almost no one could leave a deep impression on the players.

The elite monsters at most had high level values, and their necromancy was also the same as that of most necromancers in the game.

And the cult leader and the grand priest were Samigina’s subordinates.

One of them was Samigina’s direct retainer, and in terms of status, it was equivalent to between a duke and a prince among the vampires.

The other was a human necromancer from the Royal Magic Academy of the Duchy of Elan.

Rhys was also from this place.

The citizens of the Duchy of Elan, who had a fanatical belief in magic, were the easiest to be seduced by Samigina and the Demon Lords.

In this world, the human race’s attainments in magic were far inferior to the Demon Lords’.

The ability to slay and harm the Demon Lords mostly came from the church, the Hero, and bloodlines like the Winter Saintess.

If one dug deep into the setting, one could find that the cult leader of this sect was the mentor of Rhys’s mentor when he was an apprentice.

Players would speculate that the reason Rhys had become a necromancer was this cult leader.

However, there was little solid evidence in the game’s text.

After all, the Cult of the Living and Dead usually only appeared in Sophia’s route, and it was not the main line.

It was an important side quest for the player to deal with in the mid-to-late stages.

Now, why were the vampires also going to investigate the [Cult of the Living and Dead]?

Hall was very puzzled.

Logically speaking.

The main target of this cult was the human race.

The vampires would be happy to see the Cateline Kingdom and the necro-demon lord, these two neighbors, fighting among themselves.

“Are you saying that the Cult of the Living and Dead has already developed to Cateline Suke?”

“Yes, what’s wrong? Otherwise, do you think this viscountess would appear here?”

Parousia proudly puffed out her already proud chest and said.

“Nothing. I have heard of this sect. I didn’t expect it to develop so quickly.”

In the game’s plot, this sect usually only appeared in Fort Saint Yerona, a city in the Cateline Kingdom that was closer to the northwestern demon domain and the western demon domain.

Before Fort Saint Elizabeth was built by Elizabeth, Fort Saint Yerona was the most important western town of Cateline for seven hundred years.

Seven hundred years ago, Yerona Cateline had led an army from here to cooperate with the Hero and the Bal Empire to attack Fort Noss in the northern border of the western demon domain.

Originally, the war was going smoothly, until they reached Fort Noss, which was defended by the vampires, and began a half-month-long siege of attrition.

Then their rear was cut off by the demon army of the northwestern demon domain.

In the end, Yerona had personally led three hundred guards in the Noss Gorge to cover the retreat of the main force back into the Cateline Kingdom.

But after this great battle, Yerona might have exhausted her strength and began to recuperate in the ice palace, but she had died less than six months later.

The people and the soldiers had not even been able to see the empress for the last time.

And Fort Saint Yerona and Cateline Suke were one in the northwest and one in the southwest.

If there were traces of the Cult of the Living and Dead in Cateline Suke, wouldn’t that mean that this sect had developed rapidly in the timeline of the world he was in?

As for the necromantic aura that Christine had mentioned yesterday, could it be…

Hall frowned.

“Hmph, of course you don’t know. This is a top-secret intelligence. Viscountess Parousia has been ordered to come and investigate. Hurry up and let me suck your blood.”

“No.”

“Let me suck your blood, let me suck your blood! Otherwise, I’ll go and complete the mission myself.”

Parousia stomped her feet on the spot, and her two super-large peaches shook wildly under her clothes.

“Go ahead. Anyway, it’s not important. The headquarters of the Cult of the Living and Dead is in Fort Saint Yerona. Your prince sent you here to Cateline Suke. It’s clear that he didn’t intend for you to do the most important part. Just those few undead manipulated by necromancy just now, I can solve two with one sword. Hehe.”

Hall deliberately used a contemptuous tone to provoke Parousia.

Parousia instantly became very anxious.

This man was challenging her dignity as a vampire viscountess.

No, she was about to be a vampire marchioness.

According to the Prince, as long as she could solve this matter well.

When she came back, Prince Vier would help her apply for the title of marchioness to Her Majesty the Empress.

One step away from the title of duchess, which was the highest honor for every pure-blooded vampire.

Above that was a prince, a position that Parousia didn’t even dare to think about.

“Hmph, you don’t understand. Although Cateline Suke is not the lair of the Cult of the Living and Dead, they have sent one of their most core teams to this vicinity half a month ago. And it is said that there is a guy with the codename [Heavenly Ice Undead] or [Heavenly Ice King] inside. I am here to… no, Hall, I am not here to investigate that guy’s clues.”

Parousia, who had been speaking proudly, suddenly felt that she had said too much.

It was clearly content to keep Hall in suspense, but she had blurted out most of it.

“Oh, I see. Then I admit that you are indeed on an important mission, Parousia.”

Hall, having gained the advantage, no longer provoked this big-breasted vampire.

Then he said, “Where are you planning to go now?”

“I’m not telling you. I’m going alone.”

“Alright then. I’m just afraid that you’re no match for that so-called [Heavenly Ice Undead]. If you can’t beat that guy, I can consider letting you suck my blood.”

He could basically tell who had issued the sword light yesterday.

But in the game’s plot, there was no elite monster with the codename [Heavenly Ice Undead].

This was a new character, and if he could attack the Holy Train, his level would surely be beyond what a normal Parousia could handle.

However, Hall could also feel that Parousia had become a little stronger since she had sucked his blood.

This time, it was even more obvious.

She should have also been enhanced by the special blood in the Scarlet Holy Grail.

She was probably over level eighty-five.

“This viscountess won’t be able to beat that guy?”

“Can you pierce through a magic-armored Holy Train?”

“No… I can’t…”

“Then take me with you. If you can’t beat the other party, I’ll let you suck my blood…”

“Ah…”

Parousia was about to burn up.

What did he mean by letting her suck his blood if she couldn’t beat the other party?

She could beat him, but she also really wanted to suck his blood.

Should she go easy on him?

So she swayed her body from side to side on the spot.

But before she could come to a conclusion, she heard Christine’s voice.

“Hall, who is she?”

Christine, wearing a hotel-provided bathrobe and Hall’s coat, came to the main entrance of the first floor.

Her golden hair was still wet and wrapped in a large towel.

The half of her arm and her calves below the knees that were exposed were flushed with a healthy red from her recent bath.

“Her? She is…”

Hall looked at Christine’s gaze and felt that it was surprisingly calm.

With Christine’s sanctity, at such a close distance, Parousia would surely be able to sense that the other party was a vampire.

He would be caught in his own trap if he lied to Christine.

“Who is she?”

Christine repeated Hall’s words and said in a somewhat formal tone, “I hope brother can tell me clearly.”

Parousia was also a little dazed.

How did Christine end up with Hall?

She had only found Hall purely because she was tracking those messy undead puppets.

So after Hall had acted, she had called out to him.

“This is Viscountess Parousia. She has come to Cateline Suke to carry out a mission to investigate the Cult of the Living and Dead. Do you know that organization?”

Hall thought for a moment and sold Parousia out.

“Hall, what are you doing?! You didn’t even tell me your name properly back then, and this viscountess didn’t even blame you. Now you’re even giving away this viscountess’s most important information… I was planning to use this to exchange for you letting me suck your blood again…”

“Hall, have you let this vampire suck your blood before?”

Christine interrupted Parousia’s complaint to Hall and continued to speak in a formal tone.

“Mm.”

He nodded.

It was unlikely that this idiot Parousia would help him hide the truth from Christine.

“Young Master Hall is impure.”

“…It’s as if I was defiled by her.”

He was very speechless.

But in his mind, he was thinking about the matter of Parousia knowing he was Hall.

It was probably because Leticia had come to Sunset City at that time, and after they had left, Prince Hall had probably confirmed his identity based on this clue from Leticia.

“Isn’t that the case? You were sucked by a vampire, so you’re impure.”

Christine repeated.

“Whatever, whatever.”

Hall started to give up and let her say whatever she wanted.

“A boy has to protect himself when he’s outside. You can’t let a vampire suck your blood again, or you’ll be sucked dry.”

“Why do you get to decide!”

Hearing Christine say that Hall shouldn’t let her suck his blood, Parousia’s fur stood on end.

She glared at Christine.

Christine was the object that His Highness the Prince was wary of and wanted to target.

She even wanted to make a move on Christine.

“I am doing this for Viscount Hall’s good. You evil vampire, why do you want to suck Hall’s blood? Do you think I don’t know? It’s just for the vilest of desires.”

The blonde girl had a “a mere heretic has been seen through by me” look, but her tone was still calm.

The facts she had stated also poked at Parousia’s sensitive heart.

Originally, as a proud pure-blooded vampire, she really didn’t want to suck Hall’s blood.

But since that night in West Town, she had been able to hold on before.

But recently, she would always recall the taste of Hall in her dreams.

She really wanted to taste it again.

Parousia really wanted to suck blood.

Had she really succumbed to desire?

She couldn’t.

She was a pure-blooded vampire.

She began to hold her not-so-smart head and fell into thought.

“Hmph, see? Hall, she is just driven by desire. You are the object of her desire. If you let her succeed, you will be defiled by her. A boy has to be chaste.”

Christine’s words were always more inflammatory and logical.

Although this logic was ridiculous, if it were an ordinary person, they would surely have been drawn in.

But Hall just chose to be silent.

He neither approved of Christine’s statement, nor did he object to it.

This was also good.

Let Parousia and Christine achieve a balance in their three-way relationship.

Don’t always talk about wanting to suck his blood.

“However, we are planning to go and investigate the Cult of the Living and Dead in Cateline Suke next. This sect is very likely to be connected to the Holy Train explosion.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Mm.”

Seeing that he had successfully changed the subject, Hall was relieved.

“Then I’ll go too. We’ll go together.”

At night.

Wolfsburg.

After a day of investigation.

Sophia and Himan and the others returned to the residence that Duke Schneider had arranged for them in advance.

At this moment, Himan and Maria were both very restless.

Originally, they were not coming back, but Tarasha had persuaded them.

“So far, we and the investigation team from Bal have not missed an inch of the ten-mile radius around the accident site. We can find some traces of battle, but so far no new bodies have been found. This means that Viscount Hall and Saintess Candidate Christine should still be safe.”

Although this was true.

But for a whole day, the progress was almost zero.

The list of the missing, the dead, and the survivors had not changed.

Why was that?

Maria couldn’t figure it out.

Himan, on the other hand, felt that there was something else fishy.

As for Sophia.

After she had returned to her residence, she had begun to sort out all the intelligence of the day.

The most important was still the location that Himan and Maria had taken her to.

After using a special detection device there, she could sense a sanctity that was the same as the wound on her sister.

This sanctity, she had consulted the Saintess Candidate of the Cateline Kingdom, and even within the church, it could not be replicated.

That is to say, it was definitely the same person.

And, besides that.

She could tell that this person had no intention of harming Maria and Himan.

The explosion point was thirty miles away from where they had woken up.

At such a long distance, Himan and Maria had not suffered any substantial injuries.

This meant that that person had protected them with their own power.

Actually, by this point in her deduction.

Sophia already had a suspect in mind.

To do so, and to be present at the scene of the accident, there was only Christine.

A former Sage of the Salvation Church.

And where would Christine, who was now missing, have gone?

Hall was also missing.

Could it be that Hall and Christine were in collusion?

Sophia’s heart was in a mess.

As an empress, she had to have a worldview that took every situation into account.

But she couldn’t accept it.

She thought of the matter on the seventieth floor of the Demon God’s Labyrinth.

She had not forgotten the feeling of kissing that black-haired youth.

As her first kiss, she would not forget it.

What’s more, the other party was also the man her sister had liked…

Even if she had said at that time, “The person you are about to kiss, her name is Elizabeth Cateline.”

But if he recovered his memory in the future, he would surely be able to feel the difference between her and her sister, right?

The man who had taken her first kiss, if he had once conspired with another girl to harm her sister…

“No, it won’t be like this. No matter what, Hall also knows how to balance the relationship between girls. This lonely one is very clear.”

The experience of going to the Demon God’s Labyrinth had still made her understand to some extent what kind of person Hall was.

But Sophia would not be sure that it was that girl without solid evidence.

She was just clear about what she had to do now.

“Theresa, pass on this lonely one’s order. No matter what, we must find Saintess Candidate Christine as soon as possible. After we find her, this lonely one will meet with her alone. This matter, you don’t have to tell any irrelevant personnel.”

This time, she had to ask clearly.

“It’s not good, Miss Leticia! The Holy Train No. 7, which Viscount Hall and Miss Himan were on, exploded in the territory of Cateline near Wolfsburg. It is said that at present, besides Himan and Maria, there are no other confirmed survivors.”

The news of the explosion of Holy No. 7 had finally reached Saint Louis.

Originally, Moyel had received the news late last night.

But she had deliberately hidden it, hoping not to worry Leticia, and would tell her after Hall was confirmed to be alive.

But this morning, the newspapers of Saint Louis had published the situation, and the evening papers had even listed the current survivors, the missing, and the confirmed dead.

For a moment, public opinion exploded, and it could no longer be hidden.

The people were very concerned about the aftermath of the explosion.

They all expressed their hope that the church would thoroughly investigate this matter and severely punish the mastermind.

As for Saint Gregory, he even had his recovered Saintess Candidate, Ilora, lead the people in a prayer ceremony in front of the Hero’s Cathedral square tonight.

To pray for the safety of the missing.

If Hall knew, he would surely comment that it was a cat crying over a mouse.

And at seven in the evening, the cardinals had used the magic broadcast to broadcast a message to every citizen in Saint Louis.

It said, “The attack on Holy No. 7, with the intention of killing the Saintess Candidate and Ambassador Yabolun and other personnel, is undoubtedly a contempt for the Papal State. We are currently communicating with the diplomatic ambassador of the Cateline Kingdom, and we will strive to send a special investigation team formed by the fifth section of the Judgment Bureau to the accident site in the shortest possible time.”

“All heretics will be brought to justice, and no criminal can escape the Lord’s punishment.”

Leticia had also heard the broadcast, so Moyel’s late news did not surprise her too much.

She just thought that Hall should be fine.

She had Moyel go to the Judgment Bureau and say that the Child family was willing to fund this investigation.

“…That’s not good, is it, my lady? This is what the Judgment Bureau should be doing.”

“I mean, they should prioritize finding Hall.”

“This…”

Moyel was a little hesitant.

“Is it not enough for the Child family to pay for a special investigation team to be formed to specifically look for Hall?”

In this situation, Leticia wished that the entire Judgment Bureau would be mobilized to look for Hall alone.

But she also understood that it was unrealistic.

“Alright, my lady. I will communicate with the Judgment Bureau.”

Moyel could only agree first to calm Leticia’s emotions.

And inside the Judgment Bureau, the same image of the seventieth floor of the Demon God’s Labyrinth that had been shown in the cardinals’ meeting was being shown.

“Can’t you stay a little further away from me, Saintess Candidate Christine?”

“I think I’m far enough away, Viscountess Parousia. As a pure-blooded vampire, shouldn’t you have a holy resistance? Or is it that you’re no longer a pure-blooded vampire because you sucked Hall’s blood?”

“That’s not it… I only sucked a little that time. It’s not enough to pollute my blood.”

“Oh, then why are you so uncomfortable?”

“Because you…”

Parousia didn’t want to admit that Christine’s sanctity was a bit exaggerated.

Just being close to her made her feel uncomfortable.

And they were now walking in an almost one-way underground tunnel.

To prevent any accidents from happening.

So the way they walked was with Parousia at the front, Christine in the middle, and Hall guarding the rear.

As for why they had appeared in this underground tunnel.

It was naturally that they had come to the ruins of an ancient castle on the outskirts of Cateline Suke based on the information Parousia had obtained, and then had found this underground entrance through Christine’s sensitivity to the necromantic aura.

It was obvious that the end of the tunnel was the base of the Cult of the Living and Dead in Cateline Suke.

After a simple perception of the airflow, Christine said that the necromantic aura inside was not strong enough to threaten their safety.

“After the attack on Holy No. 7, the people here are to be moved.”

Soon, the three of them saw a door at the end of the underground tunnel.

Parousia, who was walking at the front, pushed the door open, and a large, circular underground cavity of about 300×300 appeared.

And there was a tunnel leading west.

“Hey… come to think of it, this place was originally a labyrinth.”

Hall remembered that in the game, there were indeed some small dungeons under the ancient castle on the outskirts of Cateline Suke.

Most of the dungeons were filled with monsters that had gotten lost from another path.

Now, he couldn’t see any corpses.

But the smell of death in the air was very heavy, and there was also a hint of frost.

It was very similar to the sword light that had hit the Holy Train.

He began to walk carefully in the cavity and found many signs of life.

But it was still very strange.

Since the people here had already withdrawn.

Why would there be undead puppets in the urban area of Cateline Suke in the evening?

If their goal was to create a conflict between the Papal State and the Cateline Kingdom, and then take the opportunity to invade the western and northern borders of the Cateline Kingdom.

There was no reason to leave behind clues of necromancy.

Hall fell into thought.

Christine was also wandering around in the cavity.

Parousia, on the other hand, was muttering that there seemed to be no harvest this time, and it was a trip for nothing.

“By the way, Hall, where does this road lead?”

The vampire viscountess walked and walked and came to the other tunnel entrance on the west side of the cavity.

“It should lead to the western demon domain. Are you planning to go back directly after you’ve gained nothing from this trip?”

Hall said jokingly.

“Oh, that’s not bad. It seems there’s a harvest. In the future, when we attack the Cateline Kingdom, we can take this road. A divine soldier from the sky!”

Parousia suddenly became excited.

So she continued to go to the tunnel entrance.

But just as she was about to enter the tunnel leading west.

A few crazy undead puppets actually rushed out from inside.

But their level was still less than fifty, and Parousia could easily deal with them.

“Hall, what are you nervous about? You don’t have to come and help. This viscountess, what strength do I have? Aren’t you clear about how formidable I am?”

Parousia, who had dealt with a few undead puppets, looked at the black-haired youth who was looking at her from a distance.

And said proudly.

As if defeating these few undead puppets was a great honor.

Hall was also too lazy to hit her.

After all, Christine had said at the beginning that the necromantic aura here would not threaten them.

These undead puppets were probably a part that the Cult of the Living and Dead could not take away after their necromancy experiment.

“I’ll go and see where this road leads, Hall.”

Parousia continued to show off her presence.

With an expression as if she was going to explore a new continent, she prepared to enter the west tunnel.

But just as she turned her head and was about to have another eye contact with Hall, who was trying to restore some magic words on the wall.

A pure laser with a hint of holy aura was shot out from that tunnel.

Even though Parousia, as a pure-blooded vampire, had sensed the danger in advance, the speed was too fast.

It still pierced a hole in her side abdomen, and blood flowed out of the hole like a small spring.

“Hall, it hurts… there seems to be a very formidable guy in here.”

“Leave that place and stand in a blind spot in the tunnel. I’ll come and save you later.”

He had almost instantly identified what had produced that laser.

That was the special effect of the Saint Gregory family’s epic-grade weapon—the [Heaven Piercing Sword].