I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha.

According to the theory of madness, Lady Wendy was possessed the moment the 'blood mystery (leech)' in Bloodless Keep began to leak.

So strictly speaking, Lady Wendissa, who always wanted to drink Roland's blood and even considered whether to seduce Roland into bed, was both Lady Wendissa and Heracles.

They are also Diana.

The whole situation was just like when Roland and Aurelia merged and became 'Rocaona'.

Roland thought to himself, 'Lady Heraka seems to have a particular fondness for Lady Wendysa. She can possess her at the drop of a hat.'

Generally speaking, shouldn't the body be that of a devout saint? Wendy is not a saint of Heracles.
Perhaps it's because of Baron Dryad?

Roland suddenly realized something—the Dracula family were die-hard fans of Heraca. Could it be that someone in the family had already been possessed by Heraca?
Could it be that the person Olivia is so cautious about isn't actually Count Barr?
Or is it Heracles?
Roland felt a chill run down his spine. He thought to himself, "Damn it, Helena said I've been having nightmares every night for the past few days. Could Lady Heracles be in the castle?!"

I need to keep an eye on the women in this castle!

At this moment, Roland had already reached the entrance of the chapel.

He cautiously peeked through a crack in the door, and only dared to go in after finding no cultists or cobwebs.

Upon entering, Roland was immediately met with a sense of despair—the layout of the chapel was exactly the same as that of the chapel in Bloodstained Castle.

Even the statues are in the same location!
However, this statue looks completely different from the one in Bloodstained Fortress.

The statue depicts not a 'distorted, suffering angel', but a quiet shepherdess mending a flag.

Of course, none of that matters. What matters is that the statue doesn't look like Diana at all—Roland breathed a huge sigh of relief.

As long as the statue doesn't resemble Diana, there shouldn't be any problem.

Out of curiosity, Roland walked down to the foot of the altar and examined the statue.

Roland's first thought was that the statue was an antique—not too old, but certainly over a thousand years old.

Judging from that painting, the history of the Dracula family can be traced back to the mad age tens of thousands of years ago.

Over the years, the family has undergone many changes, and the statue has probably been replaced several times.

This statue dates back to about a thousand years ago, a time of transition between Protestantism and Catholicism.

Roland thought to himself, 'The Dracula family were originally supposed to be staunch loyalists of the Alaya dynasty and followers of the Old Church. But later they switched sides to the Protestant Church and, together with them, overthrew the Alaya dynasty. A bunch of traitors!'

Coming to his senses, Roland continued to examine the statue—a quintessential classical beauty.

The statue of the shepherdess appears serene yet lively, delicate yet resolute.

It seems that beneath her delicate appearance lies a resolute heart.

If you don't know Heracles, after seeing her image, you would definitely think that this woman is a naive and innocent girl with no guile or experience.

But if you knew her, you would know that this woman was an outrageous psychopath!

Roland thought to himself, 'The figure bears a resemblance to the one in that painting. There's a strange sense of familiarity about him.'

At that moment, Roland suddenly noticed that there was a faint, almost imperceptible divine light on the statue—a sacred power that ordinary people could not see.

It originates from the worship and offerings made by the people along the Angel River over the years.

After observing for a while, Roland suddenly frowned, took a few steps back, and began to examine the entire chapel and the statues.

After a moment, Roland's expression gradually became serious.

He thought to himself: 'The power of faith in the castle seems to be constantly gathering here, but why is the divine light on the statue so weak?'

Although there weren't many people in the castle, they were all fanatical believers, each one worth a hundred. Among them, the mental strength and faith of the most powerful individuals were even stronger.

The power of faith in the entire castle accounts for a large share of the entire Angel River area.

Not to mention, when there is no heavy snow, the power of faith from all along the River Angels converges here. This chapel serves this function. It is a 'place of faith'.

The statue should clearly be able to gather the power of faith; judging from its material, the entire statue has been deified through thousands of years of worship! Yet the divine light emanating from it is so faint.
So, where did all that excess faith power go?

Roland began to ponder, and he considered two possibilities.

The first possibility is that Heracles took the faith with him—Helena and her mentor both said that the tides of the Styx sometimes appear on the banks of the Angel River.

Whenever the tides of the River Styx come in, the banks of the River Angels connect to the underworld.

At this time, even if Lady Heracles is sleeping at home, the tides of the River Styx will wash away the faith along the banks of the River Angel.

The second possibility is that the count and his group had previously collected a wave of faith—they either took away or used up the faith power gathered on the statue.

Judging from the faint divine light emanating from the statue, a tide from the River Styx may have occurred a month ago, or perhaps someone simply came to collect the power of faith.

If we exclude the influence of the River Styx tides, then it must be that someone comes periodically to collect faith.

If you pay attention to this matter and choose a special day to stay here, you'll know who has come.

At this moment, Roland suddenly sensed a thought transmitted by Helena in his mental world.

For some reason, this thought seemed to be interfered with and was very blurry—Roland thought it might be because of the 'heavy snow'.

The gist of the story is that Helena has arrived and is asking where Roland is.

Roland responded to a past thought, roughly about himself in a chapel.

Helena seemed puzzled as to why Roland had gone around to the chapel, where he couldn't change his clothes. She told Roland that the hot springs were just behind the altar, through the largest door.

Roland was worried about how to find his way, as there were quite a few doors in this chapel.

Its overall structure is a cross.

The place where Roland is standing is on the south side of the cross structure, which belongs to the nave of the chapel and is the main place for worship services. There are many seats here.

The cross-shaped structure has two 'side chambers' on either side, providing more standing space for believers, as well as two large doors leading to the outer corridor.

In front of Roland was the 'song stage', and behind the song stage were the idols and the altar.

On the left and right sides of the wall behind the altar, there are two doorways. Roland went around to find that it was a small, semi-circular 'rear hall'.

It has a small door on each of its left and right sides, and a large door in the very center.

Somewhat strangely, neither of the two small doors was locked. But the large door in the middle was secured with a padlock.

This padlock is the kind used normally in churches, except it's engraved with sacred symbols—it's more symbolic, indicating that the hot springs are currently closed. Of course, ordinary priests can't open it.

For Roland, the lock was 'ordinary'. But the door was anything but.

This is a stone door covered with strange wood and resin.

The wood and resin may have come from some ancient tree that is thousands of years old, and the stone seems to have come from the underworld.

The entire wall is also made of this wood and stone.

Roland speculated that this wood might be from the ancient, sleepless tree. His mentor had mentioned in a casual conversation that the sleepless tree could insulate against the cold currents of the River Styx and was an excellent building material.

Roland felt a vague sense of familiarity with these stones. He felt he must have seen them in the underworld, and couldn't help but recall the deserts and strange rocks in the 'Great Gobi' of his dreams.

This combination of wood, resin, and stone, along with some divine inscriptions, created a wall resembling a refrigerator door. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the hot spring room are likely designed in the same way.

It almost completely isolated all breath and perception; Roland's spirit could not penetrate it.

Roland thought to himself, 'No wonder Helena's message was so vague. I thought she hadn't entered the castle yet. The snow and wind are interfering with our communication.'

So she had already gone to the hot spring!

No wonder she asked me where I was. I've been dawdling for so long; Helena must have been getting impatient.

Thinking of this, Roland reached out and touched the lock, and the divine runes on the lock changed, and then the lock opened.

Then Roland pushed open the door.

As soon as the door was pushed open, it was like opening a refrigerator!
A hazy, icy mist rushed towards him—the mist was actually warm water vapor, but it carried a chilling aura that made Roland shiver.

In that instant, Roland even wondered if he had opened a gate to the underworld!

He was so frightened that he quickly closed the door.

Standing in front of the door, Roland's expression became extremely strange.

He was certain that the room inside the door wasn't the underworld, because he had just seen the pool in the steam.

Moreover, although the 'hot and cold air' was icy cold, it was also exceptionally comfortable. It was a comfort that came from the soul.

After carefully assessing his condition, Roland had a very strange feeling—the hot spring and steam inside the house could heal the soul.

He mobilized the holy and demonic power within him and found that his power flowed slightly more smoothly than before.

Roland's eyes suddenly lit up. He thought to himself, "What kind of hot spring is this? I haven't even soaked in it yet, and I already feel this way. Let alone soaking in the water, just going in to take a sauna would probably be enough!"

The reason I can't unleash my full power right now is because of the wounds to my soul. The hot springs inside the gate seem to not only heal the soul, but also restore magical and divine power.

Roland's soul was indeed severely wounded—anyone else would have died long ago. How could he be so lively and energetic, even able to use magic?

He'd been through a lot of torment lately. First, he was forcibly torn apart eight times by the power of the wish-granting machine, then he was dragged to the River Styx to face the God of Madness. After that, he was thoroughly entangled in spider silk.

If it were anyone else, their soul would probably be shattered.

Roland isn't finished yet, thanks to Helena for taking a bath.

Another reason to thank him is the spider silk—which is indeed harmful to the soul, draining one's lifespan if bound for too long. But this silk acted like surgical sutures, keeping Roland's soul intact.

Otherwise, even if Helena brought him to bathe every day, it might not be effective.

Roland thought to himself, 'I need to recover quickly and get my body checked out; I don't want any lasting effects.'

When Roland first woke up, he even thought of himself as an ordinary person.

After the spider silk was removed, his condition improved considerably, and he felt his magic power slowly returning. However, he was not fully recovered and remained unsure if there was anything wrong with him.

He's like a seriously injured person right now, unsure of what level of strength he can unleash.

Roland thought to himself, 'I should focus on recovering first. Even if my condition is serious, it shouldn't be to the point where the Gate of Truth is opened and then closed again.'

Roland is now very concerned that his spiritual state will be affected by the trauma to his soul. He hopes to recover as soon as possible and then conduct a thorough self-examination.

Lost in thought, Roland opened the door and stepped into the hazy bathroom through the thick fog.

After closing the door behind him, Roland thought to himself, 'I need to rescue Edward here. In this room, my senses are suppressed to the limit. If someone suddenly breaks in, or even enters the pool, I'm afraid I won't even sense them!'
If only someone could keep watch outside for me. Sigh.

The indoor humidity was very high, and in just a short while, Roland's clothes were soaked.

Roland simply took off all his clothes, and as he did so, he looked around the place.

The surroundings were hazy, like a sauna. Things beyond three meters were very blurry.

However, Roland could still vaguely discern the layout of the place.

After observing for a while, Roland suddenly realized: 'No wonder this "hot spring" is behind the chapel. This is not a hot spring at all, it is a "sacred pool"!'
This small chapel, with its sacred pool, is exceptionally grand! Even the Vermeer Grand Cathedral doesn't have one!

When Roland and the old Black Abyss were chatting idly, they heard about the 'Holy Pool'.

A place with such a sacred pool must be a place of 'sanctuary' or similar status. But a sanctuary does not necessarily have a sacred pool.

For example, there isn't one in Wilmick.

Sacred pools are generally built for gods and angels who descend to earth. After they have exhausted their power on earth, they often need the power of faith to recover.

However, if their location is special, such as the banks of the River Angel, then other gods cannot receive the power of faith there.

If Heracles were to descend here, he certainly wouldn't need to 'recharge' with the sacred pool, because this is His territory.

The existence of a sacred pool here suggests that other gods or holy beings frequently visit this place—or rather, inspect it.

Roland thought to himself, "Judging from that painting, the Netherworld has been shattered, and its breach is directly connected to the 'Chaotic Sea' of the lower world."

To prevent any further problems, Heracles has remained there to this day. The River Angel is connected to the Underworld, and if the gods of Heaven were to come to the mortal realm, it would indeed be necessary for them to come and inspect whether any problems have arisen.

Thinking about it this way, Olivia's identity is probably really quite extraordinary.

By this time, Roland had taken off his boots. When his feet touched the ground, he discovered that the ground was paved with pebbles.

He glanced into the pool and noticed that the surface appeared to be pebbles—but covered with a layer of resin. (End of Chapter)