Chapter 161: The Saintess and the Northern Empress

In the evening, in the urban area of Cateline Suke.

Himan was using her divine ability to investigate the whereabouts of Hall and Christine.

Although she was always very rigid towards Hall, Himan’s demands on others were not that high.

Her personality was actually derived from her mother’s.

Duke Von Braun, her father, was not the same as Hall’s father, Duke Faxtius.

Because Duke Von Braun was the son of a duke when he was a child, and becoming a duke was a matter of a four-generation ducal family, with the son inheriting the father’s business.

Hall’s father, on the other hand, was the first generation, and had only gradually become a duke by relying on the appreciation of the Russell family, who had married off their daughter to him, and his bloody achievements on the front line.

Their starting points were different, and their experiences were naturally also different.

Himan’s father’s reputation in his early years was also not very good, and his marriage to Himan’s mother was not a marriage into the family.

After all, the Von Braun family was a ducal family.

They were in love, and Himan’s father had fallen in love with Himan’s mother at first sight, so he had pursued Himan’s mother.

When they were in love, Himan’s mother was more restrictive towards Himan’s father, with many demands and rules.

In Himan’s eyes, the fact that her father could smoothly inherit the title and be able to command the Holy Crusaders of the eastern military region in every crucial year was also inseparable from her mother’s high demands on her father when he was young.

She had agreed with this in her subconscious impression, and coupled with the fact that Hall’s mother had supported her elbow before she died, she had to have extremely high demands on Hall.

But for outsiders, when she was carrying out justice, she didn’t have so many scruples and could choose to simply solve the problem with money.

At present, Himan had already investigated ten hotels in Cateline Suke.

Besides looking through the name lists, she also had a photo of Christine that had been published in the newspaper, and a photo of Hall.

Hard work pays off.

When she came to the thirteenth shop.

The receptionist at the front desk said that she had seen these two guests, but the girl was wearing a black coat that seemed to belong to a boy.

As for the boy, because there were few black-haired people in the Western Continent, and he was a bit handsome, he was the type of her dream lover, so she had a relatively deep impression.

“Where are the two of them now?”

Himan’s heart was a little nervous when she heard the front desk’s description, and she immediately took out a gold coin and placed it on the front desk.

Christine was wearing Hall’s clothes, they…

“Their room is probably room 307, but I heard from the aunt who went to clean it this morning that the room seemed to be empty last night.”

“Ah?”

Himan asked, “They’re not here?”

“They’re probably not. Maybe they went out early in the morning. It’s hard to say.”

“Alright, thank you. If he and that girl come back, please use this to contact me.”

Himan left a magic communication book.

The young lady at the hotel front desk was a little surprised.

She had never used this thing before.

Then the wealthy Himan taught her how to use one on the spot, and left another one before she left.

If Hall and Christine hadn’t come back last night.

Or they had left very early today.

Then nothing should have happened last night, right?

But it was evening now, and they still hadn’t appeared.

This meant that Christine, as she had expected, had fooled Hall and had not let him show his face.

She once again thought of that night in West Town, and the deeper meaning of the words Christine had said to her, “She lost Hall, and Christine picked him up.”

Himan couldn’t help but say with hatred.

“Christine, do you really think Hall is your thing?”

Next time they met, she would warn Christine.

As a popular candidate for Saintess, the other party had to keep a distance from Hall.

Late at night.

Saint Catherinesburg.

The Holy Train, which had never stopped, slowly entered the station.

Sophia, wearing a silver crown with a snowflake on her head, got off the platform.

Tarasha also hurried to catch up.

“Your Majesty, what on earth has happened that has made you so anxious? An hour ago, Lord Russell even used a magic communication scroll to send you his regards…”

“I have replied to her and explained the current situation in the magic book.”

“Indeed…”

Tarasha was still a little worried.

Lord Russell’s prestige was very high in all countries.

If the Papal State were to use this topic to write an article again.

“I’m going to the ice imperial tomb.”

Hearing this location, Tarasha immediately chose to be silent.

The ice imperial tomb was the final resting place of every Empress of Cateline.

It was also the most mysterious, most important, and most sacred place in Cateline.

It was said that the first generation of the Saintess had built it with the power from the depths of the icy sea, but where it was and what it looked like were all secrets.

Someone of her position could not investigate and understand it in detail.

So she just asked.

“Are you going to see Her Majesty, or your little sister…”

The fact that Sophia was not Elizabeth was known to few in the entire Cateline Kingdom.

“Mm… keep the city on high alert tonight.”

Sophia gave a simple instruction and then left alone.

Tarasha did not follow.

She was just thinking, why would the imperial princess Sophia go to see the old emperor and the stillborn baby at this juncture?

But she couldn’t make any presumptuous comments, so she went to carry out Sophia’s orders.

“Mm…”

“What’s wrong, Christine? Was the long blessing during the day too much for your stamina?”

“It’s nothing. Hall… I just feel a little cold. My clothes got wet today, so I’ll just warm myself by the fire.”

“I said I would give you my spare dress to wear, but you said it was too big. I can’t help it.”

Parousia said, looking at Christine, who was still wearing Hall’s black coat on the outside, and was naked from the hotel.

But the two’s figures were indeed different.

The big-breasted vampire viscountess’s dress was very awkward on the Saintess.

Christine, on the other hand, did not refute her, which made her a little surprised.

The blonde girl stretched out her hands and leaned against the fire, as if she was thinking about something.

She had felt it just now.

She had felt a door somewhere being opened.

And the things she had lost in the past were calling her through the moment the door was opened.

Where was she calling from?

She had a hallucination of that place in her mind.

A world of pure ice, intersecting corridors, countless empty holes, and an abyss that could not be surveyed, seen, or entered.

Countless ice cones fell from the sky into the abyss, and the white feather that belonged to her was there.

Besides that, she had also seen that girl.

The girl was wearing a moon-white long dress, her eyes closed, and she was lying quietly in an ice coffin.

But her face was so similar to Cateline’s, just that she looked a little more mature.

The key factor that made Christine sure that the other party was not the empress who had gone to the seventh floor of the Demon God’s Palace with her was that wound.

The wound on her abdomen, that wound was emitting a holy light, a familiar holy light.

She even wondered if the wound had been caused by her with the Starfall Feather.

This made Christine think of the first dream she had when she had first met Sophia.

The man and woman embracing, and she, holding a sword and saying “no.”

No, that’s not right…

That’s not right.

At that time…

Christine felt a headache.

But she did not choose to cover her head, nor did she make any sound.

In the eyes of Hall and Parousia, she was just cold and was quietly warming herself by the fire.

Her expression did not move a bit.

She was trying hard to remember, to remember everything.

The heavy rain, the street, the snowy mountain, Hall and her, and that girl who looked so much like Cateline.

She couldn’t remember any other clues, but Christine was not a person who gave up easily.

Her heart was beating.

Because she knew that if she had made a move on that girl, it must have been because of Hall.

But the current Christine also didn’t think that she would really physically harm another girl for the sake of love.

Now, she was the Saintess Candidate—Christine.

Although she had some of her past memories, those memories only went up to before she had become [Angel].

So she wanted to prove it.

She looked at Hall and said.

“By the way, Hall. Speaking of which, the previous empress of the Cateline Kingdom had two children, right?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

Hall, who was originally looking at the map brought by Lucy and analyzing that the three of them would arrive at Fort Saint Elizabeth the day after tomorrow at the latest, and planning how to deal with the possibly resurrected Yerona Cateline, was a little surprised.

Christine was a bit unpredictable.

“I was thinking, according to historical records, Her Highness Elizabeth had defeated the demon army led by Samigina’s retainers at the age of fourteen. Although it was only a small group, the strength of the Demon Lord’s retainers cannot be underestimated.”

“Of course. The Demon Lord’s retainers are at least equal to our vampires’ dukes.”

Parousia said proudly, with a look of “that empress is also proud enough.”

“So, on the seventh floor of the Demon God’s Labyrinth, Her Highness Elizabeth had a tough fight when she first met the Lost. Although she and you, Hall, cooperated to defeat the lord of the seventieth floor and the necromancer Rhys, proving her strength…”

Christine felt it was still a bit weak.

And the outside world said that it was because Elizabeth had been accidentally injured at the age of sixteen that she had become weak.

But after recovering her memory, she also understood.

How could the bloodline of the Winter Saintess not recover in three years?

And with the hallucination just now, she felt that it was probably not the same person at all.

Sophia Cateline was not dead at all.

The girl lying in the ice coffin was the real Elizabeth Cateline.

“Hall, you were the one who cooperated with her to defeat Rhys. What do you think of Her Highness Cateline’s strength?”

“She’s stronger than me anyway.”

Hall was vague.

Christine was smart, and he couldn’t lie to her outright.

“Oh, do you think that’s the strength to defeat the Demon Lord’s retainers?”

“It’s a bit of a stretch. But since it was an army against an army, it wasn’t necessarily Her Highness Elizabeth who had personally dealt with those demon armies, right?”

He planned to temporarily divert the clue.

“By the way, Young Master Hall~ you haven’t kissed Her Highness Elizabeth, have you?”

Although Christine had already guessed Sophia’s identity, she still called her by Elizabeth’s name.

And, she always felt a sense of familiarity, as if this sentence, she had once asked him exactly the same thing at some point in time.

“Of course not.”

Even if he had, he wouldn’t admit it.

“Oh, are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“You’re not lying to me?”

“I’m not lying to you.”

“Alright then. I’ll believe our promiscuous Young Master Hall for now.”

After Christine finished speaking, she was originally in a good mood.

But she came to her senses and thought of what she had just said and those dreams.

No, the real Elizabeth might have really kissed Hall.

After all, she already knew that kissing Hall could take a part of her own power.

It would surely be useful for other girls too.

And Elizabeth and Sophia, as sisters, were both Winter Saintesses.

Even if Elizabeth’s talent was higher than Sophia’s.

But to be able to defeat the Demon Lord’s retainers at the age of fourteen must have had external help.

Thinking of this, Christine’s mood became a little subtle again.

She looked at Parousia, who was happily sharing some of the unimportant daily events they had encountered today with Prince Hall through magic.

She suddenly felt a little envious of this idiot.

But since she had guessed it, she already had a general outline of the past events.

Giving up and pretending to be stupid was not her character.

Christine wanted to understand the whole picture.

Thinking of the experience in West Town, she said.

“Hall, after we investigate Fort Saint Elizabeth, we will go directly to Saint Catherinesburg. There, we can show our faces at any time and ensure that the public opinion pressure of the Cateline Kingdom will not be too great. Yabolun and his group are obviously planning something.”

Hall nodded when he heard this.

He had originally planned to solve the matter of “Yerona Cateline” with Sophia’s help.

But he didn’t know that Christine had other plans.

Eleven at night.

Himan, who was looking for Hall and Christine in Cateline Suke, returned to Wolfsburg.

Maria was also not asleep.

She was worried about Christine.

Seeing Himan return to the courtyard where they were staying, she hurried forward to ask for news.

“Christine and Hall are indeed fine. I saw them in Cateline Suke, but I’m not sure where they have gone now.”

Himan knew Maria’s respect for Christine, so she didn’t say the deduction that Christine had seduced Hall and made the two of them not show their faces for a long time.

“Ah… thank you, Miss Himan. It’s good to know that Lady Christine is fine. And Uncle Hall is also fine, right? It’s good that everyone is fine.”

Maria was relieved in her heart and said like a broken record.

“He should be fine. He will protect Saintess Christine well. You don’t have to worry.”

Himan was a little tired when she said this.

Actually, she had already made up her mind.

She had to warn Christine.

She couldn’t play house with that girl anymore.

She wanted to be a Saintess, and she also wanted a man.

Could she have all the good things in the world?

Even if Christine was afraid of being judged as a heretic and dying after the matter was exposed, she had Hall.

What did Christine’s death have to do with Himan?

So now, facing Maria, Himan’s mood was also a bit subtle.

She didn’t say much and just said that she was tired and was going back to rest.

But Maria suddenly said as if she had remembered something.

“Miss Himan, at nine in the evening, Lord Russell’s butler had come over and said that if you came back, you should go and see her. Lord Russell might not sleep until she sees you.”

“Ah?!”

Now Himan’s spirits were instantly lifted.

Her most respected maternal grandmother was actually planning to stay up all night waiting for her?

…

Sophia was walking on a path made of ice.

The surroundings were the same as this path, also made of smooth, mirror-like ice walls.

So much so that in this not-so-open space, a total of five Sophias appeared.

She was about to reach her destination.

At the end of the passage was a cave of about two hundred square meters.

The cave was surrounded by ice walls, and only in the center was there a tall, transparent ice coffin.

In the ice coffin lay a beautiful girl in a white dress, who looked eight or nine parts similar to Sophia.

Without a doubt, that was Elizabeth Cateline.

Her older sister had been sleeping here for four years because of the wound on her abdomen.

“Sister, it’s good that you’re fine.”

Her worried heart slowly relaxed.

She went forward and held the even colder hand of the girl in the ice coffin.

Come to think of it, the ice imperial tomb was a place that outsiders could not enter.

How could her sister have fallen into the hands of those necro-demon lords?

“But sister, did you know? I think I’ve already found the culprit who hurt you…”

Sophia slowly continued to speak to the girl who was lying quietly in the ice coffin, “It’s Christine, right? That angel of the Salvation Church. Sister, you’ve been sleeping, but she’s not much better off. She has lost her memory, but what’s the use of losing her memory? She has made you lose the most important four years of your life and has put Cateline in danger now.”

A hint of determination appeared in Sophia’s ice-like eyes.

She had never felt that she was more outstanding than Elizabeth.

The Holy Train explosion this time had actually given her a bit of a headache.

She had not been on the throne for long.

Many of the knowledge, etiquette, and coping methods that an empress should learn had all been learned in a crash course in these three years.

What’s more, she had never had any contact with the royal and noble families of other countries before.

If it were her sister.

She would surely have handled it better.

And she might even have exposed the fact that she was not her sister.

Sophia was not unaware that the Pope wanted the Cateline Kingdom to join the Western Continent’s allied forces.

This way, the five largest countries of the Western Continent would be united against a common enemy.

But she felt it was not okay.

What if they lost?

The Cateline Kingdom and the Pope had no reciprocal treaties.

Her kingdom did not believe in the church that much, and the Demon Lords would take the opportunity to invade the Cateline Kingdom.

The war that the Western Continent had launched against the Eastern Continent a hundred years ago had not gained any advantage.

It was just that the media had reported the good news and not the bad.

They had even written things like “the Holy Crusaders are launching a counterattack against the Eastern army.”

Anyone with a discerning eye would know what was going on.

Sophia didn’t know what to do.

She could bet on herself to win in a one-on-one duel because it was her own life.

But she could not bet the future of Cateline in a game between countries.

“Sister, I will make her pay the price. I will make the person who hurt you pay the price. I will also order her to heal you and let you wake up again, no matter what price I have to pay.”

Sophia continued to hold Elizabeth’s even colder hand and muttered, “Sister, I also can’t allow her to be with the man you once liked, to be together so peacefully. Now that they have disappeared, they must be together, right… mm, I will find them. Before I solve what needs to be solved…”

“I can’t tell which matter is more important, but I am now extremely eager to find them… does this count as a qualified empress? I don’t understand…”

“But I have to do it.”

In the end, she let go of Elizabeth’s hand.

She said no more, stood up slowly, and chose to leave.

And when Sophia had completely left, she did not notice that the right hand of the quiet girl that she had held had moved slightly.

“Cult leader, the matter has been successfully completed. The Holy Train explosion was a great success. You should have seen our results in the newspaper.”

“Congratulations, well done. I will report your results to the grand priest. From now on, you will receive more necromantic power and turn all the important people into eternal.”

“This… speaking of which, cult leader, is that woman really completely under our control?”

In the depths of the continuous Noss Mountains, this was the border of the Cateline Kingdom, the western demon domain, and the northwestern demon domain.

And the headquarters of the Cult of the Living and Dead was here.

However, their position was relatively close to the Cateline Kingdom, and a few human villages could be seen at the foot of the mountain.

At present, most of the people in these villages could be implanted with the [Seed of the Undead] by them and could become their tools at any time.

The person speaking was a necromancer in a purple robe.

Standing in front of him on a dark platform was a slightly taller man in a deep purple long robe who did not look like a mage.

At present, it was very clear that the cult leader’s attainments in necromancy were the limit of the human race.

Otherwise, how could he directly serve the [Lord of the Undead] of this world for thousands of years—Samigina?

“If she wants to live, she must be controlled by us. She may have her own ambitions, but if she wants to live and be conscious, she must submit to our throne. We have promised her eternal life and made her the eternal empress of the Cateline Kingdom. Is she not satisfied and wants to go against us?”

The cult leader of the Cult of the Living and Dead said so.

The necromancer who had come to report also thought so.

Yerona Cateline was dug out from the underground palace of Fort Noss by the royal family.

Originally, it was very difficult for such an old corpse to be resurrected.

Even if a great price was paid, it would be useless because the magic circuits in the body had long since disappeared.

But Yerona Cateline was a Winter Saintess, the most legendary female bloodline of the human race.

She could not be judged by common sense.

“But. If we are to continue, didn’t you say… that we should team up with the Papal State and kill Elizabeth too? That is her descendant.”

“Descendant? Yerona Cateline is an emperor, a true emperor. She was born to be proud of the world.”

“What good would it do her for Elizabeth and Sophia to be one who had been in a coma for four years and one who could only be called an average empress in terms of political ability?”

The cult leader said slowly, “I think she would rather believe in herself. She would also rather achieve things on her own.”

That’s right.

Yerona Cateline was a very famous one even among the many outstanding empresses of Cateline.

Actually, before Yerona, the empresses of Cateline had always not been able to team up with the Bal Empire, and their relationship with the church was not very good either.

Otherwise, if the first generation of the Hero had come and the three sides of the Winter Saintess, the church, and the Hero had been completely united for three hundred years.

There might be no more Demon Lords on the continent now.

Even if there were, they would not still retain four territories that were slightly smaller than the human race.

They would probably be barely surviving in a corner.

So Yerona had ambitions.

The policies she implemented when she was in power were also relatively high-pressure compared to before.

The total number of troops in the Cateline Kingdom had reached an unprecedented scale.

But she herself was very prestigious and was also good at distributing the supplies obtained from defeating the demon race to the people.

She herself was also very incorruptible, almost never building her own palace or spending on her entertainment.

Fort Saint Yerona was not a city built to commemorate her, but a bridgehead to advance into the western demon domain and the northwestern demon domain.

Her life was almost always in battle, except for when she was recuperating.

And in the process of teaming up with the Hero and the Bal Empire, she had not failed to gain any benefits.

Seven hundred years ago, the people of Cateline were still considered barbarians by the upper class of Bal.

If the people of Cateline were to enter the Bal Empire, there would be a relatively strict inspection.

Yerona’s alliance had abolished this treaty, which had indirectly led to the dark side of the Bal Empire now being almost controlled by the Cateline gangs.

And some of the undetermined territorial disputes with the Bal Empire and the Elan Kingdom were also gradually settled under Yerona’s promotion.

In the process of capturing Fort Noss, Yerona was also described in the biography as a Valkyrie who had led three hundred guards to resist the demon army.

In reality, although it was not so, she had indeed died in battle as a monarch in the underground palace of Fort Noss.

No matter how one analyzed Yerona, the cult leader of the Cult of the Living and Dead believed.

She was very likely not satisfied with her past achievements and must have had regrets about her inability to conquer Fort Noss.

When she was reborn because of Lord Samigina’s necromancy, Yerona would find a way to complete what she had not completed back then.

And Yerona’s survival also depended on them.

Some people were not afraid of death, but just afraid that there were still unfulfilled regrets before death.

Yerona could be controlled.

Even if the other party could not be truly controlled, before she regained the supreme power of Cateline and escaped their control, she would surely pretend to be controlled.

But that was enough.

Yerona was still under Lord Samigina’s control.

As long as she opened the ice cave imperial tomb, and took advantage of the chaos of the other party regaining the supreme power of Cateline…

“Cult leader, then are we still proceeding according to the plan?”

“Yes, proceed according to the original plan. First, take the first step in Fort Saint Elizabeth, and then simultaneously lead the chaos to the western demon domain and Fort Saint Yerona.”

“But… that is a city named after her?”

The necromancer showed a very worried look.

“She won’t care about these things. You underestimate one of the greatest empresses in the history of Cateline too much.”

…

“Christine, did you not sleep well last night?”

“Mm… I didn’t sleep well. It’s all your fault, Hall. Why didn’t you let me use your stomach as a pillow?”

“You wish.”

Hall did not hesitate to retort to Christine’s ridiculous attempt to shift the blame.

“Phew ha… then what should I do if I didn’t sleep well? I might not be able to provide enough blessing later. Sigh, Young Master, you won’t leave Christine alone in this wilderness and leave with sister Lucy, will you?”

The golden-haired girl on the black-haired youth’s back had predicted his statement.

Originally, Hall had indeed planned to say, “If you don’t bless, I’ll just leave her here.”

But now he had nothing to say.

Sigh, women were good at arguing.

High-IQ women were even better at arguing.

If every girl around him was as dumb as Lucy, how could he be afraid of being stabbed every day?

Thinking of it this way, the big-breasted vampire was quite good.

Unfortunately, she was an idiot, and he would feel guilty if he did anything to her.

He still decided to speed up and successfully arrive at Fort Saint Elizabeth tomorrow.

Hall stopped talking, and Christine just breathed on his neck.

Then she felt a little sleepy.

She was so sleepy.

Really so sleepy.

She had had a long dream last night.

She had not slept.

The dream was very blurry, but she knew it was about Elizabeth, and her, and Hall.

It was a dream about the three of them.

But the voice at the end of the dream, which was like a divine revelation, was very clear.

That voice said.

“You are not wrong, Christine. If you don’t kill him, then Hall will die.”