Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

Alexie looked at Riveria: "Whoever he is, we don't have time to interrogate him now. Could you please escort him back to the surface? Whether it's Ciel, Ryu, the Joker, or just a scapegoat."

"He must have the information we need on him."

Rivera frowned and said, "30th floor, don't you need my help? If what he said is true..."

Alexandra shook her head: "You're not in good shape either, and he's more important."

With that, Alisha draped the fire fairy cloth that Ryu had brought over her shoulders and smiled, "Everyone, let's set off. Let's not waste any more time. This time, we must completely crush the Rudra Familia!"

"Oh!"

Witnessing Alisha and the others step into the lower level, Ryu shattered her ice seal, stumbled out her hand, and fell to the ground:

"Don't go! Alexie! No! Stop! Stop...stop...come back!"

Mud and ice chips, mixed with tears and blood, filled Liu's nasal cavity.

Rivera lowered her eyes: "They're already gone, there's no need to continue this boring acting."

"It's not acting!" Liu propped herself up, tearing at the mithril handcuffs with her arms. "Let me go! I'm going to stop them!"

"You can't stop it, can you?"

"Then go save them! This body has the power! We can't stay here!" Ryu slammed her fist on the ground, her wrists bloodied and mangled. "Riveria, let me go!"

"Do you really want to go?" Rivera asked in a low voice.

"Of course! In fact, we'd have a better chance of winning if we went together."

“You really are a fake…” Riveria sighed. “If you were [Gale], you would know that I still have people I need to save. If you were [Gale], you wouldn’t be asking me this.”

"Elves will never allow others to abandon their companions in order to support their own friends."

Liu leaned against the tree root, head bowed, speechless.

"But, letting you go isn't out of the question..."

Ryu raised her eyes.

Rivera's eyes flickered as she asked, "Tell me, what is the medicine for treating 'congenital diseases'?"

Liu opened her mouth, but then lowered her head in disappointment again: "I'm sorry, I don't know."

Ryu's reaction was so real that Riveria was slightly disappointed.

If the person in front of her really is Ciel, Riveria wouldn't mind letting him go in exchange for the information she wants.

But on the other hand...

If the boy in front of us isn't the fourth person besides Ciel, Hayate, and Joker, then is it possible that what this 'Ciel' is saying is true?

Although, Joker's act of willingly giving his body to someone else and exposing her identity is completely out of character for him.

That's too deliberate!

It's completely untrue.

It's as if it were a deliberately presented result.

But what if this body isn't the Joker's, but Ciel's?

To achieve a certain goal, the Joker, who possesses all laws, used this "body swapping" curse to switch places between Ciel and Hayate.

[Swift Wind] inadvertently drew the wrong conclusion due to some 'incorrect information'? He was deliberately misled and did some extreme things...

For example, killing "himself" or being killed by the Astrea Familia?

The basis for this kind of speculation is the "divine script".

Although the grace is no longer relevant, the ability to alter the manifestation of grace seems similar to [divine script], which is the power that the boy in front of him has demonstrated.

She had seen similar applications of sacred text on the "runestones" consigned by "noname".

Based on the above speculation, we can deduce that Ciel is indeed hiding something...

But this is ultimately just a highly improbable inference, and the basis for the suspicion is merely a "magical item" that Ciel sells.

As for the truth...

Rivera's eyes flashed: "Stop. Tell me your 'experience,' and I will decide whether to let you go based on my own judgment."

Liu stopped struggling. Cracks had appeared on the handcuffs, and it seemed that if she continued, she would be able to break free on her own sooner or later.

She stared at Rivera in surprise and murmured, "You're willing to believe me now?"

“No…” Riveria said calmly, “I don’t have the extra energy to guard you, nor do I have the strength to do so. Moreover, as you can see, I have other things to do and cannot devote too much time to you.”

"So you only have 10 minutes. I need to know the whole story."

Chapter 435 The Deal with the Goddess (Revised)

Ryu knelt on the ground, recalling the entire process.

"I woke up in a mysterious room and found that I had become someone else. Then a witch suddenly knocked on the door and came in. At that time, I didn't know anything and could only pretend to be innocent for the time being."

"After that, I saw my reflection in the water and found relevant evidence in the room, such as a cloak, a mask, double maces, and a shield."

Rivera interrupted, "Who is this witch you're talking about?"

"The one who took Ciel away..."

"How can you be so sure? What about the Joker? And why did she come in just as you woke up?"

“I…I don’t know, I was very confused at the time.” Ryu said in astonishment.

Rivera, ever cautious, said, "Continue."

Ryu carefully recalled the details: "I was worried about your safety, Rivera, and wanted to go to your rescue, but I didn't know the way, so I wandered around as the Joker. Later, I met a dog-person who took me on the magic elevator to the 18th floor."

“Isn’t this too much of a coincidence?” Riveria frowned. “The researcher isn’t exactly an active person. The dog-man you described was far too enthusiastic, like it was specifically there to guide you!”

At this point, Ryu hesitated for a moment, then suppressed the story of Astraea's 'affair' with the secret faction and continued to recount the subsequent events.

“I reported the situation to Astrea, received support, and headed to the labyrinth, where I finally met you.”

"The question is, why did the goddess Astraea so readily accept information from 'Charles'?"

Liu hesitated for a moment: "Because a while ago, Xia Er said he discovered the entrance to the artificial maze in the Pleasure District, so we are going to investigate."

Rivera frowned even more deeply after hearing the story.

Considering her background, the sense of incongruity in the situation was amplified instantly.

First: members of Dionysus's kin who had already died somehow appeared in the man-made labyrinth.

According to her, this was an undercover operation for Charles beforehand, but that remains questionable.

Secondly, there are significant problems with [Swift Wind], who is traveling with him.

According to Ryu's description, that room was the same as the room where she woke up. It was on the 27th floor. At first, she thought it was because she had fallen too far, but now that she thinks about it, it's too much of a coincidence!

It would be more accurate to say that [Swift Wind] transported him to the 27th floor.

Phil Weiss's appearance in the room was also highly suspicious, as if she was there specifically to "monitor" something.

There are two possibilities: one is to monitor something else that has become "Gale"; the other is to monitor Gale that has become "Charles".

Based on the fact that the fake 'Swift Wind' was too familiar with the artificial maze, as if it were 'home', Riveria preferred the former.

Afterwards, despite the existence of a magic staircase leading to the 18th floor, "Gale" chose to force his way to the even more distant 27th floor. Later, by chance, he witnessed the real "Gale" and exposed "Charles'" true colors to his face!

All I can say is that when all the intelligence came together, it was as if it had been "deliberately" planned.

The sole purpose is to pin the identity of the "Joker" entirely on the currently most prominent "Cial".

Rivera suddenly thought of something, and her gaze involuntarily fell on Ryu's wrists, which were bound by chains.

At this moment, wisps of magical light drifted from the wrist that had been violently injured by Liu, almost unnoticed if one wasn't paying attention!

“Your hand…” Riveria was horrified.

Ryu raised her arm and saw the light spots gradually dissipating.

"I'm sorry." Riveria's pupils contracted as she considered a possibility. She raised her wand, conjured an ice blade, and severed one of Ryu's arms cleanly at the root.

Blood gushed out, staining the ground.

But soon, layers of magic began to dissipate from the blood at the cut surface of the wound…

“This is…” Ryu’s pupils contracted, and his face was filled with horror.

“As expected? It’s a puppet!” Riveria, unaware of when Ryu was replaced, explained, “We were attacked by a puppet that looked exactly like me in the artificial maze.”

"And you... have become the consciousness of another puppet!"

Liu's eyes widened: "No, that's impossible! I've seen her before, the timing doesn't match up!"

"You woke up from a coma, didn't you? How can you confirm the time?" Rivera shattered Ryu's illusion: "Everything you saw was deliberately shown to you. What you see before your eyes is the 'real thing'!"

Liu looked completely stunned.

Impossible, then why would Lady Astraea do that?

Could it be that even Lady Astrea was an imposter?

Ryu wanted to explain, but the magic power escaping from her body was increasing. After Ryu used [Shift and Change] hundreds of times, the magic power to maintain this puppet was almost gone.

Just before her consciousness faded, she was startled to see, from behind the forest, Shire riding Pochi, rushing towards her with a look of great anxiety on his face…

So... which side is the truth?!

Witnessing Ryu vanish, Rivera turned around solemnly, looking at Ciel who had arrived late...

"Lady Riveria, what was that just now?" Charles asked in disbelief, staring at his disappearing face.

“It’s nothing,” Rivera said calmly. “Prove your identity to me.”

Xia Er looked bewildered, patted Boqi, and in an instant, seven amplifications descended.

“The color is wrong…” Riveria frowned.

The black halo around Pochi disappeared, replaced by a ring of flickering soul fire.

“Well, of course it’s evolved,” Charles explained, then suddenly became anxious, “Rivia, have you seen any of the Astraea Familia? I received intelligence…”

"They went to the 30th floor first."