Chapter 172 : They Are All Threats to Him

In a corridor with ice mirrors on all four sides.

Sophia and Christine were slowly walking ahead.

Hall followed behind them, keeping a short distance.

Since there were no guards in the Ice Imperial Tomb, nor would there be any outsiders, he was quite at ease about their safety from the front.

Enemies would come from behind, and it was now purely a matter of when Yerona would open the Ice Imperial Tomb today.

He was somewhat unable to determine the best possible outcome.

If Elizabeth’s awakening could be achieved, that would be the best result.

Elizabeth’s strength was clearly superior to Sophia’s.

But he couldn’t be sure that there would be no conflict between Elizabeth and Christine after she was awakened.

He was also curious about what Christine had remembered.

When Sophia extended her hand to Christine earlier and asked her to go to the Ice Imperial Tomb, the blonde girl had definitely recalled something.

Even so, she had agreed to Sophia’s request.

Then… it should be fine, right?

Hall took out his magic communication device.

They were basically useless; the Ice Imperial Tomb was isolated from the world, and even his connection through Mandosha Flower had its limits.

After leaving Saint Elizabethburg, he had asked Theresa for a magic communication device to contact the Salvation Church.

Silence was the only thing in the silent ice corridor.

Sophia and Christine would occasionally glance at each other as they walked.

Sophia was in the lead, with Christine slightly behind.

It wasn’t until Hall stopped to observe the interior of the Ice Imperial Tomb, creating some distance, that Sophia spoke to Christine.

“Saintess Candidate Christine, when you see my sister’s wound later, I hope you won’t be too surprised.”

“Are you trying to say that I injured Elizabeth?”

Christine’s direct answer made Sophia’s gaze sharpen.

“You admit it?”

“Perhaps it was me.”

Countless images were swirling in Christine’s mind right now.

As she followed Sophia, she kept having visions of the time she came to the Ice Imperial Tomb with Elizabeth.

It was exactly the same.

She had a faint feeling that even without obtaining the white feather from the depths of this Ice Imperial Tomb, she could still remember what happened next.

As long as she saw Elizabeth, face to face with the sleeping girl.

“Why did you attack my sister? Your sword blow caused her to sleep for four years… If I hadn’t brought you here to awaken her, she might… she might have stayed like this for the rest of her life.”

“Isn’t she the Saintess of Eternal Winter?”

Christine’s rhetorical question made Sophia fall silent for a moment before she replied.

“I hope you understand that your weapon is also a mythic-grade weapon. The power it contains is no less than that of our Saintess of Eternal Winter bloodline. It can also cause us harm…”

“Oh… but seeing how much you admire your sister, she must be stronger than you.”

“Of course.”

“But I injured her in the past.”

“It must have been a sneak attack…”

Sophia said indignantly.

If it were a one-on-one fight among peers of the same age and starting time in the human race, perhaps only a Hero could face a Saintess of Eternal Winter.

And her sister had been raised as the next Empress of Cateline since she was a child.

She had received the best education.

On what grounds… could Christine surpass her sister in swordsmanship at the same age?

If Christine were this generation’s Hero, it would be absolutely impossible.

Not to mention that a Hero hadn’t appeared in seven hundred years, and for the holiness approaching that of the first Saintess and the power of a Hero to be in one person…

Absolutely impossible.

“You lived in an orphanage as a child and were later saved by the Church. The people of the Church couldn’t have taught you swordsmanship capable of fighting a Saintess of Eternal Winter. So, don’t you understand?”

Sophia continued, her earlier lack of confidence gone.

If you thought about it carefully, it was clear.

Under normal circumstances, how could Christine possibly defeat Elizabeth?

“Oh… actually, I did have a swordsmanship teacher.”

According to her memories, Christine’s swordsmanship training in her youth came from three people.

Her sister, Hall, and that old man who ran the weapon shop—Thorne.

When her sister and Hall were around, she couldn’t openly learn swordsmanship and could only occasionally read her sister’s swordsmanship books and observe Hall and Elizabeth’s battles.

Her main period of learning swordsmanship was after Hall took Elizabeth away, leaving only Christine and Thorne in West Town.

At that time, she had asked the old man to teach her.

The old man’s swordsmanship was indeed very powerful.

If she hadn’t sneak-attacked Elizabeth, did that mean the old man’s swordsmanship was superior to Elizabeth’s?

Christine couldn’t help but make the connection.

“Who?”

“There’s no need to tell you… Let’s go see Elizabeth. Are we there yet?”

She had a strong premonition.

Sophia nodded slightly.

“Yes.”

As the newest Empress of Cateline, Elizabeth’s tomb was not located deep within.

It could be said to be relatively on the outside, but because the Ice Imperial Tomb itself was very large, it still took a while to walk.

Soon.

Sophia led Christine across the widest ice corridor of the Ice Imperial Tomb and into a fork in the road.

After a few more twists and turns, they finally arrived at the ice cavern.

An ordinary person would likely get lost in such a monotonous, cold, and narrow environment.

And when she saw the white-haired girl lying in the transparent ice coffin, Christine momentarily covered her forehead.

That wound…

The wound on Elizabeth’s abdomen glowed with a faint white light.

She seemed to know what had happened.

On that winter night four years ago.

Hall had gone missing for half a month after going to the Cateline Kingdom, and Christine had come from the Bal Empire to Saint Catherinesburg to confront Elizabeth.

Their meeting outside the Ice Imperial Tomb was not a coincidence; they had argued before that.

Even earlier, when they first met, she had said to Elizabeth, “I’ve come to take Hall back.”

And Elizabeth’s reply to her in the heavy rain was, “Why not stay in my royal city for a while?”

Effortless.

From that moment on, Christine had keenly felt that Elizabeth was her rival.

Because when Elizabeth first met her, she had acted with such ease.

She wasn’t sure what had happened in between, but inside the Ice Imperial Tomb…

She was very clear about what happened on that night, which was similar to today.

At that time, Christine had said to Elizabeth, “I’ve come with you to the Ice Imperial Tomb. So, where is Hall?”

“He’s not here.”

“Then what do you mean by bringing me here?”

The Christine from four years ago was somewhat different from the present Christine; Christine could understand that.

Her past self and her current self as a Saintess Candidate…

There was a difference in their behavior.

“Hall favors you and your sister more, Christine.”

“Since you know that, you should have left his side earlier, Elizabeth.”

“But if I leave him, it will be difficult for him to achieve his ideals. He needs Cateline’s help.”

“Then you can just help him purely.”

“Are you asking me to help him without seeking anything in return?”

In her memory, Elizabeth and Christine had argued in the Ice Imperial Tomb.

This argument was more intense than any other.

Elizabeth did not wait for Christine’s direct answer and continued, “Christine, if you ask this of me, why not ask it of yourself? Your thoughts about Hall are not entirely without seeking return. You use your abilities to constantly create obstacles for other girls. You are wary of any girl who gets close to Hall.”

Elizabeth’s words did not stop. She continued, “Christine, don’t you think that by doing so, you are actually holding back Hall’s ideals? He could have received more help, but it’s all because of your possessiveness towards him…”

“You don’t need to say it… and don’t talk about other things. Tell me, where is Hall?”

“Don’t you think we should be clear about this today? If you continue to be wary of everyone around Hall…”

Elizabeth said, as if accusing her, “And you only target the girls who can be useful to him. If you want to talk about closeness, you can go to Saint Louis and find his cousin. The time she has spent with Hall is more than you and I combined.”

The amount of information in this was too much…

So much that even the present Christine found it a bit difficult to digest.

It was true that she was possessive of Hall.

Even now, seeing Hall flirting or getting close to other girls would stir her emotions.

But it was mostly limited to teasing Hall to make him feel awkward, thereby interrupting his interactions with other girls.

Or when she was alone with Hall, she would wish for more time alone with him.

Or that they had some little secrets that no one else knew about… that would soothe her emotions.

But in the past…

Listening to Elizabeth’s words…

What she did could have dragged down the progress of important matters.

And Elizabeth had mentioned Himan, it seemed…

Neither she nor Elizabeth had cared much about Himan in the past.

She…

Did she only obstruct the girls who were useful to Hall from getting close to him?

Her past self…

From a rational perspective, Christine couldn’t accept it, because in her current view, official matters were of course more important than the trivial details of emotions.

But did her past self think Hall was more important than official matters?

No, it wasn’t that Hall was more important than official matters, but that Hall himself was more important than what he had to accomplish.

Did she care more about whether Hall could be by her side?

The current Christine’s brain was short-circuiting for the first time. She couldn’t figure it out.

How on earth did her brain work like that?

“Because my world has no meaning without him. This world is the same. To make me lose him… it’s better… as long as we can be happy, Elizabeth, can you understand? You don’t understand anything at all, and you just hide Hall away…”

The past Christine had answered Elizabeth like this in her memory.

Her eyes held a hint of determination.

“Everything will be accomplished by me and my sister. We don’t need you… my sister and I can do it.”

“Can you two completely fight against the Church and the Demon Lords, and eliminate all possible threats to Hall in the world? You are so extreme. Have you ever thought that you yourself are a threat to Hall?”

“You too. Don’t think I didn’t see you deliberately getting injured in the snow mountains to have Hall take care of you, to have Hall replenish your magic… You also put Hall in danger. But I won’t put Hall in danger. I will do everything I can to eliminate danger for Hall. Elizabeth, to me, you, who have deliberately put Hall in danger, are also a threat.”

In the memory, the two of them saw each other as threats.

The conflict was irreconcilable.

“I will eliminate the danger for Hall in advance…”

“Same here.”

The pure white feather sword and the holy sword of eternal winter were summoned by the two almost at the same time.

When those powerful mythic-grade forces clashed, even though it was just a memory, Christine could feel that force as if it were about to break through the confines of the memory and rush towards her.

She and Elizabeth had fought in the Ice Imperial Tomb.

Because they both felt that the other was a huge threat to Hall.

‘So the result was that Elizabeth lost? But I didn’t kill her… It was probably a mutual defeat?’

Christine wasn’t sure.

Because the memory cut off during the clash of the two mythic-grade weapons.

But she could also confirm one fact: her past self was indeed a bit extreme, but Elizabeth herself was also a huge threat to Hall.

Should she wake Elizabeth up now?

If she woke Elizabeth up in the middle of this chaotic situation tonight, what would she do?

Elizabeth had been asleep for more than four years because of her, which made Christine have to consider the fact that Elizabeth might attack her immediately after waking up.

If so, it would be better for Elizabeth not to wake up.

Tonight was already fraught with danger; why add another uncertain factor?

“Saintess Candidate Christine, I hope you have no second thoughts. Behave and awaken my sister from her coma. You have bewitched Hall, but I will not be bewitched by you. I am not a soft-hearted person in such matters. I hope you don’t make things difficult for me…”

Sophia drew the Glory of the Snow Country.

At this moment, she didn’t want to show any more sentimentality. As a monarch, she couldn’t be soft-hearted.

Her sister had to wake up tonight.

“It seems I cannot refuse.”

“You indeed cannot refuse, Miss Christine. My sister’s injury was caused by you; you should take responsibility.”

“Then what if Elizabeth wants to kill me after she wakes up? Will you help her?”

Asked this by Christine, Sophia fell silent.

She didn’t know how to answer.

After a moment’s thought, she said,

“Until our ancestor Yerona is free from Samigina’s control, I will consider letting you live. And, I will also let Hall know your true face. Before that, you will not die.”

“Alright.”

Since that was the case, Christine had nothing to fear.

She walked forward and came to Elizabeth’s side.

Then she slowly covered the large wound on the white-haired girl’s abdomen with her palm.

Gradually absorbing the holy light into her palm.

And at this moment, she felt a sudden jolt in her heart.

From the depths of this Ice Imperial Tomb, the feather floating above the abyss was calling to her.

“Waaah, Prince Vier, things are a mess here! I can’t handle it, and I’ve lost Hall and Christine. I’m like a headless fly, running around in the sewers of Saint Catherinesburg.”

Parousia didn’t know where she was going.

After being chased into the sewers by Himan, she had fled for a while.

Because she had a bad sense of direction, she didn’t know the way back.

She wanted to contact Hall, but at noon, Hall had only told her not to show herself rashly and to follow Prince Vier’s instructions.

That was when Yabolun’s body was discovered, and the entire western district of Saint Catherinesburg was filled with Cateline agents. Hall couldn’t be sure if Himan had reported that Parousia was a vampire.

Although Sophia wouldn’t make things difficult for him, the conflict between vampires and the Cateline Kingdom was a thousand years old. The Cateline nobles who held grudges against vampires would certainly not let a pure-blood vampire go.

So Hall told Parousia to hide.

Later, he felt he had to go stake out the Ice Imperial Tomb, and it was useless to bring Parousia along. It would be better to let her stay safely in the sewers.

He would deal with it after tonight’s events were over.

But now, after Hall entered the Ice Imperial Tomb, Parousia couldn’t contact him, and she became very anxious.

She started spamming Prince Vier with messages, hoping His Highness would give her some guidance.

But Prince Vier was not on the scene, and there were also very important matters within the vampire race recently.

Samigina’s undead army was near the North Mountains.

It was unknown whether they were going to attack Fort North or the Cateline Kingdom’s Saint Elizabethburg.

So Vier was on her way to Fort North. She wanted Parousia to be safe, so like Hall, she told Parousia to stay put in the sewers of Saint Catherinesburg and wait until the matter was over.

“Your Highness, I don’t think it’s very safe in these sewers either…”

Parousia finally voiced her concerns.

She felt very cold; waves of cold wind were coming from a certain direction in the sewer.

As a vampire, she was not afraid of ordinary cold.

And the fat on her chest was really thick.

“What’s wrong?”

Vier was also a little puzzled.

“It’s just so cold. I feel like… something is freezing, and then the sound of it cracking, nearby… it’s getting closer, closer!”

Parousia was terrified.

Actually, she didn’t need to be so afraid. As a pure-blood vampire, her current level was eighty-six or eighty-seven.

With this strength, throughout the entire Western Continent, as long as she didn’t encounter a tough opponent, she would be fine.

Moreover, if she really couldn’t win, she could spread her wings and run away.

A swift escape.

“Parousia… Parousia?”

Her familiar on her collarbone gradually fell silent.

It was being interfered with, interfered with by something.

Then, the sound of freezing and cracking.

Frost covered both sides of the sewer, then the frost turned to ice, and then it cracked.

Each cracking sound was extremely ear-piercing, mixed with ripples of magic. If an ordinary person heard it, their eardrums would have already burst.

Parousia’s pride as a pure-blood vampire kept her from panicking completely.

In her line of sight, a figure in a long ice-blue robe appeared, and it was impossible to tell if it was male or female.

The figure held a blade that looked like it was made of broken ice.

With every step in the sewer, the frost would cause the water to freeze, and then the sound of it cracking would follow.

And with each occurrence of this process, Parousia could feel the figure getting a little stronger.

‘Is it gathering power like this?

That’s why it’s moving through the sewers of Saint Catherinesburg?’

Parousia was contemplating the figure’s identity, but if Hall were here, he would recognize this person as one of the thirteen cadres of the Salvation Church, 【Frostcrack】, who usually operated in the northern part of the Cateline Kingdom.

【Frostcrack】 was considered one of the stronger cadres in the Salvation Church. Swordsmanship talent 【S-】, constitution 【A-】. If you only looked at these two stats, they weren’t particularly outstanding.

But the key was that 【Frostcrack】’s magic talent was also 【A】. As a human, this data could almost match a vampire duke.

And the key core was his talent. His talent was just as Parousia saw it.

He would continuously absorb power from the environment through the process of frost condensation and cracking.

In addition, 【Frostcrack】’s own level was higher than 【Carmilla】’s, he was older, and had joined the Church earlier. If he made preparations for a long time,

His combat power could greatly exceed level ninety.

The legendary blade he carried, 【Frost Demon】, was also a blade with a huge boost to magic attributes.

His attacks were different from ordinary swordsmen; they were through releasing the power absorbed in the process for a large-scale freeze, crack, and regeneration.

The repeated process of freezing, cracking, and regenerating.

And in the game, 【Frostcrack】 did not have a direct Sage.

He was also called by players, that if the game’s timeline could continue, when the old three retired, 【Frostcrack】 had the potential to be promoted to a Sage.

“Get out of the way.”

Frostcrack did not look at Parousia, just a simple command.

Parousia was taken aback. She wondered what this person wanted. The situation tonight was complicated, and perhaps this person would be disadvantageous to Hall. So she asked, “Who are you?”

“I am one of the thirteen cadres of the Salvation Church—Frostcrack. I have no intention of conflicting with you.”

Frostcrack needed to be at his peak state to go to the Ice Imperial Tomb.

He had no time to waste with Parousia.

“Ah? You’re one of the thirteen cadres?”

Parousia thought this person was on Hall’s side. Was Mandosha Flower really that close to Hall? Did she notify her subordinates in the Church even if she couldn’t come herself?

After all, she didn’t know the internal power structure of the Salvation Church.

“Yes.”

Frostcrack nodded, but his steps did not stop.

“Oh, alright then. Remember to say hello to Hall for me when you see him.”

“Hall?”

“Yes, really, Mandosha Flower, didn’t she explain it to you clearly?”

“Yes, alright.”

Frostcrack passed by Parousia with that bone-chilling cold, without saying anything more.

By the city lake.

Yerona and the leader of the Salvation Church were looking at the ice surface.

“Hurry up and undo it, Your Majesty Yerona. We have to be quick. It doesn’t seem safe out here.”

The purple-robed Cult leader scanned the surroundings.

The experienced man had already sensed the presence of the Judgment Division’s elites.

Yerona said nothing, bent down, and touched the ice surface with her finger. The ice began to gradually recede.

And the blue door at the bottom of the lake immediately opened.

She leaped into the lake water, and the purple-robed Cult leader followed.

All around, the elites of the Judgment Division led by Vice-Chief Eaton were eager to move.

They quickly followed before the lake surface froze again.

Because according to intelligence, the Ice Imperial Tomb was an alternate dimension. As long as Yerona opened the door, they would be fine as long as they entered before the lake surface froze again.

Soon, in the night.

Everything returned to calm.

Only the lake surface, completely frozen by black ice, remained.

The Judgment Division agents who stayed behind felt that they just needed to wait for good news.

No one else could enter the Ice Imperial Tomb.

But soon, an even more outrageous scene appeared.

That purple-haired girl appeared like a ghost.

She leaped high into the air in the heavy snow.

Her speed was so fast that they didn’t even have time to shout “what”.

They could only see a sword suddenly materialize in the girl’s empty hand.

The blade looked overly simple and unadorned.

But when the girl descended and pierced the black ice surface with the blade.

That which should have been indestructible shattered like paper under her sword.

“This is impossible. That lake surface is also part of the Saintess of Eternal Winter’s power. Even if Yerona is affected by necromancy and is not pure… it’s impossible for it to be broken so easily.”

A Judgment Division agent who had studied Cateline’s history had an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

But he knew they were powerless to stop her.