Chapter 173 : The Awakening Empress

“Saintess Candidate Christine… Is it done?”

“It should be. I don’t know why she hasn’t woken up. Perhaps she needs some time to recover?”

In the ice cavern of the Ice Imperial Tomb.

Christine had already absorbed the holy light from Elizabeth’s abdomen and chest.

But Elizabeth was still sleeping.

Moreover, due to the pale, cold complexion of the Saintess of Eternal Winter, it was difficult to tell if her color had returned.

Sophia couldn’t be sure of her sister’s condition.

She was very worried.

“Then we’ll…”

‘Wait here for sister to wake up.’

Sophia had originally intended to say that.

But the arrival of outsiders in the Ice Imperial Tomb was sensed by the Saintess of Eternal Winter.

“Someone else has entered the Ice Imperial Tomb… it’s my sister’s…”

“Then let’s leave this place for now.”

The blonde girl said, “After Elizabeth wakes up…”

Seeing the suspicion and doubt on Sophia’s face, she continued, “I can’t escape anyway. I have things to confirm with your sister.”

Hall was standing in the main passage that ran through the Ice Imperial Tomb.

He didn’t go any deeper; he just stood there, waiting.

Elizabeth was sleeping in there.

He probably… this was the Sophia route from the game with the four-year-old Elizabeth. If the player…

To be precise, he was luring them.

After all, apart from this main passage, the other areas of the Ice Imperial Tomb were a maze of intricate paths with monotonous colors, making it difficult to distinguish the way and direction.

If he really couldn’t win, he could lead the enemies in circles.

And this wasn’t his first time in the Ice Imperial Tomb.

No, he had been here before.

He had been brought here by Elizabeth.

He was actually quite puzzled. What did Elizabeth bring him to the Ice Imperial Tomb for in the past?

In this world, Sophia wasn’t dead, so she could only pay respects to her mother and the ancestors of Cateline.

If she was really bored, she could go pay respects to the deceased girl.

“Strange…”

Hall felt it was very strange.

His current sense of familiarity with the Ice Imperial Tomb didn’t just stem from the game…

‘Have I been lost in the Ice Imperial Tomb before?’

The dark-haired youth speculated about his past memories.

On his way here, he had only caught fleeting glimpses of Elizabeth’s back in his memories.

More often, it was a person walking alone in a monotonous and cold white world, traversing countless paths…

Heading towards that abyss…

‘If Elizabeth brought me in, then she was with me. I shouldn’t have gotten lost… unless we were forced to separate for some reason. But there shouldn’t have been any enemies in the Ice Imperial Tomb back then.’

Elizabeth was lost four years ago.

Four years ago, Yerona hadn’t awakened yet.

Sophia was still a good girl living in a remote town in the Cateline Kingdom under a hidden name.

No one else could open the door to the Ice Imperial Tomb.

At that time, it should have been only him and Elizabeth.

‘Did Elizabeth make me get lost in the Ice Imperial Tomb?’

Hall wasn’t stupid; he quickly realized this serious possibility.

‘What conflict did Elizabeth and I have that would make her get him lost in the Ice Imperial Tomb?

This is very wrong. Could it be that Elizabeth turned evil?

If Elizabeth turned evil… causing Christine to attack Elizabeth…

Then if Elizabeth wakes up in the Ice Imperial Tomb tonight… what will happen?’

He didn’t dare to imagine.

He somewhat wanted to stop Sophia from waking Elizabeth up now.

Hall knew he couldn’t persuade Sophia to give up on waking Elizabeth, but tonight, it was best for Elizabeth not to wake up.

Otherwise, in the Ice Imperial Tomb, the powerful Elizabeth would probably become a variable no less than Yerona.

Although, if Yerona saw how outstanding Elizabeth was, she might defect to their side.

But the target of her defection would actually be the recognized Elizabeth. If Elizabeth wanted to kill Christine or him, Yerona would become an accomplice.

Oh…

That would be terrible.

He recalled the ice cavern where Elizabeth was, but before Hall could act, someone had already appeared in front of him.

“It’s been a long time, Hall Faxtius.”

It was the purple-robed Cult leader.

The leader of the Cult of the Living and Dead appeared before Hall.

Yerona was not with him.

The reason was that the Cult leader’s original intention was to go directly through the main passage of the Ice Imperial Tomb to the deepest part and obtain that feather.

As for Yerona, after sensing the arrival of the Judgment Division, she chose to enter a side path midway and slowly recover her strength in the Ice Imperial Tomb.

“Have we met?”

The Ah Suo Hall knew, to be precise, was Marquis Ah Suo.

Hall’s words were filled with doubt.

That was the original name of the leader of the Cult of the Living and Dead in the game’s text.

Before becoming the leader of the Cult of the Living and Dead, Ah Suo was a marquis of the Elan Duchy.

He was the dean of a certain department in the Elan Royal Magic Academy. Compared to the title of dean of the Royal Magic Academy, the title of marquis was somewhat insignificant.

Because the Elan Duchy was a nation fanatical about magic, and the Royal Magic Academy, though called a school, was more like a microcosm of the political power distribution in the Elan Duchy.

In the Elan Duchy’s parliament, the upper and lower houses had a total of three hundred members.

Among them, more than half of the members either held positions or were affiliated with, or were born from, this Royal Magic Academy.

And people like Marquis Ah Suo, who traditionally held seats in the upper house composed of nobles and former royal family members, as well as seats in the lower house obtained through popular election.

If all the seats of these more than half of the members were gathered together, then at least two-thirds of the power in the Elan Duchy was in this academy.

This academy could decide the political direction of the entire country.

Ah Suo, who could serve as the dean of a certain department in it, and was chosen by Samigina to become the leader of the Cult of the Living and Dead, his talent was by no means ordinary.

His magic talent was 【A+】, but in the dark magic system, it could reach an exaggerated 【S】.

At the same time, his level in his normal state was at least ninety-two, and the gap between his level and Hall’s was basically as large as between level eighty and eighty-nine.

The opponent had at least LV7 【High-Speed Casting】, able to cast mid-tier spells with the speed of a knight’s flash.

The spell’s destructive power and defense, which made mages prominent at higher levels.

Even at extremely high levels, mages combined high burst, high defense, and…

If one had to point out a weakness, it would be that the staff couldn’t fully be used as a sword.

And if the level was high enough, having a magic-breaking property would be quite troublesome.

But in the end, if the level difference wasn’t huge, Hall wasn’t afraid in this aspect.

He didn’t back down.

He couldn’t possibly say “let me pass” and turn his back to a mage with ranged attacks.

“Of course we’ve met.”

A few hints of hatred gradually crept into Ah Suo’s words.

“Because of you, I’m now in a state of neither human nor ghost…”

He was indeed filled with hatred.

He hated Hall, hated Christine, hated Elizabeth.

If it weren’t for what happened that year…

He was considered the highest-ranking person in the Cult of the Living and Dead, and because the Cult of the Living and Dead was originally a sect composed of human necromancers.

Samigina didn’t manage it much in the past, only providing a small but sufficient amount of resources.

Ah Suo maintained great autonomy.

“I have a feeling your strength has greatly improved.”

The necromantic aura on Ah Suo was very heavy.

When he got angry, a purplish-black necromantic aura would emanate from his purple coat.

But in the game, Hall knew that Ah Suo was only like this when he fully activated his necromancy.

The opponent had become stronger.

‘So the Cult of the Living and Dead was destroyed before? And now you…’

Hall could basically deduce it.

With his pre-amnesia personality, it was highly likely that he would have eliminated the unstable factor of the Cult of the Living and Dead in advance.

But Ah Suo didn’t die; instead, he was saved by Samigina and became stronger.

“So, you’re here for revenge?”

“If you’re sensible enough to get out of my way, I might consider sparing your life.”

“No matter, I never intended to let you go anyway.”

Making promises without being able to keep them was not a good proposal.

Hall actually wanted to stall for more time. He thought that since the people from the Cult of the Living and Dead had arrived, Sophia would surely sense it.

This could even interrupt Christine’s process of awakening Elizabeth, minus one…

But Ah Suo had no intention of letting Hall delay any longer.

A staff made of white bone appeared in his hand. In terms of grade, it was no less than Rhys’s 【Plague Shadow】.

A wind of annihilation, like the passing of the undead, began to blow in this narrow ice corridor.

But Hall didn’t panic too much.

In the Ice Imperial Tomb.

He had a geographical advantage.

The natural elements here could not be manipulated by mages. Ah Suo had to use his own stored mana to attack him.

Every time Ah Suo attacked, he would become a little weaker.

And Hall’s own negative resistance also had a resistance effect to the low temperatures in the Ice Imperial Tomb.

Ah Suo might have it too, but his resistance was not as strong as Hall’s.

The next thing to do was to activate the Sky-Striking Sword the moment Ah Suo was casting a spell and forcefully interrupt his casting at this distance.

No matter how short the casting time was, it was still a casting time.

If Ah Suo wanted to gather his magic again, he still had a powerful sword that could block another wave.

If Ah Suo could still cast a spell, Hall felt he would have to consider avoiding the brunt of it.

But a spell that could threaten him with three consecutive high-speed casts… he probably couldn’t achieve that in this harsh environment of the Ice Imperial Tomb.

He was temporarily safe.

But before Hall could figure out how to stall next.

He suddenly felt the magic communication device in his pocket light up and say,

“My dear little Master Hall, where are you?”

It was Mandosha Flower’s voice.

This question made him freeze for a moment.

Before he could answer, Ah Suo, feeling that something was wrong, immediately used the white bone staff in his hand to perform a high-speed cast.

A powerful necromantic aura gathered at the tip of his staff into a huge purplish-black light ball.

But Hall didn’t hesitate either, activating the Sky-Striking Sword and piercing the center of the light ball.

The magic circuit in Ah Suo’s body was slightly disrupted when his casting was interrupted. He subconsciously strengthened his magic shield and retreated slightly.

Hall took the opportunity to quickly contact Mandosha Flower.

“Damn it, how did you contact me? But don’t worry about that, did you bring the music box?”

“I did~”

Hall felt that Mandosha Flower was simply in sync with his thoughts.

Almost in the instant her voice fell, the melody of the music box was transmitted into his ears.

The power of the Demon God was awakened within him.

Hall, who had regained memories, touched the… previously ordered to kill Morris, finished off the vice-minister of the Cateline kingdom, and…

His normal state was now close to eighty-four, and he was basically invincible below level ninety.

If his power was awakened again, he was basically equivalent to a level ninety-two swordsman.

Though Ah Suo’s level was close to ninety-four, and he would still feel a little pressure from the opponent’s mana deployment.

But he was very clear that at this distance, he had the advantage in weapons, and a swordsman was generally good against a mage.

【Flash Shadow】 was immediately activated, breaking through to Ah Suo’s side at an extremely high speed.

Ah Suo had seen this move from Hall several years ago and was prepared.

A ghostly bone fire suddenly ignited on the white bone staff. In the instant the two clashed, Hall’s pure black sword, enveloped by the power of the Demon God, slashed at Ah Suo’s magic shield with extreme speed.

But the shield did not shatter, only the bone fire began to be annihilated.

“Hehe, my weapon has stored a lot of undead power. If you think you can defeat me just because I can’t draw on the natural elements of the Ice Imperial Tomb, you’re underestimating me, Hall Faxtius.”

Ah Suo had been preparing for this day for too long; he had come prepared.

He had considered quite extreme situations.

And Hall in the past had really left a considerable shadow on him. That kid, with Elizabeth who carried the holy sword Fenrir, had suddenly appeared in the former headquarters of the Cult of the Living and Dead.

With the Cateline Kingdom’s special forces coordinating from the outside, they had simply slaughtered their way through.

He had almost no ability to resist at that time and was lucky to have escaped quickly.

But even so, he was seriously injured.

He absolutely could not ignore Hall’s explosive sword techniques now. He would defend with as much power as he could.

But Hall didn’t panic at all. He quickly drew the Rainbow Sky Sword.

And summoned a seven-colored light curtain that had a divine attribute.

Normally, the seven-colored light curtain only had the ability to restrict the opponent’s five senses, but Hall…

This time, it was really to give Ah Suo a hard time.

He directly summoned the seven-colored light curtain at such a close distance and used its divine attribute to impact Ah Suo’s shield.

Then followed with an almost unstoppable attack. He wanted to use this opportunity to activate the 【Sword Break Style】, replicating his past kill order operation.

But Ah Suo didn’t give Hall the chance. He began to directly leave a magic barrier on the spot and retreated himself.

Hall’s 【Sword Break Style】 would shatter the barrier. In the seven-colored light curtain, his five senses would not be blocked. Ah Suo’s retreat made him want to press his advantage.

A seven-colored greatsword.

The advanced version of 【Shadow Sword】.

【Shadow Sword】, as an enhanced version of 【Flash Shadow】, also greatly increased the user’s next attack speed, and caused high damage based on the speed difference between the two parties.

But unlike 【Flash Shadow】, 【Shadow Sword】 was not about the user’s own speed, but about applying the speed entirely to the sword.

So that when it was released, it was more like the sword was manipulating the person, leading the person to attack the opponent.

In addition, as its name implied, when this sword technique was used, the entire sword would transform into an intangible shadow, almost completely disappearing from the opponent’s vision.

Hall’s use of 【Shadow Sword】 was an optimal solution that players had come up with.

When releasing 【Shadow Sword】, if one had dual sword mastery, they could consider throwing one of their swords.

Because the speed was applied to the sword, the sword’s momentum was constant. If the sword’s mass plus the person’s mass would slow the speed down.

If you discarded the person, although you would temporarily lose a weapon, it could at least double the speed, and the damage would be based on the speed difference, meaning it could cause double the damage to an unmoving target.

What Hall threw was the Sky-Striking Sword. The Sky-Striking Sword itself was a pure holy attribute weapon, and its active effect had already been used.

“Not dead, but escaped?”

The dark-haired youth said as the seven-colored light curtain dissipated, following the path down the ice corridor.

He had to pursue. Ah Suo had to die. If he was modified by Samigina…

It would be endless trouble for Hall.

“Huh, there was a battle here?”

Sophia and Christine rushed out from where Elizabeth was.

To get to the ice cavern where Elizabeth was, one had to pass through here.

She had originally intended to stay here. In the Ice Imperial Tomb, she could summon Fenrir with just her own power, plus Christine’s blessing, and Hall… with this triple buff, Sophia’s combat power was of course quite strong.

“The bloodstains don’t seem to be Hall’s. They’re his… probably some necromancer’s… it should be the leader of the Cult of the Living and Dead. In that case, Yerona is also in the Ice Imperial Tomb.”

Christine’s mind worked faster than Sophia’s.

She would combine the intelligence she got this morning…

If the leader of the Cult of the Living and Dead was not with Yerona.

Christine was shocked and suddenly said,

“Sophia, you must summon Fenrir right now, quickly!

Yerona didn’t appear, she’s probably trying to absorb the power of the Ice Imperial Tomb and take the opportunity to summon Fenrir.

There is only one Fenrir. If Yerona summons it, Sophia can’t summon it.

This mythic-grade weapon absolutely cannot fall into Yerona’s hands.

Moreover, when she was on the nearby C Mountain in Saint Elizabethburg.

Yerona didn’t summon Fenrir, which means her current body is conditional for summoning Fenrir.

But in the Ice Imperial Tomb…”

“Alright.”

Sophia also realized this problem.

She immediately tried to summon the sword.

But she found that she couldn’t.

She couldn’t summon Fenrir. Fenrir did not respond to her.

And at this moment, the white-haired girl was standing in the ice cavern.

Behind her was the ice coffin that was supposed to be sleeping.

In her hand was that holy sword of eternal winter.

She silently recited that name at the corner of her mouth.

“Christine.”